AFRPR 22

Episode 22

“Mom!”

When Estelle came back after stepping away, Duren ran up and hugged her tightly.

He had been outside with the old lady but ran toward Estelle so fast that she almost fell over from the force of his hug.

“Mom! Grandma! Look at this!”

Duren held out a flower. He had found it while walking around and picked it.

“It’s a pretty flower.”

“It’s for you!”

Just as he was about to give it to Estelle, he stopped. He had only picked one flower, but now there were two people he wanted to give it to.

Looking confused, Duren froze.

Estelle smiled at how cute he was and pointed to the old lady.

“Why don’t you give this one to Grandma, and next time you find another, you can give that one to me?”

“Okay!”

As Estelle watched him give the flower to the old lady, she decided to ask Duren a question.

“Hey, Duren.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like Grandma more, or the man more?”

Not “Grandma or Mom,” but “Grandma or the man”?

That was easy to answer.

“Dudu likes—!”

Just as he was about to shout his answer—

“Wait.”

Lennox came over to them.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

“We already talked,” Estelle replied coldly, as if she’d never been kind to him before.

“I don’t have anything more to say.”

The mood suddenly turned icy.

Lennox realized it would be hard to change Estelle’s mind.

“I’ll change, then.”

So he got straight to the point.

“I was wrong. It was all my fault. I’ll do as you said.”

“…”

“So please talk with me one more time.”

“…Fine. Let’s move to a different place.”

Estelle was surprised at how humble Lennox was being—it didn’t match the man who earlier acted annoyed.

She decided to hear him out.

“Where’s Mom going?”

Duren held onto Estelle.

“I’m just going to talk to that man for a little bit.”

Lennox pointed to himself, not sure if Duren really meant him.

“Yeah! That man!”

Duren looked at Lennox and confirmed.

‘If you wanted to be called “Dad,” you should’ve acted like one,’ Estelle thought as she handed Duren over to the old lady and walked away.

Now, only Estelle and Lennox remained.

“Okay. So how are you going to change?”

Lennox was speechless for a moment.

Estelle frowned, like she expected this.

“Don’t tell me you said you’d change without a plan?”

“I wanted to start by apologizing for what I said before. That’s the right thing to do.”

“Exactly what part are you apologizing for?”

Estelle wanted to be clear.

If he gave a weak answer, she was ready to leave and go back to Duren right away. She stared at him.

After a moment, Lennox spoke.

“…For calling you a busybody.”

“And?”

And?

Lennox paused again, but then slowly recalled what he’d said earlier.

“For saying spending time with family is pointless and annoying.”

“Exactly.”

Even though Lennox admitted what he’d done wrong, Estelle didn’t look happy.

“Pippin told you to say that, didn’t he?”

Gulp.

“…He gave me some advice.”

“I thought so.”

Still, Estelle started to feel a little better.

Lennox wasn’t just repeating what Pippin told him—he understood.

‘He’s not the kind of man to just parrot others anyway.’

“I accept your apology. But I still think Duren should be allowed to spend time with Grandma if he wants to.”

“…”

“Even if you change how you treat Duren, I’m not giving up on this.”

Estelle felt nervous.

This was what started their argument.

No matter how much Pippin tried to convince Lennox, there was no guarantee he’d agree completely.

She swallowed hard.

Then Lennox said:

“Alright.”

His easy agreement caught her off guard.

“A week—is that enough?”

“Huh? Uh, yes.”

Estelle nodded, a bit flustered, then quickly focused.

“What if, after a week, Duren says he doesn’t want to come back…?”

“Then we’ll talk to him together. I won’t just ignore the problem anymore.”

“…Okay.”

Lennox seemed serious about changing.

So Estelle decided to speak up.

“You said you’d listen to me, right? From now on, please avoid long trips and try to spend more time with Duren. At least one hour a day for now.”

“Just an hour?”

“That’s the starting point. You need to build up slowly.”

“I’ll try.”

Now that they were listening and compromising, the talk went smoothly.

Suddenly, Estelle got curious.

“Why did you decide to adopt Duren in the first place? Avoiding the engagement with the princess wasn’t the only option.”

“Because someone had to carry on the Winterlen family line.”

He sounded firm.

Estelle was about to ask if it really mattered, since Duren wasn’t related by blood, but then—

“Mom!”

“…Duren?”

Estelle turned and was shocked.

While she wasn’t looking, Duren had walked over carrying a huge rock—almost as big as himself.

“I tried to stop him. I’m sorry… He really insisted on bringing it,” the old lady said.

“It’s okay,” Estelle said and went to Duren.

“Why did you bring this rock?”

Did he think he was in trouble?

Duren looked around nervously, so Estelle used a softer voice.

“The rock is as big as you. It must’ve been heavy. You probably wanted to put it down, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But you still carried it here. I want to know why. Why bring this rock?”

“It’s a gift!”

A gift?

“For you, Mom!”

Duren looked at Estelle with shining eyes.

“A gift for me? Thank you so much.”

The rock wasn’t special—just big. But Estelle was truly thankful.

“And Dudu loves Mom the most!”

“I love Duren…”

She was about to say “the most” when she remembered something:

[Do you like Grandma or the man more?]

That was his answer.

“But Grandma is here too.”

“I love Grandma too!”

“…”

“I love everyone!”

Duren smiled so wide his eyes became crescent moons.

“As big as this rock!”

The rock he brought with so much effort.

To him, it was the biggest way to show how much he loved them.

Love has no shape.

But today, Estelle felt its weight.

The rock Duren carried was heavier than any other stone—maybe even heavier than an entire mountain.

“Mom loves Duren as much as the sky and earth.”

“I love you this much too, Mom!”

Duren stretched out his arms to show how big his love was.

When he did, Estelle noticed how dirty his clothes had gotten.

He was wearing white today, so the dirt and stains from hugging the rock really stood out—but no one mentioned it.

‘Now I have to tell him he can only stay with Grandma for one more week.’

One week wasn’t long.

But somehow, the thought of Duren being away even for just a week already felt like a long time.

Estelle hesitated—

“Excuse me…”

The old lady spoke gently.