Eriel raised her head slightly as she put the main dish in her mouth.

Across from her, Lucy was busy cutting her steak, and shifting her gaze to the side, there was Damian quietly watching her.

As expected, Eriel pretended that her father’s story was nothing, but Lucy was clearly very angry with her father.

Eriel, who had spared as much of the fight story as possible, led the conversation to a topic that might come up between daughter and husband.

“Um, shall we talk about the book Lucy was reading this morning? Mom is so curious. This morning, the butler said that our Lucy was reading a book.”

“I read a story about a hero defeating monsters.”

“Really? That must have been fun. How was it? Mom would love it if our Lucy told us about it.”

Fortunately, thanks to Lucy who said she had read a book, Eriel quickly brought up the book story.

Lucy, who had been cutting her steak, put down her knife and glanced at Damian.

“The hero hasn’t defeated the monster yet. I’ll tell you when I finish reading.”

Lucy was clearly comparing the monster to Damian, but despite Lucy’s gaze and tone, Damian just nodded, not seeming to think much of the child’s words.

Lucy picked up her knife again and focused on cutting her steak.

Eriel quickly made eye contact with Damian and mouthed words.

‘You, it’s about you. Try talking with Lucy.’

However, Damian, who calmly twitched only his eyebrows, tilted his head as if he hadn’t understood Eriel’s mouthing at all.

Eriel couldn’t understand why her husband was acting like this now.

‘The last time you saw Lucy, you and I had a fight.’

Eriel mouthed to Damian with a sigh that seemed to burst out in frustration.

But Damian pretended not to see Eriel as he picked up the water glass in front of him. Feeling incredulous, Eriel decided this wouldn’t do and called him out loud.

“Damian?”

At Eriel’s call, Damian, who had been drinking water, put the glass down on the table.

“She went to the study, I heard.”

Eriel frowned at the sudden words. The words that came out of Damian’s mouth were not what Eriel had wanted.

Lucy, who had barely managed to eat a bite of the steak she couldn’t cut well, stopped chewing.

The child’s eyes twitched and then returned to her plate, peacefully chewing her food.

She looked as if she would chew her father’s words as thoroughly as she chewed the steak.

“I heard she also saw the entry records for 8 years.”

At this, Damian brought up one more thing. Lucy chewed her steak peacefully even at Damian’s words, but rather, the reaction came from Eriel’s side.

As soon as Damian finished speaking, Eriel’s face hardened.

If she had been an ordinary child, Eriel’s reaction wouldn’t have been this severe.

Of course, Damian wouldn’t have brought up such a story to Lucy in the first place.

Lucy, looking at Eriel’s face, put down the fork she was holding on the table with a clank.

“Dad, what makes you so confident?”

“I think I warned about entering rooms without the owner’s permission.”

“If you hadn’t done such a thing, this wouldn’t have happened. All I do in the study is just read books… You’re angry at me about this now because you’re hiding something bad in the study!”

“Then you should have come up to dad right away and confronted me. Why didn’t you ask?”

At Damian’s words, the child’s lips parted for a moment, looking up at him as if dumbfounded.

“It’s proof that you didn’t trust Mom and me for even a moment. Why should I go and ask about that? Why should I give you a moment to make excuses to me!”

“Didn’t you throw away Dad as soon as you found a reason to hate him?”

Tears welled up in Lucy’s green eyes.

“I, how could I throw away Dad… just like that…”

On top of the betrayal, an even greater betrayal was overlaid.

Eriel, watching the child clash with Damian, knew there was no room for her to mediate between the two.

Lucy stood up, pushing her chair back, and moved away from the table.

As the servants standing by the door didn’t know what to do, Eriel gestured for them to open the door. One maid quickly followed after Lucy.

“Damian.”

Eriel called out to Damian.

“Eriel. I haven’t properly told you about the entry records yet… and it ended up like this.”

Damian met Eriel’s eyes. Eriel faced him, feeling complicated, and waited for Damian’s next words.

“…I’m sorry. It wasn’t because I doubted you, but doing that while knowing you’d be hurt… there’s no excuse for it. But if I didn’t do that, I felt like I couldn’t bear it then. Even though I knew it wasn’t true, I wanted to see and confirm it rather than just believing it wasn’t.”

Damian lowered his gaze.

Eriel let out a long sigh as she looked at Damian.

“You should apologize to Lucy like you did to me. Why did you push the child?”

“But the child…”

As Damian’s words trailed off, Eriel shook her head straight away and called him.

“Damian.”

Eriel leaned her upper body to the side and covered Damian’s hand resting on the table.

“You also misunderstood the child’s heart, thinking Lucy threw you away right away. When I was shaken, it was Lucy who understood your feelings the most. I know you might think this way because Lucy wasn’t on good terms with you at first. But… you also know it’s not true. Don’t deceive yourself. You trust your daughter, Damian.”

Damian’s eyes trembled as he met Eriel’s gaze.

*

Eriel finished preparing to go out the next day with an uneasy heart.

She had already informed Damian and Lucy that she had to visit her parents’ home after a long time.

In fact, she was going to ask Blake what had happened with Lucy, and what he had taken from the child in return for analyzing those Jarvis gloves, but for now, she kept it a secret from them.

It felt like the secrets that family members under the same roof couldn’t tell each other were increasing lately, but Eriel swallowed a sigh and waved to Damian and Lucy.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Mom, have a safe trip.”

“Take care, Eriel.”

After saying goodbye, Eriel nodded and got into the carriage.

It didn’t feel comfortable leaving Damian and Lucy alone in the mansion.

Nevertheless, because Blake was an unpredictable brother, if she delayed here, something bigger might happen.

This time. Definitely. She wouldn’t let something like the kidnapping happen to Lucy again.

Eriel poked her head out of the window in the carriage and looked at the father and daughter standing in front of the door watching her.

The problem between Damian and Lucy was not yet resolved. Since the dinner time two days ago, the atmosphere between Damian and Lucy had been downright frosty.

Of course, it seemed that her husband had realized something due to what Eriel had said to Damian during dinner, but it didn’t seem like the father-daughter relationship would improve in a short time.

Damian probably needed time too.

“I’ll be back.”

As the carriage started, Eriel immediately waved to the two of them. Lucy, who had been watching, quickly waved her hand, worried that Eriel might not see.

*

Damian only took his eyes off when Eriel’s carriage was no longer visible.

It was the same for Lucy. The child’s eyes only left when the carriage carrying Eriel disappeared.

There was a moment of silence between the two, but Lucy moved her feet without even glancing at Damian beside her.

Damian easily caught up with the child’s steps, which at most fell within one of his strides, and walked beside her.

Lucy glanced at Damian with surprised eyes and tried to move away from him with faster steps.

And quite naturally, it didn’t work well.

Damian, who had increased his speed at the same time, caught up beside her, and Lucy, twitching her eyebrows, clenched her fists and moved her feet even faster.

“Ugh.”

The child, seeming to struggle, gritted her teeth and waved her hands, trying hard to hide her strain.

Damian, watching this from the side, slightly slowed his pace to let the child reach the door first.

As Lucy arrived at the door first, a triumphant expression appeared on her face.

Lucy’s face, looking at Damian from the door, showed a smile of victory.

As the child’s intoxicated face passed and the door closed, Damian burst into laughter outside.

The butler and maid standing behind Damian also had subtle smiles on their faces.

But bitterness remained at the end of the laughter he let out.

Damian, grabbing the door handle that the child had just entered through, opened the door and went in.

Lucy was already going up the hall stairs, and when Damian entered, she slightly turned her head.

“…I won.”

Lucy’s prim voice echoed in the hall.

Damian nodded to Lucy.

“Yes. Our daughter won. Should I make you practice running instead of studying?”

Lucy flinched at Damian’s words and glanced at him.

“I’m not your daughter.”

“Then?”

“I’m Mom’s daughter.”

Lucy quickly corrected Damian’s words, as if her heart wasn’t fully softened yet.

“And I won’t learn running! Hmph.”

Lucy turned her head abruptly and went up to her room.