I’m the Future Crazy Male Lead’s Mother Chapter 82

I thought I could hear an owl hooting somewhere.

Hoo. Hoo.

Had an owl made its way into this enormous estate?

There were so few servants around, and the place was so deserted that perhaps an owl had come out for a stroll among the garden trees.

Feeling the crisp grass crunch beneath my feet, I casually spoke up.

“Morocanil, you really do have unusual tastes. You want to wander around the estate in the middle of the night?”

“……I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. If you would rather head back now, you may do so.”

Morocanil, who was walking beside me and stepping on the grass just like I was, spoke with a slightly sheepish expression.

“No, it’s fine. That’s not what I meant. I just said you have unusual tastes.”

The Angel’s request to have me show him around the estate in the middle of the night was a bit unreasonable, but I decided to boldly accept it as repayment for saving me when I nearly fell out of that tree.

……Yes. Boldly accepting was all well and good, but—

“By the way, Cilia. Haven’t we already been here? If I remember correctly.”

“Ah.”

The problem was that I didn’t know the layout of this estate very well, either.

It was true that I had been staying here for several months.

But so what? The supposed owner of this estate had done nothing but torment me instead of showing me around.

It wasn’t as though I’d ever been given a tour after arriving here.

Thanks to wandering around the inside of the estate on my own, I knew where the study, reception room, and Vanilla’s and Dazar’s rooms were. But as for the grounds, the only place I knew was the sandpit where I played with Axion and Vanilla.

“Shall we look around inside the estate first? I don’t really know my way around outside, either.”

Since we were walking on grass, we were probably somewhere near the entrance to the garden. But there was no one around to ask for directions. At this rate, I was going to get lost.

“So this is your first time here, too, Cilia?”

“Hmm, yes. I don’t really have any reason to come here……”

As I answered, I rolled my eyes and looked into the distance. For some reason, I felt a little wistful. Come to think of it, I had spent all this time devoting myself to farming and childcare. I’d never had the chance to spend time this peacefully before.

Sigh. A life full of labor……

For some reason, Morocanil smiled faintly at my words.

“Then this works out well. Since it’s the first time either of us has explored the Siaster estate, it’ll be all the more enjoyable.”

“……Enjoyable?”

Morocanil nodded at my question, looking strangely excited.

……What a charming young man. He looks like a boy who’s thrilled at the prospect of exploring someone else’s house in the middle of the night.

Well, the owner was probably fast asleep in his room, completely unaware of the world. When I thought about sneaking around and exploring his house behind his back, it did seem kind of fun.

Besides, it felt as though we were plotting something behind Dazar’s back, which made it even more enjoyable.

I chuckled and took the lead.

“Then shall we keep going this way? For some reason, my instincts are telling me this leads deeper into the garden.”

In truth, I knew because I’d glanced at a sign while rolling my eyes just a moment ago. Morocanil followed behind me, impressed by my confident strides.

The garden was better maintained than I’d expected. Winter was approaching, so there weren’t any flowers to be seen, but the trees scattered throughout the grounds were arranged quite harmoniously.

After walking around for a while, we sat down together on a bench.

“Thanks for the jacket, Morocanil. Aren’t you cold?”

I was still wearing my outdoor clothes, so they weren’t particularly thin. Even so, the garden was quite cold at night. The moment His Angelic Highness noticed that I was cold, he graciously bestowed upon me the jacket he had been wearing.

The jacket, with the black fox fur he had mentioned before neatly lining the collar, was quite warm.

At my words of gratitude, Morocanil smiled sweetly like an angel.

“I’m fine. As long as you’re warm.”

“Uh…… Really?”

Unlike someone, he really was an angel. I felt as though the tip of my nose might sting from his kindness. Such pure goodwill! Feeling a little moved, I gently grasped the jacket.

“I’ve warmed up quite a bit now, so I think I’ll be fine. Do you want it back?”

“No. That jacket is practically a small indulgence of mine—a way to spend a little more time with you. So please, keep it on.”

“……”

Goodness. He certainly knew how to say things that could easily be misunderstood if someone overheard him. I lightly rubbed my cold nose with my hand and muttered,

“Morocanil, you’re popular, aren’t you? I bet women go crazy for you. But I’m worried this might cause trouble for you someday.”

“……Why do you think that?”

“Just look at what you’re doing right now. Anyone who overheard us would think you were hitting on me.”

I raised my index finger and wagged it gently in front of him, adopting a stern tone. Our dear Angel was just too kind. It was worrying.

“If more and more women get the wrong idea, you might end up with a reputation as a playboy. You should be careful.”

“……”

Morocanil fell silent for a moment before replying in a low, almost whispering voice.

“That won’t happen. You’re the only person I would take off my jacket for like this.”

“……Huh?”

Had I heard him wrong? I was just about to pick my nose with my pinky, forgetting all about proper manners, when Morocanil continued.

“You’re the first person I’ve asked to dance with me in this life. The first person I’ve asked to show me around an estate, too. And, of course, the first person I’ve given my jacket to.”

At Morocanil’s words, filled with such unwavering sincerity, I blinked blankly a couple of times.

Wait. Hold on.

How can you just come right out with something like that without even giving me a warning? That’s way too direct!

I mean, how long had we even known each other for him to suddenly make a confession like this? Of course, I’d suspected for a while that Morocanil might have a bit of a crush on me.

But isn’t this way too sudden?

It reminded me of those novels I’d read in my previous life where the male lead openly looked down on the heroine until halfway through the story, then suddenly fell head over heels for her without any significant event to explain it. The kind of novel where the plot made absolutely no sense.

I was utterly bewildered.

Back then, I could at least think, What is this emotional progression? Why is he suddenly in love with her?! and flip back through the earlier pages, wondering if I’d missed some kind of foreshadowing.

But this wasn’t a novel. This was happening to me, live and in person. I was completely flabbergasted.

Just as I was opening and closing my mouth, unable to figure out what to say, the owl I’d heard before entering the garden let out a long hoot.

Hoooo.

Hoooooo.

“……”

“……”

Thanks to that, the strange atmosphere that had suddenly formed between Morocanil and me came crashing down.

I laughed awkwardly and quickly raised my index finger, pointing in the direction of the sound.

“Wow. Dazar really must love birds. He keeps a red bird inside, and I guess he keeps owls outside, too.”

It was complete nonsense, but I said whatever came to mind. The situation was just too embarrassing.

At my words, Morocanil looked in the direction I was pointing and tilted his head slightly.

“Dazar keeps birds?”

“Yes. Sometimes I see him taking that bird outside, too.”

They didn’t seem to be together all the time. But that bird had climbed into our carriage when we returned from the Hall of Rest. Which meant he’d brought it along to the Hall of Rest, too……

That was proof enough that it must be a bird he treasured quite dearly.

Morocanil, who had been tilting his head, narrowed his eyes.

“I can’t imagine Dazar keeping anything. As far as I know, he doesn’t particularly like animals. That’s why, when ‘she’ tried to keep a bird……”

Morocanil abruptly fell silent, but I had already heard what he said.

She?

Who was she?

I wanted to ask, but Morocanil tactfully avoided the subject.

“Anyway, there’s no way Dazar keeps a bird. I’ve never seen him do so.”

“……Hmm.”

At his firm insistence, I nodded as though I understood. I was more curious about who that she was, but Morocanil was clearly avoiding the subject, so it felt awkward to press him.

I didn’t want to argue with him here, so I casually changed the subject.

“Now that I think about it, you and Dazar don’t seem to get along, but you seem to know each other pretty well. You even know that he doesn’t like animals.”

“……In our previous life, we didn’t always have a bad relationship.”

Oh. So there had been a time when they were close.

I was intrigued by Morocanil’s answer and was about to listen more closely, but he abruptly brought up another subject.

“Speaking of previous lives, I was wondering. What would you think if you had a previous life, too?”

A previous life?

Being asked what I would think if I had a previous life when I was already someone who remembered one left me wondering how to answer.

“Hmm. I’m not sure…… Doesn’t everyone have a previous life? They just don’t remember it.”

“That’s not the case. Very few people go on to live another life. It’s practically a punishment.”

So having a previous life was practically the same as being punished. In Korea, people generally believed in reincarnation. Was it viewed more negatively in this world?

I blinked at his words, which differed from what I had always believed, and he continued.

“So…… Perhaps this is a better way to put it. If someone forcibly took away the ‘rest’ you were rightfully meant to have, then made you live again in another world as though it were a punishment…… How would you feel?”

The question was far too specific.

Something about it felt strange. It was as though he already knew someone like that existed and was asking me about them.

I didn’t know who that person was, though.

“Wouldn’t you hate the person who did that to you?”