Aidan stared blankly at Lily, resisting the urge to sigh. He'd negotiated with businessmen twice his age in his past life - now he was reduced to a squishy object of fascination in his mother's lavish bedroom. This is my legacy, he thought grimly as Lily poked his tummy yet again. She had taken him from his cradle and placed him on the massive bed of parents
"Hey Sophia," Lily called out, "why is his tummy even softer than my boobs?"
Sophia who was on sofa while having going through some document looked up as hissed. "Lily! Get your dirty Hands off my baby!"
Aidan closed his eyes. Please let me wake up from this nightmare.
Aidan still struggled with the language, but he listened intently to every word, analyzing and memorizing what he could. While he hadn't mastered comprehension yet, he was beginning to grasp the general meaning behind conversations.
Lily pouted. "Relax, he likes me. Don't you, squish ball?" She tickled his side. Aidan didn't flinch, but he made a note to someday exact revenge his eyes pointing daggers on his aunt.
"He is my baby, not some squish ball for you to play with!" Sophia hissed as she rushed forward. Grumbling under her breath, she took Aidan off the bed and into her.
Lily pouted, crossing her arms dramatically.
"Aren't I his aunt? Don't I even get to squish him a little?" she complained, reaching for Aidan again.
But before her fingers could graze his chubby cheeks, a sharp cough cut through the air, freezing their playful activity.
Sophia turned, seeing Liam now seated on the couch with a smirk on his face, his gaze teasing both women before settling on Aidan.
Aidan gently levitated into Liam's hands as he said, "You two may continue. I'll take my child."
Aidan looked at his father, who always seemed like to startle people. From what he could remember, Liam never entered a room like a normal man—walking in and making his presence known. Instead, he always just... appeared, as if coming out of thin air.
Sophia smiled when she saw Liam, but her smile quickly faded as she recalled the incident with the maid a few days ago. She hurried over, saying, "Thank god you're back," and took a seat beside him. Lily followed closely behind.
Sensing the tension in Sophia's voice, Liam frowned. The simple gesture was enough to shift the atmosphere—suddenly, the room felt heavier, a faint aura of danger creeping in.
"What happened?" Liam asked.
Sophia quickly explained the situation. As her words ended, Liam's eyes shifted toward Lily, and she understood the meaning behind that gaze.
Lily responded, "From what I found, the maid doesn't seem to be connected to any race or hostile faction. She entered the Wilson estate through bribery... and by seducing the officer in charge of recruitment."
She paused for a moment, her head slightly lowered.
"Don't worry. I've dealt with everyone involved. But... I couldn't find any clue about who was behind it. I'm sorry."
Liam shook his head. "It's not your fault. Whoever dared to do this is either extremely confident... or certain they won't be caught." His voice was calm but carried a cold edge. "I'll make sure nothing like this happens again."
He lowered his gaze to Aidan, gently brushing a finger across the boy's soft cheek. His expression softened. "I'm sorry, son."
Aidan, who had heard Liam's words, reflexively widened his eyes. He hadn't expected his father, with the cold exterior he always showed, to be so warm. For a moment, a strange emotion stirred in his chest—conflict.
Every person in this family had shown him nothing but love and care… and yet, he couldn't help but treat them like strangers. Was he the one in the wrong?
Liam watched his children, a faint crease forming between his brows. Liam recalled his own looking as he looked at Aidan—his father's failures, his mother's early death, Lady Charlotte's stern guidance, and the day he met Sophia. He had carved his place in the world through sheer will, rising the legacy he was born into making it resound once more to all.
Liam was a man of calm resolve and quiet pride, respected by nobles and feared by enemies. Yet beneath that composed exterior lay a guilt he rarely admitted—the time lost with Aidan, the warmth he'd missed giving.
He didn't show affection easily, but his love was unwavering. For his family, he would do more than break a rule—he would protect, no matter the cost. He would burn the world if it meant keeping them safe. Unlike his father.
On that night Liam did not leave but stay with Aidan, keeping him company.
Time passed in the blink of an eye. From helpless infant, Aidan grew into a toddler who could run around the estate.
The word mother echoed in Sophia's ears like music. She was up in an instant, pacing with uncontained joy, grabbing Lily, and then shouting down the hallway to Liam, and probably half the staff by now, on that day Sophia did not acted like a duchess but a mother.
Liam, on the other hand, remained seated. His calm never wavered, but a soft smile touched his lips as he looked at Aidan—a rare, quiet pride in his eyes.
And Aidan… he noticed.
The warmth of their actions—the way Sophia doted on him without restraint, the silent strength in Liam's presence— the way Lily took care of him all of it chipped slowly but steadily made a place in his heart. Slowly, without even realizing when, he had stopped seeing them as strangers.
He had a family now.
Not just caretakers. Not just nobles in some new world.
A real mother.
A real father.
A real aunt.
He grew under their watch, and before long, he started dragging books into his room, determined to fulfil his goal of becoming strong—of being free.
His ambition, unlike love or trust, needed no space to grow—he was born with it, his goals still remain unchanged, to be strong and to be free, to break any chain that try to shackle him.