I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 63

I headed toward the official entrance rather than the corridor I had used earlier when going to the nursery.

The gatekeeper who had loudly announced my entrance earlier was standing there with his usual stiff expression.

He looked like the kind of man who wouldn’t shed a single drop of blood even if you pricked him with a needle, yet right now, he was flustered in front of me.

“You want me to announce your entrance?”

“Yes. That’s what I’m saying.”

“B-but you already entered earlier….”

His eyes widened as if he couldn’t understand what I meant.

“Oh my. What are you talking about? Me?”

“Yes, yes.”

“That’s strange. I don’t remember entering.”

“No, well, that’s….”

I tilted my head with an expression that said I genuinely had no idea what he was talking about.

Then I looked down at Axion in my arms and asked,

“Right, Axion? Our Evanroar hasn’t entered yet, has he?”

Normally, the announcement of one’s entrance was only made once. So I could understand why the gatekeeper was so flustered.

But I absolutely wanted my name and Axion’s name to ring out one after another throughout the ballroom.

“Then should I announce it myself? I can shout pretty loudly.”

“B-but that’s not how it’s done….”

The gatekeeper hurriedly blocked me.

Just as I was about to roll up my sleeves, thinking this wasn’t going to work—

A refined voice came from behind me.

“That’s strange. Didn’t Marquis Lupen re-enter during His Majesty’s birthday celebration last time?”

“…Huh?”

It was a familiar voice, yet incredibly annoying.

Perhaps because I knew that the normally rough and curt person was putting on airs and pretending to be elegant.

When I turned around, I saw Dazar standing there proudly with Vanilla in his arms.

“Cilia!”

Vanilla, who had been looking sullenly over his shoulder, brightened when she saw me. I gave her a small wave in return.

Why is this man out here?

He was definitely supposed to be inside the ballroom. It was strange to see him out here like this.

With a graceful motion, Dazar set Vanilla down and straightened his back.

“Marquis Lupen also exited and re-entered so he could enter together with his family. Isn’t this the same situation?”

“Y-yes? But….”

The gatekeeper glanced over the list he was holding, then stole a look at me.

“Only Lady Cilia Evanroar is registered on the list for House Evanroar.”

“And?”

Dazar, who had been listening to the gatekeeper while pretending to be dignified, casually folded his arms.

The gatekeeper blinked at the somewhat intimidating tone Dazar had suddenly adopted.

“Er… well… Viscount Silvestain, who is also family, didn’t come with her either….”

“So?”

At Dazar’s sharp tone, the gatekeeper began sweating profusely.

“There’s somewhat of a difference from Marquis Lupen’s case….”

“Is that so?”

“Y-yes.”

At that moment, Dazar abruptly looked at me.

Then he asked curtly,

“That’s what he says, Lady Cilia. What do you think?”

At the sudden question directed at me, I had been patting Vanilla, but I immediately answered shamelessly.

“Then of course I can re-enter.”

“What?”

The gatekeeper blinked.

“Because my family is here.”

“……!”

His eyes widened dramatically before turning toward Dazar.

Why were his eyes going over there?

Then he looked back at me and then at Dazar again, as if wondering whether the two of us were somehow family.

What an oblivious man.

“Here. This child’s name is Axion. Axion Evanroar.”

“……Ah!”

The gatekeeper, whose face had gone pale, finally let out a gasp as though he had just realized something, then hurriedly nodded.

“He’s my child.”

“……!”

“Please make sure you say it exactly like that.”

“Ah, understood.”

The gatekeeper, who had been staring at me with wide eyes, looked at my face and, whatever he had been thinking, suddenly nodded firmly.

Thanks to that, even though I was technically re-entering, my entrance was announced in a very loud voice.

The ballroom doors opened, and the announcement of our entrance rang throughout the hall.

“Lady Cilia Evanroar of House Evanroar and her son, Young Master Axion Evanroar, have entered!”

I took a step forward.

“T-the son of Lady Evanroar?”

“What? Lady Evanroar has a son?”

“L-look over there!”

As I watched faces filled with confusion instantly turn to shock and astonishment, I boldly hugged Axion close and walked forward.

I wasn’t usually the type who enjoyed being onstage, so I certainly didn’t like having everyone stare at me, but I endured it and kept walking with steady steps.

“Hey, relax your face. Your expression.”

Step, step.

For some reason, the sound of footsteps following right behind me and that annoyingly smug voice put me at ease.

I really didn’t know why.

“You’re being noisy.”

“If you relax your expression, the little guy won’t be scared either.”

At those words, I suddenly realized something and looked at Axion.

Axion seemed anxious now that there were suddenly so many people around him. He burrowed into my arms and kept looking up at me.

But because I had a stiff expression on my face, he seemed to be clinging tightly to me without making a sound, like a frightened little mouse.

“I’m sorry, Axion.”

When I smiled gently at him, Axion finally loosened his grip on me a little.

He still seemed frightened, but he was better than he had been a moment ago.

“So. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Weren’t you deliberately keeping that kid hidden?”

“Why are you suddenly so interested?”

“Well, he’s unusual, isn’t he? Weren’t you worried something might happen if he became known to the public like this?”

“…….”

“He’s carrying something terrifying inside his heart. You’ve already forgotten that I personally put up a barrier around him?”

Of course I hadn’t forgotten.

As I made my way through the nobles, who parted like waves before me, I replied curtly,

“You’ll protect him, won’t you?”

“……!”

There was no answer from Dazar behind me.

By this point, he should have grumbled and said something like he always did.

“You’re the one who put the barrier on him, so I’m trusting you to take responsibility.”

When I deliberately said it in a teasing tone, Dazar finally answered in his usual sulky voice.

“Seriously. You act like you’ve entrusted something to me.”

“In return, I’ll overlook what you did to me earlier.”

“……That wasn’t my fault, was it?”

Tap, tap.

His footsteps became slightly hurried, and Dazar came up right beside me.

“You’re really making me out to be guilty when I did nothing.”

“Hmmm?”

“Ha.”

As if there was no point talking to me, Dazar grabbed his forehead.

Whether he held his forehead or not, the fact that he had come to stand beside me made the empty space next to me, which had felt cold because there was no one there, seem a little warmer.

Just because there was one more person beside me.

Maybe it’s because the looks are even more piercing than before, when everyone was avoiding me as if I were a cockroach.

The nobles in the ballroom looked even colder than before when I entered carrying my son.

Judging by how they were whispering among themselves, they were definitely spreading some strange rumor.

Hmph.

But I had already prepared myself for this, so my heart wasn’t shaken.

“People really are funny.”

“……Pardon?”

Dazar whispered softly at that moment.

He helped Vanilla, who was in his arms, reach out and gently pat Axion’s head.

“Both you and I suddenly showed up with a child.”

Ah. That was right.

Dazar was in exactly the same situation as me.

He had brought Vanilla without revealing who her mother was. I was doing the same.

Even though they were actually children of our own blood relatives, we had kept that fact hidden.

“As for me, since I’m a Transcendent and a duke of the Empire, no one dares say anything to my face. But all kinds of rumors are spreading behind my back.”

“……And they’re doing it even more to me because I’m the crazy young lady of an insignificant viscount family?”

“Well, probably.”

Dazar shrugged and gave a small laugh.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“……I know.”

I wanted to snap at him that I was doing perfectly fine without his awkward attempt at comforting me.

But the awkward hand lightly patting my shoulder made the words stick in my throat.

“If I stay here any longer, even stranger rumors will start circulating. I’ll be going now.”

“…Oh. Okay.”

Oh, already?

I almost said it without thinking.

Without realizing it, I suppose his presence had become quite reassuring to me.

I had almost reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes without even realizing it.

“What’s with that expression?”

“Pardon?”

He glanced back at me and let out a small chuckle.

What’s wrong with my expression?

“You look like you’re watching me leave your child behind. I’ll come if anything happens. Take care.”

I watched him walk away, responding to Vanilla’s little goodbye wave.

As he moved away from me, people began gathering around him again.

I could see Dazar returning to his elegant, dignified image as a duke and dealing with them.

“…What was wrong with my expression?”

I muttered to myself and was about to head toward the corner where I had settled earlier when—

Those bastards from earlier.

I saw the two servants who had badmouthed Axion in the corridor moments ago.

They were staring at me with pale, haggard faces, but the moment our eyes met, they hurriedly looked away.