At the lady’s shout, Bonita took a step back.

‘Fake daughter? Con artist?’

She didn’t know what relationship the elderly lady standing there had with the Duke, but judging by her clothes and the attitude of the surrounding knights, she was clearly a high-ranking noblewoman.

Moreover, the only person who could be called a fake daughter or con artist was undoubtedly herself. Bonita’s thoughts quickly turned for the worse.

The color drained from the child’s face. Her small shoulders hunched so much it was pitiful to see.

Meanwhile, Aria was flustered for a different reason than Bonita.

The strict and stern tone.

The attitude of not caring about others’ gazes at all.

The well-maintained skin and hair despite being well over sixty, and the lavish dress adorned with sparkling jewels.

Her identity was none other than…

‘Mother-in-law?’

It was Catherine Lisianthus, the former Duchess.

In other words, Aria’s mother-in-law.

Though she should add the word ‘former’, that is.

“Didn’t you declare you’d never return from your retreat? What’s all this commotion about, suddenly showing up?”

“Luke, you rascal!”

“Ouch.”

Thwack!

Catherine swung the wooden cane she was holding at Luke. He groaned with a face that didn’t look hurt at all despite being hit squarely on the head.

He grumbled with an irritated expression.

“Please stop this violence.”

“Do I look like I will?! I’ve lost my husband and my precious daughter-in-law, and all I have left is this dark-skinned offspring!”

“Don’t refer to people as ‘this’ in such an unpleasant way.”

“Hmph. More importantly, where is that mother-daughter con artist duo that completely fooled you? I didn’t come to see you, so tell me where they are right now!”

“Haah…”

Luke let out a deep sigh. Meanwhile, Catherine was thoroughly scanning her surroundings with piercing eyes.

And those eyes of hers fell upon the mother and daughter.

Though they were quite far away, since Bonita was the only child here, Catherine could immediately tell who they were.

“There you are! You wretched things!”

“Mother!”

“Don’t stop me!”

Luke chased after his mother, who was rushing like a storm. At first, he intended to stop her, but then this thought occurred to him.

‘Mother will know once she sees them anyway.’

Of course, since she doesn’t have Lisianthus blood flowing through her, she doesn’t have the same instinct as him.

However, Bonita resembled Elodie so much that such evidence wasn’t even necessary.

As Luke expected, Catherine’s expression, which initially seemed ready to chase away the woman and child immediately, was changing moment by moment as she got closer to the two.

With just a few steps left, Catherine’s expression turned to one of shock. Her gaze turned towards the adult woman.

Aria greeted her with a bright smile.

“It’s been a while, my lady.”

“You…!”

Aria had stayed at the main Lisianthus mansion for over three years with Elodie.

Catherine’s eyes widened as if they would pop out when she recognized her. However, what shocked her even more was the other one.

“Bonita, say hello. This is Duke’s mother, Lady Lisianthus.”

“The Duke’s mother…?”

“Yes. She would be your paternal grandmother, Bonita.”

After hearing Aria’s explanation, Bonita, who had been hiding behind her all along, peeked out her head. Catherine’s gaze fixed on the child.

Bonita hesitated for a moment, seeing the noble elderly lady with her mouth slightly open, then carefully greeted her.

“Um, hello, my lady.”

But that greeting didn’t register at all in Catherine’s ears.

All she was seeing was Bonita’s cotton candy-sweet pink hair, coral-colored eyes that seemed bright or deep depending on the light, and features that resembled someone terribly.

“No, what, what is this.”

The ill-tempered old woman who had been roaring like a lion until just now was gone.

Catherine couldn’t shout at Luke to get away from her immediately as she had originally planned, nor could she respond to the child’s greeting. She just gaped for a long while.

Luke, who arrived belatedly, watched his mother from afar. He had thought to intervene if she started raging that this was nonsense, but seeing how the situation was unfolding, it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary.

“Um, my lady…?”

It was Bonita who broke the continuing silence. The child was anxious, wondering if the noble-looking elderly lady before her was angry because of her.

“If I’ve done something wrong, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s, that’s not it.”

Catherine stumbled over her words. She still hadn’t regained her composure.

Her mind was in chaos.

‘How can they look so alike?’

Of course, there was a reason for Catherine’s extreme bewilderment.

The esteemed daughter of the Violet Marquis family, moreover born without a mother, had longed for a close sister she could open her heart to since childhood. When she could no longer fulfill that dream, she wanted to have a pretty daughter instead.

However, after becoming the Duchess of Lisianthus, all she gave birth to were three dark-skinned sons. Even then, the third one was sickly and died early.

So when her eldest son Luke had a love marriage and brought home a sunny and pretty daughter-in-law, Catherine was overjoyed for the first time.

Elodie approached her mother-in-law Catherine, who was famous for being strict and ill-tempered, without prejudice or preconceptions. It was only natural that Catherine came to love Elodie more than her own son.

But that only lasted for three years.

Since then, she had been so heartbroken that she left the Lisianthus mansion and stayed at the southern villa of the kingdom for several years now.

And now, out of nowhere, Elodie’s daughter, who was supposed to have been stillborn, had appeared.

Since such incidents had happened before, her head had been boiling, wondering what kind of damn bastard was trying to scam her son this time.

That’s why she had rushed here… But… But…

Faced with a tiny girl who resembled Elodie to an unbelievable degree, her mind went blank. Catherine’s heart pounded at the trace of Elodie she had buried in her chest long ago.

‘No! Get a hold of yourself, Catherine Lisianthus!’

Catherine, who had been reaching out towards Bonita’s chewy cheeks as if entranced, flinched. She stepped back, admonishing herself inwardly.

“Well, Mother? Do you believe me now?”

“…Ahem. Indeed, there is a slight resemblance.”

“Slight?”

“A-Anyway!”

Catherine shouted.

“I can’t accept this! If she had been born and lost, maybe, but how can a stillborn child suddenly appear?!”

“That’s,”

“You saw it clearly too back then! The baby Elodie gave birth to was dead! How can a child we even held a funeral for come back to life-”

“Mother.”

Luke cut off Catherine’s words in a subdued voice.

Catherine followed his gaze and flinched when she saw Bonita, who had turned pale.

“The child can hear you. And.”

He declared as he moved towards Bonita.

“Bonita is indeed my daughter.”

“Luke.”

“I’m certain. …Of course, I’m still investigating how this came to be, but.”

He glared at Aria as he said those words. It was such a chilling gaze that even Aria, who wasn’t afraid of Luke, felt a chill.

Seeing Luke’s attitude and Bonita, Catherine spoke in a much softer tone than before.

“Still, you should at least do a paternity test. Your father also talked about Lisianthus instincts or whatever, but honestly, I don’t understand such things.”

“…I was already planning to do that.”

Although not much was being said because Bonita resembled Elodie so much, there was still plenty of room for others to find Bonita’s existence strange.

Moreover, how many people were there who would covet the position of Duke of Lisianthus? There were many who would salivate at the chance if he were to disappear without an heir right now.

Such people would undoubtedly try to make an issue of Bonita’s origins.

To shut their mouths, it was necessary to call a priest and conduct a paternity test.

Once it was confirmed that she was Luke’s own daughter, there would be no doubt about her legitimacy. Unless someone was cross-eyed, they could tell just by looking that Bonita was the child of the former Duchess.

“Well, let’s say the child is settled then. What about that woman? Didn’t Elodie quit her job when she died?”

An awkward silence fell at Catherine’s question.

Luke desperately wanted to speak about her suspicious points, but he couldn’t bring himself to threaten or disparage the caregiver the child depended on in front of Bonita.

“Miss Aria is currently allowed to stay at the mansion as Bonita’s caregiver. I’ll explain the details to you separately later.”

“What? Why can’t you just explain right now-”

Luke’s eyes turned fierce at Catherine’s tactless remark. She closed her mouth at his finger vigorously pointing at Bonita from an angle only visible to her.

Aria seized the opportunity to interject smoothly.

“My lady, since you’ve come all this way, why don’t you enjoy a picnic with your son and Bonita?”

“A picnic? Such a trivial thing?”

Catherine was about to snort, but then she caught sight of Bonita’s face.

“-I quite enjoy it. Sometimes in life, it’s better to spend a slightly dull and leisurely afternoon rather than always being intense and busy.”

It was a quick change of attitude.

Aria clapped her hands.

“Then since it’s lunchtime anyway, let’s go back under the tree and have a light meal! The servants have prepared a picnic basket!”

“No, what nonsense, sitting on the ground to eat-”

“Wow, really? Can I open the picnic basket?”

Catherine and Bonita’s words overlapped.

The coral-colored eyes sparkled with anticipation. Seeing this, Catherine cleared her throat briefly and smoothly continued her sentence.

“isn’t bad at all. Actually, I’ve always preferred eating on the ground rather than at the table since I was young.”