Maiana burst into laughter. Cedelloi, unable to help it, chuckled along with her, then, as if helpless, gently took his hand over Maiana’s dorsal surface.

Maiana hesitated for a moment but eventually took hold of his hand. Such a trivial action became a source of courage for Cedelloi. Cedelloi, licking his dry lips with the tip of his tongue, bent his upper body and continued speaking.

“After my parents passed away… I always lived with a feeling of being chased. I could only think of taking care of Berbo, who was younger than me, and eventually succeeding the position of Duke to restore the family. Even though I returned to the Duke’s estate at the age of fifteen, studying at the desk was entirely different from actually working.”

Cedelloi, who had paused for a moment, exhaled a short sigh, leaning his chin on his hand. There was a bitter smile on his face.

“At that time, the people who helped me the most were Gemero and Jocelyn. Especially Jocelyn… she explained or handled administrative issues of the unfamiliar Duke’s estate for me. After officially working as Her Majesty’s servant as an adult, she took responsibility for almost everything in the Duke’s estate. Jocelyn was born in our house, but since then, she hasn’t stolen a single coin. It’s not easy.”

Maiana listened carefully to Cedelloi’s words, scrutinizing his complexion meticulously. Contrary to her thoughts, there was no sign of gloominess.

“After Berbo and Liria died, I said I saw Jocelyn smiling. Do you remember?”

Maiana nodded. Cedelloi also nodded slowly, following her, but his gaze was still directed at something that wasn’t Maiana.

Perhaps he didn’t even realize that he was looking back at his past from empty space. The strange thing was that Maiana seemed to see the same thing. He still looked like a boy who hadn’t yet reached fifteen, too fragile to carry the name of a Duke, and a boy who had suffered many wounds.

Cedelloi continued speaking.
“If I had questioned Jocelyn directly back then, if I had let everyone know that I was suspicious of her, the situation might have been very different. But I couldn’t. To doubt her in that way… it felt like committing a crime, for some reason.”

He now seemed to be talking to the silence rather than Maiana. Quietly, as if chewing on the past, he was locked into the bitterness that emerged and repeated the process of getting stuck and coming out. Maiana looked down at Cedelloi’s hand, which she had enveloped like covering her own, and then tightly squeezed his hand.

“I think I understand what you’re saying.”

Cedelloi finally turned his gaze to Maiana.

“Really?”

Maiana said, “Of course, I’m not the duke, so I can’t fully understand. But… as you mentioned last time, wasn’t Jocelyn the housekeeper almost like a mother to you? And when you returned to this empty mansion, wasn’t she the one who helped you the most? You owe a debt of the heart to Jocelyn. It was the unavoidable environment. I don’t know if Jocelyn, taking advantage of that, wanted to control you as she pleased. But now that I’ve heard your words, I finally understand why she did such foolish things.”

Cedelloi, who had been looking at her with a somewhat stunned expression, chuckled.

“Is that so… Were you thinking I was a fool all along while listening to that story?”

“Don’t tease me. Probably anyone would have thought the same.”

Cedelloi smiled wryly, gently touching Maiana’s fingers.

“Yeah. In fact, I heard similar words from Ash earlier.”

He maintained a silent demeanor. Maiana didn’t urge Cedelloi or rebuke him further. The two of them, for a moment, observed the form of comfort arising from their small contact.

Not fully understanding each other’s wounds, but carefully soothing and treating the wounds that were bleeding equally seemed to be happening through their gentle touches.

“Regarding Arianthe… This is something you scolded me for many times, but in my defense, I couldn’t figure out how to treat Arianthe after Berbo and Liria died. Of course, that child was precious to me, but I was worried that Arianthe, growing up knowing me as her father, might resent me when she eventually learned the truth. Worried about receiving wounds from not revealing the truth… So, I couldn’t easily say that I loved Arianthe. I thought that giving good things to that child was all I could do.”

“It’s the most common misconception that many fathers make. Thinking they’ve done everything just by buying things or giving them nice stuff. Of course, in your case… there were reasons in your own way, but in terms of making wrong choices, it’s the same.”

“Yeah, now I know. And the more I love Arianthe, the closer that child comes to me, I feel something… building up within me. Something full. It’s sometimes unfair to think that I’ve lived not knowing these feelings until now.”