I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

"Wow! There is a butterfly!"

Carlisle looked for a butterfly among the greenery and screamed. He ran through the small flower garden and reached for that one.

A new surge of joyful childish laughter admonished us that this butterfly had already fallen into his hands.

An alarmed male voice followed:

"Carlisle, be careful. It won't take long to fall."

Raymond's attention was drawn to Jeremy, who had just left the mansion.

And why are you getting out of there?

At that moment, he gritted his teeth, without noticing it.

Ellie came out next.

She had a basket of food on her arm.

She goes out into the courtyard, spreads the fabric, puts the basket on it and alternately looks at Jeremy and Carlisle.

With a smile like Raymond had never seen before.

The Emperor's heart sank as if nailed to this new spectacle.

His fingertips began to tremble as if they were being doused with ice water.

Meanwhile, the joyful voices of Jeremy and Carlisle beat him in the brain.

"I caught you!"

"How can you?! Mom, help me, I was caught!"

Carlisle laughed as he reached for Ellie.

Happy children's laughter spread throughout the yard when she took her son in her arms, pretending to help out of trouble.

"Will you have sandwiches? You didn't even have breakfast."

"Yes!"

Carlisle and Jeremy sat down on the cover that Ellie had spread out.

Jeremy took a sandwich and fed it to Carlisle from his hand. Ellie poured the juice and the three chatted merrily.

Needless to say, Raymond's existence remained unseen.

"Why are they have…"

His voice cracked and he bit his tongue.

‘Close relationship’ was the answer to the question.

I denied everything endlessly, but the scene in front of me reveals the image of a truly happy family. As if a mockery in my direction.

When did Ellie get pregnant at all?

Before, I could only dream and worry about getting a new child.

At some point, rage whispered in his ear to run up and smash this cute scene to shreds. But that hitherto unprecedented smile of Ellie froze before his eyes, and his heart pounded with a hammer.

What the hell am I even hoping for?

I wanted to ask Ellie directly and get a simple answer. But I couldn’t even take a step towards them.

I was, after all, an uninvited guest.

Ellie's happy smile will disappear the very moment he go out from the bushes.

Raymond froze, consumed by a sense of helplessness, as if the abyss was taking him away.

Jeremy spun around in search of a handkerchief to wipe crumbs from Carlisle's lips.

And something flashed into his field of vision.

How the hell did you get here?

He blinked slowly to see if he was imagining it. But it was clear as day, the Emperor himself stood in a pillar in the middle of the forest.

And although Jeremy's gaze didn’t leave him for a while, the Emperor didn’t look back.

In his vision, only Ellie and Carlisle were lying.

The Emperor was fixated on those two.

Jeremy's heart began to beat faster.

At such a moment, how can you judge what to do with this situation?

He couldn't know what the hell the Emperor was here, or if he understood Carlisle's origins.

While Jeremy was hesitating whether to tell Ellie or not, the Emperor started to move.

After looking at Carlisle for the last time, he suddenly turned and walked in the opposite direction from the mansion.

There was a knock of horseshoes.

Did the Emperor really leave like that?

He came to the mansion, saw Carlisle and did nothing.

Why did you leave without doing anything?

If he understood everything, if he saw Carlisle…

It suddenly dawned on Jeremy that Carlisle was now not wearing any of the royal family marks.

Thanks to magic, Carlisle was no longer black-haired with black eyes, but silver and with purple eyes.

Even though he saw Carlisle, there was no symbol of the imperial family on him, so he shouldn’t suspect a connection.

And since he saw me here, maybe I…

"What are you not eating?"

"Ah."

As Jeremy sat dumbfounded, Ellie asked, puzzled.

"Jeremy, Jeremy has to eat too."

Carlisle shoved him a sandwich.

"What are you doing?"

Jeremy turned as Ellie called out to him anxiously again, as if she sensed tension in the atmosphere.

Even if the Emperor is gone, there is no guarantee that it will end there.

He already knows this place. He can always come back and drag Carlisle away.

I had to tell Ellie.

* * *

We turned into the mansion before we finished our picnic. And it happened because Jeremy gave me the following:

"Ellie."

"What happened?"

"His Majesty happened."

"What?"

I couldn't understand what he was talking about.

"The Emperor has just come and gone."

I followed his gaze and saw a forest nearby.

If Raymond was there… He saw us.

Me and Carlisle.

"He watched you with Carlisle. I think he understood that he’s your son."

What do they say there? When people are too scared, do they feel white in their eyes?

I can't see anything around me and my head is spinning.

Raymond was here.

Above that all, he saw Carlisle.

How, the hell…

He had no idea of ​​Carlisle's existence at all.

It was no coincidence that he came across a mansion in the middle of the forest.

He must have done a preliminary investigation when he found out about Carlisle's existence.

"How could he know?"

"It can’t be. That day?"

Jeremy's eyes went up to his forehead as if he had an insight. He looked at me and said:

“Ellie, I told you I met with the Emperor. The day you lost Carlisle. And the place where I met His Majesty was very close to the night market." Jeremy added in a low voice: “This is how I met Ellie that day.”

If Jeremy and I were close enough to meet by chance, then Raymond could be at that night market.

Carlisle never made it to the capital, so that day was the most likely occurrence.

"Then… Indeed, that day…"

I turned to Carlisle with the main question.

"Carlisle."

Carlisle, who didn’t understand the serious problems of adults, stared into my eyes.

"Yes."

"Do you remember the man who helped you that day… Do you remember what that uncle looked like?"

"Yes! I remember black eyes. Moreover, the hair was black. This uncle was a good uncle…"

Carlisle's muttering shook me as if I had been slapped in the back of the head.

My head was still spinning, I could hardly stand on my feet.

I was so careful. How could this happen?

"Ellie!"

When I woke up from Jeremy's anxious screams, I noticed how I was shaking all over.

It never occurred to me that Raymond and Carlisle would meet on such a ridiculous coincidence.

But what can I do?

Within a week, Carlisle was supposed to sail away to the academy, but suddenly everything went awry and I was confused.

"Ellie, don't let yourself be unsettled."

Jeremy's advice gave me some spirit back.

Yes, this is correct.

You can’t afford to be discouraged.

I calmed down and asked Jeremy.

"Jeremy, His Majesty… Have you really seen him? Didn't it seem to you?"

"Sorry. But no."

His eyes didn’t flinch.

Raymond was indeed here. But then why did he turn back right in front of my nose?

It was utterly unlike Raymond. If he accidentally found out about the existence of Carlisle and even found our hideout, he would come to demand the whole truth from me.

Because he is a person who believes only in what he sees and hears himself.

"Everything is very strange. Why did he see Carlisle and just leave?"

Have you found evidence that the child is yours? Why else did he leave at once?

No one in the world could know his intentions for sure.

Convinced that Carlisle was his child, he would immediately take his son away from me.

If Carlisle's past is fully revealed, he will become the second prince, a new struggle for power will begin…

"Hell, no."

No, this won’t happen, there is no evidence.

I hugged the bewildered Carlisle and told myself, shaking with concern.

The papers were neatly arranged.

The doctor who received Carlisle was a man who roamed the continent, so it would be difficult to find him.

Then what the…

While I was winding myself up, Jeremy said:

"I wonder what the Emperor thought?"

"Huh?"

"Carlisle got a new look, right? Silver hair, purple eyes. There is no symbol of the Agrita family."

Carlisle's magic assistant was a tiny inconspicuous earring.

A child without the symbol of Agrita or magic tools.

Raymond wouldn't think Carlisle is his child.

Even if the Emperor found out that I have a son, he still doesn’t know that this is his own child.

"But even so, Raymond isn’t the kind to go that far and go so quietly."

There must be some other reason.

"Yes. Maybe it's me."

"What does it mean?"

"He probably saw Carlisle and me together… It seems His Majesty misunderstood our relationship with you."

"Ah…"

It was only then that it dawned on me.

If you saw Jeremy playing with Carlisle…

We'll throw dust in his eyes.

Carlisle's father is Jeremy.

Plus, coincidentally, they have similar hair color.

That wasn’t my intention, but what happened, happened. Jeremy is now caught up in this with us.

I'm sorry, but Jeremy is in greater danger now.

"Forgive me for framing you."

"Use me then."