I wrapped his large hand once with a white handkerchief trimmed with lace.

Although I heard a calm voice saying it was fine, he waited obediently until I finished tying the knot. He seemed a bit cute, like a well-behaved puppy, holding his hand still for me.

I tied the handkerchief three times to make sure it wouldn’t come loose. The ends of the handkerchief stuck out like rabbit ears.

“Let me see for a moment.”

Then I turned his hand over to look at his palm. Even though it hadn’t been long since I tied it, the handkerchief was already stained with blood. My eyes involuntarily narrowed.

‘That must hurt.’

I couldn’t help but be surprised at how casually Edmond had cut his palm. At times like this, it showed that he had lived in a rough environment mixing with men.

Just as I was thinking I shouldn’t have made such a suggestion, my eyes met Edmond’s gaze.

When I averted my eyes first, Edmond hid his hand behind his back.

“Thank you.”

“Make sure to get proper treatment. Even small wounds can become big ones if they fester.”

“Understood.”

Edmond nodded obediently, but it didn’t seem like he would actually see a doctor.

I furrowed my brows and spoke with a deliberately stern expression.

“I’ll check. Since I caused this wound, I’m responsible too.”

“Understood.”

Was he an answering machine or what? He was only verbally compliant.

Before we knew it, Edmond and I had naturally left the pavilion.

We retraced our steps. Following the path made by the fence trees, we circled around the small greenhouse attached to the mansion and headed towards the entrance.

Even as we walked, my gaze kept drifting to his hand wrapped in the handkerchief.

‘I should tell Rail separately.’

After making that decision, we walked for a while.

When we entered the mansion, the interior was completely empty without a single servant.

‘What’s going on?’

The hall, empty without even an ant, felt as cold as midwinter.

Had they all gone on a group vacation? It was a time when the quiet mansion felt unfamiliar.

“Follow me.”

Edmond gestured to me and went ahead. I followed him as if in a trance. With the idle thought that I might have hesitated a bit if his voice hadn’t been so good it could melt my eardrums.

Then suddenly realizing that he was heading towards the banquet hall, I stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Edmond turned back, looking puzzled at my sudden stop.

“Did an important guest arrive? I hadn’t heard anything…”

“…You’ll see when we get there.”

Then Edmond turned back and moved on. I should follow him, but somehow my legs felt as heavy as water-soaked cotton. It was because of the brilliant scene I had seen there.

In the end, the fear and resentment that had peeked out at Edmond’s vow had disappeared, but…

‘I still don’t want to go to the place where I saw that scene.’

But having no good reason to refuse, I trudged along after him.

I saw two people in the banquet hall, and they looked like such a perfect family that it made me feel left out.

It’s not like I could say that.

‘Even thinking about it again, it was a presumptuous desire.’

Since I promised not to leave the mansion, I shouldn’t intrude on the realm of the real family.

Comforting myself, I arrived at the banquet hall. Naturally expecting Edmond to enter first, I glanced curiously at him as he stopped in front of the door.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

“Please enter first. I’ll follow behind you.”

Edmond put on a faint smile and then erased it. There was even a strange sense of satisfaction.

I felt an odd sense of discomfort at him deliberately yielding entry.

As if he was letting the guest of honor enter first after preparing a surprise…

I lifted one corner of my mouth in a stiff smile. It was a very awkward smile.

‘No way.’

Surely it wouldn’t be such an obvious development that everything that had plunged me into deep contemplation was for a surprise. Then was Edmond’s suggestion to take a walk also to keep me here?

If that’s really the case, then I’ve just thrown a tantrum for nothing.

“Would you like to go in first, little brother?”

“…”

His golden eyes, clouded with bewilderment, trembled slightly at my probing words. He was expressionless, and it was a subtle reaction, but I was certain.

Ha. A small laugh escaped between my teeth. It was a laugh mixed with frustration and relief.

Now I understood why the maid had lied about Lilien.

Because they were planning a surprise.

I also understood why Lilien had smiled awkwardly at the maid.

Because she realized she had unintentionally lied to me.

Suddenly, my face burned with shame.

‘They could have just told me…’

No, if they had told me, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. I felt self-destructive, as if I had filmed a one-man drama.

I let out a deep sigh and glanced sideways at Edmond, who had been waiting quietly. I felt unnecessarily resentful that he hadn’t given me any hints. It probably would have been the same for anyone beside me right now, not just Edmond.

“Let’s go in together, little brother.”

I pinched Edmond’s shirt sleeve and pulled him along.

I only tugged very lightly, but he came along as light as a feather.

“Wait, Countess-”

Ignoring his troubled voice, I opened the door without hesitation.

Bang-! Pa-pang!

“Congratulations on reclaiming your inheritance, Lady Etricia!”

“Congratulations!”

As expected, congratulations came along with loud firecrackers.

At the same time, long, wrinkled, colorful paper flew in and gently fell like cobwebs on top of Edmond’s head.

On my side, only a few flower petals fluttered down silently. There was a moment of silence at the scene where the subject of congratulations seemed to have been switched.

Looking around the banquet hall leisurely, there were stunned maids and Rail and Lilien frozen with the firecrackers they had set off.

In the center of the table was a three-tiered cake and a vase filled with red camellia flowers, and colorful garlands hung from the ceiling so high that voices echoed.

The scent of flowers filling the banquet hall was so overwhelming it made me dizzy, as if they had brought in all the flowers from the greenhouse.

At that moment, my eyes fell on Rail, who had unfortunately set off the firecracker on Edmond.

He was opening and closing his mouth without being able to make a sound. Edmond’s coldly honed eyes flew and stuck into Rail.

“How long are you going to just stand there watching?”

Rail, with all the blood drained from his face, hurriedly cleared the paper off Edmond’s head.

Edmond let out a deep sigh and shook his head vigorously, then his eyes met mine. As if substituting for the frozen Lilien, he leaned in and whispered softly.

“My sister has been preparing for days. She wanted to congratulate and bless you for reclaiming all your rights.”

“…Then did you know about this all along too, little brother?”

Edmond lowered his eyelids once and then raised them again, as if to say ‘Of course.’

“The recent busy work in the territory was true.”

Edmond added, as if to prevent any misunderstanding that it might have been a lie.

It was then that Lilien discovered me, not looking surprised at all, and buried her face in her hands.

“I don’t know, I was trying to surprise Lady Etricia…”

Lilien glanced at me with her lips pursed in disappointment.

She seemed upset and dejected that the party she had prepared for days had gone awry. She took a deep breath through her nose and then exhaled, dropping her shoulders as if her soul had escaped through her mouth. A sense of exhaustion emanated from her.

‘I was already plenty surprised.’

In a different way. I let out a laugh through my lips like air escaping and stood in front of Lilien.

She raised her head at the shadow that fell on her feet.

“Thank you, Lilien. I heard that you prepared this to congratulate me on reclaiming my title and inheritance?”

“Yes, but the surprise failed… And I was a bit nervous because I heard that divorce isn’t something to celebrate grandly…”

Lilien tilted her head and squinted as if trying to gauge my mood. But there was no need to worry, as my face was full of smiles.

“This is the first time I’ve ever received something like this, so I’m happy. Only Lilien would give me a gift like this.”

Finally, Lilien’s lips melted into a sweet, lovely smile.

Her round chestnut eyes curved like a puppy praised by its owner, and I could almost see a tail wagging near her hips.

Thanks to that, I burst out laughing, and Lilien’s face turned questioning for a moment before slowly erasing her smile.

With the heavy heart of a sinner about to confess, I took both of Lilien’s hands in mine.

“I’m sorry, Lilien. I heard you found out about how we came to meet? You must have been upset when you learned the truth. That’s why back then…”

Unable to finish my sentence, I let out a long sigh to express my miserable feelings.

I tried to avoid responsibility by saying it was something I did unwillingly, assimilated into the original story, but in fact I had been feeling guilty all along.

So perhaps I had been waiting for a chance to apologize.

Lilien seemed to notice my feelings and gently closed her eyes.

“Lady Etricia, there’s no need to apologize. I already understood.”

Lilien’s eyes gradually became moist. As she smiled a pitiful smile, the area under her pupils shimmered like the surface of a jewel.

“They say family naturally fights and reconciles. We’ve finally become a family.”

Family?

I blinked my eyes wide at the unfamiliar concept.

I raised my gaze and looked around the banquet hall once more. The familiar servants each had their own expressions, but their gazes towards me were all gentle.

For a moment, a hot and sticky emotion seemed to stick inside me.

When my pupils fell to my feet, something hot welled up, contorting my eyes as I smiled.

‘Ah, I see. I was already inside.’

That realization made me feel so moved that I wanted to cry terribly. Feeling like tears would burst out if I let my guard down even for a moment, I swallowed the rising emotion and raised my head.

Then I smiled brightly with reddened eyes.

It seemed like I heard the sound of people sharply inhaling around me.

“Aren’t you hungry? Shall we start the party?”

I suggested in a trembling voice to change the atmosphere.

Then Lilien, who had been staring at me blankly with a flushed face, suddenly came to her senses.

“Y-Yes!”

The servants began to move in unison.