The bright full moon that illuminated the dark night sky tilted slightly, and soon after, the late evening arrived.

“Take it.”

Herald, who had sent a letter saying that he wouldn’t be able to come today and that they should meet tomorrow, suddenly appeared and held out a gift. Lily, who received the beautifully wrapped gift box with a puzzled expression, said:

“What is this?”

“Open it and see.”

When she untied the neatly tied ribbon and opened the box, she saw Mary Jane shoes with a perfect blend of gold and green colors.

“What are these?”

“What else could they be? They’re shoes.”

Herald smiled brightly and took the shoes out of the box.

“I stopped by a boutique with my mother and saw shoes that I thought would suit you well.”

Lily, who was blankly staring at Herald, was startled when he knelt down on one knee in front of her and grabbed his arm. Her bottom, which was attached to the sofa, wriggled involuntarily.

“What…!”

“Stay seated.”

Herald, who straightened Lily back up as she didn’t know what to do, insisted on putting the shoes on her himself. Lily found his behavior burdensome, but what was most burdensome was the gaze of others. There were not only Emily here, but also the maid who had attended to Lily when she first came to the duke’s residence.

Lily kept her head down, afraid of how they would react when they saw this, knowing that she was the Marchioness Benjamin. She didn’t even look at the shoes that Herald had personally put on her feet. She just stared at her fidgeting hands.

“They suit you well, as expected.”

Only then did her green eyes take in the green shoes that were a bit darker than her own. The shoes fit perfectly, as if they had been made by measuring her foot size.

“Do you like them?”

“…The shoes are pretty.”

Her gaze shifted a bit more to Herald, who was smiling. Lily pulled her feet inward as if to hide them and added bluntly:

“But it’s quite uncomfortable for you to do this, Duke.”

Lily tried to express her anger in her own way, but in Herald’s eyes, it looked like she was throwing a tantrum. That sight was so cute and lovely that he couldn’t help but smile, but Herald tried his best to hold it back. If he laughed here, it would only fuel her anger.

He had made a mistake. He should have sent the maids out right away, but in his eagerness to give her the gift quickly, he didn’t notice anyone else. Herald straightened his bent knee and ordered:

“Leave us for a moment.”

Emily and the maid, who had been watching them while holding their breath, quietly went outside. As the drawing room door clicked shut, Lily’s face, which had been frozen, relaxed slightly. Lily, who let out a small sigh, glanced at Herald, who was sitting next to her.

“Don’t ever do this again.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Instead of saying he would, he said he would think about it. Lily glared at him with raised eyebrows at the answer that was no different from declaring that he would do as he pleased again, but Herald only smiled and didn’t correct his answer. Finding that even more detestable, Lily was about to laugh hollowly when the green shoes entered her field of vision.

“I’ve heard a story that if you give someone shoes as a gift, they’ll run away wearing those shoes… Did you know that?”

Suddenly reminded of that story when she saw the shoes, Lily asked Herald.

He probably didn’t know and would answer that he didn’t. If he had known, he wouldn’t have given her shoes as a gift. Thinking of teasing the flustered Herald, her sunken mood lifted a little.

“I’m aware of it.”

However, when an answer different from what she expected came out, Lily was dumbfounded but asked again out of curiosity.

“Then is it okay for you to give me shoes as a gift?”

Herald smiled and asked back:

“Were you planning to run away wearing these shoes?”

“No, but I’m just curious……”

“And usually that superstition is often used between lovers.”

“…!”

Lovers! Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered hearing such a story. Embarrassed and ashamed of pretending to know without properly knowing, Lily’s face flushed red.

“……”

The small, red lips that wanted to say something but couldn’t, and just quivered, caught his attention. Herald’s eyes were consumed with heat as he imagined placing his own lips on top of those lips. He knew well what it would feel like, so he was even more thirsty for it.

“Since we are not lovers, there’s no need to worry.”

Herald said playfully on purpose to reassure Lily while suppressing his desire that rose regardless of time and place. Then, the green eyes trembled greatly. Her expression seemed relieved but also shocked, which was strange.

Why is she making this expression? Herald’s eyes distorted, confused by her unexpected reaction. Although he got to see the reaction he wanted, unfortunately, Lily was too preoccupied with other thoughts to pay attention to his expression.

“Lily.”

Only when Herald called her name did Lily come to her senses. Lily slowly blinked and looked at him, then smiled faintly and stood up.

“I think I should go to bed now because I’m tired. You must be tired too, Duke, so hurry back and get some rest.”

Without giving Herald a chance to speak, Lily quickly spat out what she had to say and left the drawing room as if running away.

“Fredrick!”

Fredrick, who had been staying out due to various overlapping matters and had just returned home, showed a clear dislike for his mother who came running with a fierce momentum. If it were Samantha as usual, she would have been mindful of his mood, but not today.

“D-did you hear the n-news? Brian, your younger brother…!”

Upon hearing the news that Brian had killed someone and was dragged to the security office, all her nerves were focused there. She was even more anxious because there was no news of Fredrick, who should have come back so they could at least come up with a plan.

“We need to bring Brian back right away!”

Her face, which had suddenly aged, was soaked with tears. Samantha grabbed Fredrick’s arm tightly and shouted. The sound was so grating to his ears, like nails scratching a chalkboard, that Fredrick frowned even more.

“That child killed someone! That can’t be! You know as well as I do that Brian is a tender-hearted child who can’t even catch a chicken properly. There’s no way he would… would kill a person…!”

“From what I hear, he was caught at the scene right after causing an accident. Brian was holding the dagger that stabbed the victim in his hand.”

Fredrick had directly witnessed the scene and was the one who reported it to the security office, but he pretended not to know.

“He even confessed himself that he stabbed the person because he got angry when the other party kept provoking him.”

“My daughter-in-law… That woman, she told him why he was just staying still, that he should take revenge if he’s angry, why he was just being foolish and taking it. She even put the dagger in my hand!”

That was the real content of what Brian had confessed. The testimony of a murderer tainted with drugs and alcohol could not be trusted, but since her name was mentioned and her item was also brought up, it had to be investigated. Because of that, a contact came to Fredrick, saying they wanted to meet the Marchioness Benjamin, and he went to the security office in place of his absent wife and was investigated.

Of course, no matter how high-ranking a noble was, even if they were royalty, it was impossible for someone else to be investigated on their behalf. So the fact that Lily had to come and be investigated herself remained unchanged, but the suspicions surrounding her could be resolved.

“That can’t be. There must be some misunderstanding! That child, that child couldn’t have killed someone!”

Samantha shook her head violently in denial, unable to acknowledge it despite Fredrick’s words about being caught in the act. Seeing no sign of her calming down anytime soon, Fredrick sighed deeply and forcibly removed his mother’s hand.

“I’m tired, so let’s talk about this another time, Mother.”

Samantha grabbed his arm again. She gripped it so tightly that his arm ached, and Fredrick’s expression crumpled even more.

“Another time, when? Even when I said I had an urgent matter and told you to come home quickly, or that I would go to your office, you didn’t meet me, so when…!”

“Mother.”

“Don’t tell me… You’re not going to save Brian? Huh? You’re not thinking of leaving that child to bear the false charge of being a murderer and live a difficult life in prison, are you?”

That’s what I intend to do. Fredrick hid his dark intentions behind a kind smile and gently held his mother’s hand that was gripping his arm as if it were a lifeline.

“Don’t worry. Do you think I would abandon my own brother?”

When he used the expression and tone of voice that he usually used to win the favor of noble ladies, Samantha’s face, which had been consumed with anxiety, relaxed.

“I’m already asking around here and there to find out what to do, so please wait a little longer, Mother.”

When he added that his fatigue was also because of that, Samantha promptly released his arm.

“I was holding onto a busy person. I’m sorry. Yes. I’m counting on you.”

Fredrick left his mother, who was still talking incoherently, and entered the mansion.

He went straight to the bedroom, sent out the servant who followed him in to help him change, and sat on the sofa. He sank deep into the backrest and stared at the ceiling with a monotonous pattern. Perhaps because Samantha had been shouting so much, her voice still lingered in his ears.

“Family, my foot.”

Although they were born from the same womb, Fredrick had never once thought of Brian as family. Rather, he was a being worse than a pebble rolling on the street. He was also a bothersome existence that occasionally got kicked like a stone.

However, the reason he hadn’t gotten rid of him until now was partly because his mother Samantha kept talking about family and covering for Brian, but also because he didn’t want to dirty his own hands. If something went wrong and he got caught, it would become even more troublesome than now, so he endured it even though it was annoying.

But now, a good opportunity to blow his nose without touching it had come. It was just that he couldn’t accept it with a good heart because he knew that the one who had set the stage had not done it with good intentions.

“Should I use that side after all?”

Herald Breyden.

Fredrick’s lips curved crookedly as he recalled the man who had worked tirelessly to protect Liliana Benjamin.