* * *
Only then did Felix, looking satisfied, pick up his fork last.
His eyes still wouldn’t leave Lowell.
“By the way….”
Felix opened his mouth as he cut his steak and swapped his plate with Lowell’s.
Edwin, who had received a small meatball, looked at Felix with his mouth wide open.
It was a very child-like moment of being focused but unable to do two things at once.
“A message came from the capital. They were asking if it isn’t time for the Master of Nyx to participate in the Month of Blessing festival, since the child is already four years old.”
“Edwin is only three, since his birthday hasn’t passed yet.”
“Right. I suppose those in the capital don’t like the fact that I never leave the castle because of the child.”
For the first year or two, no nobles complained because of Felix’s past achievements, but those grumbling were slowly increasing.
It was understandable, as Felix had never left Nyx since returning to the castle.
‘He hasn’t even attended the Month of Blessing festival, where nobles are forced to gather, so that says it all.’
The Month of Blessing that occurred the year after Edwin was born was held on a smaller scale by the Crown Prince, who had become the Emperor.
The official reason was because not much time had passed since the passing of the former Emperor, but the reality was different.
At that time, the Emperor had been frantic trying to find Robin, and it was said he only found him after half the year had passed.
Since then, the Month of Blessing festivals had continued, but Felix had unilaterally declared he wouldn’t participate because Edwin was too young.
‘I heard that last year he was mocked with comments like “It seems there are no nannies in Nyx,” so I guess a message came this year saying he must participate no matter what.’
Lowell indifferently put the steak Felix had cut for him into his mouth.
“Are you planning to skip it this time as well?”
Felix wasn’t the type of person to change his mind just because he was told something.
Lowell also assumed Felix would refuse as usual.
However, the answer that came back was unexpected.
“I’m thinking of going this time.”
Lowell forgot to swallow his food and widened his eyes.
Felix continued, pushing a glass of water toward Lowell.
“I was thinking we should all go together.”
Lowell, who was drinking the water he was handed, almost spat it out and ended up coughing.
“All together?”
Edwin, who had briefly lost interest and was just moving his fork, also stared at Felix with blinking eyes.
Felix furrowed his brows.
“Did you think I would leave you and Edwin in Nyx and go alone? That’s nonsense.”
Lowell thought of the response that “usually everyone does that,” but he didn’t say it out loud.
He had no intention of making Felix do something he didn’t want to do, and even less intention of making him follow other people’s standards.
“Of course, we’ll leave the knights behind, except for the escort.”
Lowell hadn’t assumed they would take all the knights anyway, so he nodded.
Perhaps taking Lowell’s surprise as a sign of rejection, Felix took a step back.
“But if you don’t want to go, staying in Nyx this year is fine too. It was just a suggestion.”
Felix spoke softly, stroking the back of the now-calmed Lowell.
At this almost submissive attitude, Lowell’s neck turned slightly red as he placed his hand lightly on Felix’s forearm.
“No. It’s not that I don’t want to, I was just curious why you want to go to Phoebus, which you used to avoid.”
“It’s not that I avoided it. I just didn’t go because there was no reason to.”
Though he countered immediately, Felix thought Lowell might be right.
Since his last memory of Phoebus was terrible, he might have unconsciously considered it unpleasant.
He thought to himself that Lowell was indeed sharp in these matters and praised his wife for being wise.
“Papa, where are we—no, where are we going?”
When the conversation between the two paused for a moment, Edwin put down his fork completely and asked with sparkling eyes.
He seemed to have something he wanted to say but was too excited to get the words out easily.
“You know, I saw it in a storybook. Other places don’t have snow.”
The child, who rarely begged for anything, spoke in a long, expectant voice.
Lowell sensed that Edwin had played a big part in Felix’s decision.
“And it’s warm—it’s warm outside too. Isn’t that strange?”
Watching Edwin chatter away in excitement, Lowell felt that he, too, would soon be heading to Phoebus.
“That’s right. Edwin, do you want to see a warm place?”
Edwin’s eyes darted back and forth at Lowell’s question.
Even though he had been speaking with an excited voice just a moment ago, he seemed to be debating how to answer directly.
Instead of just stating his thoughts, Edwin always took a moment to think of the answer Lowell might want before speaking.
He had been like this since he gained a decent command of language, even though Lowell had never pressured him.
Seeing this, Lowell felt a pang of guilt, thinking that this trait was something the boy had inherited from him.
“I want to hear what Edwin thinks, so it’s okay to be honest.”
At Lowell’s gentle prompting, Edwin carefully nodded his small face.
Then, as if suddenly realizing that gesture might be rude, he parted his small lips.
“Yes. I want to go play.”
Lowell consciously smiled more broadly at that answer.
Seeing this, Edwin wiped away the slight trace of worry from his expression and beamed.
“That’s perfect then. Edwin has to go to Phoebus someday anyway, so I think it would be good to go together ahead of time.”
“Right. If we want to stay on schedule, we have to leave in a week.”
“Then we’ll be busy starting today.”
“Don’t worry, there isn’t much to prepare,” Felix replied as he stood up, wiping a smudge of sauce from Edwin’s cheek.
The servants waiting in the back flinched.
It was a task they could have been ordered to do—or something they would have handled naturally after the meal—but Felix insisted on doing it himself.
He only returned to his seat after Edwin shouted, “I can do it myself, no, I can do it!”
“Think of it as a vacation.”
Felix tapped Lowell’s neck lightly with his finger.
Even though it was barely a touch, heat began to spread, and Lowell’s senses focused on that one spot.
Felix, who had raised his hand unconsciously, slowed his movements and subtly widened the area he was touching.
The red flush blooming on Lowell’s neck seemed to spread everywhere.
“Vacation! What’s a vacation? Tell me.”
Edwin’s curious voice acted like a splash of cold water on the rising heat.
Felix’s finger twitched and pulled away slowly, as if with regret.
“It means going somewhere far away to play.”
When Lowell leaned toward Edwin and whispered with exaggerated excitement, Edwin burst into a delighted laugh.
‘The factions that used to overtly ignore Felix have long since been dealt with, so there’s no reason to avoid Phoebus.’
Lowell shook off the faint sense of foreboding he had felt when he first heard the suggestion to go together.
‘Fine. Let’s take this chance to pull out a nagging tooth.’
It was a sudden trip, but since things had turned out this way, he decided to try and kill two birds with one stone.
* * *
