/
After gaining back his trust, I quickly placed Selene in the basket along with Haniel. The kids were restless and seeing how there was no other emergency rescue team, “Of course not. I’ll be taking my leave. And Mr., no. Darren is actually a white swan.”
“…White swan?” Whether he’s a man or a bird, he’s still a bastard. Rashid returned to normal after mumbling fiercely under his breath.
I made myself clear once more in case he had further misunderstandings. “Yes, so accurately speaking, it’s just a male.”
“Then that’s… What? A male?” The twisted expression returned to his once calm face. He followed behind, with the word disgusted written all over his face.
“Could he be your son then?”
“Son? No way, Darren is….”
“I’d rather he was your son!”
Wow, surprisingly, I wasn’t fazed at all by now. Instead, I was surprised at how calm I was facing his constant mood swings. Rashid would have unsheathed his sword while having a meal if he was his usual self.
I approached him and shook my head, signaling him to stop. “Anyway, don’t worry. Regardless of their gender, there’s no way I’d be on their side.”
“You pick sides?”
“Aren’t you concerned about that right now?”
“…You-” Rashid’s eyes were drained of energy as he seemed to be as frustrated as I was. It felt like we were fools as we stood there looking at each other blankly.
I wondered how to break this awkward silence just when Haniel’s head peeked out from the basket. [Mommyy.]
“Yes?”
[Mommy, I…] Haniel’s eyes were wide open as if she had something to say. She had the habit of beating around the bush whenever she had something to show.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” She’s just as cute as she was. Her tail, wings, beak, and those eyes….
“Oh my goodness, what’s this!”
[…Umm.]
I finally discovered the white ribbon on her head, and Haniel turned away, playing innocent. But it showed the ribbon clearly. “You didn’t have this earlier! Who gave you this? Oh my.”
I picked up one end of the ribbon, which had a piece of jewel attached to it, and swallowed it. It felt soft, like a certain someone’s hair, but it was different compared to the ribbons we had received before.
Haniel put out her beak more, it didn’t seem like she disliked the ribbon.
“Oh, it must have been your third brother!” I had failed both her eldest and fourth brothers from my list of Haniel’s guardians and had naturally thought of her third brother first. Her third brother, Peyton, was the most normal-looking one amongst them.
“Yes, your third brother is the most…”
[N, no.] The white ribbon on Haniel’s head shook along with her as she replied. I didn’t have to wait for Haniel’s correction since I could feel a certain someone’s death glare shooting at me as my face turned red.
“Um… Then… could that be your fourth brother?”
“Stop it if you’re doing this on purpose.”
“…”
“It’s getting boring.” Rashid’s low and booming voice emphasized my actions once more. I had never thought that he would detest my shocked facade and start growling so openly at the entrance of my residence.
“I don’t exactly know how you thought of me but…”
“Did Your Majesty really give this to her?” I held Haniel up to his line of sight and looked at him with wide opened eyes. Based on my experience, even if Rashid was staring at the person before him, he had trouble responding to them and would even stutter at times.
“Your Majesty tied this ribbon for her?”
“…Who would have done it otherwise?”
“…”
“Tenon being the ignorant guy he is, only knew how to wield his sword, and Peyton has lived his entire life in the palace, so he wouldn’t know how the world went round.” Anyone else who heard this might think he was an extremely considerate person and knew very well about worldly affairs, but this was the most ordinary version of Rashid I’ve ever seen.
“Ah, I see.” It seems that I could reinstate this nominee to his original position then?
At the delightful thought of Haniel’s list of guardians potentially increasing, my eyes smiled, similar to a crescent moon. As long as he had a normal personality, there was no other better nominee than her Emperor brother.