The little one’s assistance with cooking was quite helpful. Being quick-witted, they noticed what was needed next and handed it over promptly. Under Anna’s supervision, they even managed to put the lasagna in and take it out of the oven without any issues.

After eating all the food we made without leaving anything, I plopped down on the sofa.

“I ate too much.”

The little one also gently came over and sat down next to me, saying.

“Shall I bring you a cushion? Or I can lay down a cloth. Do you want to be comfortable?”

I gestured to Anna, who was trying to start a fire near the fireplace. The little one shook their head.

“It’s fine.”

The child answered while patting the sofa as if to show off.

“It’s amazing. This sofa clearly has been used a lot, but it’s not uncomfortable at all.”

The wistful expression on the ten-year-old’s face gave off a feeling that was hard to put into words.

“Little one, can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

I glanced at Anna before speaking.

“Why do you call Anna, who’s only a year older than me, ‘unni’ without fail, but call me ‘auntie’?”

“Hmm…”

A peach pit-like wrinkle formed on the little one’s soft chin. It appeared as they tensed their lower jaw.

“It’s about potential, I guess?”

“Potential? What kind of potential?”

The little one grinned broadly.

“There’s something like that. It’s my own rule.”

“I’d like to know too. That rule.”

I rubbed the peach pit on the little one’s chin with my hand. The child thrust out their chin fully and giggled.

That’s when it happened.

Thud.

A heavy sound of something falling came from outside the mansion. Startled, Anna jumped up, and I hugged the little one.

“What was that sound?”

“Shall I go out and check?”

Anna approached the front door holding a poker.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

“It’s okay. I’ll swing this if necessary.”

I prepared to cover the little one’s eyes just in case.

Thud.

The sound came again. My startled shoulders shrank up then relaxed again.

“Auntie?”

The little one squirmed in my arms. I gently stroked the child’s head and answered.

“Don’t worry. It’s probably the sound of roof materials falling.”

“…Really?”

“Of course! It happens sometimes.”

I said with a smile, but I became scared. The sound was too loud to be just roof materials falling.

Yeah, like the sound of a person falling?

‘With Father not here… Should I bring a gun?’

All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind as Anna suddenly flung open the door. Then she swung the poker wildly at the empty air.

“Huh?”

Anna, who had been surveying outside, let out a short exclamation and went completely outside. I stood up like a meerkat while still holding the little one.

“Miss, there’s part of the roof fallen here!”

Hearing Anna’s voice from a distance, I silently let out a sigh. Then I carefully put the little one down on the sofa and said.

“See? It’s nothing, right?”

“I guess so.”

I tried to act nonchalant, but my heart felt like it was about to burst. However, I acted as calmly as possible, knowing that if I showed anxiety, the child would become anxious too.

Anna came back inside and held out her apron containing shattered pieces of the roof. Seeing that, I thought we should get it repaired quickly.

* * *

Rublion told Schmidt he wanted to stay over, but was refused, saying that wasn’t possible.

In the end, Rublion got into the carriage with disappointment, telling Schmidt to contact him anytime if there was anything to discuss about the request details, and reluctantly turned away.

The carriage soon departed for the duke’s residence. After traveling for a short while, the carriage stopped in the middle of the road.

“Young master.”

Rublion opened the window wide. There stood Ino, the guard Rublion had assigned to Johnston.

“We confirmed that the target sent mercenaries to Baron Deli’s mansion. We were about to take action after reporting, but the guards escorting you, young master, eliminated them first.”

“As expected.”

“And we deliberately tore off and dropped part of the roof so that the young lady wouldn’t be anxious.”

“Well done.”

Rublion clenched his small fist tightly. Imagining what could have happened if he hadn’t been monitoring Johnston, if he hadn’t happened to visit the baron’s mansion, his mind went blank.

“Keep watching, Ino. They’ll send mercenaries again since they failed.”

“Understood.”

Ino finished his report and closed the window. Soon, with the coachman’s “giddy-up,” the carriage started moving again. At the same time, Rublion’s small brain began working busily.

As soon as he arrived at the mansion, the boy ran straight to Askal’s study.

“Duke!”

He flung open the door, but no one was there.

“The duke’s not back yet?”

“No.”

Hearing the maid’s answer, Rublion stomped his foot once. How could he not be home yet in such an important situation?

“Tell me as soon as the duke returns.”

“Alright.”

Another maid approached, saying the bath was ready. Rublion slowly headed to the bathroom while rekindling his determination to make Schmidt his mother no matter what.

* * *

“You’ve already repaid the principal you borrowed using the pink diamond as collateral.”

“…Something must be wrong. Please check again.”

The week-long request for the little one to stay was over, and Black Swan was operating normally. I came to the bank to withdraw funds for consultations, as money was needed to fulfill most of the requests from visiting clients, when I heard this unexpected statement.

“There’s no mistake. Baron Deli paid off the entire loan in Black Swan’s name four days ago.”

I felt my heart sink. There’s no way Father would have such a large sum of money.

“You’re sure he didn’t take out another loan with different collateral to pay this off… right?”

“There’s no collateral held against Black Swan.”

I was still suspicious. Where could he have gotten ten million tiga all at once?

‘I can’t believe it.’

A fear washed over me that he might have done something I couldn’t handle.

For now, I withdrew the planned funds for consultations as scheduled and returned to Black Swan, where I told Anna exactly what I had heard at the bank. Anna also couldn’t believe it and wore the same fearful expression as me.

“Can you watch the office? I think I need to go see Father.”

“Yes, go ahead. I’ll take care of things here.”

Anna responded reassuringly. I immediately took a rickshaw and headed to the military base.

‘Surely not a loan shark…’

Father’s face, saying he’d take care of everything himself, flashed in my mind.

Blaming myself for not paying more attention, I kept wringing my anxious hands. After a while of this, I finally arrived at my destination.

“Excuse me, is anyone there?”

I called out, standing on tiptoe towards the tall military guardpost. Hearing my voice, one of the sentries spotted me and came down from the watchtower.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m here to see Baron Deli.”

“By Baron Deli, do you mean the company commander?”

Remembering Father’s words that he’d become a company commander if he enlisted, I answered.

“Yes, that’s right.”

The sentry told me to wait a moment, then went up to the watchtower and whispered something with another soldier. Then he came back down and said.

“I’ll guide you to the visiting area. Please follow me.”

Unconsciously becoming polite, I followed with my hands neatly folded, watching the soldier’s precise gait.

After a short walk, he pointed to a log cabin.

“Please wait there, and I’ll inform the company commander.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Left alone in the visiting area, I pondered how to ask. I hoped and prayed it would be something I could handle.

‘Father, you’re down to your last strike.’

I endured when he lost all our emergency funds gambling.

I endured when he almost lost his title to a scam.

But what should I do if he’s about to lose everything again?

“Young lady.”

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice someone approaching from behind.

I discovered Duke Artenbach looking down at me and stood up, grasping my skirt.

“I greet you, Duke.”

In an instant, all distracting thoughts vanished. I was only filled with questions about why the duke was here.

“Are you here to see the baron?”

“Yes.”

The duke thought for a moment, then said.

“As it happens, I also have business with the baron, so let’s go together.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The duke left the visiting area first. I hurriedly followed him outside.

It was quite a distance to the barracks. Thanks to that, I walked side by side with the duke. The atmosphere of the deserted military base with no one around was quite intimidating.

As was the person beside me.

“You must have had a hard time.”

After a moment’s hesitation, I answered the encouragement that lacked a subject.

“No, not really.”

The duke’s eyebrow twitched. I decided to speak honestly.

“The little one, I mean the young master, is quite smart and quick-witted, so I enjoyed being with him.”

It was a memory of the little one that I hadn’t spoken of in a while.

“I’m just having a bit of trouble because I haven’t found a… lady who meets the request conditions yet.”

The duke’s pace slowed. Striving to keep up with him while speaking with all my might, I was finally able to catch my breath.

“The request conditions seem quite demanding.”

“Yes, because I have to reflect your tastes as well, Duke.”

“My tastes?”

The duke asked as if hearing this for the first time. Hoping things might become a bit easier, I said quietly.

“Because I was told you prefer someone bigger than me.”

Even though there was no one around, I felt awkward saying it out loud.

“That’s correct. They need to be bigger than the current young lady.”

Wow, hearing it in person really feels unpleasant.

“I’m about average…”

“If one’s spending is small, then…”

We finished speaking at the same time. A cold wind suddenly blew.

“Average? What average are you talking about?”

The duke stopped abruptly and asked.

Cold sweat streamed down.

Realizing that the “bigger” I had been thinking of wasn’t what he meant felt exactly like this.

‘I wonder if there are any mouse holes on this military base?’