‘What is she saying now?’

I was so surprised that I took a deep breath and covered my mouth, afraid of making a sound.

Of course, Blanche was in her animal form and looked exactly like Jade.

However, revealing Blanche’s existence to the elders meant officially declaring the child as a ‘Rowe’ lady.

‘How could you announce it without even discussing it with me first.’

For now, I breathed out as quietly as possible and listened carefully to see how the situation would unfold.

“The Marquis’s… daughter, you say?”

“When did you have a child! You never said anything to us!”

The elders were split between being utterly confused and blaming Jade.

“I’m telling you now.”

The elders all gave Jade bewildered looks as he calmly adjusted his hold on Blanche.

‘You should explain it in a way that’s easier to understand, if you say it like that…’

One of the elders in the middle cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Ahem, Marquis. Who is the birth mother? Do you intend to register your daughter in the Rowe family registry?”

The subsequent questions were all about Blanche’s birth mother, namely me.

“Do you plan to marry the birth mother? Is she perhaps a lady from a noble family?”

“My good man, she might not even be a noble. Marquis, if the birth mother’s status is lowly…”

Since someone had taken the lead, the others seemed to gain confidence and began to add their thoughts more actively than before.

Well, it was natural. For a head of family who hadn’t even married, let alone produced an heir or any children, to suddenly have a daughter appear.

It was only natural to first ask about the identity of the mother who bore that daughter.

‘Even if he tells them, would anyone believe that she’s my child?’

As the tension mounted over what answer Jade would give.

“The child is frightened, why don’t you all keep quiet?”

His deep, heavy voice settled over them.

“…We apologize for our rudeness. Please forgive us. We will withdraw for today, but please understand that a meeting about your daughter will be necessary soon.”

Fortunately, the elders all backed down unanimously and turned their heads.

Their behavior wasn’t particularly rude. They hadn’t openly rebelled, and I thought it was a matter I would be curious about too.

‘They said the elders’ power has weakened a lot since Grand Duke Usith, the head elder, died.’

It seemed that Jade wasn’t one to be pushed around by the elders in the first place, and due to Grand Duke Usith, they dared not oppose him.

“We will take our leave now…”

The elders were still watching Jade’s reactions as they came towards where I was.

What should I do? This was clearly a situation where I had been eavesdropping.

Should I pretend I hadn’t heard anything and appear now?

“Wait.”

As I was struggling with what to do, Jade stopped the elders.

“Do you have any orders for us?”

The elders looked at Jade quizzically.

“Not that way, go to the opposite side. That staircase is under repair.”

The staircase being under repair was a lie. Jade, who already knew I was on this side, was helping me avoid encountering the elders.

The elders turned and headed in the opposite direction.

“Larien. They’re all gone.”

When they had disappeared, Jade called out to me.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I came out carefully.

“How much did you hear?”

“…From the part where you told the elders that Blanche was your daughter.”

“So you heard everything from the beginning. It doesn’t matter though.”

It was difficult to understand what Jade was thinking or what his true intentions were.

The elders had already seen Blanche, and we couldn’t erase their memories of learning that she was Jade’s daughter.

‘They said they need to have a meeting about Blanche soon.’

I was at a loss for how to resolve this.

“Why are you sighing?”

“You’re asking why? You told them there that Blanche was your daughter.”

“There was someone among the elders who kept staring at this anklet. You got it from Ayla, right?”

Jade pointed at the anklet Blanche was wearing. Blanche, thinking he was trying to play, avoided letting him grab her foot.

“Too slow.”

He chuckled and easily caught Blanche’s foot.

“Kyung!”

Blanche, who had jumped into my arms out of spite, glared at Jade.

“Yes. It’s said to be passed down through generations to the daughters of Rowe…”

“The ruby set in this anklet is an heirloom of the Rowe ancestors, so only direct descendants can wear it.”

“Then… even if you hadn’t said she was your daughter, they would have recognized her because of the anklet?”

“Yes. It’s not like I hadn’t thought about publicly announcing Blanche’s existence at all, it was a matter that would come to light eventually.”

Jade’s explanation made sense to some degree.

‘That’s right. Even if we clumsily denied she was his daughter, the elders wouldn’t be fooled.’

I should be thankful that at least she didn’t appear as ‘Blanche Boston’.

“Larien. I have something else to show you.”

Jade signaled for me to send Blanche away first.

‘I should tell her to go to the dining room where Ayla is and wait together.’

I put Blanche down on the floor and patted her bottom, whispering for her to go to the dining room.

“Mom, Dad! Come quickly! Shu Shu is hungry!”

Blanche shouted as she ran hard, releasing her animal form, and then disappeared again.

“Jade. Blanche is gone now, so tell me.”

Jade silently took my wrist and led me to his office.

‘What on earth does he want to show me?’

Several books were piled on the desk in the office.

“My goodness, what is all this.”

Ancient language dictionaries, names of famous figures from various countries, and the Rowe family tree caught my eye.

Even at a glance, they were all books related to naming.

Jade abruptly handed me a piece of parchment.

“Chloe, Odette, Gloria, Elsa…?”

“I’ve been considering what name to use when registering Blanche. This wasn’t done in the heat of the moment.”

He actively showed that he had been contemplating Blanche’s registration for a long time.

As if he wanted to let me know it wasn’t an impulsive revelation.

‘Does he want me to choose a name from these?’

If he had been preparing this seriously, then Jade’s judgment earlier wasn’t bad.

“There are a few people who have seen Blanche, though they’re in the minority. Above all, she looks exactly like you.”

Since Blanche is currently in the position of Earl Boston’s daughter, it would be better to use a different name in the Rowe family register to avoid controversy.

“She’s young anyway, so she won’t be doing any public activities right now, and since the Emperor announced her engagement to Serendio…”

“Yes. There are solutions for potential future problems as well.”

Jade added that when Blanche reaches the age where she actually needs to be engaged, she can live without revealing her face as a ‘Rowe’.

‘We can also change Blanche’s appearance by giving her my pendant.’

This way, she wouldn’t have to face discrimination from the Rowe collateral branches due to being of mixed blood.

“But, Jade. What if they raise issues about her being illegitimate?”

“If anyone does that, we’ll just kill them so they can’t raise issues.”

Jade shrugged as if that wasn’t a serious matter either.

“Jade, you…”

Kill them so they can’t raise issues, he says.

“Don’t worry, Larien. I’ll make sure such words don’t reach Blanche’s ears.”

It was reassuring that Jade would protect Blanche from being hurt.

“So, do you like any of the names written here?”

“A name I like…”

“I’ve never named anyone before. If they’re strange, you can come up with one.”

The parchment was full of signs of careful consideration. You could see the effort put into it.

I felt oddly pleased. Because even though ‘Blanche’ was the name of a former Rowe Marchioness, it was a name I had chosen entirely on my own.

Without any input from her father.

So the name he was giving her felt quite special.

I tried pronouncing the names written on the parchment again, thinking about their meanings.

“…Gloria.”

Then I spoke aloud the name that was easiest to pronounce and stood out the most.

“Gloria? You like that one?”

“Yes. It means ‘light that brings glory’, doesn’t it?”

Since Blanche’s name means white light, it felt somehow connected because of the association.

“I thought that one was the best too. An ancestor with this name became the head of the Rowe family, beating out her male siblings.”

“Really?”

“She was also the one who passed the law for female succession of titles.”

Though they say female heirs are recognized now, it wasn’t always the case.

‘Even in the recent past, the atmosphere was usually to bring in a son-in-law.’

If she became the head of the family over her male siblings, it meant her abilities were exceptionally outstanding.

‘If Jade thinks this name is the best too…’

He really does consider Blanche as his heir.

“If she’s registered as Gloria Rowe, the elders will…”

“They’ll know. That I’m thinking of her as my heir. Perhaps the name ‘Gloria’ itself gives Blanche legitimacy.”

To become Jade’s successor and the heir to Rowe.

‘She’ll definitely be registered eventually, so I’m not blindly opposing it… but it will surely be a difficult path. If I had my way, I’d prefer she didn’t.’

…But I couldn’t make all of Blanche’s decisions for her as she grows up.

‘Blanche is more intelligent than her peers, so she’ll understand what it means to be the Rowe heir.’

As long as she doesn’t feel averse to it, I didn’t want to take away an opportunity that Blanche rightfully deserved.

‘I wonder if I can ask now.’

As dessert was being served after dinner, I watched Blanche eagerly eating macarons.

When our eyes met, Blanche slowly put down the macarons she was holding in both hands.

“Shu Shu, I haven’t eaten that much… I won’t forget to brush my teeth before bed! I’ll do it twice!”

“It’s not about that… Blanche. Do you want to become a Marchioness like your father?”

Blanche tilted her head and didn’t answer for a long time.

‘Does she dislike it? Or did she not understand what I meant?’

As I was holding my breath anxiously, Blanche smiled, stretching the corners of her mouth to both sides.

“Shu Shu wants to be a Marchioness!”