“You…”

“I’ll get going, Larien. See you tomorrow.”

Jade grabbed the window frame and jumped down before I could finish my sentence.

“Jade! It’s dangerous!”

I immediately looked down and around, but Jade had already disappeared from sight.

‘He must have transformed into a wolf and left.’

Blanche revealed her wolf ears with a serious expression and eagerly twitched them.

“Mom, I can’t hear the Marquis’s voice.”

“Blanche?”

“He’s not near the Marquis either. What happened?”

Blanche seemed to have no idea how Jade disappeared in such a short time.

“It’s because he’s a wolf. Wolves are incredibly fast.”

Influenced by his parents, Jade was reluctant to use carriages and preferred traveling in his beast form over riding horses.

“A wolf? Then the Marquis must have wolf ears too, just like Shu Shu?”

“That’s right.”

Upon hearing that Jade was a wolf, Blanche immediately lay down on the carpet and rolled around.

“Blanche, are you that happy?”

“Yeah! I love Shu Shu so much! Hehe, when I go to see the Marquis tomorrow, I’ll ask him to play with me a lot to make up for not being able to play today!”

I couldn’t bring myself to laugh along with the excited Blanche.

‘Nothing happened today, but who knows about tomorrow?’

I was worried about a situation arising where Jade might discover the wolf ears.

I didn’t want to take Blanche with me if possible.

‘What should I do…?’

Worries piled up in my confusion, and a sigh escaped involuntarily.

“Mom, do you dislike that Shu Shu has wolf ears like Dad…?”

Blanche sat up and retracted her wolf ears.

“Ah, no. Blanche.”

“Mom. Shu Shu wants to go see the Marquis. If you say I can’t, I’ll hold back…”

Seeing Blanche looking dejected made me feel uncomfortable.

‘She’s still young, but she doesn’t even throw tantrums…’

Instead of supporting what she wanted to do, I made her get used to giving up.

Thud.

A crumpled piece of parchment fell from Blanche’s inner pocket.

“Huh? Blanche, what’s this?”

I unfolded the parchment, trying to engage in a different conversation with the disheartened Blanche.

[ Things I want to do with Dad.

First. Stacking macarons high like a cake and eating them.

Second. Riding on Dad’s wooden horse.

Third. Going on a picnic together.

Fourth. Playing with wooden blocks.

Fifth. Growing as tall as Dad.

Sixth. Spending the whole day with Dad.

Seventh. Celebrating birthdays together. ]

It listed the things she wanted to do with Jade.

‘Eighth…’

The suppressed emotions surged at ‘Calling him Dad’.

[ Ninth. Living together with Mom and Dad. ]

Tears that I had been trying hard to hold back flowed at the ninth item written at the end.

“Mom, Shu Shu was wrong. I’m not saying I’ll do everything written there. Don’t cry…”

“…”

“I’ll never call him Dad. I won’t throw a tantrum about living with Dad either. I mean it. I promise.”

Blanche held out her pinky finger.

The plea not to cry came as a pain.

I swallowed my tears at the promise of not calling him Dad or throwing tantrums about living together.

“I’m sorry for liking that Shu Shu has wolf ears… Shu Shu was just really happy because Jennie and Ellie both take after Dad, but Shu Shu doesn’t…”

Seeing Blanche with her head lowered, looking timid, I felt like I knew what it was like to have my heart torn apart.

“Shu Shu, I was happy when Dad patted my head earlier. My ears almost came out, but I held them back. I did well, didn’t I?”

The first touch she received from her father.

How much effort did she put into not showing that she liked it while missing Jade’s absence?

“…Blanche. The reason I don’t want your wolf ears to be discovered is that we can never go back to how things were before.”

I bit my lip and slowly stroked Blanche’s wolf ears.

“It’s absolutely not because I dislike you. It breaks my heart if you think that way…”

“Shu Shu, you weren’t scolding me…?”

“How could I scold my baby who hasn’t done anything wrong?”

Blanche hesitated before throwing herself into my arms, burying herself in my embrace.

A warm baby scent lingered. I felt her tiny hands clasped together with all her strength.

“Then, Mom, do you love Shu Shu even though I have wolf ears?”

“Mom… loves Blanche no matter what you look like.”

“Shu Shu too! I loved Mom a lot since I was in your belly.”

My throat tightened at Blanche’s beaming smile.

“What Shu Shu wants more than what’s written there is for Mom to be happy. I originally wanted to write it as the tenth…”

“…Is that so?”

My voice naturally cracked as I spoke.

“I thought if I wrote down a wish I desperately wanted, the star spirits might not grant it, so I kept it only in my heart.”

I wiped away the tears that flowed endlessly at Blanche’s following whisper.

“I’m only telling Mom, so you have to keep it a secret, okay?”

I tried not to cry anymore, worried that Blanche’s shoulder would get wet from crying too much.

“…I see. Yes. Mom will keep your secret.”

On the day Blanche was born, I vowed to give her everything I could.

So every day, I told her I loved her, hugged her warmly, and raised her without a wrinkle.

‘…I thought Blanche would be happy because I did my best.’

I only now discovered the shadow cast over Blanche, foolishly.

‘Loving you alone can’t always make you smile.’

Even without looking back, the things Blanche had were absurdly few. Because I didn’t give her much.

“…Blanche, do you want to go see Dad tomorrow if you miss him?”

“Really? Shu Shu will listen better from now on!”

Blanche smiled brightly.

‘She wants to call him Dad and wishes to live together… yet she’s just going to see him for a bit.’

The fact that she was used to having little she could possess made my solar plexus feel even chillier.

[This is the timeline separator]

Time flies by when I’m with Larien, so I had forgotten that Grand Duchess Usith was coming.

“Brother, where have you been and only coming back now?”

Noise pierced Jade’s ears as he returned to the Rowe Marquis residence.

It was bothersome to deal with Ayla approaching him angrily.

“I worked from morning without rest because you left without a word, brother!”

“Be quiet, Ayla.”

“…Can’t you see the butler has aged more because of you, brother? He’s barely forty, but he looks like he’s in his sixties!”

Ayla stomped her foot while pointing at the butler.

That sight overlapped with Blanche demanding to know why he wouldn’t play with her.

“The Grand Duchess?”

“She already left. How exhausted do you think I was having to entertain Grand Duchess Usith in your place!”

“My head already hurts, so stop yelling.”

“Ha, brother. Where has your conscience gone?”

“I never had one to begin with.”

The butler supported Ayla, who felt dizzy at Jade’s confident reply.

“Miss Ayla! Are you all right?”

“…Brother, you. Really, be careful of your occipital lobe.”

Ayla took a deep breath and barely calmed her anger.

“Ayla. Tomorrow, La… no, an important guest is coming, so don’t go out anywhere.”

Jade seized the moment of silence to convey the news of Larien coming, disguising her as a guest.

“A guest? I was supposed to meet with Viscount Lumiere tomorrow?”

“If it’s Viscount Lumiere, just postpone it to next time.”

He had hidden it despite persistent guesses, thinking it would be boring if he revealed it beforehand.

“Just what kind of guest is it that you’re making people curious but not telling them?”

Ayla grumbled and furrowed her brows.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t expect her to agree so readily.’

Larien had no choice but to come in this situation, and she yielded weakly when he subtly asked her.

As expected, she hadn’t changed at all and was the same as before.

That was extremely satisfactory for Jade.

“If you want to go, go. But don’t pester me later about why I didn’t stop you.”

Of course, he had used Ayla as an excuse to invite Larien, but he much preferred being alone with her.

“…Butler.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Ayla called the butler standing next to her.

“Can I hit my brother?”

“That… doesn’t seem possible.”

The butler trying to dissuade Ayla sighed in difficulty and held out a broken engagement letter.

“Marquis. Lady Sharlin Winst returned the broken engagement letter without signing it.”

“Returned?”

Upon receiving and checking the broken engagement letter, the space where Sharlin’s signature should have been was empty.

He had clearly expressed his intention to break the engagement to Sharlin.

‘Returning it without signing doesn’t mean we won’t break the engagement.’

It was rather ridiculous that she was still persisting and holding out even though he said it was unnecessary.

‘I’m already in a bad mood because Larien asked when I’m getting married.’

He felt hurt by Larien urging him to marry Sharlin.

Larien was willing for him to get married.

‘She can’t even remember the night we spent together.’

Moreover, she summed up that act as a mistake.

Even pushing his hand away.

That day’s event was not a mistake.

So Larien shouldn’t have called it a mistake either.

He felt a sense of defiance at her face turning completely peach-colored the moment he touched her.

‘It doesn’t seem like she completely dislikes it. Is it because she’s with the kid?’

He wanted to go against Larien’s intention of pushing him away.

“Brother, are you okay? Hasn’t it become difficult to break the engagement?”

It was Ayla’s concern that pulled Jade out of his thoughts.

There was no need to think too deeply about Sharlin, who was refusing the broken engagement.

“I have a certificate stating that she will agree to the broken engagement after the promised deadline passes.”

It was because there was a certificate stamped with the Winst Earl family’s seal, stating that they would agree to the broken engagement four years later.

‘I should break the engagement after Ayla’s wedding.’

Although it would become a muddy fight and troublesome, it wouldn’t be difficult to break the engagement if he proceeded with a lawsuit.

“You left not only a verbal agreement but a certificate? You live a meticulous yet tiring life…”

Ayla lightly clapped her hands and sneered.

At her mention of a verbal agreement, Jade remembered what Blanche had said.

“Is it possible for a 4-year-old to understand the term ‘verbal contract’ and apply it to other situations?”

“There’s no way. Where in the world is there a 4-year-old like that?”

“…There is one.”

He had just met that 4-year-old on his way back.

“No way. No, come to think of it, I heard from the nanny that you, brother, were confused about Father and knew the wrong foreign language.”

Ayla, who had been waving her hand, suddenly became serious.

“You were probably 5 years old then, right? Well, then I guess it’s not entirely impossible for there to be a 4-year-old who understands verbal contracts.”