The next morning.

After hearing from Aaron that Mary had left Lukach, I sent a carriage to the Venetian port to match her arrival time.

‘It seems Mary has already arrived.’

Soon after, I saw a carriage stopping at the main gate through the window and went outside.

Mary got out of the carriage carrying a heavy stack of documents.

“Mary, you must be tired from the journey. What are these documents?”

“They’re documents that need your approval. Aaron gave them to me to bring.”

I took half of the high stack of documents from Mary’s arms.

“My lady, please give them to me. I’ll carry them!”

“It’s alright. This much is fine. Did you hear the explanation from uncle? I thought I’d return to Lukach soon, but the situation has turned out like this.”

I sighed as I stopped while entering with Mary.

“Yes… Because Blanche became a candidate for sainthood, you have to stay in Langransha for the time being…”

“Yes, the biggest problem now is that I met Jade at the Grand Temple.”

Mary asked with a worried expression like mine.

“But why did the Marquis come to the Grand Temple? The Marquis doesn’t believe in God, right?”

“I don’t know either. How did someone who doesn’t believe in God end up visiting the Grand Temple?”

Jade once said this while looking curiously at me donating to the Grand Temple.

‘Larien. Do you really think God exists?’

‘Well. I’m not extremely devout, but I don’t deny it either. They say you can rest peacefully in God’s embrace.’

‘…Is that so? I think there is no God. He’s never been on my side in my life.’

He denied the existence of God itself rather than simply disliking it.

“Could it be… Did Marquis Rowe know that you were visiting the Grand Temple, my lady?”

A strange wind blew, scattering fine snow and obscuring my vision.

“That doesn’t seem right, Jade looked extremely surprised when he saw me… Ah!”

Just as I lost my balance and my ankle twisted, about to fall, I felt a firm support from behind.

The breath steadying after panting up and down, as if having run here, the deep citrus scent entering.

“…Jade?”

It was clearly Jade’s scent.

“Larien. You should be careful.”

I swallowed dry at the realization that the person standing with his arms around my waist was Jade.

“M-Marquis, did you just jump down from the roof?”

I turned around, bewildered by Mary’s words that Jade had jumped down from the roof.

“…Jade, this is Earl Boston’s residence. How are you here?”

“I was watching in case you ran away again like before. To catch you.”

Jade shrugged and held a small smile on his lips.

“Jade, no matter what, this isn’t right.”

A headache came on, making me dizzy at Jade’s attitude of not knowing he did anything wrong.

Above all, Jade’s hand still on my waist bothered me.

“Let go of your hand first.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Jade, you really…”

My face quickly flushed as his lingering touch slowly released.

“Larien, your cheeks are red.”

I couldn’t contain my anger at Jade’s shamelessness in not missing that.

“…You, I told you not to watch me secretly before, didn’t I?”

During the days I stayed at Duke Belaste’s mansion, Jade often climbed trees to observe me.

It seems he started again after stopping when I said it was creepy back then.

‘Back then, I just didn’t like the feeling of being watched from somewhere while hiding, but…’

Now that Blanche exists, the situation itself is different.

‘I can’t let him find out that Blanche is my daughter.’

I felt anxious that he might see Blanche unable to control her wolf ears when excited, or hear conversations related to himself.

“If you keep doing this… I’ll even hate seeing your face.”

“Larien. Do you know how long it’s been since we met again and talked like this?”

“…That’s.”

“You don’t know how much I longed for this moment. How many times a day I asked you questions that wouldn’t return.”

Looking at Jade whispering sadly, I couldn’t move my feet.

‘…It’s my fault for running away pretending to be dead.’

I didn’t know Jade would remember my death for so long and want to see me.

“For today, please go back. Let’s… talk again next time. I’ll call you soon.”

“When is next time?”

Jade pressed for certainty at my words thrown out of weakness.

“That’s…”

As I bit my lip, there was a rustling sound from the bushes.

“Don’t play without Shu Shu!”

Blanche, covered in snow from head to toe, jumped out from the bushes.

“Lady Blanche! You’ll catch a cold! How long have you been there?”

Mary exclaimed in surprise and pulled Blanche out, dusting off the snow.

“Shu Shu was playing hide and seek watching Mama. Tch, I got caught.”

“…Blanche. You don’t have to play such games.”

I was speechless at Blanche’s behavior so similar to Jade’s.

‘No one taught her, yet she resembles Jade even in this.’

I glared at Jade, feeling resentful for no reason.

“Hello, Marquis!”

“…Why isn’t she afraid of me?”

Jade muttered, looking at Blanche waving her hand cutely.

“N-Not afraid?”

I broke out in a cold sweat at Jade’s suspicious gaze towards Blanche, as if he had noticed something.

“Other brats would cry right away when they saw me again after I did that much. She’s unusually bright.”

“Jade. Watch your language. What do you mean by ‘brats’?”

I whispered in a small voice so Blanche couldn’t hear.

“Mary, put Shu Shu down.”

Blanche, who was in Mary’s arms, came down to the ground.

“Shu Shu wants to play with the Marquis. Mama, can’t you tell the Marquis not to go?”

Blanche clasped her hands and asked me with sparkling eyes as Jade glanced down slightly.

“Blanche. Jade is busy, so I don’t think it’s possible. Right?”

I gently hit Jade’s side and soothed Blanche.

‘Blanche already knows Jade is her father. If she makes a slip of the tongue while they’re together, it’ll be a big problem.’

It was pitiful to see Blanche sulking because she wanted to play with Jade, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Hmph, the Marquis is busy…”

As Blanche pouted with her lips pursed, Jade raised one corner of his mouth.

“I’m not busy. I’ll play with you.”

“It’s cold out here, so let’s go inside and play! We’ll drink hot cocoa, make a snowman later, um, and also…”

Before I could stop her, Blanche took Jade’s hand and led him inside.

“…”

Jade, who had been blinking for a moment, quietly moved his long legs.

“My lady. I think Lady Blanche is excited right now. You know what comes out at times like this.”

Mary whispered with an anxious expression like mine.

What Mary was referring to was the ‘wolf ears’.

“…Blanche!”

I chased after them, watching both sides of Blanche’s head.

Blanche brought a box of wooden blocks from her room and spread them out in the reception room.

“Marquis! Stack these with Shu Shu!”

“…You stack them first. I have something to talk about with your mother.”

“Okay!”

Jade responded halfheartedly to Blanche while looking directly at me.

“Larien. Are you cold?”

I was worried that Blanche might show her wolf ears, and nervous about facing Jade after so long.

“I’m fi-fine.”

I picked up the teapot, thinking a warm cup of tea might ease my tension. The teacup still shook from my unsteady hands.

“What if you drop it and hurt yourself?”

Jade took the rattling teacup from my hands and set it down.

“Larien. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“…N-No, not really?”

“Nothing?”

Jade pressed me persistently.

“Are Marquis and Mama fighting?”

“We’re not fighting, Blanche.”

“Tsk! I’m telling you to get along.”

In the suffocating atmosphere, Blanche rolled her left foot a couple of times and spoke in a stern voice.

“Stop fighting and come here where it’s warm, Mama and Marquis!”

Blanche sat in front of the fireplace and wiggled her hand.

Jade’s gaze briefly touched the flames in the burning firewood.

“…”

He closed his eyes, staying far away from the fireplace.

‘Is it because I set fire to the annex?’

My heart sank, thinking I might have given him trauma from his behavior of not even wanting to look at fire.

“Marquis? Are you sick? Your face has turned pale.”

Blanche tilted her head as Jade didn’t respond.

“Blanche, Mama wants to live in a castle. Can my baby make one with wooden blocks first?”

I pointed to the blocks, trying to divert Blanche’s attention from Jade.

‘When Blanche focuses on one thing, she doesn’t hear or see anything else well.’

“Okay! Mama, Blanche will make it wonderfully, so look forward to it!”

Blanche answered enthusiastically and started stacking the blocks.

I took in the sight of Jade with his head tilted to the side.

“Jade, um, have you been well?”

“…How could I have been. When I first heard the news of your death, I couldn’t believe it.”

“…”

“When I read your letter, I wanted to die. But I couldn’t because you told me to live on.”

He calmly unfolded his past days.

“When I saw the scorched annex where you had stayed… I don’t particularly want to think about it.”

It was a conclusion that he didn’t want to spend more emotion on my death.

“Larien. Actually, I still can’t believe it. That you’re alive.”

“…Jade.”

“You died so many times in front of me. You always reached out asking to be saved, and when I tried to grab your hand, you withdrew it.”

Jade’s hand trembled slightly.

It was a pale face I had never seen before.