Eriel, who was braiding Lucy’s hair, fell into deep thought.

After Bruno and Jessica left, Damian became even busier. He frequently traveled between the port and the imperial palace, and nobles visited the duke’s residence several times.

Bruno seemed to have given up on sending Damian as an envoy, as he did not visit the duke’s residence afterward.

However, there was no conversation between Damian and Eriel either.

Damian’s consistent silence was as usual. Perhaps it was because he had given an immediate answer in the study that day.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lady.’

His insensitive voice flowed through her memories. Yes, he was the same as always.

Rather, it might be that Eriel herself had concluded that Damian’s thoughts were also heading in an unfavorable direction after learning of Bruno’s ill intentions.

Rationally thinking, it didn’t make sense for Damian to pretend not to know about Bruno’s ill intentions.

Wasn’t Damian still seeking out Eriel at night?

Yes, there’s no way he would do that.

He’s just naturally not talkative.

“Mom…”

Eriel raised her head at Lucy’s call.

As their eyes met in the mirror, Lucy looked at Eriel with a worried expression.

“Is something wrong, Mom?”

“Hm? No, nothing.”

Eriel quickly smiled and shook her head, but her daughter’s expression grew even more concerned.

Finally, Lucy called out to Eriel once more.

“Mom. I heard somewhere that if you share your sadness, it gets cut in half.”

“That’s a good saying. If Lucy ever feels sad, make sure to tell Mom. I’ll cut your sadness in half for you.”

“…What about you? I’ll share your sadness too, Mom.”

“Of course. If Mom ever feels sad, I’ll tell Lucy too.”

Saying this with a smile, Eriel tied Lucy’s hair with a pink ribbon.

“Mom, you look so sad right now…”

“No, I’m not. Mom’s not sad at all. I was just admiring how pretty our daughter looks with braided hair.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed. The child facing the mirror suddenly turned her head to look Eriel in the eyes and spoke.

“You know Benjamin from the Orsini Viscount family? I once helped lessen Benjamin’s sadness.”

Lucy, bringing up her own story, shared her experience as if trying to prove her usefulness to Eriel.

“Benjamin received a gift from Elisha. But Benjamin isn’t good at expressing himself. His personality seems a bit strange. Ah! But he’s not a bad friend…”

“Oh? Benjamin received a gift from Elisha?”

Eriel smiled at the surprising news.

“Yes. Elisha gave Benjamin a really pretty glass marble. But Benjamin thought it was so precious that he hid it away at home. That was a secret only I knew.”

Eriel nodded, listening intently to the child’s story.

“But Elisha didn’t know that, so she thought Benjamin had thrown away her gift.”

“Oh my. Elisha misunderstood.”

“Yes. But I had promised Benjamin to keep it a secret, so I couldn’t tell Elisha… Anyway, I told Benjamin to explain, but he said he wouldn’t.”

“…Why?”

Eriel, now engrossed in Lucy’s story, asked with wide eyes.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s stupid. What did he say? He said he’s not a man worthy of Elisha.”

At those words, Eriel burst out laughing involuntarily. She was surprised by the unexpectedly mature statement.

“So I just listened to Benjamin’s nonsense. But he said that alone was comforting. He was glad he could at least confide in me.”

“That’s fortunate for Benjamin, but Elisha must have been quite hurt by the misunderstanding.”

“Benjamin said he’ll tell her later. When he becomes a great man.”

“Well then, Benjamin needs to become a great man quickly, doesn’t he?”

“I guess so. Sigh…”

Lucy sighed, looked at Eriel, and then sighed again. She then placed her small hand on top of Eriel’s.

“I won’t meet a man like Benjamin when I grow up. What about you, Mom? Is Dad a great person?”

Eriel slowly moved her eyes and smiled bitterly.

“Our Lucy shouldn’t meet someone like that. But of course, Dad is a great person. Wasn’t Dad amazing at the investiture ceremony?”

“Yes. Oh! Mom, I found a pretty container in Dad’s study, do you know what it is?”

“Dad’s study?”

“Yes. I went to the study briefly to look at a book, and I saw a pretty container. I was so curious that I opened it. Inside, there was a handkerchief with Mom’s name and Dad’s name engraved on it.”

A pretty container… What Lucy mentioned was the gift the previous Duchess had received at the Duke’s investiture ceremony.

It had become a keepsake after the Duchess passed away, and he treated it very preciously.

So he had put her handkerchief in there. She thought he had thrown it away…

Indeed, that’s right.

There’s no way he would do that.

Even if his eyes were fixed on the Genova family rather than her and Lucy.

“But Lucy, touching things in Dad’s study without permission…”

Lucy, suddenly realizing her mistake, jumped up from her seat.

“Um… Mom, let’s go for a walk!”

*

“Lucy. Do you know the name of this white flower blooming in the field?”

“Huh? No. What is it?”

Lucy bent her knees to look at the flower Eriel was pointing to. She leaned in, tilting her head to observe it closely.

“It’s called clover. Actually, it’s toxic and not good for rabbits’ health if you feed it to them, so be careful. But you can make a ring with this clover.”

“A ring?”

Lucy’s eyes sparkled.

“Yes. I learned this from Grandma when I was young. If you make a hole in the center of this flower and insert the stem… Ta-da! If we wrap it around our Lucy’s finger and tighten it, it becomes a ring!”

“Wow! I want to try too!”

“Alright, Mom will sit over there, so go pick two stems of flowers.”

“Okay!”

After answering, Lucy began carefully examining the clovers, trying to choose the prettiest ones.

Seeing this, Eriel sat down not far away, a gentle smile on her lips.

“Mom! Look at this! Isn’t it pretty?”

Lucy came back with two stems, showing the lush clovers on her palm.

“It’s very pretty. Shall our Lucy try making a ring?”

“Yes, yes.”

“…My lady.”

As they were sitting and talking, the butler called out to Eriel from behind.

“The information you asked about…”

The butler paused, glancing briefly at Lucy.

“It’s alright, please continue.”

“As you said, it seems the Viscountess Orsini and Mrs. Jessica met.”

“Is that so?”

“However, the Viscountess’s reaction doesn’t seem to have been very pleasant. It appears she rejected what Mrs. Jessica proposed.”

“…I see. Then this time, find out exactly who is going as the envoy to the Eastern Continent. Since it seems Bruno won’t be going. Jessica might make another move.”

“Yes, I understand. And…”

The butler glanced at Lucy again. Eriel nodded, indicating it was fine to continue.

“It seems Lady Lucy took a book on Eastern Continent history from the Duke’s study and returned it.”

“A book on Eastern Continent history? I see. You may go now.”

The butler bowed deeply and withdrew.

Meanwhile, Lucy, who had flinched upon hearing the butler’s words, pretended to hum a tune while fiddling with the flowers.

“Lucy?”

Eriel called out to Lucy gently.

“U-um, Mom! Look at this! Ta-da!”

“You did so well!”

Eriel applauded Lucy, who had completed the flower ring, and didn’t hold back on praise.

She shouldn’t have gone along with the cute deflection, but making the flower ring was certainly praiseworthy enough.

“Isn’t it pretty? I’ll give this to you, Mom.”

Lucy placed the flower ring on Eriel’s finger and smiled brightly.

“Our Mom’s hand looks even prettier now.”

“It does, doesn’t it? But is it true that our Lucy took a book on Eastern Continent history?”

“W-well…”

“I wonder why our Lucy took a book on Eastern Continent history from Dad’s study?”

Eriel asked again, her face full of smiles as she pressed Lucy.

The child’s expression, looking like she might break out in a cold sweat at any moment, was cute, but Eriel needed to know exactly why she had chosen the Eastern Continent history book from Damian’s bookshelf.

It wasn’t a book with a pretty cover, nor was it thin. Why on earth…

“If Lucy tells me honestly, Mom will make a flower crown for Lucy as a reward.”

“A-a flower crown? You can make that too? Really?”

Eriel nodded at the child who asked in surprise, her eyes wide.

Even if she got angry, Lucy might still lie about the content. The child was innocent, so if given a proper reward, she would tell her story.

“I accidentally overheard Dad talking. I just wanted to check in case we couldn’t go on a family trip.”

Eriel smiled gently at Lucy.

Of course, internally she was planning to caution the maids.

No matter where Lucy had heard this story, carelessly talking about the situation in the duke’s residence was a huge mistake.

Even if it was within the duke’s residence.

“I see. That’s something Mom…”

“Mom, but you know. I… I need a tutor.”

The topic of a tutor suddenly came up from Lucy’s mouth.

“A tutor? Why?”

“Mom, do you dislike me learning academics?”

“No! Of course not. If our Lucy wants to learn academics, Mom will help in any way she can.”

“Then get me a tutor! And I want to learn about politics too!”

“Politics?”

Eriel opened her mouth in surprise, then nodded.

“Mom will… invite a few people.”

How is it that our daughter wants to learn such things even when she wants to study?

She’s such a great talent, it’s really something.

“Really? Wow, our Mom is the best! Then teach me how to make flower crowns too!”

“Alright! I’ll teach you how to make flower crowns. Now, it’s a bit different from making flower rings. You do this like this…”

Eriel picked some flowers from the nearby field and showed Lucy how to make a flower crown.

Lucy immediately nodded and started selecting clovers from nearby.