It was the moment Eriel’s carriage arrived at the Duke’s residence.

“……Eriel!!”

The carriage door burst open and Damian’s face suddenly appeared.

Eriel flinched in surprise, her shoulders jerking. Damian faced her, exhaling rough breaths as he looked her over.

At the same time, Lucy, who had just woken up from sleep behind her, rubbed her eyes.

After confirming the child’s presence as well, Damian’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Hah……”

Damian let out a faint sigh and lowered his head.

The fingers gripping the carriage door suddenly tensed, then relaxed.

“……Damian?”

Unable to fully grasp the situation, Eriel cautiously called out to Damian.

Judging by how urgently he had checked on Eriel and Lucy, it seemed he thought something had happened to their safety.

“……Papa?”

Lucy, who had risen from her seat, also tilted her head behind Eriel, expressing confusion at Damian’s state.

Damian lifted his bowed head back and rubbed his face repeatedly.

Eriel got out of the carriage with Lucy and approached Damian.

The servants standing nearby bowed and stepped back for a moment.

“You said you were going to the tailor’s.”

At Damian’s voice, which seemed to be suppressing anger, Eriel opened her lips.

“Ah, that… I was planning to come straight to the mansion, but on the way I met Marchioness Orsini. I didn’t know you’d be home this early today. Did something… happen?”

Eriel swallowed hard, realizing she had unconsciously spoken in an explanatory tone.

His sharp atmosphere, Damian’s gaze that wouldn’t meet Eriel’s eyes. Everything felt strange.

Momentarily intimidated, Eriel carefully observed his mood. Silence fell between them.

As she looked at Damian, who was only frowning without answering, Eriel finally noticed that his clothing was quite disheveled.

“Your tie……”

As Eriel naturally reached out to fix Damian’s rumpled clothing, he lightly turned his body to avoid her touch.

Eriel’s hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air, and Damian’s averted gaze finally met hers.

Eriel’s eyes widened in surprise at this unprecedented occurrence.

It seemed to be a shocking scene for Lucy as well, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes behind them. Her hand paused, then lowered.

“……Papa?”

Lucy’s voice rang out, enlarged with disbelief. However, Damian kept his mouth tightly shut.

Eriel, thinking this wasn’t right in front of the child, quickly attended to Lucy first.

“Lucy, let’s go inside for now. ……Damian.”

When Eriel called out to Damian, he turned away without responding.

Eriel gazed at Damian’s back for a moment before quickly grasping Lucy’s hand.

Lucy remained silent as they entered the ducal residence.

Holding her daughter’s hand, Eriel felt only anxious, not knowing why Damian was suddenly acting this way.

What had happened?

Or had his younger brother Blake done something to him?

Eriel’s worries grew at her husband’s unfamiliar behavior.

“Mama……”

They were already in front of Lucy’s room. At the child’s voice breaking the silence, Eriel bent her knees.

Slowly softening her gaze, Eriel met the child’s eyes.

“Lucy, go into your room.”

Lucy, who was anxiously gripping Eriel’s sleeve, glanced at the stairs Damian had gone up.

However, Eriel grasped Lucy’s small hand and patted it. A faint smile accompanied the gesture.

“It seems Papa has some misunderstanding, but it’ll be alright once we talk. Don’t worry.”

Eriel comforted Lucy.

“But… what did Papa do wrong……”

“You shouldn’t say that about Papa. If worry grows too big, it can turn into anger. It seems Papa was worried about you and Mama, so I’ll talk to him. So Lucy, go inside and rest.”

Eriel placed a light kiss on Lucy’s forehead and straightened up.

Nodding her head, Lucy answered in a small voice that she understood and entered her room.

Eriel stood in the hallway until she confirmed Lucy had fully entered the room.

Lucy glanced at Eriel through the closing door.

Eriel tried to reassure her daughter with a bright smile.

She made an effort to appear cheerful, waving her hand lightly as if everything was fine.

With that, the door closed with a thud.

*

“I’ll tell His Majesty to temporarily increase the number of knights at the mansion, so stay home unless it’s an official schedule.”

Damian roughly pulled at his tie and irritably placed it on the table. Then, as he opened his vest, he frowned with one eyebrow.

“Damian.”

Eriel called out to Damian as she approached him, but he did not look at her.

Looking down at Damian’s hands as he unfastened his cuffs, Eriel gently placed her hand over his.

“If we increase the knights here, rumors might spread that we’re preparing for rebellion. You know that. Damian, what happened today? You need to explain……”

“Eriel.”

At Eriel’s quickening voice, Damian turned towards her.

Grasping her shoulders, Damian looked down at Eriel with shaking eyes.

“The club… you see.”

Damian’s jaw muscle twitched as he frowned for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he was trying his best not to sigh.

“The club is a public place. But Count Scala’s tailor shop is like going into the midst of his enemy territory. It’s not that you made a mistake because you didn’t know, but that you went there deliberately….. Hah….. Besides, wasn’t the schedule to return straight home after going there?”

Eriel grasped his wrist as she received the full force of Damian’s emotions, which had turned from worry to anger.

“You said you went to the tailor’s, so I rushed back to the mansion. Was I not here?”

Eriel asked Damian.

Though he didn’t answer, Eriel easily understood what had happened.

He must have been worried. Yes, with major incidents like rebellion and kidnapping happening one after another, even if it was just a tailor shop, Damian would have thought it dangerous.

“I’m sorry. Damian, I didn’t think you’d worry. It’s just a tailor shop, a place anyone can go. Besides, I took knights with me and was more cautious than usual.”

“I… no, can’t you trust me?”

It was an abrupt statement, but Eriel immediately understood what he meant.

He was saying that he would resolve both the current situation and any future ones, so why was she stepping forward unnecessarily.

In a way it was concern, but from another perspective it could be irritation.

Damian looked at Eriel with a serious expression.

Eriel’s lips trembled at the storm-like movement in his blue eyes.

She wanted to say that wasn’t it, but a slightly choked-up feeling welled up.

“Damian, I don’t know what happened today, but you need to set your emotions aside too. Let’s rest for a moment and then talk.”

As Eriel tried to move away from Damian, he tightened his grip on her shoulders, preventing her from leaving.

Eriel silently frowned in pain and stopped her movement, looking up at him.

“You, you don’t know. The fact that humans on the brink of life and death have no rationality at all!”

Damian’s hands pressing on Eriel’s shoulders were burdensome, but she endured it all as she looked at her husband.

“You don’t know the fact that those consumed by their desires have none of the common decency we know.”

“……Damian.”

“I have no plans to push you and Lucy onto the battlefield in my plans. Knowing Count Scala’s purpose, achieving political independence for House Genova. I’ll do it all, so you just……”

The strength in his fingers digging into Eriel’s shoulders loosened.

“Just read fairy tales to Lucy in the safe mansion. It’s not difficult, is it?”

“Damian, but……”

“You also said you didn’t want me to do dangerous things.”

Eriel closed her mouth.

She met his shaking blue eyes.

“I feel the same.”

At Damian’s final words, Eriel had no choice but to nod.

“Yes….. I understand.”

*

The royal palace’s noble council room. As the meeting ended without Damian, Count Scala stood up.

As soon as he entered the empty corridor, his aide stuck close to him, quietly reporting in his ear.

“Count. We’ve found Bruno.”

At the aide’s words, Count Scala’s eyes immediately curved. A smile even hung on his lips.

“I see.”

“But… will it be alright? The carrier pigeon, and everything else. I wonder if we’ve come forward too much.”

Count Scala slowly shook his head.

He had clearly been angry upon receiving the carrier pigeon message, but in this short time, he seemed to have regained his composure.

“It’s fine. Because a revelation has come down.”

Count Scala grinned.

“A revelation?”

When the aide stopped in surprise, Count Scala’s head slowly turned towards him.

What opened beneath the startled lips was a story that not only Count Scala, but also the aide had been waiting and waiting for.

“Permission has been granted.”