“Because prayer is an act done between people who like each other.”

Damian, who was standing right next to Eriel, bent down to stare at Lucy.

“So Mommy likes Daddy very much.”

Damian’s face looked as if he had just delivered a decisive blow.

Eriel tilted her head and frowned at this unfamiliar side of her husband. She felt like she was seeing something wrong.

“No. Mommy likes Lucy more. She’s praying because Lucy asked. It’s not because she likes Daddy. It’s so Lucy and Lucy’s sibling can live happily.”

Lucy rebutted her father’s words calmly, not avoiding Damian’s eyes as she pushed her face closer.

“Daddy… wouldn’t be needed if it weren’t for the sibling.”

Lucy stood in front of Eriel. She spread her arms wide as if to protect Eriel from Damian.

“Mommy likes Lucy more!”

Lucy’s voice was so full of conviction that it sounded chilling, making Eriel blink.

Unfortunately, Lucy had her back to Eriel, so her face wasn’t visible.

“Lucy?”

At Eriel’s call, Lucy slightly turned her head back and smiled sweetly as if to say everything was fine.

Seeing that face, Eriel fell into serious contemplation.

She sighed involuntarily at Lucy, who seemed to have become a fairy tale hero protecting her mother.

At this age, children do tend to favor their mothers more… But it seems a bit much to think of her father as a monster…

Eriel was in the middle of worrying about how to teach Lucy about the concept of a father, with a troubled expression.

“No. Mommy belongs to Daddy.”

“No! Mommy is mine!”

Lucy tightly pulled Eriel’s hand and looked up at her.

“Mommy, right? You’re Lucy’s, aren’t you? You like Lucy more than Daddy, right?”

It was obvious that Eriel liked Lucy more, but considering her husband’s position who had come after a long time, Eriel picked Lucy up.

Above all, saying that her father wasn’t needed was a bit problematic.

“Mommy loves both Lucy and Daddy. There’s no such thing as liking one family member more than another, Lucy. Let alone saying someone isn’t needed. Family isn’t a thing.”

At Eriel’s words, Lucy’s eyes wavered.

Her green eyes scrunched up, then drooped weakly before welling up again.

It looked like tears might fall at any moment, so Eriel softly kissed Lucy’s cheek.

“Lucy.”

At Eriel’s call, Lucy nodded slightly.

“Mommy.”

“Yes?”

However, when Eriel looked at Lucy again after finishing the kiss, there wasn’t a single tear visible in Lucy’s green eyes.

Determined green eyes stared at Eriel. Lucy’s tiny finger pointed at her father.

“Daddy said Mommy is his. That’s wrong. Only livestock have ownership. How can Mommy have ownership? Mommy is just Mommy. Lucy’s Mommy. Right?”

Eriel gulped. Large, clear eyes demanding an answer were directed at her.

“Th-that’s right? Mommy isn’t livestock, after all…”

Eriel blinked as she looked down at her daughter.

Looking at those straightforward eyes, Eriel felt a bit strange.

Ownership only applicable to livestock… Lucy’s words felt like they had pierced a corner of Eriel’s heart with a sharp spear.

They say children are more difficult because they’re pure. Is this what that means?

Unfortunately, Damian’s words weren’t wrong.

A wife did belong to her husband, and Eriel was now close to being a possession as the Duchess of Genova.

The trophy her father had spoken of long ago. The most beautiful trophy in the Genova mansion.

It was true that she was a possession, but… As Eriel couldn’t finish her thought, her lips parted as she just stared at her daughter.

“She may not be livestock, but she’s part of private property. Mommy is the property I acquired through marriage. You’re included in that property now too.”

Damian filled in the blank on Eriel’s behalf.

Eriel, holding Lucy tightly, looked at Damian with cold eyes. She didn’t mind being called property herself.

But Lucy too… property? To try to put a value on our daughter as if she were mere gold trinkets.

“Daddy is… a rock! A rock!!”

Lucy shouted as if upset by her father’s words.

This time, Eriel didn’t correct Lucy’s words either.

That was because words much harsher than ‘rock’ came to Eriel’s mind.

It seems he couldn’t bear to lose even that one thing to a child despite being an adult.

Eriel glared at Damian while holding the thrashing Lucy in her arms.

Sighing, Eriel patted Lucy’s back.

She thought it would be better to soothe the child’s emotions with other words since she couldn’t let her curse at her father.

“Mommy will be Lucy’s mommy forever. And you know how much Mommy loves our Lucy.”

Eriel’s words seemed to have an effect as Lucy peeked her head out from Eriel’s embrace. The tears at the corners of her eyes stopped.

“That’s right, Mommy… is Lucy’s mommy. Daddy is a rock.”

“Of course. Naturally. Daddy needs to wash up, so in the meantime, should Mommy read a book to our Lucy?”

“Yes!”

Lucy hugged Eriel’s neck tightly, looking happy.

Of course, the part about Daddy needed some corrections in many ways, but Eriel didn’t feel like doing that today. She turned her body, passing by Damian standing beside her.

While stroking the small, cute child’s back, Eriel made a resolution.

She would raise Lucy to be a healthy child who smiles brightly and eats well. Not as someone’s property or trophy.

‘Rock.’

Lucy, held in Eriel’s arms, mouthed at Damian.

There was no trace of a smile in the lips that accurately formed the word ‘rock’.

It was quite a difficult facial expression for a 7-year-old to make. It wasn’t a misunderstanding.

The child looked at Damian as if he were trash until Eriel took her to the room.

It seemed… her daughter was very different in front of Eriel and behind her back.

He had come home only to find that none other than his own daughter was firmly trying to take Eriel away from him.

…That won’t do.

*

Fortunately, after reading a few books, Lucy quickly fell asleep.

In the quiet room, Eriel got up from her seat after hearing Lucy’s soft breathing sounds.

It seemed she needed to have a talk with Damian after all.

Arriving at the bedroom, Eriel looked around. Judging by the water sounds coming from inside, it seemed Damian was still washing up.

Eriel sat down on the edge of the bed with a deep sigh. She needed to organize her thoughts first.

She had to try persuading Damian once more about the governess, and for the rest, it would be good to caution him about his words.

Anyway, since Damian wouldn’t have many days to face Lucy, she hoped he would be a bit more mindful even for those short moments.

Of course, Damian would be busy for a while as his victory celebration at the Imperial Palace starts tomorrow.

After today passes, it will be difficult to see Damian’s face again for some time.

Eriel sighed again as she recalled Damian’s sudden visit to Lucy’s room.

She couldn’t figure out whether she should hope for him to play the role of a father or not.

He had been at war since before the child was born, and after returning, he went back to the battlefield without rest. When it was time for the child to be born, Eriel gave birth alone due to a rather long war.

She thought that would be the last, but he crossed the sea again to suppress a rebellion.

Their meetings were so few they could be counted on one hand.

It would be nice if this was the last time, but she didn’t know when Damian would be deployed again.

She heard that in other noble families, if there are siblings, they take turns going.

For some reason, even though Damian has a younger brother Bruno, it was always Damian who went on expeditions.

Even for the most recent war, Bruno had asked Damian to go, saying he was ill.

To treat the Duke of Genova like this…

Eriel closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, shaking her head.

No. I shouldn’t think like this when Damian is fulfilling his duty as the Empire’s duke.

Eriel fiddled with the wedding ring on her fourth finger with a bitter expression.

Damian had continuously achieved great merits in frequent conquest wars and returned, which should have been a very joyous thing both as a wife and as an imperial citizen.

But… Eriel, sitting in the ducal residence, felt like she was on pins and needles every day.

Whenever she heard someone’s obituary, she couldn’t sleep that night due to anxiety.

“Eriel.”

“Eek!”

Startled, Eriel screamed. Damian’s face was right in front of her.

“What were you thinking about to not answer even when I called?”

Water droplets dripping from Damian’s hair fell onto Eriel’s skirt.

“D-did you call me?”

Damian silently tilted his head. His blue eyes stared at Eriel.

His eyes seemed to have a small sea contained within them, making Eriel flinch.

Eyes containing something bigger than herself and Lucy here in the Genova mansion, eyes containing the sea.

The eyes that the Duke of Genova should rightfully have.

After briefly looking into his eyes, Eriel took a sharp breath.

So she too should say what she ought to as Lucy’s mother in this ducal residence.