After greeting Eriel with her eyes, the Marchioness briefly stepped back.

“Actually, I want to go hunting with my brother after a long time, but he won’t agree at all. The war is over, so I was hoping Miss Eriel could help.”

“…I think it’ll be difficult due to the busy schedule, but I’ll ask.”

Eriel nodded slightly and closed her mouth as if telling him to go ahead.

In the ensuing silence, Eriel just blinked and looked at Bruno, but far from leaving, he smiled brightly and twirled the champagne glass between his fingers.

“By the way, I heard there was a bit of a fight between Lucy and Derek.”

A fight?

Eriel tilted her head slightly.

“As you know, Derek is alone, so he doesn’t know how to deal with a young sister.”

“…I see. But this is the first time I’ve heard about a fight between Lucy and Derek. Was there something I didn’t know about?”

“I heard you were there too. At your brother’s victory banquet.”

This time, Bruno tilted his head.

It was a reaction implying that Eriel must have known since she was there.

“Oh my. There was a bit of a commotion yesterday, but fortunately, they didn’t fight.”

“Derek left the hall crying, and you’re saying they didn’t fight?”

“It seems Derek felt frustrated with himself during play. Lucy was very worried about Derek.”

Bruno chuckled at Eriel’s words.

“I guess I was too roundabout in my speech.”

Bruno drank his champagne and continued with a smile.

“Rather than fighting, Lucy didn’t treat Derek well. How hurtful must it have been for Derek to be mocked by Lucy in front of so many people?”

Eriel blinked slowly.

Her face was still smiling, but her lips were set. Eriel, holding back her words, just met Bruno’s gaze.

As the uncomfortable silence lengthened, Bruno quickly broke it.

“What I wanted to say wasn’t about pointing fingers. I was thinking of arranging a meeting for the children who are upset. The children can play at the Duke’s residence, while my brother and I can enjoy some light hunting behind the mansion.”

“I see. I’ll check the schedule when I return to the Duke’s residence and let you know by letter.”

“I’ll be waiting for a positive reply.”

Bruno nodded slightly and walked away.

*

After returning to the mansion from the award ceremony, Eriel loosened Damian’s tie.

Today, Damian’s gaze was persistently fixed on Eriel’s face.

Eriel looked up at Damian with a slightly flustered expression.

“Damian, is there something bothering you?”

“…No.”

Damian shook his head.

Eriel, with the tie on her wrist, tilted her head sideways and looked at him.

Damian’s answer was a bit questionable.

“…I was thinking of having dinner with Lucy today.”

“Fa, fami…ly… din…ner?”

Eriel, stretching out each word, looked at Damian with surprised eyes.

Unlike Eriel, Damian unbuttoned his cuffs with his usual expressionless face.

Damian, rolling his shoulders as he took off his vest, chuckled as he saw Eriel frozen while undressing.

After unbuttoning two buttons of his shirt, he took a step closer to Eriel.

His golden hair flowed smoothly, softly framing the side of his face.

“Seeing you keep watching, should we have dinner in the bedroom with you today?”

“…No!”

Eriel flinched and shook her head vigorously.

“No. I’ll tell you to get ready quickly.”

Eriel slightly averted her gaze and then smiled brightly.

With Damian’s tie still around her wrist, she moved away from her spot.

The door opened with a click, and Eriel, who had momentarily stopped walking, turned around.

Damian, who was still unbuttoning, turned his head towards Eriel.

“…Damian, thank you.”

Along with Eriel’s bright smile, her fluttering eyelashes soon faced Damian.

After uttering such pretty words, Eriel immediately disappeared into the corridor.

Damian followed Eriel’s retreating figure with his gaze, but only the door that had closed with a click remained in that spot.

“Do we really have to eat first?”

Damian rolled his eyes in the air as if pondering, but soon gave up.

He wanted to see Eriel’s bright face for longer. In the bedroom, tears would be welling up in her eyes.

*

“Butler.”

Eriel called the butler.

“Today, Damian will be dining with us, so tell the kitchen to set his cutlery as well.”

The butler’s eyes widened at Eriel’s words.

After confirming that pleasant surprise, Eriel nodded her head gently and quickly headed to Lucy’s room.

Damian usually ate alone. Almost always in his bedroom or on the outdoor terrace.

It was partly for complete rest, and partly because most of his meal times didn’t stay at normal hours.

“Lucy. Today, Dad will be joining us for dinner.”

“Dad will?”

Lucy, who was putting away her book, asked in surprise.

Seeing that Lucy was also surprised, Eriel nodded her head vigorously.

“Yes. It’s really nice to have a family dinner together, isn’t it?”

“Really? Hehehehehe.”

Eriel flinched at Lucy’s sudden laughter.

“Lucy…?”

Eriel blinked as she looked at Lucy’s face, laughing wickedly.

The laugh was just like Damian’s. Is this what it means to be father and daughter? How can their laughs be so similar?

But when a girl laughs like this…

Oh my, what am I thinking?

If this is Lucy’s real laugh, I should encourage it. I almost taught the child something not good.

But if she laughs like this after her social debut, she’ll be the subject of gossip…

Eriel started to seriously ponder. What would be the real right choice for Lucy?

“…Lucy. Mom loves you in any form.”

Lucy tilted her head at Eriel’s suddenly solemn words.

Eriel swallowed hard and gently held Lucy’s shoulders.

Being the subject of gossip and being ridiculed by others must be psychologically twice as hard.

“When you laugh, well, you shouldn’t open your eyes so wide.”

“…What?”

“Of course, it’s not wrong for our Lucy to laugh like that. It’s good for you to laugh the way you want to. You can laugh like that as much as you want at home. But when you enter society, other children might whisper about you.”

“Ah. Of course, Mom.”

Lucy, who quickly nodded her head, showed a very pretty smile.

She smiled by gently pulling up the corners of her mouth and creating a gentle angle in her eyes.

“Is this how I should smile?”

Eriel felt a bit sad at Lucy’s quickly manufactured smile.

…Is this how it ends up?

As Eriel’s expression didn’t brighten even at Lucy’s smile, Lucy instead held Eriel’s hand tightly.

“Mom.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m happy as long as you’re happy. That’s really all I need. So don’t be sad. Whether I smile like this or like that, I’m happy. And who cares if someone in society talks behind my back? I’m the daughter of Duke Genova, whom no one can say anything against.”

Seeing Lucy’s face full of pride, Eriel hugged her daughter tightly.

“That’s right. Our Lucy is the daughter of Genova, no matter what anyone says. Of course.”

“…That’s right. I’m… I’m… the daughter of Genova.”

Eriel thought Lucy’s voice seemed to tremble a bit, but when she faced her daughter again, she was just her pretty and cute daughter, so she dismissed it as just her own feeling.

*

Eriel smiled as if she had the whole world when she saw Damian arrive shortly after.

How much had she dreamed of a cozy family mealtime?

“Dad, what whim made you sit at the table today?”

However, as soon as they sat down, Lucy’s sharp words struck Damian.

Surely Lucy had been happy when she heard the news of dining with Damian…

Eriel looked back and forth between the father and daughter, uneasy at Lucy’s confusing attitude.

Damian’s eyebrows twitched.

“Usually it’s just Mom and me eating, so I was wondering what wind blew today.”

“Lucy.”

Eriel called Lucy sternly.

However, Lucy’s eyes towards Eriel contained a firm intention not to back down an inch.

“Mom, did you know too? That Dad doesn’t love you?”

“…What do you mean by that, Lucy?”

At Eriel’s question, Lucy turned her head sharply towards Damian.

“Her Majesty the Empress said that when His Majesty the Emperor returned victorious from the war during his time as Crown Prince, he gave a big gift to Her Majesty the Empress.”

Damian’s expression furrowed.

His eyes remained narrowly open, but he leaned his upper body towards the table as if intending to listen to Lucy’s words.

“A gift?”

At Damian’s question, Lucy nodded her head firmly once.

“Yes. She said that gift showed how much His Majesty the Emperor loved Her Majesty the Empress. Dad also received a gift from His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire. She said that also shows the size of love the Empire shows to Dad.”

Oh no.

Eriel bit her lower lip for a moment with a face that said ‘oops’.

It seemed that Her Majesty the Empress had spoken of Damian’s award ceremony as the size of love.

It was probably meant to say how much the Empire loved Damian, how much the Imperial family cherished the Duke of Genova, but it seemed Lucy had interpreted it differently.

“Lucy. That size of love means…”

“Butler.”

Damian, cutting off Eriel’s words, rang the bell. While Eriel was flustered, the butler stood by Damian’s side.

“Have all the gifts received today delivered in Eriel’s name.”

Eriel, surprised, quickly called Damian.

“Damian. The gifts are presents from His Majesty the Emperor, and that means to the Imperial family…”

However, Lucy cut off Eriel’s continuing words this time.

“It’s fine. We can say it’s to commend Mother’s merits in guarding the Duke of Genova’s residence on behalf of the Imperial family. Her Majesty the Empress will be very pleased too. Because Her Majesty the Empress also received it from His Majesty the Emperor under such a pretext, right?”

Eriel, whose words had been cut off twice in a row, could only open and close her mouth.

Damian, nodding his head, concluded the situation.

“That will do.”

For some reason, the father and daughter looked exactly the same.

Feeling that something had gone wrong, Eriel first called her husband, Damian, again.

“Damian. It’s really good that you’re respecting Lucy’s opinion. But you know too. That was the story when His Majesty the Emperor bestowed it on Her Majesty the Empress. Even the Imperial family absolutely won’t take it well…”

“Let’s also give a gift to our daughter who gave a good opinion. Is there a gift you want?”

It felt like she was the only one left at the table with her mouth open.

Eriel looked at Damian who had ignored her words. His gaze was already on Lucy.

Despite her mother’s words being cut off midway, Lucy didn’t seem to care at all as she smiled brightly at her father.

“A sibling! A little brother!”

Damian, nodding his head satisfactorily, turned his gaze to Eriel.

“I guess I should eat a lot if I’m going to pray all night. Eriel.”