As Eriel returned to the banquet hall, Lucy spotted Eriel amidst the children and walked over with sparkling eyes.

“…Mommy!”

“My daughter, were you having fun?”

“Yeah!”

Eriel smiled brightly as she took Lucy’s hand.

“Mommy. I made a new friend today?”

“A friend? What kind of friend did you make?”

Eriel asked as she walked to where Lucy led her.

“Yeah. Her name is Helen, and she’s the same age as me! She’s really, really nice. Oh! Helen! Mommy, this is Helen.”

Eriel gulped and turned her head forward after listening to Lucy chattering beside her.

The bright hazel eyes, similar to Jerald’s, looked at Lucy and narrowed beautifully.

The child, who seemed as light as a feather, must have been shy because as soon as she made eye contact with Eriel, her cheeks flushed red and she half-hid her body to the side.

Even without looking up at the person next to her, Eriel knew who it was.

“Helen. You should greet the Duchess, right?”

As a gentle voice rang out, Helen’s gaze moved upward.

Following that gaze, Eriel also moved her head up. Jerald, who was smiling, looked down at his daughter and patted her shoulder.

Eriel faced Jerald again and almost let out a sigh.

Facing him reminded her of past mistakes. She wanted to apologize, but it was too late to do so.

As an adult, Jerald strictly maintained the line of friendship with Eriel.

However, around the time when she was dating Damian, he once casually mentioned something in passing.

“Remember what we talked about on the hill when we were young?”

It was the first day Eriel didn’t ask Jerald to escort her since she started dating Damian.

She went to the banquet hall, met Jerald, and he asked if she would like to take a short stroll in the garden as a greeting.

He was a very close friend to Eriel, so she didn’t place much significance on the meaning of that walk and agreed.

“On the hill?”

It was a place they visited so often that Eriel couldn’t immediately recall that specific moment.

“The arranged marriage, when I said I didn’t like it.”

Only then did Eriel remember what Jerald was talking about.

“Ah… Why? Now that you’re about to have an arranged marriage, do you suddenly dislike it?”

Along with his question, Eriel recalled the memory and instantly read Jerald’s heart.

She occasionally thought that Jerald might like her, but since he never crossed the line as a friend, she didn’t think deeply about it.

And Jerald liking her… had no meaning.

His family was on the aristocratic side, while Eriel’s family was on the imperial side.

Being friends was possible, but for the two with different political standings, marriage had a very different meaning.

Moreover, if Eriel pretended to understand his intention now, it would once again hurt Jerald in a different way.

So, pretending not to know, Eriel jokingly responded to his question as if it were a beautiful memory.

“…Yeah. I guess thoughts from when we were young don’t change easily. I thought it would be a bit different when we grew up.”

Eriel then saw an expression on Jerald’s face that she had never seen before and realized she had made a mistake. Only then did she want to apologize, but too many years had already passed to turn back.

If he hadn’t let that slip like that, she might have lived her entire life without knowing her mistake.

Under her father’s words, Eriel thoroughly said things that Jerald would like to hear, and it always left him with false hopes.

Eriel liked him as a friend, but never once felt him as a man.

And such lightheartedness of Eriel must have always hurt Jerald.

But at that time, Eriel couldn’t realize that she was doing something bad to Jerald.

It was partly genuine as a friend, so she didn’t recognize the difference at all.

She just thought that if Jerald was happy with Eriel’s answers, that was good. Fulfilling her father’s expectations and making Jerald happy.

“Mommy?”

Eriel, who had been tightly holding Lucy’s hand for a moment, came to her senses at Lucy’s voice.

The contemplation had been long. Fortunately, Helen, who seemed hesitant, was having a hard time coming out from behind Jerald’s legs.

“Yeah… I guess your friend is very shy. Shall we show her how our Lucy greets first?”

“Yeah!”

At Eriel’s words, Lucy, who stepped forward first, bowed her head to Jerald.

“Hello. Viscount Shannon. My name is Lucy.”

Jerald made eye contact with Lucy at her greeting.

Slightly bending his knees, he smiled broadly upon seeing Lucy’s greeting.

“Hello, Miss Lucy. You are very good at greetings, Miss Lucy. …Helen? Helen can do it too.”

When Jerald encouraged Helen once more, Helen slightly nodded her head.

“H-hello. Du-Duchess. M-my name is Helen.”

Just then, the resounding voice of the attendant echoed through the banquet hall.

“The Duke of Zenova is entering!”

Eriel’s shoulders trembled.

*

“The Duke of Zenova?”

The gazes of the nobles turned towards the door.

Damian, who was the focus of attention, walked in, tapping the floor with his cane.

The nobles widened their eyes at the cane grasped in his hand, but soon closed their mouths at Damian’s leisurely gait.

Damian surveyed his surroundings while directly facing forward.

He returned the greetings of the approaching nobles with a slight nod of his head, but he slightly frowned as quite a few nobles surrounded him.

“Where is Eriel?”

At Damian’s question, the nearby nobles stepped back one by one, making way for him.

At the end of the path, Eriel was standing with an unfamiliar man. As soon as he saw the man’s clothes, Damian realized that he was definitely the noble who had bumped into Eriel earlier and strode forward.

Damian clenched his teeth upon confirming the man’s face, which was now clearly visible, unlike before.

To the surrounding nobles, it seemed like the Duke’s graceful appearance despite his injured leg, but inside Damian’s heart, a fire was igniting.

“Eriel, Lucy.”

Damian, who had tucked his anger into a corner of his heart, looked down at Lucy, who was wearing the dress he had chosen for her.

“Daddy?”

Lucy tilted her head at Damian’s appearance but quickly approached him.

Damian, who had walked slowly, embraced Lucy with one arm and curved his eyes as he made eye contact with her.

“Lucy. You must have made an entrance with His Highness the Crown Prince today, but I’m sorry I missed it.”

At Damian’s words, Lucy smiled brightly and whispered in Damian’s ear.

“We just walked around the hall once. Daddy.”

Damian laughed at Lucy’s words as if showing off to the man who was watching everything in front of him.

“Hello. Your Grace. I am Jerald Shannon.”

Jerald bowed, looking at Damian, who was holding Lucy in his arms.

Damian scanned Jerald from head to toe, then shifted his gaze to Helen, who was standing next to him.

Helen, who had stepped forward for a moment to greet Eriel, hid behind Jerald’s legs again with Damian’s appearance.

“Ah, hello. Y-Your Grace.”

The child, who stuttered slightly, greeted without coming out from behind Jerald.

“Is she the Viscount’s daughter?”

When Damian asked, lowering his gaze to Helen, Jerald nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. But she’s very shy… I apologize.”

“A child can be like that.”

Damian nodded at Helen’s greeting.

Eriel, who had been watching Damian, spread her arms towards Lucy. She was worried that Damian, who was holding the child with one arm, might be straining himself.

“Come here. Lucy.”

Lucy, who quickly moved to Eriel’s embrace, turned her head towards Damian.

“But Daddy, is your leg okay now?”

As Lucy lowered her gaze, Damian tapped the floor with his cane.

“With the cane, I don’t have much trouble walking. It just took a little getting used to.”

“Really? Thanks to the cane? It’s the cane that His Highness the Crown Prince gifted. Indeed! His Highness has great insight.”

Lucy, who smiled brightly, brought up Eden’s story. For some reason, this time, Damian also nodded at Lucy’s praise of the Crown Prince.

“By the way, Eriel, you were wearing a different dress when I saw you earlier, but this dress also suits you well.”

“…Huh? …Mommy, did you meet Daddy?”

Lucy, who was in Eriel’s arms, tilted her head.

“We met briefly behind the banquet hall.”

Instead of Eriel, Damian answered Lucy’s question with a grin. Then he pressed Eriel’s mouth with his hand as she was startled.

Damian, who also smiled at Eriel, immediately turned his head towards Jerald.

“Viscount Shannon, it’s been a very long time since we last met.”

“Yes, this is the first official event since my wife passed away. Helen has just become a little better now. She has improved a lot.”

Jerald slightly bowed his head towards Helen behind him, then raised it again.

“I see. Then.”

Damian, intending to end the conversation here, agreed with his words and turned his back.

As Damian was about to walk away with Lucy and Eriel, Jerald called out to him from behind.

“…I bumped into the Duchess in the hallway.”

Jerald brought up the past incident. At the same time, Jerald curved his eyes into a gentle slope.

It was a very soft angle, but Damian’s eyebrows shot up towards the sky.

“In the process, I lent her my outer garment, and the Duchess said she would repay the favor, so I asked to be invited to the Duke’s residence. Since I’m also raising a daughter, I thought I could get a lot of help from the Duchess. And it seems that Helen and Miss Lucy have become friends, so they can play together. Would it be alright if I visit the Duke’s residence in the near future?”

There were a few people watching, but Damian’s expression didn’t soften at all. His raised eyebrows twitched.

“Unfortunately, when it comes to matters related to children, it would be better for you to seek help from other noble ladies. If you insist on repayment for my wife bumping into you, Viscount, I will give you money.”

Damian cut off Jerald’s request without mercy.

Eriel was surprised and parted her lips, but she didn’t object to Damian’s decision. If Eriel opposed Damian’s opinion here like he did, it could damage his dignity.

Of course, she had no intention of objecting either.

She was just worried that his words seemed strong.

“In that case, it’s fine. I will take the ‘intention’ of the Duchess who said she would repay the favor.”

Damian, who was about to turn around immediately, stopped his action. Jerald, who strangely put emphasis on a specific word, looked at Damian and smiled.

Damian, who glanced at Jerald’s face, this time turned his body completely towards Jerald.

He tapped his cane on the floor, revealing his uncomfortable mood.

“Viscount. I don’t think you need to say that to me.”

Damian’s voice, which had been unpleasant from the beginning, was filled with complete coldness.

“Oh my, what mistake have I made? I just wanted to say it’s okay since you said you would repay with money. If I made a mistake, I apologize.”

Jerald bowed his head with an apologetic face.

At the same time, Helen burst into tears.

“Da-Daddy. Sob.”

It seemed that she was scared by the sharp atmosphere and Jerald bowing his head.

The nobles’ gazes went back and forth. However, without blinking an eye, Damian coldly looked down at Helen, then turned around.