Jade, who had been covering his mouth in embarrassment, bowed his head deeply.

‘It seems to be bothering him a lot.’

I rolled my eyes and observed Jade’s reaction.

Seeing his considerably shocked face, I didn’t say anything more.

“Since when?”

He asked about the timing.

When the child had stopped speaking.

“I’m not sure exactly. As I said earlier, it’s not certain yet, but she spoke to me…”

I repeated what I had heard from Countess Asitan.

‘She spoke to me from the moment I woke up, and Countess Asitan only said the symptoms were similar.’

Judging by the child’s reaction of not being wary of Ayla, it seemed to be an issue related to Jade.

‘I wonder if he would tell me if I asked him.’

“Jade. If it’s really selective mutism, the condition is serious, so I’d appreciate it if you’d be honest.”

“…”

“Did something happen between you and Blanche when I was unconscious?”

I took Jade’s hand and looked him in the eye. At first, he avoided my gaze, but then slightly nodded.

“Larien. Actually, when you fell down the stairs, I made a mistake with the child.”

Jade spoke with difficulty, his lips quivering.

“A mistake?”

“…I didn’t say everything out loud, but I said ‘because of you’ and pushed her hand away.”

Now I understood.

The defense mechanism caused by words heard from someone, as Countess Asitan had mentioned, was because of these words.

Even without memories of the child, I felt angry.

‘It wasn’t as if the child did it on purpose, did he really have to do that in that situation?’

When I didn’t respond, Jade turned his head towards me.

“I was scared you might die again.”

His red eyes were filled with fear.

“…What?”

“It felt like you might never open your eyes again, you weren’t moving no matter how much I called, and your complexion was so pale…”

The dark emotion in his eyes was not unfamiliar.

‘…Were you, alive, Larien?’

As I closed my eyes due to a headache, another voice flowed in.

‘I met Jade again at the Grand Temple after 5 years.’

Jade, who had been even sharper than when I first opened my eyes, had asked.

If I had been alive.

‘Larien. To be honest, I still can’t believe it. That you’re alive.’

Even after that, he was still afraid, saying he couldn’t believe it.

‘You died in front of me so many times, you know. You always reached out asking to be saved, and when I tried to grab your hand, you were taken away.’

As forgotten memories flowed in, my anger gradually subsided.

After I set fire to the annex and ran away, Jade had thought I was dead.

It was understandable for him to be sensitive about death-related matters.

‘I’m not blindly resentful of Jade for saying such things to the child. He’s properly aware that he made a mistake.’

I hugged Jade and rubbed his back.

I felt sorry for him as he remained still in my embrace, surprised and embarrassed.

‘Right now, the priority is to regain lost memories and for the child to become close to Jade again.’

I didn’t want to fight with Jade over this.

“Jade.”

“…Yes.”

In the meantime, Jade’s voice had become hoarse.

“Apologize properly to Blanche. Even if she doesn’t accept it, you need to do it over and over again. She’s afraid of you.”

“…Alright.”

“Then I won’t say anything more about it. After all, it’s something that happened between you and Blanche.”

Having just heard from the servants of the Rowe Mansion, it was awkward to keep visiting.

“Come to the Boston Count’s residence when you’re not busy for a while. I think that would be better than me coming here. Come often and spend time with Blanche.”

It would be better for him to come to the Boston Count’s residence.

‘Even though Blanche is afraid of Jade, it seems she doesn’t completely dislike him.’

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said she’d stay with Ayla to treat Jade, despite being anxious about separating from me.

“Larien. I wonder if you’re not angrier with me because you’ve lost your memories.”

“Huh?”

“The old you would have said you’d never see me again if you knew the child ended up like this because of me. You wouldn’t have let the child meet me either.”

I felt awkward at his unexpected response.

In Jade’s words, I could see my past personality.

I must have really cherished the child and prioritized her above all else.

‘Otherwise, Jade wouldn’t be like this. He even says it’s good that I’ve lost my memories.’

I had a feeling that I might have hurt Jade in the process as well.

‘Ah, if we stay hugged like this, the ointment I applied will rub off…!’

Feeling guilty and uncomfortable, I suddenly noticed his cheek and quickly pulled away.

“Larien?”

As expected.

The ointment applied to the wound had smeared all over.

I opened the ointment container again and reapplied it. Touching the wound repeatedly seemed like it would sting.

“Doesn’t it sting?”

“Not really.”

Jade answered in a nonchalant tone.

Both now and when he was young, he was particularly insensitive to pain.

Even when he cut his finger on paper, he would just stare at it.

But that didn’t mean I felt good seeing him injured. His indifference actually made me feel twice as upset.

‘To think he’d even throw a teacup at Jade after asking him to adopt the child of the person who killed his parents.’

At the same time, I felt irritated towards Sharlin.

“I heard earlier that you were asked to adopt a child that’s not yours. Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“…”

“Ah, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I’m not forcing you. I’m just curious why Sharlin Winst is acting like that.”

I approached as carefully as possible, bothered by what Jade had said.

“…No. It’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just bewildered thinking about it again.”

Jade said.

At first, he had allowed Sharlin, who had only asked to give birth to the child secretly, to stay in Rowe’s territory.

She had quietly broken off the engagement at the time, but as her due date approached, she became anxious about her future situation.

So she had come asking for the child to be adopted.

‘But why is she demanding this from Jade, who isn’t even the child’s father?’

She had said that Jade also had a responsibility to take care of it since it was Rowe’s bloodline.

‘Could it be that the one who caused Jade’s parents’ death…’

It must be someone closely related to Rowe.

“…Who is the real father of Sharlin’s child?”

Bitterness spread across Jade’s lips.

“Grand Duke Usith.”

He opened his mouth with a sneer.

“If it’s Grand Duke Usith…”

He was Jade’s great-uncle.

The only adult who had volunteered to become the guardian of Jade and Ayla after they lost their parents.

“Jade…”

Grand Duke Usith had a tendency to covet Rowe’s wealth. He deliberately made different reports to the council of elders or intercepted them midway to deceive Jade.

Yet Jade did not stop Grand Duke Usith’s embezzlement.

I had complained about it because it was frustrating, but every time, Jade gave the same answer.

Saying he thought of it as payment for Grand Duke Usith’s help during his childhood.

He had been so considerate of Grand Duke Usith, but how betrayed must he have felt when he found out he was the one who killed his parents.

“Don’t say anything, just hold me like before.”

“…Alright.”

I hugged Jade on the opposite side of where I had applied the ointment. Not seeming to mind the discomfort, Jade remained still for a long time.

‘What should I do? What should I do now?’

Sharlin, who had been practically driven out and led away by the butler, bit her nails.

From the beginning, when she first told Jade she was carrying Grand Duke Usith’s child, he said he wouldn’t help.

Only when she revealed that Grand Duke Usith was the culprit who killed the previous Duke and Duchess Rowe did he coldly agree to negotiate.

So she knew he wouldn’t easily accept the request to adopt the child.

‘But to humiliate me like this?’

To even look down on her and tell her to quietly stay buried in the territory.

It was the second time.

That he had insulted her in front of Count Boston and Diane.

‘As expected, with Diane’s daughter resembling the Belaste Duchess and all…’

It was all suspicious that he was at the Rowe Mansion today as well.

There was no doubt that Jade and Diane’s relationship was not ordinary.

‘He hated even touching me, so he probably doesn’t love Diane.’

She became convinced of her suspicions that he was being nice because Diane’s daughter resembled the Belaste Duchess.

It was frustrating.

Didn’t he realize that Diane had given birth to a child resembling the Belaste Duchess and was approaching him?

He had been completely fooled.

‘Anyone can see it’s just a ploy to target Rowe, so why…!’

Of course, even if the child’s real father, Grand Duke Usith, had killed his parents…

Her child was indeed of Rowe’s bloodline.

‘He should be good to my child, not Diane’s daughter.’

No one needed her.

Her father, Count Winst, hadn’t even filed a missing person report, let alone ask her to come back.

‘If I give birth to the child and leave, he’ll surely imprison me. He might even secretly send the child away somewhere.’

Even if she was hiding in Rowe’s territory now, she couldn’t stay there forever.

‘It’s unfair.’

…Why did only she have to endure this?

Her life was already ruined.

There was no sign of improvement from here. If that was the case, she wanted to bring down Jade and Diane together.

‘To torment those two…’

The target to make both Jade, who was close to her because she resembled the Belaste Duchess, and Diane, who cherished her own child, unhappy.

Blanche. There was no one else but that child.