Moreover, Count McCain clearly seemed to want to say something worrying or questionable about His Highness and me spending time together, but he hastily wrapped up his words.

It seemed he was afraid of being resented if he forcibly tried to separate me and Ian.

“I told you before. We ended up meeting often as I tried to express my gratitude for the Daniel incident. Didn’t I explain it like that?”

“That excuse only works for a day or two. Honestly, would Ian believe that explanation?”

“Of course not. I’m not an idiot……”

“And yet……”

“But does that matter? I don’t see why I should care about the McCain family when I’m meeting Jane.”

“Of course you should care. No, even if Your Highness doesn’t care, I have no choice but to care. I’m living as a parasite in Claire’s body.”

Apparently disliking the term ‘parasite’, he said, “Don’t say things like that!”

“It’s not like Jane actually killed Claire and stole her body. It was just a miraculous event. If anything, everyone should be grateful.”

“Because of that, no one knows about Claire’s death.”

“Who cares about a soul that’s already dead and gone. And you don’t plan to live with that sense of debt for the rest of your life, do you? I don’t want Jane to worry about that anymore. Think about it. When we opened the medical office in the palace, you didn’t feel indebted to the previous occupants of that building.”

“How can you compare that to this? I’m not a tenant, I’m a thief. It’s not like I’m paying a fair price to use Claire’s body.”

“Even so, Count McCain wouldn’t like it if you felt guilty and had a gloomy face all the time. It would only make him worry more. I think the most important thing is to just live naturally as Jane, without worrying about who the owner of that body is.”

“That may be true, but……”

“If you’re that concerned… I’ll take you home earlier from now on.”

“No, that’s not it. I wasn’t trying to blame Your Highness. And lately, it was my fault for coming home late using work at the medical office as an excuse. I was so excited about being able to continue my life as a pharmacist, which I thought I wouldn’t be able to do, that I neglected my family.”

“……”

He looked at me with a strange expression after hearing my words.

“I didn’t expect the word ‘family’ to come out so naturally.”

“Family?”

“You just said it. That you were so excited you neglected your family.”

“Ah… I only realized I said that now. It really came out naturally.”

In fact, I didn’t expect to use the word ‘family’ so casually either.

That’s probably because of the sense of security that Count McCain and Ileana give me. It was truly something to be grateful for.

“I guess I’m getting used to this relationship little by little. They’ve been so devoted… Actually, I felt really sorry for worrying them yesterday, but on the other hand, it also felt good. To have family members who couldn’t sleep and worried about me until I came back. Ileana did nag a little, but that was all out of concern for me.”

“What about me?”

“Pardon?”

“Won’t you include me in your family too?”

At his words, I laughed as if it were a joke and said,

“You’re greedy. You’re already my only friend, and now you want to be family too?”

“I want that more than anything. If possible, I’d prefer to be your only family……”

“You can’t be my only family, but I’ll give you a place as just family. I told you before, didn’t I? Maybe because we’ve known each other for so long, or because we shared your childhood, Your Highness feels like my younger brother.”

Hearing my words, he shook his head in disgust.

“Does family always have to play the role of a younger brother?”

“Then what role do you want to play?”

“That’s obviously… No, I won’t tell you.”

“Ah, why not? Do you want to be a younger sister instead?”

“I said I don’t want to be a younger brother, so why would I want to be a younger sister?”

“You don’t want to be my mom or dad, do you?”

“……”

He pouted, seemingly displeased with my reaction. His expression was quite cute, making me burst into laughter.

“You enjoy teasing me that much?”

“Who’s teasing you? Your sulky face like a child is both funny and cute, that’s why I laughed.”

“It’s a strange feeling.”

“What is?”

“I don’t like being called cute by Jane, but seeing Jane laugh while calling me cute doesn’t seem that bad……”

Does he want me to find him cute without saying it? He really speaks in such a cute way. I was about to pat his head but stopped my hand that was trying to reach up.

No matter how close I am with Ian, patting his hair in the imperial palace where there are many eyes watching would provide fodder for the many gossipmongers.

And although I’m not sure, it might fall under some kind of crime against the royal family. What was it called again? Ileana tried hard to teach me. Imperial deception or something similar.

Honestly, after cramming all the noble etiquette at once, I couldn’t remember it clearly.

“I’m envious.”

“What are you suddenly envious of?”

“Having family to welcome you when you return home. It’s very lonely when you return to quarters where no one welcomes you.”

A bitter expression spread across his face. He had parents and siblings, but they weren’t family to Ian.

Despite being blood relatives, they had no interest in each other. If anything, Ian was hiding his illness from his family. In some ways, they were worse than strangers.

So Ian might feel a great loneliness in family relationships. Perhaps he thought there was no one in the world who cared about him. Living with such feelings must be very lonely.

I felt sorry for boasting about having a new family in front of him. Rather, because Ian has blood relatives, their coldness might increase his loneliness even more.

I stroked his hair with a comforting heart. Who cares about imperial deception or whatever. It’s not like Ian would punish me for just patting his hair.

Ian’s silky hair felt smooth against my palm.

Ian’s face, which had looked uncomfortable, softened gently, as if my touch was comforting. The thin lips curved into a pleasing arc, making him look like a content cat.

Ian truly had features that were as neat and splendid as if carved from jewels. They could seem cold at times, but it was in moments like this, when his mood brightened and his aura softened, that his appearance truly shone.

He stared at my face without blinking, smiling with deep satisfaction.