A round candy rolled into the cheek that looked like a steamed bun.

Eve, sitting in a large armchair, hummed a tune and wiggled her toes.

“Does it still hurt?”

“It’s fine.”

Eve nonchalantly replied with the candy in her mouth.

Sched couldn’t take his eyes off the wound on Eve’s white fingertips.

Even though quite some time had passed, the wound wasn’t healing.

It was the result of practicing for several days whenever she had time.

‘Still, it’s fortunate that she learned it quickly.’

He thought it might take months or even years, but thankfully it ended sooner than expected.

If there were major injuries, who knows what would happen, but with this level, she could likely hide minor daily wounds from being noticed.

‘It’s not right to keep injuring a child’s body….’

Next to the chair where Eve was sitting, there was a small candy bowl.

Due to his concern, he prepared snacks every time he visited.

“Villain mister.”

“……”

After spending several days together, Sched noticed that Eve was very talkative.

Eve, who chattered endlessly, seemed like she had to sing a song to feel at ease if she had nothing to say.

Although she spoke well for her age, perhaps due to that, Sched found her a bit overwhelming as a conversation partner at times.

He also became tense whenever Eve called him ‘villain mister’, wondering what she would say next.

“By the way mister, you know my dad, right?”

Eve asked, fiddling with the loose thread on the end of the armchair, not knowing if she sensed his feelings.

Whatever thought process led her there, she suddenly seemed to recall the conversation between him and Eclas at the Golden Castle.

“Yes.”

“Did you also buy things from my dad?”

“Buy things?”

“My dad has lots of amazing things!”

From what he heard, Eve seemed to think of Eclas as some kind of ‘wandering merchant who sells wondrous items’.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong.

It’s true that he sells amazing things, if you call that busy man a wanderer then he can be called one, and he is a merchant after all.

It’s just that the scale is much larger than what Eve imagines. Quite a bit.

“There’s probably no one, at least within this empire, who hasn’t bought something from your father.”

“Really? Even that scary knight mister? And the big sis who dresses Eve?”

“Yes.”

Sched answered halfheartedly to the conversation about Eclas.

“Hehe, my dad is cool, right?”

“…No.”

“Mister always says no!”

Eve pouted, but she didn’t seem to take Sched’s words too much to heart.

Because she continued chattering about her father for quite a while.

The scent of lemon candy came from the child’s mouth every time she spoke.

Sched stared intently at Eve as she talked about her dad.

“Little one.”

When Sched shortly called her name, Eve looked at him with a hard candy in one cheek.

“…Do your mom and dad seem to have a good relationship?”

As soon as Sched asked that question, he regretted it.

Because he felt pathetic seeing himself asking such a question to a little kid.

But Eve didn’t mind at all and nodded her head innocently.

“Yeah! They’re really close! Even though dad doesn’t come often….”

Really… close?

Sched’s brows furrowed tightly.

“Mom said dad is the best.”

“Ha.”

Are they such a harmonious couple?

Sched pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing his legs rather roughly.

He pictured Eclas’ sly and delicate face.

Come to think of it, even when he first brought ‘Riana’, Eclas used to skillfully strike up conversations with her, the maid.

His way with words was his strength, and he excelled at figuring out what the other person wanted with a kind and amiable face.

If the other person wants an apple, he throws them an apple; if they want grapes, he offers grapes to appease them.

‘He must have been like that to Louise too.’

Gently soothing her festering wounds and making her lean on him with warm words.

A talent Sched didn’t have.

He wasn’t eloquent, nor did he have a knack for saying warm or flattering things.

Perhaps… Louise needed Eclas, who was more affectionate than stoic Sched.

Regardless of whether Sched was lost in thought, Eve excitedly chattered about Eclas as always.

Eclas was so busy that visiting once a month was considered frequent.

Nevertheless, he tried to visit at least once every two or three months unless there was a major issue, and he always brought gifts with both hands full whenever he came.

‘He managed his time quite well in his busy schedule.’

Sched rested his chin unpleasantly.

The thought of Eclas cozying up to Louise in his arms while Sched wasted time wandering around in Blankas infuriated him.

“Right! Dad is the strongest in the world! Mom said dad is the best!”

Eve, who had been boasting about her dad for a while, raised both arms and said.

Eclas Bitel is the strongest in the world?

Where did she get such nonsense…

“Wrong.”

Sched thought it wasn’t right to plant absurd dreams in a child’s mind.

Of course, it wasn’t that Eclas couldn’t fight at all.

When dealing with large sums of money and important transactions, one’s safety can’t always be guaranteed.

So he could manage basic self-defense.

He was better than mediocre squires, so for a merchant, he could be said to be quite capable.

But he couldn’t be called strong.

“No! Mom said so!”

“You always take your mother’s words as if they’re divine revelations.”

“Villain mister is stupid!”

“If something is wrong, I say it’s wrong.”

“My dad is super brave and cool!”

Eve boasted more about her dad as if she didn’t want to lose.

Sched was a bit annoyed to hear Eclas’ praises through the child’s mouth.

“Mom had a really scary dream, but she said dad protected her. I had a scary dream too, and mom did the same as dad for me!”

At Eve’s words, Sched, who had been resting his chin, sat up straight.

“…Does your mother still have nightmares?”

Sched recalled her suffering from nightmares every time she had them in her childhood.

Eve hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“Mom cries at night, so I patted her. Like dad.”

Eve had seen her mother crying once when she woke up at night.

Her heart sank seeing her mother crying with her face buried in the darkness without making a sound.

Eve ran to her mother, hugged her, and patted her back because she was so sad.

Then her mother would be surprised, wipe away her tears, say she was okay, and lie back down with Eve.

When she lay with her mother, she could faintly see her mother’s face in the darkness.

She didn’t say anything, but her mother still looked sad.

Even when her mother smiled at her, Eve felt very depressed and hugged her mother tighter.

She felt like she was about to cry too.

“Mom likes it when Eve hugs her.”

At Eve’s words, Sched lowered his gaze.

“Ah, and my dad is really good at swimming!”

Eve easily jumped to another story, as young children often do.

Unfortunately, the topic still remained on Eclas.

“So your dad saved your mom?”

Eve disclosed a story she heard from her mother.

Before Eve was born, her dad once saved her mom who fell into the water.

She said her mom survived thanks to dad.

“…Is that so?”

Well, it’s natural for someone accustomed to taking boats to be good at swimming.

‘Eclas had such a talent too.’

Saving Louise, that’s something praiseworthy.

Because Louise is afraid of water.

Sched recalled Louise falling into the lake a long time ago.

Even then, Louise nearly drowned.

‘Come to think of it, at that time….’

His face, lost in thought, stiffened as it was.

Suddenly, fragments of memories from the day she fell into the lake came to mind.

The things he had missed and overlooked that day while frantically trying to save Louise.

The suddenly overturned boat.

The knight who was floating still without rescuing the young lady even though Louise had fallen in.

And the servants who failed to notice the young lady had fallen into the water because they were focused on other tasks.

No, no. They were… definitely pretending not to know.

There’s no way they couldn’t hear Louise splashing and screaming.

There’s no way none of those many people could have seen it.

Even then, that contrasting peace amidst the young lady dying felt strange.

‘Could it be….’

Sched rubbed the corner of his mouth with his fingertips, tracing his memories.

Was it not a random accident that Louise fell into the water that day?

Did everyone know that Louise wouldn’t die?

Sched pressed his throbbing temples, searching through his memories.

‘The knight who took Louise on the boat….’

Even after nearly killing the young lady by letting her fall into the water, he showed no sign of apologizing or fearing his wrongdoing.

In a normal situation, a knight who fails to properly attend to the young lady should beg for death as punishment.

Yes, everything was strange that day.

‘What would have happened if I hadn’t saved Louise that day?’

That thought chilled his heart.

Louise struggled with all her might to live that day.

He remembered her pale face submerged under the lake, her figure sinking lifelessly under the blue water.

The fear that colored Louise’s eyes when she opened them after he breathed into her was still vividly etched in his memory.

Louise knew nothing.

Trembling with pure terror of death, despairing, and wishing for salvation.

What happened to her, and what was happening.

‘She was a heretic. But what on earth was she….’