‘I can’t see her face well…..’

It was difficult to tell who she was as the woman lowered her head and entered.

As I narrowed my eyes to look closer, I saw a vermilion flower drawn in the center of the carriage.

‘Marigold?’

I opened my narrowed eyes in surprise upon seeing the intertwined marigolds.

Marigold was the symbol of the Rowe Marquis family.

In other words, the carriage the woman arrived in belonged to the Rowe Marquis family.

‘Who could it be, to arrive in the Rowe Marquis family’s carriage?’

To be given a carriage with the family crest, could they be lovers?

‘Even if not lovers, they must be very close to Jade.’

Someone who could come see him anytime they wanted, even without an appointment.

‘So Jade has someone else he’s close to besides me.’

It was frustrating not remembering.

“Larien. Did someone come?”

“…..”

Just as an inexplicable feeling of disappointment began to arise, I quickly cut it off at Jade’s voice calling me.

‘No, that’s not right. I lost my memories of the past 5 years, so of course there would be people I don’t know.’

He was wiping ink off his hands, looking at me curiously.

Moreover, I had run away with the child and lived in hiding until recently…

‘Besides, not many people know Blanche is Jade’s biological daughter. Naturally, we’re not in any kind of relationship.’

If I said I felt hurt, Jade might find it baffling.

I adjusted my hold on the child burying her face in my shoulder.

“Jade. Outside-”

Before I could finish speaking, the butler entered with a knock.

“Lady Sharlin Winst has arrived. She says she has something to discuss with the Marquis and asks for a moment of your time.”

Sharlin Winst.

Hearing that name, Jade’s voice echoed in my ear.

‘Larien. I’m going to be engaged to Lady Winst soon.’

It was the day I first found out I was pregnant. Not everything, but the memory of that moment came back clearly.

When I was deliberating whether to tell Jade about the child’s existence, he told me.

That he was going to be engaged to that woman, Sharlin.

Now I understand everything.

‘She was Jade’s fiancée.’

Riding in the Rowe Marquis family’s carriage.

Visiting abruptly without an appointment.

As his fiancée, none of this was strange at all.

‘But if they’re calling her Sharlin Winst, that means they’re not married yet…’

Then is the child in Sharlin’s womb Jade’s blood?

‘But why haven’t they married yet?’

The fragmented memories that surfaced didn’t fully answer this curiosity.

“She didn’t give details, but said it was related to Grand Duke Usith.”

Jade’s expression darkened at the butler’s words.

“Where is she now?”

“I showed her to the reception room downstairs.”

Heaving a deep sigh as if annoyed, he rose to his feet.

“Larien. I’ll be right back. Wait here.”

“…Alright. See you soon.”

Jade looked at the child hiding in my arms for a moment before leaving the office.

When the door closed, the child peeked her head out to look around.

“Is the Marquis gone…?”

The child asked cautiously after confirming Jade was gone.

“Yes. But he said he’ll be back.”

“Mommy. Can we leave before the Marquis comes back…?”

The child seemed uncomfortable with the very situation of being with Jade.

“Shu Shu is scared of the Marquis…”

Jade wasn’t originally an affectionate person, and he didn’t like young children either.

‘I don’t know exactly what happened, but it’s understandable the child would feel scared.’

I put the child down and rubbed her back.

The only memory that had returned to me was the moment I learned I was pregnant.

Even trying to recognize her as my daughter, the child still felt unfamiliar.

That’s why I wanted to be better to her, and my heart felt heavy.

‘In any case, this child was born into the world entirely because of my choices.’

I didn’t want to give her the same experience of always thinking it would have been better not to be born.

“It’s okay, Blanche.”

“…Uung.”

“Mo, mmy is here. It’s okay.”

I awkwardly uttered the word ‘mommy.’ It still didn’t roll off my tongue easily.

“Shu Shu is okay now. Mommy will be okay too.”

A brighter voice. The child comforted me while holding back the slight sadness in her voice, then suddenly stuttered.

“Blanche? What’s wrong?”

“My, my necklace is gone. It was definitely there earlier, but Shu Shu’s necklace disappeared.”

“Your necklace is gone?”

It must have been quite precious, as the child whimpered anxiously.

“Mommy always said not to take it off, can we go outside to look for it…?”

I hesitated for a moment.

Sharlin was outside. Possibly carrying Jade’s child.

‘We probably shouldn’t run into each other unnecessarily.’

Whatever her relationship with Jade, I had a feeling we shouldn’t meet.

“It’s very important to Shu Shu…”

“Alright. Let’s go out and look for it quickly.”

But the child trembled, clenching her fists tightly. Seeing that, I had no choice but to open the door.

‘They said she’s downstairs. We just need to avoid going to the first floor.’

My head knew we shouldn’t go, but my body moved first.

Outside, the child carefully examined the hallway.

“Blanche, what does the necklace look like?”

“It has a gold jewel, Mommy gave it to me as a gift, Mommy said not to take it off…”

The child’s voice trailed off into tears.

‘So I gave it to her.’

As I looked around the hallway, I spotted something glittering gold on the stairs.

As I approached, I saw a necklace with a golden topaz.

‘This must be it. I’m glad we found it so quickly.’

Just as I was about to pick up the necklace and go to the child, I heard the voices of servants stirring below.

“Did you see just now? Lady Sharlin Winst came?”

“She hasn’t set foot here since breaking off the engagement with the Marquis, I wonder what’s going on.”

The servants were talking about Jade and Sharlin having broken off their engagement.

‘They’ve already broken up? Then, it’s not Jade’s child?’

Otherwise, there’s no way they would break off the engagement, let alone get married.

‘But why the carriage…’

While I felt relieved, the question about her arriving in the Rowe Marquis family’s carriage remained unanswered.

I went to the child and dangled the necklace.

The child’s face immediately brightened upon seeing the necklace.

‘So that’s why it fell off.’

The clasp of the necklace had loosened slightly.

‘This should keep it from falling off again.’

After tightening the clasp firmly, I put the necklace around the child’s neck.

The voices of the servants were still continuing.

“That’s not the important part. Did you see her swollen belly? Could it be, the Marquis’s child?”

“Well. There’d be no other reason for her to come see the Marquis.”

“That’s right. The carriage she came in was the Rowe Marquis family’s carriage too. Maybe something happened to break off the engagement, and she found out about the child later?”

I covered the child’s ears as it wasn’t appropriate for her to hear.

Still, it wasn’t completely groundless or far-fetched.

‘Why didn’t I think of that? She could have found out after breaking off the engagement and come to see Jade.’

My heart felt cold and painful.

It was pathetic that I had felt relieved for even a moment that it might not be Jade’s child.

‘Perhaps I wanted it not to be Jade’s child so badly that I tried to find reasons for it.’

I was about to take the blinking child’s hand and go back to the office.

“Then what about Earl Boston and the young lady? I thought they were going to get married.”

“Who knows about that. Anyway, we shouldn’t talk about what we saw and heard here anywhere else, it’s a shame.”

“That’s right. Let’s hurry up to the second floor and clean.”

I made eye contact with the servants coming up the stairs.

The servants had been talking not only about Sharlin and Jade, but about me as well.

Perhaps because of that, they bowed their heads and trembled.

“We, we’re sorry, Lady Boston…”

“It was meaningless gossip. Please forgive us, please don’t tell the Marquis…”

It was an impertinent assumption.

‘They were just talking comfortably among themselves, and it doesn’t seem like they intend to spread it anywhere…’

There was no need to be harsh in front of the child.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything, so you may go now.”

I sent the servants away with a glance to the side.

‘Since unnecessary words are spreading, it might be better to reduce the number of times I come here. Blanche is uncomfortable being with Jade too.’

I was about to take the child and go back down.

“Blanche, let’s go now.”

“Mommy, wait a moment.”

Just then, wolf ears popped out of the child’s head as she was sniffing around.

“Blanche!”

If someone else passed by, they might discover that the child was Jade’s daughter.

“It’s okay. Shu Shu can put these back in.”

The child reassured me, patting her chest as she tucked the wolf ears back in.

‘I knew she was my and Jade’s child, but…’

Still, confirming that the child was a wolf shifter like Jade was fascinating.

“Blanche. Why did you bring out your wolf ears?”

“I smelled the person who bullied Mommy. They came out while I was smelling.”

“The person who bullied me…?”

“Over there!”

The child said just that before running towards the reception room.

‘Sharlin is in the reception room!’

I chased after the child and stood in front of the reception room.

“If my child is born and manifests as a wolf, would you consider adopting it?”

I was about to grab the child’s hand and leave when Sharlin’s plaintive tone from inside made me pause.