“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire.”

When Damian’s dry voice rang out, Crown Prince Eden also returned the greeting.

“I should have sent word ahead before visiting, but due to an urgent telegram regarding entering the palace, I regrettably committed this discourtesy.”

“It’s fine. Rather, Your Highness didn’t need to come all this way. I was planning to enter the palace today anyway, so you’ve made an unnecessary trip.”

“Not at all. I’ve merely come to relay a message on behalf of His Majesty, who is overwhelmed with work, so it’s fine.”

Eden smiled gently. However, Damian’s conversation ended there.

Damian, with his lips tightly closed, made no move to step aside from in front of Eden.

He didn’t even ask the butler to guide them to the reception room.

The butler, breaking out in a cold sweat, subtly glanced up from behind Damian.

The duke’s broad back looked like a massive fortress wall.

Recently, he seemed to cherish the young lady very much… Given the duke’s temperament, the Crown Prince’s intentions likely wouldn’t be viewed favorably.

The butler discreetly turned his head to the side and quietly gestured to the maid standing nearby.

It was a signal to quickly report this situation to the Madam, as she was the only one who could intervene.

“…Duke?”

As the strange silence continued, Eden called out to Damian. Even so, Damian merely adjusted his clothes for a moment, maintaining his silence.

Finally, after neatly fastening the button on his sleeve, Damian pointed outside with a very polite attitude.

“I was briefly considering whether we needed to make preparations… but it seems we can go as we are. His Majesty also appears to want me to enter the palace quickly.”

“Pardon?”

As Eden became flustered, Damian took a step forward.

“Let’s go, Your Highness.”

Despite his polite demeanor, Damian’s sharp aura caused the Crown Prince’s personal aide standing nearby to block Damian’s path.

Damian and the aide’s eyes met in the air at close range.

“Duke Genova.”

The aide, swallowing hard, called out to Damian with an awkward smile.

When representing the Crown Prince, the aide’s status was considered to be elevated accordingly, but for an aide who could be dismissed at any time, it was too much to block the path of a duke.

Feeling that his actions might be seen as somewhat challenging to imperial authority, he moved his feet, but upon meeting Damian’s eyes, the aide had to hope for the duke’s leniency.

“Crown Prince!”

Just then, Eriel’s voice rang out. Everyone from the Crown Prince’s entourage to the servants turned their heads.

The butler’s head turned the fastest, with an expression as if he had met an angel in front of a group of demons and been saved.

“I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire.”

Eriel greeted with a gentle smile as she stood beside Damian.

Naturally, Damian extended his hand, and as Eriel moved closer to him and placed her hand on his, Damian’s face immediately softened.

Not only the aide but also Eden glanced at Damian’s changed expression before quickly responding to Eriel’s greeting.

“I heard the Duchess had collapsed as well. Are you feeling better now?”

“Fortunately, I’m fine. By the way, I apologize for the delay in entering the palace, causing even Your Highness to make this trip. Even though the evidence has been proven false, there must still be much work at the palace as the culprit hasn’t been caught yet.”

“Yes. His Majesty is currently overwhelmed with work. The palace is trying to handle this matter faster than anyone else. We’ve come here because we need the Duke’s help with this.”

Eriel nodded and smiled brightly at Eden.

“Oh, didn’t you meet Lucy at the palace recently? Lucy also wants to show Your Highness the garden of the duke’s residence this time. If your schedule isn’t busy, would you like to tour the garden with Lucy?”

“This…! I don’t have any pressing schedules afterward, so that would be fine. The garden of the duke’s residence is as famous as the imperial garden, isn’t it? It would be wonderful to see it this time.”

“I see. I’m glad you have time. I told Lucy to come down when she’s ready, so it would be good if you could wait in the reception room for a moment.”

“Yes! Then I’ll wait in the reception room for a while.”

As soon as Lucy’s name was mentioned, Eden’s face immediately brightened.

Moreover, at the mention of touring the garden, he couldn’t control the corners of his mouth from lifting widely.

“Madam, the young lady…”

At the maid’s whisper, Eriel nodded.

“Damian, please guide His Highness for a moment. I’ll go up to Lucy briefly.”

Eden’s bright face immediately stiffened.

“Duchess. I’m fine. I’ll wait here.”

“No, please wait in the reception room. It might take some time.”

“Ah… Yes.”

Unable to find a proper reason to refuse, Eden eventually nodded.

As Eriel left the hall, Eden’s head moved stiffly like a wooden puppet, swallowing hard.

“I will guide you to the reception room, Your Highness.”

Damian’s voice rang out very, very coldly.

*

“Mom!”

As soon as Eriel entered the room after moving upstairs, Lucy’s urgent voice rang out.

“Mom, help me!”

Lucy, who had asked for help, had spread out a bunch of ribbons on the table and furrowed her brow.

“Mom, what do you think? Which color ribbon should I use? …Red? Should I go with red?”

Lucy looked up at Eriel, placing a red ribbon on top of her head over the dress she was wearing.

“Since the dress you’re wearing is white, I think any color would look good. Hmm, mom thinks red is pretty too.”

“…Red?”

At Eriel’s approval, Lucy immediately approached the mirror and placed the ribbon on top of her head.

Then, as if something didn’t sit right, she narrowed her brow.

“Then… should I leave my hair down and do pigtails? Should I braid the front part here? Hm?”

“Braiding would take time, so mom will tie it in pigtails for you.”

“If we can’t braid the front, then pigtails are… What should I do?”

Lucy muttered to herself and lowered her gaze to the ribbons.

“Red might give too strong an impression, should I go with a plain white ribbon? …Mom?”

“White? White is pretty too.”

“But white looks too demure, doesn’t it?”

“Then, yellow? How about yellow, Lucy?”

Eriel picked up the yellow ribbon placed beside her.

However, the daughter looking in the mirror shook her head at Eriel’s suggestion without even turning around.

“No, Mom. I don’t think yellow ribbon goes well with blonde hair. Hah… I think the red ribbon might be better after all.”

“Yes. I think red looks pretty too.”

Eriel gestured to the maid and sat Lucy down in a chair.

She intended to quickly tie Lucy’s hair with the red ribbon before her daughter’s self-talk went on any longer.

After seating Lucy in front of the dressing table, Eriel received a comb from the maid.

Tying her hair wouldn’t take long, so they should be able to go down to the reception room in just a few minutes.

Eriel quickly and lightly combed through the child’s hair and began to tie it into the usual bouncy pigtails.

“Mom. Down. Tie the pigtails down for a more subdued look.”

Lucy, holding a hand mirror, shook her head.

“Down? Subdued?”

Eriel undid the hair she had tied and lowered it again to match Lucy’s request.

“How is it? Is this okay, Lucy?”

“Yeah…”

Lucy trailed off with an ambiguous answer, looking at her hair in the mirror and biting her lip.

“But the ribbon seems too thin. Is there a wider ribbon?”

At Lucy’s suggestion, the maid standing nearby quickly brought a wider red ribbon.

“Young miss, would this ribbon be alright?”

Lucy nodded with a bright smile at the maid’s question.

“Mom, this one. Tie it with this one again.”

Eriel undid the pigtails she had just tied and retied Lucy’s hair according to her modifications.

“How is it? Is this okay now?”

“Yes! It’s pretty.”

Just as Eriel was about to stand up after finally completing the hairstyle,

“Mom, which shoes should I wear?”

Lucy pointed to the shoe cabinet with dozens of pairs and looked up at Eriel.

*

Damian observed Eden, seated at the table, from head to toe, not missing even the smallest detail.

With the silence and Damian’s continued gaze, Eden unnecessarily straightened his back even more.

“Lucy says she’ll live with her dad forever, even when she grows up.”

It was a moment of extreme tension.

Damian, reaching for the teacup, spoke while drinking his tea with very graceful movements.

The gaze of the aide standing behind Eden was also fixed on Damian.

His long fingers moved slightly, hooked on the teacup.

Damian smiled as the wind blew gently through the open window in the reception room.

Eden also briefly smiled back, meeting Damian’s eyes.

“I see. The young lady must be very fond of you, Duke.”

Damian raised his gaze at Eden’s words.

Lucy, who had said she would marry Eriel, clearly also said she wanted to live with her dad, so that ultimately meant she liked her dad too, right?

Damian slowly nodded and flashed a victorious smile.

Even if it wasn’t him, Lucy said she would live with Eriel forever, so there was no way she would fall for this little guy.

Damian smiled sympathetically at the Crown Prince who would soon return with disappointment and drank his tea.

Knock knock−.

“The young lady and the Duchess have arrived.”

“…I greet Your Highness, the Crown Prince of the Empire.”

As soon as Lucy, wearing a snow-white dress, entered the reception room, she greeted Eden with a beautiful curtsy.

Damian blinked his eyes repeatedly.

There was clearly a ribbon on Lucy’s head that he hadn’t seen before. Moreover, she was wearing shiny patent leather shoes.

“…Lucy?”

Damian called out to Lucy.

However, whether Damian called her or not, Lucy was looking at Eden with a shy smile.

Her face was even flushed.