“Larien. Did you know you smelled of acacia?”

Jade took a handful of my hair and let it fall long.

“I knew it. You still have the same scent.”

“…What are you doing, Jade.”

I put some distance between us, but there wasn’t much space left.

With nowhere else to move, Jade’s lips curved into an arc.

“Trying to revive the memories by doing it again?”

“Oh, don’t come any closer.”

“You were just trembling underneath me the first time, but later on, you liked riding on top of me.”

His eyes were the same as that day when he was drunk with greed.

“W-what are you doing… when the child is here…”

I pushed Jade away as he slowly approached and glanced at Blanche.

‘…It’s a relief Blanche is busy building the castle and not looking this way.’

Blanche was still uninterested in us.

“…She’s busy playing right now.”

Jade gently grabbed my chin, making me meet his gaze.

“Look at me, Larien. Don’t get distracted.”

“D-don’t, Jade.”

The atmosphere was getting more and more sticky. Jade loosened his cravat slowly.

“Larien. Your heartbeat…”

“…Jade.”

“It’s beating so fast that I can hear it.”

As my heart raced at the sight of his subtly revealed firm lines, Jade acted mischievously.

“…!”

I instinctively slapped away his hand as he touched a part I didn’t want to be noticed.

“…”

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.

I barely caught my breath, avoiding Jade’s startled gaze.

“That day was a mistake. It won’t happen again, so don’t do this.”

I spoke firmly, hoping Jade would never act this way again.

“A mistake?”

Jade muttered the word ‘mistake’ and bit his molars.

‘I didn’t need to go as far as slapping his hand…’

I felt unnecessarily sorry seeing his hurt expression.

“So it was a mistake to you.”

Jade raised the corners of his mouth bitterly, suppressing his anger.

“You named her ‘Blanche’ though.”

“…Blanche?”

“You gave the child you had with another man my mother’s name.”

‘Blanche’.

A name that held my desire to keep the fact that the child was Jade’s daughter.

“Wasn’t it because you couldn’t forget me?”

I had intentionally named her that way, not forgetting that Jade was Blanche’s father.

“It’s not that I couldn’t forget you…”

I chewed my lips anxiously at his accurate guess.

I had left him in the name, thinking I would never see him again.

I tried to tell him the reason I chose the name after meeting Jade, but no excuses came to mind.

“Don’t bite your lips. They’ll bleed.”

Jade lightly tapped my lips with his pale, long fingers.

Surprisingly, my rapidly beating heart calmed down at his gentle concern.

“…I only found out later that it was the name of the previous Rowe Marquis’ wife. I tried to change it, but I was already used to it by then, so I left it.”

I decided to maintain the stance that I didn’t know.

“So it’s just a pure coincidence that the child’s name is ‘Blanche’?”

“Yes. It has nothing to do with you. If I had known you would misunderstand like this, I should have just changed the name.”

Jade’s complexion hardened even more than before.

“Mommy! I finished building the castle!”

Just as I felt uncomfortable continuing to stare at him, Blanche came running over.

“Mommy, what do you think!”

“You did a great job. There’s nothing our baby can’t do.”

I went to see Blanche and the castle to avoid Jade.

“Shu Shu is originally good at everything without anything she can’t do.”

Blanche looked adorable, puffing up her chest in pride.

“But Blanche…”

At that moment, the blocks swaying from side to side looked a bit precarious.

As expected, the castle soon collapsed with a crumble.

“Shu Shu, the castle…”

Blanche sat down on the floor with her mouth agape, frustrated.

“It was the castle Mommy said she wanted to live in…”

“It’s okay, Blanche.”

“It’s not okay! If the castle Mommy and Shu Shu were going to live in together collapses… we won’t be able to invite anyone. Shu Shu wanted to live together…”

Blanche’s voice was tinged with sorrow.

“Hic-”

It was a sign that she was about to burst into tears.

“…?”

Suddenly, Jade looked at Blanche.

I wiped away the transparently welling tears in Blanche’s eyes.

“Blanche, Mommy will always live together with Shu Shu.”

Jade frowned.

‘If Blanche cries here, I wonder what he’ll say.’

He really hated when someone cried.

“Blanche, do you want to go eat macarons with Mommy? What flavor do you want, strawberry or blueberry?”

“Shu Shu doesn’t want to eat macarons right now…”

I became anxious, worried that Blanche would get hurt by Jade.

At that moment.

“M-Marquis…?”

“Jade, w-what are you doing?”

Jade walked over and placed the fallen blocks back in place.

“People can’t live in a castle made of blocks anyway. Even if it didn’t collapse, you couldn’t have lived in it in the first place.”

“Jade, you don’t have to say that right now…!”

Far from appeasing her, Jade spat out a cold remark.

“You can just build it again. Since it’s not a real castle to live in, it doesn’t matter how many times you build it.”

I pursed my lips at his following words as I tried to dissuade Jade.

“B-build it again…? Even if it collapses, keep…?”

“So don’t cry before you even try. Nothing good comes from showing your weaknesses.”

“I shouldn’t show my weaknesses…?”

“You can show them if you want to be ignored.”

Jade’s words, though clumsy, held a meaning of comfort.

‘But still, saying that to a young child will only have the opposite effect.’

I expected Blanche to really cry this time for sure.

“I don’t want to be ignored! Shu Shu has to become strong! So that Shu Shu can protect Mommy!”

However, Blanche wasn’t upset.

“Mommy, Shu Shu will protect you! Don’t worry.”

Rather, her face filled with energy as she clenched her fists.

“…Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Blanche’s reaction, which was completely different from what I had thought.

‘I didn’t expect that mentality to work. Until now, whenever Jade acted like that, everyone got scared.’

I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt.

“Mommy, why are you laughing?”

“Larien. What’s so funny?”

I felt a bit upset at the similar questions that came from not understanding me the same way. Because it looked like a scene from an ordinary family’s daily life.

‘No matter how you look at it, Blanche is definitely Jade’s child.’

Jade and Blanche exchanged glances.

“Do you know why your mommy is laughing?”

“That’s what Shu Shu wants to ask. I don’t know why she’s laughing. Oh, Marquis.”

Blanche stood on her toes and tugged at Jade’s jacket.

“It’s time to play with Shu Shu now.”

“…I just built blocks with you.”

“Hmph, you can’t say you played with me just now with only that. You clearly promised to play with me earlier, right?”

Jade took a step back from Blanche, looking annoyed.

“When did I say that? Do you have proof?”

“Grandpa said you have to keep verbal agreements too!”

Blanche stomped her foot firmly.

“Verbal agreement? You know about that?”

Jade was surprised that Blanche knew difficult words.

“Of course. Even contracts made only with words are valid.”

“You really know what a verbal agreement means? What on earth is Earl Boston talking about with a 4-year-old child?”

“Shu Shu is not young! I grew taller than last month too!”

“You grew indeed. But you still don’t even reach my waist.”

Jade reached out and patted Blanche’s head.

‘He doesn’t touch anyone without wearing gloves.’

It was closer to lightly placing his hand on top of her head, but even that was unexpected enough.

Jade had been a germaphobe since he was young. As he grew up, I thought he had gotten better with me, but he still avoided contact with others.

I was surprised that Jade could touch Blanche without any problem.

“It’s already time.”

Jade took out a watch from his pocket and sighed in frustration.

“Larien. I should get going. I have someone to meet.”

“Marquis, are you busy? Hmph, okay…”

“…Alright. Be careful on your way.”

“Larien. I’d like to see you tomorrow, too.”

His brazen invitation to naturally make plans was burdensome.

“Jade. I’m busy tomorrow-”

“Ayla is getting married in the spring. To the second son of the Lumiere Viscount family. She’ll have to leave for the viscount’s residence after getting married, so I thought it would be nice to meet before then.”

I was startled by the news that Ayla was getting married, as I was about to refuse.

“Ayla is already getting married? She’s still young.”

“Ayla is an adult now, too.”

Jade reminded me of the fact that Ayla was an adult.

Five years had passed, so it was natural for Ayla to have become an adult.

‘Ayla is an adult…?’

The Ayla in my frozen memories was a 15-year-old girl who often fought with Jade and loved having me brush her hair.

‘…She’s already become a fine lady and is getting married.’

It was a request I couldn’t refuse after all.

“Alright, I’ll come tomorrow afternoon.”

Blanche fidgeted her fingers and looked at Jade.

“Marquis, can Shu Shu come too?”

“If you want to come.”

Jade readily accepted Blanche coming as well.

“Really? Shu Shu is so happy to be invited!”

“Yes, you. Ayla will like you too since you resemble Larien. My siblings and I have a weakness for your mommy’s face.”

“What does it mean to have a weakness for a face…?”

“It means we like it a lot.”

I was embarrassed because of Jade’s blunt words.

“Jade, stop saying unnecessary things and hurry up and go!”

Jade wrapped his hand around my neck. His cold hand conveyed a chilly sensation.

“Larien. Your neck is bruised.”

He whispered in a low voice. As if he had no intention of removing his hand from my neck, he caressed it.

“It turned red again even though I didn’t do much this time.”

“…”

My whole body heated up regardless of my will at the sensation of his fingers sliding across my skin.