Obviously, It's My Child - Chapter 179
If she simply had Maximilian throw Linus back into the sea, he would surely sink into the depths this time.
Was it really that she just disliked seeing people die?
‘So faint-hearted.’
It wasn’t fierce enough to be called a flame. So he mentally corrected the woman’s name back to ‘Flower of Death’.
In fact, even if he wanted to go out and die now, he couldn’t.
With two guards stationed both inside and outside the room, and given that he couldn’t walk far, it wasn’t an option.
“Cough. Cough, cough!”
Linus covered his mouth with the blanket and coughed violently several times.
After the exhausting and horrid coughing fit, he saw a few droplets of blood had stained the blanket.
The maid who had brought warm water stepped back with a frightened look. He chuckled.
It was just a cough, but it wouldn’t go away.
“Has that woman returned?”
“What?”
The maid responded with a blank expression. She hadn’t imagined he would refer to the Duchess like that.
Linus decided to check for himself. He wasn’t particularly keen on meeting her. He just wanted to verify.
‘Verify? What?’
The question was unstable, fleeting across his mind too quickly for him to fully grasp.
As he tried to leave the room, one of the guards gently blocked the door.
“Move aside.”
“The Duchess requested that you refrain from going out due to your illness.”
“I’m only going to the corridor.”
The guards exchanged glances among themselves. They decided that this was acceptable.
After all, access to the third floor was restricted.
Linus slowly made his way out. He approached the corridor window and looked out at the sunlight streaming in.
The corridor window faced the garden, so he could hear the child’s voice more clearly.
Laughter burst forth like a fountain. Curious, he pushed the window open slightly.
There, he spotted Erich Klausener holding a toy sword.
* * *
“Peter Pan, today is my victory!”
Elliott declared triumphantly, brandishing his toy sword.
In contrast, Erich, holding a toy sword with both hands, maintained his usual composed expression.
His posture was so straight and dignified that Claire wondered if he had learned classical swordsmanship.
‘Wow, is that supposed to be Peter Pan?’
Erich, who didn’t know the original story, seemed to just be playing the villain. But Claire couldn’t help but gape in disbelief.
It would make more sense if they switched roles.
‘Well, it’s nice that he plays along so well, though.’
Was it really necessary to be so serious with a child who wasn’t even five years old?
No wonder Elliott liked and followed him so much.
Even now, Elliott’s face was flushed with excitement as he charged forward, shouting, “Ha!”
Erich skillfully parried the wild swings of Elliott’s toy sword, making it look convincing.
Claire noticed his lips curling into a barely noticeable smile.
“I never imagined he could be so gentle.”
Nanny Jenny said in amazement. Martha shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
“I knew from the beginning. They say if the wife is beautiful, the whole family is. Besides, how cute must our young master be?”
“True.”
Jenny agreed.
The guards keeping watch at a respectful distance from the garden might have shared similar sentiments, even if they couldn’t join the conversation.
‘Maybe Erich is just teasing Elliott.’
Claire couldn’t help but have that thought. Anyway, the child was thrilled.
“Take that! Ha!”
Thunk.
Erich nudged Elliott’s toy sword with the tip before it could touch him.
He wondered whether he should teach Elliot not to let the sword touch people directly.
‘Is it too soon?’
It seemed like he had a talent for fencing.
While he pushed the sword away again, he thought absurdly about how Elliott rolled on the ground, then jumped up, declaring,
“I’ll get Wendy back!”
“That’s a problem.”
Erich replied with a faintly crumbling smile, still maintaining a stoic demeanor.
He hadn’t answered as part of the role play, but Elliott was thrilled, swinging his sword around with enthusiasm.
Claire couldn’t help but wonder.
What kind of story had Elliot’s little mind reconstructed ‘Peter Pan’ into?
‘It didn’t seem like he was told the story in such a strange way.’
It seemed he had a fixation on pirate stories ever since he had seen the sea.
Yesterday, he had bragged to Erich with grandiose tales, mixing exaggeration and imagination about the sailors she had seen at Marquisate Ludendorff, and today, he was still energetically playing Captain Hook.
‘He really is great at entertaining.’
Claire admired Erich, who was engaging Elliott with such seriousness, without so much as a flicker of his brow.
She would have laughed at least ten times by now, or perhaps collapsed from exhaustion.
It was then that the window on the third floor caught her eye, the reflected light from the glass dazzling her.
Linus had got up.
Claire stood up.
“Elliott, it’s snack time.”
“Snack time!”
Elliott’s face brightened instantly as he tossed aside his toy sword.
After playing so energetically, he must be hungry. Claire was now concerned about ensuring he got something good to eat.
She had mentioned snacks to stop the game, but seeing his excitement made her worry that he might be disappointed with the snack menu.
Would he be satisfied with just a small sandwich like usual?
Martha, noticing Claire’s concern, beamed with a smile.
“The kitchen has prepared some seafood for the young master’s snack. Being by the sea, we have fresh ingredients.”
“Oh, that’s great.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
