By Zephyria 
“Nathaniel, come here. Meet my friend, Ariel.”
Nathaniel, who had stopped in the hallway, fixed his gaze on Ariel, who was visible behind Koi. As their eyes met, Ariel flinched. Could a child of only ten years have eyes like that? His platinum blonde hair, nearly silver, and his purple eyes were the same as the other brothers, but for some reason, Ariel felt a chill.
“Hello, I am Nathaniel Miller.”
The child greeted Ariel politely. As expected, he had a face as beautiful as a doll’s, but no emotion could be found in his glass-like pupils. Looking at his cold face, which showed neither curiosity nor wariness toward a stranger, Ariel suddenly wondered.
I wonder how he would react if he knew I was with Koi while he was still in the womb.
Soon, the self-deprecating thought followed: He probably wouldn’t react much anyway. Shortly after, Nathaniel left. Returning to his chair, Koi spoke with a flushed face.
“He’s a bit blunt, and he doesn’t talk much.”
“Seems so.”
Ariel hummed and crossed her arms. When Koi tilted his head at her reaction, as if she were thinking of something, Ariel finally let her arms drop.
“I think Nathaniel takes after his grandfather.”
“Really? Why?”
Surprised by the sudden remark, Koi asked. He resembled Ashley’s father, Dominic Miller?
“Have you seen him?”
“Once. He came to school when I was dating Ash.”
Ariel nodded readily, then twisted her lips into a cold sneer.
“He looked at me as if I were a bug.”
“At you? Why?”
It was absurd. There was someone in the world who looked at Ariel that way? Regardless of Koi’s horror, Ariel shrugged with an indifferent tone.
“Who knows, maybe he thought I didn’t suit the great Ashley Miller.”
“That’s not true! I mean, what I’m trying to say is…”
Denying it instinctively, Koi hurriedly corrected himself.
“You two were a very well-matched couple back then. Everyone said so, and I…”
“Forget it, Koi. It’s all in the past, and I don’t care.”
As always, Ariel coolly brushed off the past. Still, Koi felt somewhat disheartened. Even if it was the father of his beloved Ashley, it didn’t feel great to hear that his son resembled a man who had looked down on his precious friend.
“What part of him is similar? To that man.”
At Koi’s question, Ariel tilted her head and gave a vague answer.
“Just… sort of. A feeling.”
Is it the vibe?
Guessing as much, Koi decided to bring up something he had heard.
“Ash said Grayson takes after their father, not Nathaniel.”
“Grayson? Well, maybe in appearance, but…”
Ariel looked away as if searching her memories, then smiled nonchalantly.
“Doesn’t everyone have different opinions? Besides, I only saw him once today, and if Ash, who sees him every day, said so, then it must be true. I only saw that boy’s father once back then, too.”
The topic soon shifted. Koi stopped prying and began chatting about everyday things. Time flew by as he listened to stories about Bill during the vacation and the time Bill was invited to have a meal with Ariel’s parents.
“I had fun today, Koi.”
As Ariel said goodbye at the entrance, Koi spoke with a flushed face.
“Thank you for coming, Al. Especially from such a long distance.”
“It was good to see the kids, too.”
Ariel smiled and waved her hand as if it were no trouble. Feeling reluctant to part with his precious friend, Koi wore a lonely expression. Seeing this, Ariel hugged him affectionately and patted his back.
“Bill is coming next month. I’ll invite you for dinner, so come along with that guy, okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely be there.”
Koi answered firmly and saw her off. He stood watching the car drive away, only returning inside the mansion once Ariel’s car had completely vanished from sight.
Unlike usual, an unfamiliar silence felt heavy. Realizing anew how large the void left by a friend could be, Koi climbed the stairs. The children were nowhere to be seen, but he wasn’t overly worried.
They’re probably playing somewhere…
It was just as he thought that…
“Uwaaaa, huuuu…”
Suddenly, the sound of sorrowful sobbing reached his ears. It was a very faint sound, but he heard it clearly. Flustered, Koi hurried to find the source of the noise.
Finding the source of a distant sound in a massive mansion was no easy task. By the time he finally found the crying child, he was panting, out of breath.
“Chase!”
Koi rushed toward the fourth son, who was lying flat on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, sobbing. The child had cried so much that his face was a complete mess, smeared with tears, snot, and drool.
“Chase, are you okay? What happened? Did you fall?”
As Koi held the child and tried to soothe him, Chase shook his head while burying his face in Koi’s chest. He was trying to say something sorrowfully, but it was mixed with sobbing and completely unintelligible. Thinking it would be better to let him cry it out first, Koi patted the child’s back and headed toward the room.
“Hic, hic, ugh, uuuugh.”
“It’s okay, Chase. It’s okay.”
Koi had no choice but to keep repeating the same words. After crying for a long while, the child eventually fell asleep from exhaustion.
What on earth happened?
After laying Chase in bed and kissing his forehead, Koi stepped carefully out of the room and fell into deep thought with a serious expression. Did he just trip while walking alone? Even so, he cried far too hard…
Above all, the biggest problem was that although the child must have tumbled down the stairs, there was no one around. What would have happened if he had suffered a serious injury?
The horrific imagination sent a chill down his spine. I have to tell the butler to make sure the employees keep an eye on the children at all times. You never know when something might happen…
While lost in serious thought, he spotted his eldest son walking toward him.
“Nathaniel!”
When he called his name happily, the boy, who was about to enter his room, stopped and looked back at Koi. Koi hurried toward him and spoke.
“Are you busy? Can we talk for a moment?”
Instead of answering, Nathaniel stood still and stared at Koi. Even though he was the eldest and surely the one Koi had spent the most time with among his children, Koi found him difficult. Nathaniel rarely spoke unless it was absolutely necessary, and even when attempting a conversation, the responses were usually short—just a “yes” or “no”—which often left Koi exhausted and giving up.
Still, I have something important to discuss…
Suppressing the awkwardness, Koi spoke.
“I found Chase crying at the bottom of the stairs. Do you know anything about it?”
At those words, Nathaniel stroked his chin as if thinking.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“You didn’t?”
He spoke in his characteristic cold voice.
“But the twins would know.”
“Stacy and Grayson? How?”
Koi was puzzled, but instead of answering, Nathaniel simply stared intently at his face. Why wouldn’t he tell him?
“If you’re worried that I might scold the children…”
“I didn’t think that.”
Dismissing Koi’s concern bluntly, Nathaniel added in a monotonous tone.
“I merely speculated because the twins seem to have developed an interest in… playing with Chase lately.”
Even someone as dense as Koi could tell there was an unpleasant silence before the words “playing with.” However, Nathaniel would not say what he had almost said. Perhaps he simply found it tedious.
“…Alright, thanks.”
Koi had no choice but to back down. Just as he was about to leave, Nathaniel suddenly called out to him.
“Do you know where the twins are?”
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden question, Koi looked back. Nathaniel looked at him with an expressionless face and said,
“I’ll take you to them.”
“Uh… okay.”
Koi nodded, bewildered. He could have just told me where they were, why bother?