Bruno rose abruptly from his seat when he heard the news about Damian.

“My brother who should be imprisoned is at the duke’s residence… What does that mean?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has apparently allowed it.”

Bruno frowned deeply at his subordinate’s words and squeezed his eyes shut.

His trembling fists and the veins bulging on his neck revealed his anger.

“Damn it…!”

Everything within Bruno’s reach was thrown to the ground. Fragments of shattered objects littered the floor.

Then Eriel, that woman, might have heard news about me too!

“I’ll go to my brother first.”

“B-But…! Wouldn’t it be better to send a letter first? If you just go there…”

“No. If it’s not that woman, but my brother! My brother trusts me completely.”

A sinister smile crept onto Bruno’s face, which had been full of rage and destroying things just moments ago.

As if telling him not to worry about that part, he shook his head at his subordinate.

“If I explain it again, he’ll believe me.”

For Bruno, that part was more certain than anything else.

You think he won’t stay still if something happens to Lucy? No…!

Brother won’t be able to do that. Even though this situation has already occurred, isn’t he just staying secluded in the mansion? This is proof.

Though he may care for that daughter because he cares for the woman, he can’t escape that thought I created in his childhood.

He’s completely trapped in the snare I set up since we were young!

Bruno recalled old memories after a very long time.

The image of his young brother, wearing a pristine white shirt with a neat vest buttoned over it.

If there was one weakness in his brother, who was called a genius of the century, it was the environment where he never encountered people with nothing to lose.

There wasn’t a single person who didn’t bow their head to him, and even those who bullied the weak behind his back would smile and pretend to be kind in front of him.

The reason his brother couldn’t handle the servants well was because there was no need to handle them.

Why should he handle them? Why should he consider their feelings? Why should he guess why they acted that way?

There was no reason to examine their hearts.

Even if he believed what he saw, the situation was never bad.

The affairs of those below were the affairs of those below, not those above.

That feeling of rejection I felt most strongly when I entered the duke’s residence after being adopted.

However, in my brother’s eyes, I was merely the excrement of the duke’s desire made real, not at all a competitor.

I realized this as I faced those empty blue eyes that held neither contempt nor respect.

“C-Can I… call you brother?”

On the day the duke hit me, I deliberately went to see my brother with a face full of bruises, without healing.

Because I had to make a good impression on the future duke who would soon shoulder the Genova family. Because I had to fully gain my brother’s sympathy.

“Since you’re my brother, call me brother. There’s no other title to call me by, is there?”

Following my brother’s slight nod, his golden hair, so different from mine, moved beautifully.

“Really?”

I smiled brightly and nodded while looking at my brother’s face.

“Yes! Brother!”

My cheerful voice caused my brother’s blue eyes to briefly glance at me.

This great sense of rejection from the entire ducal family must have given my brother another sense of stability.

Whether unconsciously or consciously.

It was also good that stupid me couldn’t keep up with genius brother.

There was no need to pretend. Even if I studied desperately with all my heart, I couldn’t even follow in my brother’s footsteps.

That could maintain the peace of the entire duke’s residence while giving them a strange sense of satisfaction.

The son of a mere courtesan, not a noble, but adopted into the noble Genova family.

The servants’ subtle disdain must have been the only pleasure they could express towards me, who wore the mask of nobility.

How great must have been the thrill and satisfaction of being able to openly disrespect their master! Moreover, since my brother, born among noble aristocrats, was truly an outstanding person, the duchess also gradually gained a strange sense of fulfillment.

You’re just my husband’s excrement, not even a match for my son.

The moment that was imprinted in everyone’s minds, I could appear as an even more fragile brother to my brother.

The things I couldn’t do were simply because I was an incompetent offspring.

And on that day when my incompetent self became indebted to my brother! Everything was reversed thanks to that day.

Ah, God is on my side!

Though He had me born to a courtesan, that was God’s mistake.

So He helped me to be able to look up to the position of Duke Genova to correct that mistake!

Finishing his reminiscence, Bruno confidently left the mansion and headed for the duke’s residence. However, Bruno’s plans became useless in front of the duke’s residence.

“It’s not allowed.”

The imperial knight standing at the duke’s mansion shook his head firmly.

At that voice, Bruno pulled out another money pouch and threw it at the knight’s chest.

“Tch. Just because I gave you one before, you’re doubling the price now? Come on.”

Even with the money pouch that fell with a thud, the knight’s behavior didn’t change.

The knight who stood firmly in that place didn’t move away from the door even for the money pouch, as if he were a completely different person from back then.

Bruno stared intently at the knight’s face and tilted his head.

“It’s definitely the same guy as the knight from back then… What’s with you?”

That’s when it happened.

One corner of the knight’s expressionless face lifted into a smile.

“The duke has not permitted your entry.”

“…What?”

Bruno looked at the knight with surprised eyes.

However, the knight’s smile that had just appeared vanished like a mirage, and his face quickly became expressionless again.

“Currently, the Genova duke’s residence is suspected of involvement in rebellion, so the imperial family is strictly prohibiting the intrusion of outsiders. Even family members are not allowed, so please turn back.”

*

Four days after Damian began living at the duke’s mansion, the imperial family completely cleared the Genova family of rebellion charges.

The nobles even joked about this incident, saying “Isn’t this just giving the duke a forced vacation because he’s been working non-stop on the battlefield?” It passed as if nothing had happened at all.

Rather, those who doubted the relationship between the emperor and Damian completely disappeared, and it turned into an event that solidified their relationship.

As soon as the charges were cleared, a letter came from the imperial palace asking Damian to return to court, but on the day the duke’s residence was cleared of charges, Damian was standing in the hall, extremely nervous.

For four days, it had been so cold whenever he passed near Eriel that he wondered if the season had turned to winter.

Because it had been so difficult to even speak a word to her, Damian finally decided to listen to his daughter’s advice.

“Dad, stand here. I’ll go check. When I tell you, that’s when you need to be ready. Got it?”

Damian nodded at Lucy, who was whispering softly.

Lucy tiptoed up the stairs. At the last step before turning into the hallway, she lowered her posture significantly and slowly poked her face into the hallway.

The servants, who had been informed in advance, also momentarily paused their work and went along with Lucy’s actions.

There was no sound of footsteps in the hallway.

Damian, watching this scene from the hall, needlessly fiddled with the single rose he was hiding behind his back.

Not an expensive jewel, not a fancy dress, just a single flower.

Thanks to his daughter who taught him to apologize first before making excuses, he had prepared a gift, but when Lucy saw it in the study, she tore up the gift list she had given to the butler.

‘Dad, how on earth did you manage to marry Mom?’

His daughter’s reproachful voice passed through Damian’s mind.

Moreover, seeing Damian now, she said that even telling him to apologize first probably wouldn’t work, so they decided to change direction and show effort first.

The preparation was a single rose.

And not even a wrapped one, but a rose from the garden.

‘Dad, pick a pretty rose yourself from the garden. Got it?’

Damian asked for the reason several times, but the answer was always the same.

Two weren’t necessary. It had to be just one. Just one single rose that Damian picked himself would do.

However, the stem of the rose in his hand felt so small that it made him feel needlessly anxious.

He had been away from Eriel’s side for 7 years, so his daughter probably knew Eriel better than he did now, but he kept feeling inadequate.

The rose next to it earlier seemed to have bloomed more fully.

Damian frowned slightly. Should he go back and change it to that flower now?

Just as he had that thought, Lucy turned her head sharply on the stairs, made eye contact with Damian, and gestured.

‘Mom’s coming!’

Damian, confirming Lucy’s words as she mouthed them, needlessly puffed out his chest.

Today was not only the day the charges were cleared, but also the day Eriel was briefly going out for an external appointment.

‘When you’re not on good terms, saying you’re going to escort her can have the opposite effect, Dad.’

Damian, taking his daughter’s words to heart, mentally reviewed the script his daughter had given him.

I went for a short walk and the roses were pretty. I got it for you. I heard you have an external appointment today, have a good trip.

Once, twice.

After going over the words in his mind, Damian lifted his head with a snap.

Eriel’s summer outfit, lighter in the hot weather, was the first thing to catch Damian’s eye.

“Dear, why are you dressed like that?”