I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 7

Silence fell between him and me.

He looked utterly—utterly bewildered.

His face, which seemed as though it had never held even a trace of warmth, was horribly contorted.

His lips were slightly parted, his eyebrows shot upward, and he shifted only his eyes back and forth between me and the rattle.

Eventually, he even let out a small, incredulous laugh.

“Was it a mad demon?”

“You’re the crazy one. And before that, what do you mean, demon? I’m an ordinary human.”

“That’s impossible. Such powerful demonic energy is coming from you.”

He tossed his sword into the air and folded his arms.

The sword floated proudly in midair, showing off its gleaming blade.

As the blade sparkled and emitted light, Axion’s crying gradually subsided.

“Whoa!”

With the skin beneath his eyes still red from crying, Axion reached toward the sword.

Apparently, he liked it.

Hmph. So he doesn’t need the rattle anymore.

I quickly tucked the rattle I had been holding out toward him into my arms and raised my chin.

“Your sword is doing the job instead of the rattle. Then I’ll be going.”

“Wait.”

Just as I confidently turned around, the man blocked me with his large hand.

“Where are you going?”

“Where else? Home. Let go. There’s a limit to being rude. You threaten someone you’ve never met, make a baby cry, and now you’re stopping me from leaving. Why don’t you learn how to behave?”

I brushed his hand off my shoulder and strode away.

……But then.

The man casually followed after me.

I hugged Axion tightly and turned my head to glare at him.

“Why do you keep following me?”

The man shrugged.

“You obviously look younger than me. Don’t you think you should speak more politely?”

“What are you talking about?”

When I looked at him as if I genuinely had no idea what he meant, his face twisted once again.

Even so, he continued following me.

He followed me all the way to where the carriage was parked and watched as I had the coachman help me secure the baby carriage to the back of the carriage and put Axion inside first.

More precisely, he was staring intently at the seal of House Evanloar engraved on the carriage.

“You must be from House Evanroar.”

“No, I’m not.”

The man pointed at the carriage seal with his long index finger.

“But the seal of House Evanroar is right here.”

“I said I’m not! Why are you so persistent? Look. The design is slightly different here.”

I pointed at the seal, where some of the paint had peeled off.

Thank goodness we’re a poor and insignificant viscount family. The seal on our carriage is even this worn out.

The man gave a small snort of laughter.

“You’re quite a piece of work.”

“You’re even more ridiculous. Why don’t you leave already?”

The man nodded lightly.

“Fine. I just want to check one thing.”

“Check what—Ah!”

The man walked past me toward the carriage.

In the blink of an eye, Axion was dangling from his hand.

“!”

“Uuuh…… uuuwaaah……”

The man casually lifted Axion by his clothes with one hand and stared at the child, who was on the verge of crying.

“It seems to be coming from him. That demonic energy from earlier. You know about it too, don’t you?”

“You—!”

How could he hold a newborn so carelessly with one hand?!

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I put all my strength into my toes and kicked him hard in the shin.

“Urgh! Where did you get that strength……!”

My iron legs, forged through years of farm work, worked even against this man!

The man staggered.

I quickly caught Axion as he fell and pulled him tightly into my arms.

Axion immediately began wailing.

“Ugh. What’s inside that brat’s heart?”

He answered casually, without the slightest hint of surprise.

“A Dragon Heart.”

“……What?”

“What? Never seen a baby with a Dragon Heart embedded in his heart before? Everyone has one, don’t they?”

“What are you talking about—”

The man looked completely dumbfounded.

The strength drained from the hand he had placed against the carriage.

This is my chance.

I shoved him away with all my strength and climbed into the carriage.

My arms, strengthened through years of farming, contained enough power to push even this solidly built man aside in one go!

I slammed the door shut and shouted,

“Go!”

Neigh!

The horse whinnied, and the coachman started driving the carriage.

I quickly locked the carriage doors and cautiously poked my head out the window.

The black-haired man was standing there, staring blankly in our direction.

He didn’t seem to have any intention of chasing us.

I stuck my tongue out at him before pulling my head back inside.

“Hmph. What a weirdo.”

Fortunately, Axion’s eyes had returned to their normal color.

I gently tried to calm my rapidly pounding heart as we headed home.

 

***

 

Northeast of the Imperial Capital, if one followed a well-paved mountain road upward, there was a castle standing proudly atop the mountain with a cliff behind it.

It was the castle of House Shiaster, a prestigious family that had protected the Rifts for generations.

This place, located quite far from the Imperial Capital, was where Rifts connecting to the demon realm frequently opened.

It was said that the first Duke Shiastor had deliberately chosen this treacherous mountaintop as the location for his castle so that he could easily seal the Rifts and eliminate demons attempting to sneak into the Imperial Capital.

As expected, this really is a fantasy world.

The world in which the original novel took place was overflowing with terms such as demons, Dragon Kings, monsters, holy swords, divine artifacts, and transcendents.

As for me, I was just an ordinary human woman from an insignificant viscount family who spent her days farming.

Apparently, hundreds of years ago, when the continent had nearly been destroyed by monster attacks, a Transcendent who wielded the Holy Sword had saved the world.

Several hundred years had passed since then, and those who bore the title of Transcendent each lived with the duty of protecting the continent.

House Shiastor was one of those families.

In other words, Duke Dazar was also a Transcendent.

And so was my future daughter-in-law, Vanilla.

Still, I heard they have the same lifespan as ordinary humans, right?

Anyway, I had finally arrived at the Shiastor ducal residence, where such a Transcendent lived.

“Elston. What kind of person is Duke Dazar?”

When I looked at Elston with slightly sparkling eyes, he took a step backward.

“What? Why are you asking something so unlike you? Wasn’t he the kind of person who grabbed people by the collar first and asked questions later…… Ahem. Never mind. Duke Dazar is an extremely powerful man.”

“Ah. I meant something else.”

“I-I don’t think he’s currently seeing anyone……”

“What are you talking about?”

I raised my clenched fist in front of him, and Elston finally gave me a proper answer with a frightened squeak.

“He’s a somewhat intimidating person. I suppose you could say he has such a perfect presence that it’s suffocating just being near him. For someone like me, who lives a carefree life, he’s rather uncomfortable to be around.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Pardon?”

“At least you know that you’re a good-for-nothing.”

“……”

As we followed the servant toward the drawing room, Elston’s shoulders drooped.

“Anyway, you’ll understand once you meet him. He can be frightening sometimes, but he’s a very dignified and polite gentleman.”

A dignified and polite grand nobleman.

And frightening, too.

I was beginning to feel a little nervous.

I lightly walked across the polished marble floor while checking my appearance.

I was wearing the most expensive dress I had in the manor—well, the most expensive one, at least.

Unlike usual, I had also braided my hair loosely and tied it half-up.

When I meet him, I’ll explain everything about rice properly and make sure we close the deal!

My goal was to provide the rice I had grown as food and make a considerable amount of money from it.

Axion. Mommy is going to make money for you!

I clenched my fist tightly and followed the servant into the drawing room.

The drawing room was open-plan, so there was no separate door.

The servant stepped inside and lightly knocked on the wall.

“Your Grace. Lady Cilia of House Evanroar and Mr. Elston, a mage from the Magic Tower, have arrived.”

There were sofas and a table arranged for meetings, but no one was sitting there.

Instead, I saw a man standing by the window with his back turned to us.

So that’s Duke Dazar Siastor.

Duke Dazar slowly turned around.

As he turned, sunlight streaming through the glass window fell across his cheek.

His skin glittered beneath the sunlight as though someone had ground up gemstones and scattered them across his face.

His neatly swept-back black hair gave him a somewhat austere appearance, while beneath it sat a pair of golden eyes.

He was wearing what was unmistakably a tailored suit, and his tall, solidly built physique made him look every bit like a perfect gentleman.

“Lady Evanroar?”

He murmured softly as he walked toward me.

Even his simple footsteps carried an elegant, dignified air.

In the blink of an eye, Duke Dazar reached me and looked down at me, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

His thick eyelashes gently lowered with his faint smile.

I stared blankly at him.

It absolutely wasn’t because I was captivated by his face.

He whispered,

“What a coincidence. So you’re the little lady with the rattle from that day.”

He was the crazy man I had encountered at the cemetery yesterday.

Oh, my God.