A pitiful beast endlessly craving affection. Like a cat licking its wounded leg and crying, he seemed pitiable.

‘If I were my former self, I could have loved you to my heart’s content.’

Now, even if she wanted to love, she couldn’t do it easily. Her soul had been butchered by Allen and was in tatters. How could she love anyone in such a state?

To be more honest, she was afraid of getting hurt again. She had paid too cruel a price.

‘Instead of love, I’ll comfort you.’

Lea barely managed to steady her wavering heart. She waited for Terran’s rough breathing to subside. She was willing to comfort him as much as needed if he could regain his composure.

After about thirty minutes passed like that, Terran was no longer struggling.

“Terran, let’s have dinner together. It’s our first day living with Chainer.”

“Alright.”

Lea raised Terran from his seat and gently let go of his hand. However, his large hand grasped her wrist.

“Grace, can’t you… give me a kiss?”

“!?”

Terran spoke shyly like a teenage boy.

Lea struggled internally for a brief moment. But she didn’t want to give a kiss that seemed like pity. She kissed the back of Terran’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

At first, he looked disappointed, but soon he laughed helplessly.

‘So this is what a cruel price means?’

In the past, it was the complete opposite situation. Grace would beg him for love, asking to be hugged and kissed.

Each time, he was in a hurry to avoid the situation.

While others praised Grace’s appearance as goddess-like, to his eyes she looked like an immature child.

Above all, though to a different degree, seeing Grace made him uncomfortable as if he was looking at himself.

‘I’m grateful she even kissed my hand.’

He, as a person, didn’t even hold Grace’s hand, so in comparison, she was being very generous now.

Lea held Terran’s hand and headed to the dining room. Even this was uncomfortable, but for today, she needed to take care of him.

“Terran, I don’t dislike you.”

Lea spoke without looking at him.

“!?”

Terran seemed quite surprised.

“I just need time. So…”

“I understand.”

His voice brightened considerably. After all, Grace would be by his side forever, so he didn’t intend to be impatient.

* * *

It was a rare occasion for everyone to gather. Lea wanted to introduce Chainer not only to Terran but also to Luke and James.

So they decided to sit together for a meal, regardless of status.

Of course, the perceptive Pauline had bathed Chainer and dressed her appropriately as befitting a member of the ducal family.

She also neatly combed and tied up Chainer’s red hair, which had been tangled from lack of proper brushing. After that, she looked like a completely different person.

“I didn’t know Chainer was this pretty.”

Indeed, people can look quite different depending on how they’re dressed. There was no trace of a gypsy left in Chainer.

“Sister, am I pretty?”

Chainer, pleased with Grace’s compliment, sought confirmation again.

“Very pretty.”

Especially the freckles scattered across her nose bridge were cute.

On the other hand, Terran had heard about Chainer from Grace and knew roughly about her.

‘Twenty years old but with an underdeveloped mind?’

However, he felt a mysterious aura from Chainer.

Though her speech was clumsy and she acted foolishly, it was as if she could observe people’s souls. Of course, this was purely his subjective view.

“Chainer, you should greet Duke Terran Courtois.”

“Terran Cuo-ia-tu? Difficult. Hello? Mister!”

Chainer greeted Terran loudly.

For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the dining room. Especially Terran’s expression looked very unpleasant. He picked at his ear with his finger.

‘What did I just hear?’

Luke and James snickered, trying to hold back their laughter.

“Chainer, say ‘Hello, Duke.'”

Pauline, with a pale face, instructed Chainer again.

“Du… Duke? Ah! Don’t know, hello? Mister!”

At Chainer’s greeting, a slight twitch appeared on one side of Terran’s face.

‘Mis.ter?’

The words flew like throwing stars and stuck in his chest one by one.

Pauline bit her lips inward, trying to hold back her laughter.

At that moment, Luke, unable to contain himself any longer, burst out laughing. Soon after, James also turned his head and laughed.

Then Chainer spoke to Luke.

“Why are you laughing, elder brother?”

“Elder brother?”

“Yes, elder brother, and next to you is grandpa.”

“Ah, so the Duke is mister, I’m elder brother, and James is grandpa?”

Soon, the smiles disappeared from Terran and James’s faces. Only Luke continued laughing, holding his stomach as if he was having the time of his life.

With a clang, Terran struck his plate with his fork, and Luke, who had been laughing obliviously, abruptly stopped. Soon, servants and maids entered with food.

“Um, Chainer will be living with me from now on. As you can see, she’s a friend whose mind hasn’t fully developed, so her speech might be clumsy and frustrating. Please embrace her with a generous heart, everyone.”

Everyone nodded at Lea’s words. But Luke spoke in an excited tone.

“It seems Chainer has a very accurate eye for people.”

“Shut up and eat!”

Terran glared at Luke fiercely.

“How can I eat while shutting up?”

“You son of a—”

Terran almost swore at the annoying Luke.

‘Mis.ter? Did I really look like that?’

He must have aged faster due to all the emotional distress he’d been through. Terran ate his food silently.

“I’ll go to the barber shop tomorrow to shave and dye my hair. Please understand if I’m not here in the morning, Duke.”

James spoke while chewing his meat. It seemed growing a mustache and sideburns had been the root of the problem.

“Yes, come back looking very young.”

‘Should I go too? But I’m only twenty-five years old.’

Lea felt uneasy about the chilly atmosphere during the meal. She should avoid having everyone eat together in the future.

‘I should try to cheer Terran up.’

If they continued eating like this, the meat would get stuck in their throats.

“Still, to my eyes, the Duke looks the youngest and most handsome, Chainer.”

Lea spoke loudly, as if wanting Terran to hear.

She hoped her words would ease his discomfort.

In fact, although Terran was young, he exuded a completely different aura from frivolous men of the same age. He was serious and mature in everything.

So there was no way he could look like an elder brother to Chainer. Her compliment seemed to have an effect as the corners of Terran’s mouth quivered slightly.

‘Thank goodness.’

“Sister is right, that mister is the most handsome.”

“Huh?”

‘She could have left out the ‘mister’ part.’

At that moment, Pauline, who had been holding back well until now, couldn’t contain her laughter any longer and rushed out of the dining room. It was obvious to everyone that she left to laugh freely.

But Chainer didn’t stop there.

“Mister, don’t worry. Grace sister will like you very much in the future.”

Everyone was surprised. Lea felt that another of Chainer’s predictions had come out.

This time, it was Lea who couldn’t raise her head, looking embarrassed. Only then did Terran’s frozen face begin to soften.

“Sister, you need to earn a lot of money. That’s the only way you can meet your father later.”

Chainer said nonchalantly while putting a piece of meat in her mouth.

‘So that’s what it was?’

Terran closely observed Chainer, who was chewing meat with her mouth full.

The mysterious aura he felt from her. He had heard that gypsies traditionally practiced astrology and some among them had the ability to see the future.

‘An interesting thing has entered my house.’

Terran chuckled as he looked at Chainer. If Grace would like him, he had nothing more to wish for.

“Chainer, what kind of man will I marry?”

Luke asked in a gentle voice.

“You will… um, marry me.”

“What?”

“Pfft!”

Terran and James simultaneously spat out the water in their mouths.

He hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled very contentedly. Now he felt relieved and his mood improved.

‘It feels like a home where people actually live.’

Terran experienced this atmosphere for the first time. But he quite liked it.

He always used to eat alone at a long dining table, but eating like this, bustling with people, wasn’t bad at all.

* * *

Chainer completed all the lace orders in a month. The order form had a wide variety of requests. The types of items desired were also diverse, including scarves, clothes, shawls, headscarves, and more.

Nevertheless, Chainer made them very easily, and Lea and Pauline neatly packaged them in boxes and even had them delivered by courier.

As Pauline had suggested, they stamped a trademark on the front of the boxes indicating that these were Chainer’s items.

“Chainer, I’ve divided the profits 70-30 and put them in your bank account. Of course, you get the 70.”

“Mm, sister.”

Chainer didn’t seem particularly interested in money. Soon, they would be earning even more money. Because Chainer’s lace would be sold at the Hamilton General Store.

Rapha and his brothers, along with his subordinates, agreed to manage the general store.

And they agreed to take a certain portion of the profits from the general store.

‘Soon, rumors will spread throughout the entire city of Revon. When that happens, orders will come in from Gardencia too.’

They used the highest quality thread and made lace with a unique technique. So Chainer’s lace would soon establish itself as a luxury brand.

‘The social season in Gardencia is coming up soon.’

That meant it was the peak season. Before that, they needed to make Chainer’s lace not just the dream of noble ladies, but of all women in Rubec.

It needed to become an item that every woman would want to own at least one piece of.

‘Do we really need to get a store in Revon?’

Above all, it was better if people didn’t know who was selling it. Nobles bought precious items with money, but they looked down on handicrafts themselves.

While it was considered an essential virtue and hobby for noble ladies to do a bit of embroidery and lace-making, they disparaged those who made money from it as merchants.

‘I’m fine with it, but it might tarnish Grace and Terran’s honor.’

No, since they had already taken over the Hamilton General Store in Gardencia, they should open a branch in Revon too. That way, they could irritate Allen a little bit.

They needed someone who wouldn’t shy away from difficult or rough work. Suddenly, one person came to Lea’s mind.

‘We have Grandpa Rapha!’