Ha. Marcellaine Duke, Giovanni couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. He exhaled heavily, wiping his face with his hand.

My precious daughter, Olivia, who had been avoiding me lately, was the reason.

As I faced the fact I had been trying to ignore, it felt like someone was squeezing my throat, making my breath rapid. It was not just sad; it was downright miserable.

How far was that child willing to make me unhappy?

“…Whatever that child said, it doesn’t matter. Esella.”

Giovanni spoke slowly, trying to regain his fading composure. It was a message to Esella and a reminder to himself at the same time.

Everything Olivia had said was not important.

“I will erase Marcellaine, all of it.”

The words declaring the erasure of Marcellaine,

“I didn’t make you unhappy, Duke.”

The provocative words she threw at me.

It was all nonsense. That child had made Giovanni unhappy not from the moment she arrived at the mansion, but from the night twenty years ago, when she, along with her mother, a frivolous woman with money, was present. That night, when Duke Elkin, the leader of the noble faction, had a confrontation, and from that moment, she made me unhappy.

So, her usefulness was limited to being sent to the royal palace instead of Esella.

“…It’s important.”

Giovanni, who lowered his hand from Esella’s moist voice, felt a sharp pain in his chest as if he were suffocating. Tears welled up in his eyes, which resembled mine.

“Unnie did nothing wrong.”

“Wrong…!”

Giovanni gritted his teeth. His vision turned black with anger. The clenched fist was on the verge of losing sensation, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth to his daughter.

“…That child is not your sister.”

The words he uttered to suppress his emotions were sharp. However, even with tear-stained eyes, Esella stubbornly raised her head.

“She is my sister.”

“Esella!”

Giovanni realized with a start as he exploded in anger. He had never raised his voice so loudly to his daughter…

Why do I become so unhappy every time she is involved? Would everything have been fine if I hadn’t brought that child here in the first place?

In a miserable state, Giovanni dropped his head. The rough sound of breath was accumulating in the reception room.

“…Mom.”

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

“Mom told me that I am your sister.”

“…….”

“Olivia unnie. Clearly, my sister.”

“…….”

“So, I’m your sister.”

Esella’s gaze was felt, but Giovanni couldn’t lift his head. After a while, his gaze was lifted, and the sound of high heels faded away.

After the door opened and closed, he finally lifted his head in the empty reception room. The amethyst eyes, stained with longing and pain, were filled with the name he couldn’t call.

“…Hazel.”

After the muttered words filled with bitterness, the name he couldn’t call came to mind. Just thinking about the name made it impossible to breathe, as if a knife were stuck in his heart.
“Did you attach such a pitiful governess without even taking a look? That child did nothing wrong!”

At the moment the cold voice resounded, Giovanni bit his lip. The remnants of the past stirred in his mind.

It was when Hazel’s closed door first opened after that child entered the mansion. Until the door opened, Giovanni had deluded himself into thinking that Hazel would understand him.

However, the reality hit him when those once warm brown eyes looked at him with coldness.

“The mistake is yours, Gio.”

“I… at least, I think I should take responsibility as much as you brought that child here.”

“…That child. As Conrad and Jade’s sister, as Esella’s sister, she should be treated similarly to my children.”

Just recalling the voices pouring out like daggers brought both tenderness and bitterness simultaneously. Giovanni stumbled for a moment, then slumped onto the sofa.

His forehead felt hot. The back of his neck was tense, and a piercing pain filled his head.

Giovanni closed his eyes. It was an action recommended by the doctor whenever he felt the symptom of a pulling sensation behind his neck.

However, even when the pitch-black darkness approached, there was no improvement. His breathing became rapid.

Knock [Dash]. With the knocking sound, Huxley Kyeong entered hurriedly.

“A little while ago, the lady went out…”

Huxley Kyeong, who brought a teapot and teacups, quickly approached the Duke, placing the tray on the table. Lately, her complexion hadn’t been good, but today it seemed particularly pale.

“I’ll call the physician.”

“…No need. Just pour a cup of tea.”

“But still…”

Huxley Kyeong, who was momentarily clouding the end of her words, resigned. The Duke never yielded. The words spoken with a demeanor like a monarch were unchangeable regardless of what I did.

Helplessly, Huxley Kyeong brought the tray again. Pouring tea from the teapot into the teacup, the sound of tea being poured was accompanied by a raised eyebrow of the Duke.

“…The tea I used to drink before.”