“Miss, your room is this way!”

“Oh my. You’re so thin. You need to eat much more and gain some weight.”

“Goodness! These bruises… Don’t worry, Miss. Now that you’ve returned to the Duke’s manor, you’ll never have such injuries again!”

Bonita was swept up in the hands of the chattering maids like a sparrow.

The three maids, far more skilled than Aria, washed, dressed, and groomed the child. They exclaimed in admiration at the now tidy Bonita.

“My word! She looks just like the late Madam. It’s as if Madam has become young again!”

“By Madam, do you mean my birth mother?”

“Of course! Oh, and Miss! You mustn’t speak formally to us!”

“Why not?”

“Because you are the Duke of Lisianthus’s only daughter, and will one day succeed His Grace as the Duchess!”

“W-what?”

Me, becoming a Duchess?

…Me?

It was unbelievable no matter how many times I heard it.

A girl who had lived as the daughter of a rural prostitute for seven years was actually the most precious young lady in the empire.

It was like a story from a fairy tale book that mother used to read to me when I was even younger.

‘It’s like a bonfire.’

Splendid and warm, but extinguished before the night is over.

Bonita’s little heart fluttered. The child fingered the unfamiliar high-quality fabric of her sleeve and asked.

“Um, where’s mother? Where is she now?”

“…Mother?”

Maid Mary raised her eyebrows at Bonita’s words.

“Miss, surely you don’t mean Miss Aria?”

“Yes. No, I mean, yes.”

“Miss Aria is now…”

Mary’s expression turned awkward. Bonita, quickly reading her emotions, clung to Mary.

“Bring mother here! Please?”

“Alright, Miss. First, let’s put a ribbon in your hair and put on your shoes. Then we can go see Miss Aria. How’s that?”

“But I want to see mother now.”

“If you don’t wear shoes, both your feet will get scratched up!”

“Ugh… Then I won’t wear the ribbon!”

The three maids exchanged glances.

‘His Grace said to keep her here somehow!’

‘If that woman raised the young miss, couldn’t those bruises be her doing? Is it really okay to take her there?’

‘I don’t know! You figure something out!’

‘But what if she starts crying?’

‘Absolutely not! If the young miss cries, the Duke will kill us!’

A silent conversation passed between them.

None of the three wanted to make the cotton candy miss who had just returned cry. Life was precious.

In the end, Mary, who drew the short straw, coaxed Bonita.

“Alright, Miss. Let’s do that!”

Bonita’s expression brightened at getting a definite answer.

Seeing that smile up close, Mary’s lips relaxed. There was a strange power in a child’s bright smile that made people feel good.

Especially when that child resembled the Madam they had so respected and loved.

Mary put low-heeled children’s shoes made of lamb leather on Bonita’s short feet. The black shoes, carefully stitched, peeked out from under the white dress with each step Bonita took.

“Now let’s go to mother!”

Bonita urged, clutching Mary’s skirt, forgetting even the fact that she shouldn’t use formal speech. Mary smiled helplessly.

“Alright. Miss Aria should be in the reception room with His Grace now, so let’s go there, Miss.”

* * *

“So, now, Miss Aria is…”

Thump, thump.

The man sitting elegantly with his legs crossed tapped the velvet armchair.

“You’re saying you’ve been hiding and raising my daughter all this time? Even knowing how grief-stricken my wife and I were?”

“That’s not the main point, but I suppose that’s the result.”

“What’s the reason?”

Intense killing intent flowed from Luke. Despite this, Aria thought calmly.

‘So this is how he behaves in front of others.’

In the past, Aria, or rather Elodie, had become the Duchess through a romantic marriage with Luke.

Luke, who fell in love with Elodie at first sight, followed her around so persistently that the sight of the sugar-coated young Duke of Lisianthus after their courtship became a famous story in high society.

Elodie was the only one who knew aspects of Luke that others didn’t see, but ironically, she knew nothing about the Luke Lisianthus that everyone else knew.

This was because Luke transformed into a gentle lamb in front of Elodie to an obsessive degree.

So this side of her ex-husband was very fresh to Aria. If asked if she was scared, not at all.

Aria was known by all as having nerves of steel.

No, that was too positive an assessment. Elodie’s nature was completely different from simply ‘not being afraid’.

The youngest late-born child of the wealthiest count’s family in the kingdom. Only older brothers above her.

Thanks to her family doting on the sickly late-born child and her own gentle nature, Elodie grew up to be an adult as warm as the spring sun.

Though she lacked some sense of reality.

Her bright way of thinking didn’t change much even after marriage. It was inevitable since only the object of her devotion changed from family to husband. To her, the world was just a happy place.

For such an Elodie, her daughter’s stillbirth – or rather, what she thought was a stillbirth – was a tremendous shock.

Because she was a happy person, she was completely unprepared for the sudden fall of misfortune.

“You know what, Elodie?”

“Actually, your daughter didn’t die. I took her away.”

“I’m telling you this out of old affection, since you’re going to die anyway.”

Add to that the betrayal of a trusted friend.

Perhaps it was even more painful because she was a hothouse flower. Her weak body became even weaker, almost dying from being crushed by grief, guilt, and regret.

That was then.

“If you can’t explain with a good reason, I might kill you right here. Aria Hilton.”

In other words, the threat from her ex-husband, who was now leaking killing intent, wasn’t scary at all.

This was really nothing.

Compared to then.

Aria smiled brightly.

“Really?”

“You think I’m lying?”

“If you harm me even a little, you’ll surely be on your knees later, crying and regretting it.”

Aria winked one eye.

“I’d like to see that too, but I think it’s better if you don’t. You look a bit unsightly when you cry, Your Grace.”

“…What did you say?”

Luke’s mouth fell open at the series of outrageous statements. Was Aria Hilton this kind of woman?

Although he never gave a glance to any woman other than Elodie, he remembered Aria Hilton because she was a maid who was always around Elodie. Aria Hilton was a pathetic woman who, despite her dazzling appearance, was timid and couldn’t even speak up for herself properly.

Not someone who would blurt out whatever came to mind without filter like this.

There were very few women who could speak so rudely in front of him. So few that it was hardly worth calling them rare even if you searched the entire kingdom. One of them was his mother, and the other…

Was no longer in this world.

Even after 6 years, Elodie’s face was still clear. Luke’s mood sank terrifyingly low.

“If you keep running your mouth, I really won’t let you off.”

“…”

“Is it money you want? Or do you want to become my daughter’s mother and be the Duchess?”

He sneered and spat out harsh words.

“If it’s the former, I’ll give you as much as you want. But if it’s the latter, you’d better not even dream of it.”

“…What?”

Aria reacted half a beat late to Luke’s words. She hadn’t expected him to be this sharp.

The Luke she knew was a bit wild, but he was a kind man who liked to joke around.

But Luke Lisianthus didn’t wait for Aria to open her mouth. He frowned, crossing his arms tightly.

“This is enough kindness, so I’d appreciate it if you’d stop pretending to be my daughter’s mother. It’s extremely unpleasant.”

“What-”

“Bonita’s mother is only Elodie. No other woman can be my daughter’s mother! If you’re thinking of staying here, you’d better not even dream-”

It was then.

Creeeeak.

With the sound of the door opening, a small child entered. Behind her was a red-haired maid, flustered and unable to stop the child from entering.

The Duke turned around with an ‘oh no’ expression.

“Bonita, this is-”

But it was already too late.

Large tears were already welling up in Bonita’s rose-pink eyes. Luke flailed his massive arms, at a loss.

Bonita ignored that pitiful gesture and ran to Aria.

“Mother!”

“Bonita!”

Bonita and Luke’s cries overlapped. Aria neatly ignored her ex-husband’s voice and caught her daughter who was jumping towards her.

“Oh, Bonita! You’ve become so sparkling! You’re ten times, no, a hundred times, no, a thousand times cuter than before!”

“I missed you, mother…”

Bonita whined and burrowed into Aria’s embrace.

Aria, wearing a white shirt and brown suspender skirt that commoners wear, still smelled of the freshly baked white bread and corn soup they had eaten in the morning. Bonita breathed in deeply to capture that scent.

In a place full of nothing but unfamiliar things, mother’s embrace was something so kind it brought tears to her eyes. Just having mother here was enough to calm her racing heart.

Luke’s eyes wavered as he watched this scene. He hadn’t expected Bonita to rely on Aria to this extent.

He had no expectations of that woman to begin with.

At first, he had ignored it out of emotion, but Bonita’s nutritional state and development were clearly not good.

A child who had received proper care wouldn’t have bruises all over her arms and be so scrawny.

Therefore, he considered that Aria couldn’t have taken proper care of Bonita – she might have even raised her in a way close to abuse. Naturally, he took an overbearing attitude.

He was grateful that she had brought his daughter back even now, but he planned to thoroughly investigate how she had treated Bonita before and take revenge.

But, but this…

“Mother, you are my mother, right?”

“Of course, Bonita.”

Wasn’t he like an unwelcome intruder between this close mother and daughter?

“Then, then- you’ll stay with me always, right? Yes?”

“Hmm, mommy certainly intends to, but…”

Whoosh.

Bonita’s head turned towards Luke. Her eyes, completely swollen from crying, shot a look as if she was looking at a villain trying to separate a mother from her child.

Luke finally declared a ‘temporary’ surrender.

“You may stay at the Duke’s mansion for the time being, Miss Aria.”