Blake moved towards the source of the sound and looked down from above at the few hooded figures confronting a beast.

The group of about five people were trying to kill the beast, while two others standing some distance away were conversing among themselves.

The beast, presumed to be a bear, roared once more.

Judging from its bloodshot eyes and drooling, it didn’t seem to be in a normal state.

Although the exact circumstances were unclear, it appeared they had failed to capture the bear, feed it drugs, and confine it in an iron cage.

Blake approached the two individuals who were standing away from the beast.

“This is bad.”

“We’ll have to just kill one of them.”

“What are you going to do? Are you going to capture another one?”

“Capturing takes time and requires more manpower. The higher-ups won’t like it if we report this. We deliberately didn’t report how many we had captured in the first place. Let’s just make do with the remaining 4.”

Overhearing their conversation, Blake realized that there were still 4 more beasts.

“By the way, it’s best not to administer the drugs until right before the hunting festival. If they escape from the cave, it’ll be a mess.”

“But the drug’s effects seem good, right?”

“Definitely. Let’s report to the higher-ups about the effects and discuss where to release the beasts.”

“All 4 at once?”

“No. Based on their condition, releasing 1 at a time seems sufficient. Honestly, no matter how skilled a knight is, even one drugged beast will be overwhelming.”

As the roaring bear raised its front paws and collapsed, the two hooded figures nodded their heads.

Despite thorough preparations, even five hooded figures seemed to struggle against a single drugged beast.

“This might not end with just injuries. Duke, will he survive? He might die.”

“That’s not for us to worry about. We just need to do our job.”

After confirming that the beast was completely dead, the two hooded figures began to descend the mountain.

At Blake’s gesture, his subordinates followed behind the two descending hooded figures.

“It seems they were beasts to be used in the hunting festival, Uncle,” Lucy whispered softly, peeking her head out from Blake’s embrace and gazing at the spot where the two hooded figures had been until just now.

“It appears so.”

“Judging from the mention of the Duke, they must be referring to Father…”

Lucy’s voice trembled with unease. Blake placed his hand on top of the child’s head, covered by the hood, and settled her in a now-familiar manner.

Blake’s hand, resting on Lucy’s head, moved slowly.

“It’s alright. We discovered it in advance. I’ll take care of the rest, so let’s go to bed, Lucy. When I finish hunting the bears, I’ll send you a teddy bear in the morning.”

“A teddy bear?”

When Lucy asked with sparkling eyes, Blake grinned and nodded.

“Yes. A teddy bear.”

*

Fortunately, the unease Eriel had felt last night seemed to be unfounded, as Lucy arrived for breakfast in the morning.

However, Lucy couldn’t properly keep her head up, dozing off.

“Lucy… It seems you didn’t sleep well last night.”

At the sound of Eriel’s voice, Lucy abruptly raised her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“Ah, Mother…”

Lucy blinked a few times and looked at Eriel.

“Lucy, do you want to eat breakfast a little later?”

“Oh, no. It’s fine. I couldn’t fall asleep last night, so I must have fallen asleep late.”

Lucy rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her slowly moving hand fidgeted. With her other hand, she picked up a fork and poked at the food.

“Is that so? You couldn’t sleep last night?”

At that moment…

Knock knock.

A servant who had knocked approached the dining table. In their arms was a gift box wrapped in pink wrapping paper.

“Apologies for interrupting your meal. Viscount Borghese has sent a gift for the young lady.”

“A gift from Uncle?”

Startled, Lucy lowered her hand that had been slowly rubbing her eyes and abruptly stood up from her seat.

Lucy immediately took the gift box from the servant and placed it on the table.

“Lucy, wouldn’t it be better to open the gift after the meal?”

Eriel tried to stop her, but Lucy clasped her own hands together.

“Mother… I’ll just check what’s inside. Please? I’m so curious about Uncle’s gift. Please?”

“Lucy, but during the meal…”

“Let her open it.”

As Eriel was about to say that it shouldn’t be done, Damian, who was sitting at the head of the table and observing the situation, lightly granted permission to the child.

“Yay, Dad is the best! Thank you, Dad.”

Lucy gave Damian a thumbs-up.

Eriel turned her head to Damian, leaving the child who was untying the ribbon on the gift box.

‘How can you let her open the gift box during mealtime?’

Eriel narrowed her eyes, mumbling, but Damian merely chuckled at Eriel’s expression.

“Sigh…”

Eriel sighed and held her forehead.

Meanwhile, Lucy had torn off all the wrapping paper and taken out the gift.

“Wow! It’s a teddy bear!”

Smiling brightly, Lucy jumped up and down from her seat, hugging the teddy bear.

Even Eriel, who had been sighing with her forehead in her hand, couldn’t help but smile as she watched the child’s excitement.

“Ray must have gone somewhere and come back.”

Eriel smiled brightly at Damian.

“It seems he buys gifts for Lucy whenever he goes somewhere. He sent gifts from the country he was in at the time for each of her birthdays.”

“…Is that so? Was there nothing else?”

Damian tilted his head at Eriel’s words.

“More… What do you mean?”

Eriel asked with wide eyes, and Damian called out to Lucy.

“Lucy.”

Damian, who had put down the cutlery he was holding on the table, gestured to the child.

“Come here.”

As Lucy approached at Damian’s gesture, he opened his palm.

“The teddy bear, hand it over.”

“But it’s my teddy bear, Dad… I gave you a doll when your leg was injured.”

“Hand it over.”

Damian spoke briefly and flicked his hand once more. Lucy pouted her lips and puffed out her cheeks.

“This is mine.”

“Yes. Let me check it first.”

“…Damian? Why are you doing this?”

Eriel frowned at Damian’s words.

“I’m just going to check.”

Damian took the teddy bear from Lucy and carefully examined it. Eriel blinked at Damian’s actions.

Ray wasn’t the type of person to engage in harmful behavior towards Lucy, but there was a possibility that he might involve her in some kind of incident.

Since he was so unpredictable, Eriel understood Damian’s perspective and nodded in agreement with his actions.

The moment she nodded, a bad feeling struck Eriel’s mind.

She recalled the fact that Ray had left a meaning in each of Lucy’s gifts.

“Damian. He didn’t put something inside that teddy bear, did he? Come to think of it, Ray used to leave his address whenever he sent birthday gifts to Lucy. Lucy even sent him a letter using that address once.”

Eriel herself looked like she was about to cut open the teddy bear’s belly at any moment. Damian shook his head as he pressed firmly on the teddy bear.

“It doesn’t seem like he put anything inside the doll. Considering my brother-in-law’s methods, he wouldn’t have done anything to the doll itself.”

Damian began rummaging through the teddy bear’s fur.

As Eriel anxiously stared at the teddy bear, Lucy glanced at Eriel and Damian and let out a short sigh.

“Our uncle… He doesn’t receive any trust at all.”

Lucy then returned to her seat and began eating her food obediently.

Eriel turned her gaze to Lucy. Eriel’s green eyes keenly observed Lucy’s behavior.

“Lucy.”

At Eriel’s stern voice, Lucy, who was eating, blinked her eyes.

“You’re not hiding anything from Mother, right?”

One of Eriel’s eyebrows twitched.

“N-No, I’m not!”

Damian placed the teddy bear on the table and shook his head.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything in the doll.”

Nevertheless, Eriel closely observed Lucy’s face and actions.

“Come to think of it, why couldn’t our daughter sleep the night before Ray sent the gift?”

As Eriel narrowed down the investigation, Lucy puffed out her cheeks and then raised her eyebrows.

“I’m being wrongly accused, Mother.”

“Are you sure you’re not hiding anything? You didn’t agree to receive something through that teddy bear, did you?”

At Eriel’s words, Lucy immediately shook her head.

“I didn’t agree to receive anything from Uncle.”

“…Excuse me, Your Grace.”

Meanwhile, the servant who had brought the gift took a deep breath without immediately leaving.

After glancing at Eriel’s expression, the servant bowed, clasping their hands as if about to say something difficult.

“Earl Shannon has arrived outside.”

With the servant’s words, silence fell upon the table.

Even Lucy, who had regained her teddy bear and had a happy smile, stiffened her face and glanced at the servant.

After a brief silence, the servant, who found it difficult to keep the Earl waiting outside, added a question.

“…Shall I send him away for now, as it is an unscheduled visit?”

At the servant’s question, Damian’s head slowly turned.

“No. Let him in.”