“Do I look like someone who would take in a bastard? If that was a serious doubt, it’s absurd. Did you hit your head or something?”

A harmless jab flew in. However, Dylan’s mind was already overloaded, so Luke’s mockery didn’t register.

“Th-This can’t be.”

He stammered.

It was a moment of perfect understanding why Aria Hilton had said something like “You’ll see when you look for yourself.”

“Um, her, her name was, Bonita, right?”

“Yes… What about it?”

Facing Dylan Rothwell, Bonita wasn’t as frightened as when she first saw Luke.

Rather, she was more curious.

Of course, even to Bonita’s eyes, this man she was meeting for the first time looked very much like herself.

So much so that he looked more like her real father than Luke did.

It was a phenomenon caused by the strong resemblance among the three Rothwell siblings, combined with Bonita being a perfect maternal copy.

He wasn’t the only one confused. Even the relatively calm Renan was almost staggering.

Though he was managing his expression, Aria could easily read his emotions. Having lived together for over twenty years, that much was simple.

And Bonita-

“Let’s have dinner first.”

“But…”

“You must be hungry.”

Luke said, looking at Bonita surrounded by Aria’s skirt.

“Right?”

“Y-Yes.”

Bonita was very curious about who these two men in front of her were and why they looked so much like her, but it was true that she was hungry, as Luke said.

No sooner had she thought this than a gurgling sound came from Bonita’s stomach. Luke laughed softly.

“Let’s sit down first. We can talk slowly over dinner.”

Throughout the meal, the Rothwell brothers looked so dazed they couldn’t tell if the food was going into their mouths or noses.

Their expressions were so funny that even Catherine, who rarely laughed, let out a deflated sound.

While Bonita kept an eye on the two of them, she alternately accepted food from Aria and Luke. Even when she said she could eat on her own, she couldn’t stop the two from putting finely chopped meat on top of bread for her.

…It was actually convenient too.

People are truly fickle. No matter how much you decide not to let your guard down, once you know something is comfortable, there’s no going back.

This was especially true for Bonita, who had let her guard down. If before, a little suspicion – mainly that she might not be Luke’s daughter – had restrained Bonita’s actions, now there was less to hold her back.

After all, Luke was kind despite his scary appearance.

The meal ended quickly. Of course, the Rothwell brothers didn’t return to the count’s residence just because the meal was over.

They just moved to a different room.

This time it wasn’t the reception room. It was a much more comfortable and family-like space.

Dylan hesitated as he entered.

“This is…”

“Please come in.”

“The room is exactly the same.”

Renan murmured in a calm voice, in place of Dylan who had lost his words.

It was a room the two had frequently visited when Elodie was alive.

Compared to then, the room’s interior had hardly changed. It was because Luke had maintained it that way.

Thanks to this, not only the Rothwell brothers but also Aria was momentarily lost in thought.

‘Even this place is exactly the same.’

At this point, one would wonder how the room used by the former duchess, Elodie, would be. Of course, there was no way Luke would allow Aria into that space – nor did Aria herself intend to request it.

Because entering such a place would only deepen lingering attachments. Probably.

Luke, watching the two brothers enter the room, stopped Aria as she moved to follow.

“Wait, stop there.”

“Pardon?”

Aria, who was about to enter with Bonita, looked back.

Luke hesitated for a moment before saying.

“Those two also have the right to meet Bonita. It might be good to give them a moment.”

“Ah…”

Aria let out a small sigh as she realized Luke’s consideration. She hadn’t thought of that.

‘Well, I suppose that’s right.’

The right to meet the child doesn’t belong only to the parents. Moreover, Bonita doesn’t have any other siblings, does she?

In the absence of the duchess, the maternal Rothwell count’s family would surely be a source of strength for Bonita. Aria understood this fact well enough.

Of course, it hurt her heart, but…

“Ten minutes should be enough.”

Luke closed the door after checking his wristwatch. His eyes showed no thought that the two would do anything bad to Bonita.

Well, because he trusted them.

“Uh, uh, well…”

Left alone with Bonita (though Renan was behind him), Dylan stuttered, not knowing what to say.

To begin with, he was far from being a cool-headed person. As a man of action, whenever something he couldn’t understand happened in life, he just accepted it and moved on.

So, that’s how it had been until this moment.

‘Elodie’s daughter was actually alive?’

He wanted to shout that it was nonsense, but what could he do when it was reality? Even if he wanted to deny it, he couldn’t. It was too similar to ignore.

“Excuse me.”

Bonita, who had become less fearful as she adapted to the duke’s residence, looked around a bit before speaking first.

“Earlier, you introduced yourselves as… people from the Rothwell count’s family, right?”

“Ah, y-yes. That’s right.”

“Stop stammering like an idiot, brother.”

Renan, who had been watching Dylan’s foolishness with his arms crossed, interjected.

They say when you see someone much more nervous than yourself, you become less nervous. Renan was exactly that case.

Unlike his brother, Renan, with his relatively sharp and intellectual impression, bent his knee first. Bonita’s eyes watched such a Renan with curiosity.

“Hello, Bonita. I’m your uncle.”

“Un-cle?”

Bonita had to ponder the meaning of that word for a moment. For Bonita, who only had a mother, words meaning family were very unfamiliar.

Uncle. What did uncle mean again? Thinking about the content of fairy tales that Aria used to read to her occasionally, Bonita finally recalled what the word ‘uncle’ meant.

So- it means the male sibling of one’s father or mother. …Probably?

Then he couldn’t be Luke’s younger brother. The two didn’t resemble Luke at all, nor her grandmother Catherine.

Then there’s only one possibility left.

“Then are you the male sibling of my birth mother?”

“That’s right.”

It was truly the result of a rational deduction.

Bonita felt proud as she watched the man nodding his head.

“Honestly, when I first saw you, I was a bit surprised.”

“It seemed so.”

Bonita nodded, recalling the two of them when she was with Aria.

Bonita, who was adept at reading people’s emotions while wandering the back alleys, couldn’t possibly fail to read the expressions of the Rothwell brothers who were openly displaying their emotions.

“Was it because you thought I would be dead?”

“H-How did you kno- Oof!”

“Brother!”

Renan covered the mouth of the surprised Dylan. They couldn’t talk about stillbirths or anything like that in front of a seven-year-old child.

Even if she wasn’t seven, it would be the same.

Who would like being treated as dead when they’re alive? Even if it was something that really happened, it was a word that should be refrained from.

Renan whispered to Dylan.

“Just keep your mouth shut.”

Dylan nodded quickly.

He knew well that his younger brother was much wiser in these aspects. And in most cases, it was better to just leave it to him for better results.

“Hmm…”

Renan, who had made Dylan shut up, let out a sigh. He pondered for a moment and then carefully chose his words.

“So, before coming here, we had a bit of a misunderstanding. We thought you might be the daughter of another woman, not the former duchess.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“That’s right.”

Because Renan nodded so decisively, Bonita became a bit puzzled. She immediately asked about that part.

“Do I resemble the duchess that much?”

“You do.”

Renan spoke with a very certain tone.

“Anyone who knew Elodie even a little would know as soon as they see you. You are Elodie’s daughter.”

Renan’s words were not particularly new to Bonita. Since her return to the mansion, every servant had been repeating such words like parrots. Even the duke, her father!

By this point, Bonita was really curious about what this former duchess – her ‘birth mother’ – looked like.

For someone of a duchess’s status, there should be at least one photo left, but Bonita had yet to see her face directly.

“Anyway, we’re very happy to meet you. May I ask how you’ve been all this time?”

“All this time?”

“Yes, um. Before coming to the duke’s residence.”

He had heard enough about what happened after coming to the duke’s residence. So he wanted to know how Bonita had lived before that.

Actually, he wanted to put aside such talk and immediately hug that child tightly and cry his eyes out, but Renan tried to think rationally.

“I lived with Aria.”

“By Aria, do you mean Aria Hilton? The woman who sat next to you at dinner earlier?”

This time, Dylan couldn’t hold back and interjected. Despite the urgent tone, Bonita answered diligently, though puzzled.

“Yes. Aria raised me.”

“When, since when?”

“Ever since I was born.”

“Where?”

“We lived near Sanje Street. I’m not sure of the exact location. If you went a little to the side, there were many rich kids, but where I lived wasn’t like that.”

“Did you know that woman wasn’t your real mother?”

That question was mixed with unfavorable emotions towards Aria. Bonita, who had been answering eagerly, hesitated.