“Just look at the way Lady Bianca’s eyes light up with hearts when she sees Lady Rebecca!”

At the same time.

Dinner was ready in the dining room of the Light Mansion. The main course, a mouthwatering lamb steak, was placed in front of Cedric and Bianca.

Bianca, however, kept picking up and putting down her fork, distracted.

Watching her, Cedric gently prodded her.

“Bianca, shall we eat?”

“Ah, yes!”

Bianca’s legs were still rhythmically crossing and uncrossing under the table.

As Cedric cut into his steak, he couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Bianca, you seem to be in a good mood lately.”

“It’s more than just a good mood… It’s all thanks to Lady Rebecca.”

“Lady Rebecca?”

“Yes, our Lady Rebecca is… so, so impressive!”

Bianca paused, her cheeks flushing.

Her voice rang out cheerfully.

“She’s so cool! When I grow up, I want to be just like her! Kind to her people but ruthless with the bad ones!”

Cedric blinked his blue eyes slowly.

“Rebecca… is like that?”

He knew Rebecca had changed a lot, but the ‘Rebecca’ Bianca spoke of differed greatly from the one he knew.

As Cedric felt a bit of bewilderment over this gap.
Bianca, who had been chatting excitedly just moments ago, slowly hung her head with a somewhat deflated expression.

“I wish I could live with Lady Rebecca at the Light Mansion. That would be really nice…”

At these words, Cedric couldn’t help but be surprised.

‘Bianca saying such things…’

She used to have fits just hearing Rebecca’s name.

And now, not only was Bianca singing Rebecca’s praises, but she even expressed a desire to live with her.

Cedric was too shocked to respond immediately.

‘If only we could have lived like this from the beginning… would Rebecca and I still be a couple now?’

He found himself pondering such questions involuntarily.

But soon, Cedric shook his head.

‘These are useless thoughts now.’

He had always looked down on those who uttered ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes.’

And now, here he was, repeating ‘what if’ while thinking of Rebecca.

At that moment, as Cedric’s brows furrowed,

“Um… Your Grace.”

Bianca hesitantly tried to broach a difficult topic, cautiously gauging Cedric’s reaction.

“Bianca, what is it?”

Cedric’s voice was endlessly gentle, but Bianca hesitated, opening and closing her lips several times.

“Well, it’s about Lady Rebecca…”

“Yes?”

“Did you move to the Dark Mansion because of me? Because I was afraid of Lady Rebecca?”

Bianca asked with wide, sparkling eyes.

“If that’s the case, can’t you ask Lady Rebecca to come back to the Light Mansion?”

“…”

“Right? Your Grace! Now that Lady Rebecca likes me, she’ll definitely agree!”

Cedric, trying to hide his bewilderment, shook his head.

“That’s not it…”

“Then why?”

Cedric’s lips sealed shut.

Realizing the significance of this silence, Bianca pouted her lips.

“Chee. It would be nice if you and Lady Rebecca got along well…”

Even as a child, Bianca wasn’t oblivious to the long-standing discord between the duke and duchess.

She gave Cedric a look of pitiful pleading, like a puppy.

“Can’t you just ask Lady Rebecca to come back? You just have to agree, right?”

“My agreement…”

Lost in thought and silent, Cedric finally murmured to himself.

“…even if I asked her to come back now, Rebecca might not agree.”

Cedric’s expression was one of resignation, but in Bianca’s round eyes, there shone a light of hope.

“That means if Lady Rebecca agrees, you’d be okay with it, right?”

At Bianca’s question, Cedric just stared elsewhere, saying nothing.

But Bianca understood that his silence meant a positive response.

If not, he would have immediately rejected her request.

For Bianca, who had thought Cedric was the biggest obstacle to Rebecca’s return, this was great news.

“I’ll go ask Lady Rebecca right now!”

Bianca dashed out of the dining room.

Although it was just a child’s run, Cedric made no attempt to follow her.

He simply stood in the same spot, repeatedly calling out Bianca’s name in vain.

“Oh, Bianca…!”