Luke, who had escorted Bonita and Aria to their room, returned to the reception room.

“As I thought, you were waiting here.”

“… Wh-what are you talking about? I was just on my way to the restroom.”

“The restroom should be in your room, mother. You’ve come quite far out of your way.”

“Be quiet, you insolent boy!”

Smack!

Luke, hit on the head again, frowned as he looked over Catherine.

She was pacing anxiously in the corridor in front of the room where the priests had entered.

‘If she could have watched the examination process, she would have certainly barged in.’

It was only because she had been warned that it would be troublesome if outsiders entered during the examination that she restrained herself to this extent.

Luke asked with a tired face.

“Why are you so nervous when the result is obvious anyway?”

“Obvious? What could be more important than this! You don’t know how much I—”

Catherine was about to grab Luke by the collar.

The door suddenly opened and Dominic came out. Catherine rushed to him and asked.

“The result?”

“Ah, well.”

As Catherine was about to urge him, Dominic quickly opened his mouth.

“First of all, wouldn’t it be better if we heard it together where the young lady is present? She is also involved, after all.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s do that, mother.”

Luke stopped Catherine who was about to get angry.

“Bonita should know too, shouldn’t she?”

“Well…”

Catherine opened and closed her mouth a few times, then nodded with a displeased look. However, the anxiety on her face was impossible to hide.

Luke, who easily read her emotions, offered his hand to his mother.

“Let me escort you so you don’t fall.”

“I don’t need it!”

Catherine, still pale but with a face struggling to suppress her expectations, walked with her body rigidly upright.

Luke ordered the servant standing beside him.

“Ed, go and bring Bonita…”

Bring Bonita. Luke was about to say that, but he paused for a moment.

“Your Grace?”

“Ah, yes.”

Snapping back to attention at the servant’s call, he changed his words.

“Bring both Bonita and young lady Aria to the reception room.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Ed bowed politely and withdrew. After sending him off, Luke clenched and unclenched his fist, moving his fingers.

‘Why did I care about that woman’s feelings?’

It was an unpleasant sensation.

The only woman he had ever cared about in his entire life, aside from his mother, was Elodie, and her alone.

He wanted to listen to anything she said. He wanted to bring her everything she desired.

On days when she was even slightly upset, he wanted to do anything to cheer her up. Even if it wasn’t because of something he had done wrong.

It was that intense of a love. He believed his pure love for Elodie would never change.

That was still true even now that she was gone.

Now that Elodie was gone, he shouldn’t have been interested in anyone else.

Except for Bonita, Elodie’s daughter.

‘But the one Bonita considers as her mother is…’

Aria Hilton, that woman.

If it weren’t for that cursed fact, he would never have gotten involved with such a troublesome woman.

However, given the situation, Luke couldn’t treat Aria carelessly either.

Yes. This unpleasant feeling stemmed from precisely that. There was no doubt about it.

He clicked his tongue once, then quickly entered the reception room.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Mother.”

“Yes?”

Bonita, waiting in the room, looked up at Aria who was holding her tightly.

Kind blue eyes were looking down at her, full of affection.

‘Ah. Really.’

It was a mother’s love she had yearned for even in her dreams. A heavy and deep love that seemed like it might disappear like a mirage if she made the slightest mistake.

What would it have been like if it were her birth mother?

Bonita’s expression sank as she thought about her ‘real’ mother and father.

Other people said that Bonita was undoubtedly the Duke’s own daughter.

The Duke himself seemed to firmly believe this fact.

Otherwise, there’s no way such a scary Duke would treat her so well.

But what if she wasn’t? What would happen then?

‘Would he get angry?’

He probably would.

If he couldn’t harm the child, that anger would surely be directed at Aria.

After all, wasn’t she the one who brought Bonita to this mansion, claiming her to be the ‘Duke’s daughter’?

Bonita bit her lip nervously and tightly gripped Aria’s fingers.

“Did you call me, sweetie?”

Aria asked again when there was no response after being called. Her tone was still soft and warm.

Gaining a little courage, Bonita hesitated before speaking.

“…I’m worried.”

“Hmm.”

Aria tilted her head with a serious expression, stroking her chin.

“What is my daughter so worried about? Will you tell mommy what’s wrong?”

“Well…”

At the moment, there was no one else in the room except the two of them.

That’s why Bonita was able to voice the concern she had been unable to express until now.

“I might not be the Duke’s daughter. If that’s the case… the Duke would be very angry, wouldn’t he?”

“Oh.”

Aria sighed, noticing Bonita’s worry. A strange smile played on her lips.

“That’s absolutely impossible, Bonita.”

“B-but, mother…”

You’re not my birth mother.

How do you know?

Bonita swallowed the questions that had risen to the tip of her tongue. The previous Aria might not have minded, but if the current mother heard these words, she would surely be hurt.

That was… something she didn’t want.

In fact, objectively speaking, Aria hadn’t been a particularly good mother until now. She might even fall into the category of a ‘bad’ parent.

Nevertheless, she was Bonita’s only mother.

If it weren’t for Aria, Bonita would have starved to death long ago. Or she might have been begging on the streets, getting beaten up, or stealing like other street children.

Moreover, the occasional love she threw her way was so sweet.

She had desperately clung to those small fragments of love. But now it’s different.

The current Aria loves Bonita very much.

As if she had become a different person.

Bonita, who had always been observing Aria, sensed her change more keenly than anyone else.

‘So I shouldn’t say such things.’

Because Aria might get hurt?

…No, that’s not it. That’s not the reason.

The real reason she couldn’t say those words was, in fact, the fear that Aria might revert to her old self if she heard them.

So Bonita changed the subject.

“N-no, it’s nothing.”

“Hmm, Bonita.”

Aria also noticed that Bonita had changed the subject. And what she had been about to say before that.

‘You knew all along, didn’t you?’

Maybe the real ‘Aria’ had told Bonita. Or being a smart child, she might have easily figured it out with just a small hint.

In any case, Bonita and Aria didn’t look alike at all, not enough to be considered mother and daughter.

While Aria had a striking beauty with a rose-like splendor and cat-like sharpness, Bonita had a soft and cute appearance like cotton candy.

Considering Elodie’s appearance, Bonita probably wouldn’t change much even when she became an adult.

“Listen, darling. Perhaps—”

Just as Aria was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

With permission granted, Luke’s servant entered. It was Edward Seren, the third son of the Seren baronial family. He was a talented individual who had been working under Luke since graduating from the Imperial Academy five years ago.

“Miss Hilton, and young lady. The Duke has requested your presence in the reception room. Please come this way.”

Aria stood up abruptly.

“Has the result come out?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Hearing Ed’s words, Bonita’s eyes wavered. She hadn’t expected it to come out so quickly.

Although Catherine had threatened the priest to finish within three hours, it had only been about two hours and thirty minutes now.

“Mother.”

“Bonita, let’s go.”

Aria smiled as she took Bonita’s hand.

“With this, you’ll truly reclaim your place.”

Aria’s face was so full of confidence as she said this that Bonita nodded as if entranced.

[This is the timeline separator]

Luke, who had been standing with his arms crossed, turned his head at the sound of the door opening. It was Miss Hilton and Bonita.

“Come over here and sit down.”

He spoke in a kind tone towards Bonita. Bonita, who had been holding Aria’s hand, looked back and forth between the two before heading towards Luke, still holding her hand.

As a result, Bonita ended up sitting between Luke and Aria. Catherine, who was sitting next to Luke, furrowed her brow.

“Ahem.”

The red-haired priest sitting opposite cleared his throat.

“Then I will announce the result.”

Hearing those words, Luke felt his throat go dry for some reason. It wasn’t because he was curious about the result. Just, well.

This was an expectation filled with certainty.

“So, what’s the result?”

Catherine, unable to hold back any longer, urged the priest. Faced with her eyes that looked ready to devour him, Dominic quickly opened his mouth.

“Can you see the color of this liquid?”

“Color?”

In response to Luke’s question, Dominic shook the blue-tinted liquid.

“This is a mixture of both of your blood with specially treated holy water. If it were from unrelated individuals, there would be no reaction, but if there’s a blood relation, it turns blue – the closer the lineage, the deeper the blue.”

The liquid in his hand was as blue as it could possibly be, deep and vivid.

“This level of color only appears in blood relations between siblings, or parent and child. The current reliability of the temple’s paternity test is over 99%, so there’s no chance of error.”

“Then—”

“Yes.”

He nodded.

“The young lady is certainly the Duke’s biological child.”

It was a definitive statement.

“An expected result, of course.”

Luke muttered.

Aria inwardly agreed as well.

From their perspective, it wasn’t surprising at all. After all, they were the parties involved.

For a child to be conceived, they must have shared a bed at least once.

In a situation where she was certainly Elodie’s daughter, it was an absurd assumption that the father could be anyone other than Duke Lisianthus.

On the other hand, Bonita gulped.

Even after hearing the priest’s confident words, it still… didn’t feel real. She was merely relieved.

At the same time, she felt a tickling sensation in her chest.

Bonita turned her head to look at Luke, who was wearing a gentle smile.

Noticing her gaze, Luke also turned towards Bonita.

And Catherine.

She had frozen as if she had heard an impossible result. She pressed her wrinkled lips tightly together.

“Mother?”

“…”