My Daddy Hides His Power Chapter 333 - Side story Part 2 Chapter 29

* * * 

 

Sunny weather!

 

I was hanging laundry with my husband in the front yard, carrying Jamie on my back in a baby carrier.

 

Tak, tak. 

 

Cheshire, having shaken out the freshly scented laundry, handed the clothes to me.

 

As I hang the clothes I received on the clothesline, I feel like a diligent housewife who takes care of a newborn and does all the housework. 

 

“I’m not just busy making a living, I’m happy. The weather’s perfect. You’re enjoying it too, right, Jamie?”

 

“Byaaaa!” 

 

Cheshire came over to my side while hanging the laundry and, smiling, gently tapped Jamie’s cheek.

 

“You’re cute today, too.”

 

“Honey, do you want to have lunch and then go out? Let’s have another picnic before Jamie goes back.”

 

“Shall we?”

 

Actually, Axion contacted me yesterday.

 

He said Jamie’s mother’s trip is almost over and she’ll be arriving in the capital within a few days.

 

I thought I’d be sad and disappointed, but somehow, even after receiving the call, I didn’t think much of it. Why?

 

“Laundry done!”

 

With a few quick shakes of his hands, Cheshire helped undo the baby carrier. I scooped Jamie into my arms.

 

“Jamie~ now let’s eat with Mommy and Daddy, then we’ll all go out and have fun~”

 

“Byaaaa!”

 

“…Oh, it’s Father.”

 

“Mhm?” 

 

At that moment, Cheshire looked out the front gate and spoke. A carriage was standing in front of our house. It was Axion.

 

“Oh, Father!”

 

“Lilith.”

 

I fluttered over with joy and opened the front gate. Axion smiled as he stepped down from the carriage.

 

“You haven’t had lunch yet, right? We were planning to eat together and then take Jamie out to play today, but Father—”

 

…Huh?

 

I followed Axion out of the carriage and was momentarily stunned by the sight of his face.

 

“Jamie!”

 

Here he is.

 

“Oh, my goodness. Our baby.”

 

Jamie’s mother.

 

I stared blankly at the woman with silver hair cascading down to her waist and piercing blue eyes. She resembled both me and Jamie.

 

“Byaa!” 

 

Most of all, Jamie, who was in my arms, greeted her as if he recognized his mother perfectly.

 

“Thank you so much.”

 

Jamie’s mother approached me, tearfully, as if begging for her baby. Jamie, too, opened his arms, eager to reach her.

 

“Ah….”

 

“Lilith?”

 

Axion, who had come to my side, called out to me, who had been frozen in place.

 

“Ah! Yes, yes….”

 

I handed Jamie over with trembling arms. At that moment, Jamie looked at me. Our eyes met, and my grip on the baby tightened without me realizing it.

 

“Bya, bya…” 

 

Could it be that he somehow knew it was time to say goodbye? Jamie, who rarely cried, somehow looked sad.

 

I couldn’t tell whether he was truly sad, or if it was just my wishful thinking, hoping that Jamie would feel reluctant to part from me too.

 

At last, Jamie was cradled in his real mother’s arms.

 

“Haa, Jamie.”

 

“Byaa.” 

 

With tear-filled, reddened eyes, she rubbed her forehead against Jamie’s. The act felt familiar and intimate. Of course, they were the two people closest in the world.

 

“I’m Ashley Fling. Thank you so much for taking care of Jamie all this time.”

 

Unlike me, who was a novice mother, Ashley seemed comfortable holding a baby. She held Jamie with one arm and offered me her hand for a shake.

 

“…Ah, yes. I’m Lilith Rubinstein.”

 

Even as I held Ashley’s hand, my eyes kept drifting to Jamie.

 

Why am I like this? I feel so confused.

 

I didn’t expect it to be today, but I still knew that Jamie’s mom would come by sooner or later. Didn’t I even get a heads-up beforehand? 

 

At that time, strangely enough, I didn’t feel anything…

 

‘Why am I like this?’

 

From the beginning, I was only supposed to watch him for a little while, and eventually, I would have to part with Jamie. That was the right thing to do.

 

Even so, I still couldn’t believe that Jamie’s mom had actually come.

 

“…I’ve already greeted my great-uncle in person. Please also convey my sincere thanks to Lord Rubinstein.”

 

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Even while I was watching Ashley talk to Axion, a real, living person, right before my eyes.

 

‘Jamie… fling.’

 

I now know Jamie’s last name.

 

Of course, he must have a last name. It’s surprising—and hard to believe—that I’ve never wondered about it until now.

 

The only wish I had was to see a baby that looked like me.

 

I knew that with just the price of a one-month lifespan, I couldn’t become Jamie’s mother, nor could I live with him forever.

 

But why… .

 

“Lilith.”

 

Cheshire wrapped his arms around my frozen shoulders, his eyes filled with concern.

 

Barely holding myself together, I realized Ashley was speaking.

 

“I don’t even know what I was thinking when I planned this trip. It’s like I was possessed or something, coming here. Our Jamie is still too little to be away from his mom for so long. I’m really sorry, Jamie….”

 

She spoke as if she couldn’t believe that she had left her baby behind and gone on the trip like she was in a trance.

 

Even this was something I’d expected.

 

A real mother wouldn’t have done that, but it was a situation I’d brainwashed her into because of my abilities.

 

I’ve always felt sorry about that.

 

I’m so sorry…

 

I had wanted to tell her that it was okay, that Jamie had been doing well all this time, that even if I wasn’t perfect, I had done my best to take care of him, so she didn’t need to worry.

 

I need to… tell her.

 

“Lilith?”

 

“Oh my.”

 

Axion and Ashley, who were standing in front of me, were startled. Cheshire’s hand, resting on my shoulder, tightened its grip.

 

I was crying.

 

I felt tears trickle down my cheeks.

 

Oh, right. I must have been secretly having selfish, foolish thoughts.

 

Maybe the landlord created Jamie just for me. That there’s no real mother for this baby. That, as time passes, he would naturally stay by my side. There’s no way a baby I would one day have to part with could be drawn to me so fatefully.

 

Really, that was ridiculous.

 

“Haha, ah… I guess I must have grown too attached to Jamie during this time. Suddenly, ah. I’m sorry….”

 

I said, wiping away my tears. Jamie, held in his mother’s arms, was staring at me with a pout. 

 

While I was still struggling to calm down, Cheshire approached Jamie. 

 

“Jamie, thank you for everything. Goodbye.”

 

“Byaaaa.”

 

And then he looked back at me. He was telling me that it was time to say goodbye. To let him go with a smile.

 

“Haha.”

 

I forced a smile and reached out to Jamie. He immediately grabbed my index finger with his tiny, baby hand.

 

That made me cry again, like an idiot.

 

“A, are you okay?”

 

“Oh, yes! Uh… um, I’ll see you again, right?”

  

“Of course. Jamie needs to grow up enough to travel far away, though. I’ll definitely contact you when he comes back to the Duchy.”

 

Ashley spoke affectionately. She was such a kind and gentle person. Jamie would live happily ever after with a mother like this.

 

So there’s no need for me to worry. All I have to do is let him go with a smile.

 

“Jamie!”

 

“Bya.”

 

“Ah, this is all so sudden. Sorry for crying. Uh, I mean… I was really… really lacking, but still, you didn’t cry, and yeah, you stayed strong while being with me. Thank you, and I’m sorry. Don’t get sick… and, um… let’s definitely meet again someday, okay?”

 

“….”

 

“Haha. Being with you, even if only for a short while, was really wonderful. I was so, so happy….”

 

Ashley seemed quite surprised to see me struggling to speak through tears, but there was nothing I could do. The tears wouldn’t stop.

 

But I wanted to make this final goodbye a proper one, so I wiped my eyes, smiled brightly, and waved.

 

“…Goodbye, Jamie!”

 

And that’s how Jamie left.

 

* * *

 

Jamie absentmindedly fell into his mother’s arms, picturing Lilith’s face.

 

I knew it would be difficult to say goodbye. Lilith instinctively read traces of her father in Jamie, and for a brief moment, she felt an intense bond.

 

The pull of blood. It was something Jamie couldn’t help.

 

The emptiness Lilith felt now, the sadness of parting, she would have to bear entirely.

 

“Wa!” 

 

Lost in thoughts of Lilith, before he knew it, he was already home.

 

Laid down on the soft bed as if gently tossed, Jamie gazed quietly up at his mother—at Ashley’s face.

 

She looked just like him.

 

‘Even Lilith’s father would be fooled….’

 

But the mother who had seemed so gentle and kind now, for some reason, wiped away her earlier expression and abruptly began undressing Jamie’s baby clothes. Her touch wasn’t very tender.

 

He was stripped bare, and she even tried to take off his diaper. Jamie, who was already heartbroken thinking of Lilith, choked up and began to babble.  

 

“Wh, why are you doing this… hhic.”  

 

“…?”

 

Ashley paused, arching her eyebrows in bewilderment.

 

“Huh, you’re crying?”