I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 62

“Excuse me, where is the place where the children are waiting?”

After leaving the main ballroom and entering the corridor, I called over a servant who was walking along with quick little steps and asked.

“Do you mean the place where the young ladies and young masters are waiting? It’s the room at the very end of the corridor.”

The servant politely bowed his head and pointed toward the end of the hallway.

The corridor was quite long.

‘Is that why everyone entered the main ballroom together first?’

Dazar had entered the ballroom with Vanilla, and several other nobles had brought their children as well.

I had naturally assumed they would all enter separately from the beginning.

But perhaps since it was quite a distance away, they didn’t want to separate the children from their parents right from the start.

‘Besides, it seems like everyone is bringing their children along and introducing them to each other.’

According to the Hall of Rest schedule Cedric had given me, there was still some time before Emperor Scarlett entered.

There was a small note saying that the children were to leave the ballroom at that point, so it seemed they were bringing the children in beforehand so they could greet one another alongside their parents.

“…This feels a little strange.”

Since I was hiding the fact that Axion was my child, I couldn’t enter with him by my side.

Just as I was walking down the corridor with a slightly furrowed brow because of the uncomfortable feeling, I heard something.

“Did you see that kid who was alone in the nursery?”

The voices of two servants walking toward me from the opposite direction could be heard whispering.

“Hey. Shh. All the babies in the nursery are nobles.”

“Ah, what’s the big deal? Seeing as the parents didn’t bring the kid into the ballroom with them, he looked like some neglected child.”

They seemed to be servants assigned to the ballroom, judging by the fact that they were wearing the same uniforms as the servant I’d spoken to earlier.

“True, I guess…”

“Could it turn out that one of the maids here is his mother? And that old man who was with him earlier is his father?”

“He sneaked in to see his mother? That’s pretty pathetic.”

The two servants chuckled as they looked at each other.

“Ah, I couldn’t even rest because of that brat. If you’re not even going to take care of him, you shouldn’t have brought him here.”

“If the maid really is his mother, then she’s in the same position as us, isn’t she? Should we go tell them?”

“Should we?”

Heh heh.

The two servants had already gone quiet by the time they passed right beside me.

“Ah, I don’t want to work. I want to get back to the dorm already.”

“Me too! I couldn’t even rest because of that baby.”

“Still, wasn’t that little brat pretty handsome? His hair was blond, too. If they’re going to hide him like that anyway, they might as well hand him over to us. Then I’d give him to a guy I know and make some money.”

I stood there blankly as they walked away from me, lost in thought over what I’d just heard.

Surely the baby they were talking about wasn’t Axion.

Haha. There was no way.

…I tried to think about that.

But no matter how I looked at it, there was no way it wasn’t Axion.

They had said he was alone in the nursery, and that his hair was blond.

“…Ha.”

It felt as though someone had set me on fire, and the flames were spreading from the tips of my toes all the way to the top of my head.

My fists clenched on their own, and my teeth ground together.

If I let those two go like this, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

Just before they entered the ballroom, I hurriedly turned around and called out to them.

“…Hey.”

When I called them with a stiff expression, the two froze with startled faces.

But when I faced them directly, it felt as though my head had suddenly cooled.

I couldn’t just beat them to a pulp right here.

I slightly lifted the corners of my lips.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

They looked slightly nervous, but when I smiled, they seemed relieved and immediately bowed their heads.

“Yes. Please ask anything you wish.”

“Is there something you need?”

I smiled again, and they, who had been watching my expression, also slightly raised the corners of their mouths.

They seemed completely at ease now.

“I was talking with Lady Miya earlier, and the subject of insulting a noble came up. But suddenly, I couldn’t remember anything.”

“…Uh, um, the crime of insulting a noble?”

“Yes. What punishment does someone receive for insulting a noble?”

The two servants blinked at me with flustered expressions.

This world was set somewhere in the Middle Ages, so the class system was strict.

If mere commoners insulted a noble…

“T-the offended noble can demand a punishment. As far as I know, they can even demand the death penalty.”

That’s right.

I remembered it that way, too.

“Hmm. Right, that’s how it was. But what happens if the noble doesn’t demand a punishment?”

Another servant added,

“If the noble who was insulted doesn’t specify a punishment, then the lord of the territory they belong to imposes the punishment instead.”

“Right, right. That’s how it was, wasn’t it? Ah, I couldn’t remember earlier, so Lady Miya and I were both racking our brains over it.”

We really had been racking our brains.

Because Lady Miya’s delicate arm had collided with my iron arm.

“You two are clever. Thanks for telling me.”

The two servants awkwardly nodded.

“Not at all. If you need anything else, please call us anytime.”

“Ah, I’m really grateful, so what were your names again?”

The two looked at each other before grinning.

Then they obediently answered.

“My name is Bisin, and this is Michi.”

It was hard to believe these were the same men who had been sneering at Axion just moments ago, judging by how obedient they were now.

“I see. I’ll remember them. Then, good work.”

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

When I waved my hand as though I had finished with them, they couldn’t hide their overflowing smiles and bowed their heads.

When I’d looked at the schedule Cedric had given me earlier, it had said there was also an opportunity to recommend servants who performed their duties well.

If they made it onto that list, they would apparently be promoted.

‘They probably think that’s why I asked for their names.’

I watched the two head toward the ballroom with delighted expressions for a moment before turning around.

I wiped away the smile I’d been wearing like it had been drawn onto my face and strode toward where Axion was.

I was going to punish them a little later, but I still felt extremely uneasy.

I marched down the corridor with heavy footsteps and arrived at the nursery.

“Lady Cilia?”

The nursery was larger than I’d expected.

Only Carl and Axion were in that enormous room.

Carl was pacing around while holding Axion, who was playing with his hands. When he saw me, his face filled with surprise.

“Why are you here already? I thought you would come after the banquet ended.”

“How could I wait when Axion was on my mind?”

Axion spotted me too and stretched out his arms happily.

Perhaps Carl could no longer keep holding the squirming Axion, who seemed to want to come to me, because he set the child down on the floor.

Axion toddled quickly toward me and buried his face right into the hem of my dress.

“Wooah!”

Axion looked up at me and gave me a clear, innocent smile.

Looking at that smile…

For some reason, my heart felt heavy.

Because I’d left him alone in the nursery.

Because I’d been hiding the fact that I’d adopted him.

Because of that, he’d been subjected to cruel words from those awful men.

“Grandpa…”

“Yes? Lady Cilia. Did something happen? You don’t look well.”

Carl asked worriedly.

Hearing his warm voice made my heart tremble.

I barely managed to hold myself together and shook my head.

“No. Nothing happened. My Axion. Did you come out to greet Mommy?”

“Woooong!”

The child nodded vigorously as though he understood everything I was saying.

He nearly toppled backward from the force of it, so I lightly caught him and crouched down to meet his eyes.

“Woooong?”

The child reached out and gently patted my face.

Axion’s clumsy little hands brushed over the corners of my eyes and my cheeks.

He was so cute and lovable.

Hehe.

A laugh escaped me without my realizing it, and Axion followed along with a delighted,

“Kyaa!”

How dare someone say such things to this adorable child?

Anger suddenly surged up, then guilt followed, and then a wave of pity washed over me.

It was a painfully complicated feeling.

The area around my eyes felt hot, too.

It wasn’t tears.

I think it was simply because so many emotions had welled up inside me.

What am I doing right now?

I’d made such a firm resolution that I would make sure Axion never had to live an unhappy life.

That thought suddenly struck me, and my heart hardened with determination.

“Maa!”

“Lady Cilia…? It doesn’t seem like nothing happened.”

Carl, who had been watching me carefully from beside me, asked in a cautious voice.

His eyes were trembling anxiously.

I shook my head.

“No. Nothing happened. I just wanted to see Axion, that’s all.”

“But…”

As if telling him not to worry, I briskly wiped my face with both hands and lightly slapped my cheeks.

I was the one responsible for these two.

I couldn’t afford to show weakness.

I confidently held out my hand toward Axion.

“All right. Then shall we go? Axion.”

“Pardon? Where are you saying we should go?”

Carl looked flustered.

I picked up Axion, stood up with an “Up we go,” and answered,

“Where else? We’re going to the ballroom.”

“Whaaat? But that place…”

“I found out why there aren’t any children here. I had no idea. You knew, didn’t you, Carl?”

“……”

Carl quietly nodded.

“I tried to stop you from coming here, but you seemed to want to be with Lord Axion…”

Carl must have known this would happen and tried to warn me.

But I’d refused and insisted on bringing Axion here anyway.

The fact that the child had been treated this way was all because of me.

“I’m the head of House Evanroar right now, aren’t I? Since Silvestain isn’t here. Right?”

“Y-yes. That’s right.”

Carl followed behind me with an anxious expression.

His lips kept moving as though he was about to say something worriedly.

He was probably concerned about the day I would get hurt by other people’s gazes.

“You don’t need to worry about what other people think, Carl.”

“……”

“I’m the one living my life, not them. If I’d worried about what they thought, I wouldn’t have been able to live this happily.”

Whenever I searched through this body’s memories, there was always one emotion I could feel.

The happiness and satisfaction that could only be felt by someone who lived while devoting themselves to the things they loved.

“Well, why can’t I do the same?”

I would change Axion’s future and make sure he lived a happier life than anyone else.

Together with Axion.

I held Axion in my arms and headed toward the ballroom with determined steps.