Ch.172172. ····That’s Mine.

“You know the inn has separate rooms, right? No matter how young Lucien is, I can’t allow him to share a room with another man. Don’t feel bad—it’s not that I don’t trust you, but Lucien might act impulsively, and I’ve had similar experiences before.”

“Ah… yes.”

“Also, when you go to the market, Lucien will keep asking for candy. Make him choose just one. If you don’t stop him, he’ll keep eating them, so keep reminding him.”

“I will.”

“Be especially careful when shopping. Most shopping areas are in busy districts with lots of people walking around. Hold Lucien’s hand tightly when you’re out. He’s still young and finds many things fascinating. He might get lost while looking at various things.”

Jawill Wilson droops his shoulders with a tired expression.

“…Do you have anything else to say?”

“Of course. Unless it’s an emergency, never allow dragon transformation. Though I doubt Lucien would transform into a dragon without good reason, especially because of me.”

“And?”

“What was the name of that flower again? Something with ‘rium’?”

As I tilt my head in confusion, Jawill Wilson lets out a short sigh.

“Not ‘rium,’ but ‘nium.’ Delphinium.”

“Right. Federicks said there are many street vendors at the delphinium flower field. What does that mean? It means there are tons of people there too. Don’t lose sight of Lucien while looking at flowers.”

“Is that all now?”

“No, there’s more. Speaking of flower fields, if you go a bit further east from the delphinium field, there’s a place called the ‘Forest of Doom.’ It might not be as bad as the Forest of Death in our Lake territory, but it’s crawling with magical beasts, so be especially careful not to go that way.”

“Shouldn’t we worry about the magical beasts? Lucien has the skills to wipe out all the magical beasts in the Forest of Doom.”

I raised my eyebrows at Jawill Wilson’s question.

“What I mean is that I don’t want Lucien to get hurt, not even a hair.”

“…I understand. If you have more to say, perhaps you should accompany the young master yourself.”

I wondered if I was nagging too much.

But what could I do?

It was natural for a father to worry.

“I need to head to Alphonse territory soon myself.”

“You’re visiting Alphonse territory?”

“Yeah, I need to meet the husband candidates for Lady Miria Alphonse.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Why? Feeling disappointed? If you are, I could still add you to the list of candidates.”

At my suggestion, Jawill Wilson’s expression immediately hardened like stone, and he bowed.

“Then I’ll prepare to visit Cataria territory.”

“How bland… let me know if you change your mind.”

Jawill Wilson closed the study door without looking back.

A moment later, after a knock, Lucien entered the study.

“…Father, I’m sorry.”

I looked at Lucien with wide eyes at the sudden apology.

“What are you sorry for?”

“For telling Uncle Jawill Wilson that I wanted to visit another territory…”

“Why are you sorry about that?”

“Because I feel like I’m giving you more things to worry about when you’re already busy…”

I was the one who should feel sorry, but seeing Lucien apologize made my heart ache even more.

I managed an awkward smile.

“No, it’s fine. Just make sure you listen to Uncle Jawill Wilson and come back safely, okay?”

“Yes! Don’t worry! I’ll be careful!”

“Good.”

After seeing off Jawill Wilson and Lucien, who had finished their travel preparations, at the front of the mansion, I immediately boarded a carriage to head to Alphonse territory.

“Are you alright?”

I tilted my head at Federicks’ concerned question from across the carriage.

“About what?”

“Your expression hasn’t been good since sending off Jawill Wilson and Lucien.”

“How can I not worry when I’ve sent off two troublemakers together?”

“But Lucien is a sharp child, isn’t he? I think there’s no need to worry.”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t worry too much when I have something good right ahead of me…”

“Well said.”

Having been flying in and out of other territories with Lucien lately, traveling by carriage felt quite boring.

I had the selfish thought that I should have gone to Alphonse territory with Lucien before he left with Jawill Wilson.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Good.”

Upon arriving at Alphonse territory, I saw Miria Alphonse running toward me from a distance to welcome me.

“Selden!!”

“Sister, it’s been a while—oof!”

Miria Alphonse immediately threw herself into my chest.

I let out a short sigh at her unchanged behavior.

“Selden! I missed you!”

“Sister, I can’t breathe.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, so it’s okay if you can’t breathe for a moment, right!?”

“…I’m going to die.”

Startled, Miria Alphonse began touching my face with both hands.

“Y-you’re going to die!?”

“I think I’m fine now, so please let go.”

“Tch! Fine.”

“By the way, where is Mother?”

Miria Alphonse made an embarrassed expression at my question.

“W-well, Mother isn’t feeling well…”

“Is she ill?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Miria Alphonse continued to trail off.

I could guess why Mother, who always came out to greet me, wasn’t showing herself.

The death of my second brother, Jason Alphonse.

Although he died at the hands of our father, Baron Byron, I was the one who revealed the crime.

‘Hmm…’

Is she resentful?

Or perhaps it’s just awkward since she hasn’t seen me since then.

“Son!”

Just then, a woman’s voice called from behind.

I reflexively turned my head to see Elaria Alphonse waving at me.

She wasn’t humming and running toward me like before, but her smile remained the same.

“Selden Alphonse, I greet you, Mother.”

“My proud son!!”

As I was about to greet her formally, her chest pressed against my nose before I could refuse.

“P-please let go! Mmph!!”

“Son, I couldn’t sleep because I was so proud of you for stopping the magical beast wave!”

I managed to pry her chest away from my nose and barely maintained my composure.

“You haven’t changed, Mother.”

“And my son is still as handsome as ever!”

Despite the situation being identical to our first meeting, there was a slight awkwardness that wasn’t present before.

It felt like she was trying hard to appear cheerful.

I responded to Elaria Alphonse’s effort with a gentle smile.

“Shall we go take a bath together? It’s been a while.”

“My… really?”

“Of course!”

I wanted to play the role of the youngest child for a moment.

Elaria Alphonse, surprised by my unexpected suggestion, grabbed my arm eagerly.

And then we entered the bath.

I looked at Miria Alphonse with a slightly uncomfortable expression, not expecting the situation.

“Sister, why did you follow us in?”

“Do you think I would miss out on a bath?”

“Please stop rubbing your bottom against my thigh.”

“I’m not rubbing my bottom! I just don’t like the hard bathroom floor! Hmm, what’s this? It’s soft!”

“…That’s mine.”

“Tch, so it doesn’t get hard for your sister anymore!?”

As I was lightly pushing away Miria Alphonse, who kept pushing her bottom against me, Elaria Alphonse sitting across from us spoke softly.

“It must have been difficult during the magical beast wave. I’m sorry we couldn’t help.”

“Not at all. I knew that neighboring territories would be busy dealing with the magical beasts that spilled over, so I never expected help in the first place.”

“…Still, I’m proud of you, son. Even grand territories have no history of stopping a magical beast wave, yet you managed to do it alone in a territory you were exiled to.”

“It was all thanks to the knights and mercenaries.”

“And you’ve changed so much. When you were exiled, I hated your father so much, but now I think it was the right decision.”

“It’s all thanks to how well you and Father raised me.”

Then, Elaria Alphonse carefully continued.

“…I hope you don’t dwell on what happened with Jason Alphonse. Even as a mother, I know what he did was wrong.”

For a moment, my body stiffened at Elaria Alphonse’s words.

So much so that I yielded my thigh to Miria Alphonse, who kept pushing her bottom against me.

Mother is indeed Mother, isn’t she?

No matter how naturally I acted, she noticed that I was still concerned about Jason Alphonse.

“I’m sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for? You did it for the people of Alphonse territory. Your father is proud of you too.”

Despite being in a possessed body, I felt a lump in my throat at Elaria Alphonse’s warm heart.

Just as I was about to say something more, Miria Alphonse, who failed to read the atmosphere, exclaimed loudly.

“F-finally, it’s hard!”