The Duke’s expressionless face crumbled in an instant. He seemed quite taken aback.

“My lady, I think I must have misheard… What did you say?”

“I asked if you have any intention of marrying me.”

He just blinked silently. Was it such a shocking proposal? I calmly waited for his answer.

“…I’d like to ask the reason.”

The Duke stared for a long while before finally speaking. I explained the reason I had prepared.

“I want to become Rublion’s real mother.”

“You’re proposing to me with the reason of becoming a real mother?”

“Yes.”

I answered firmly to his question. The Duke, who had become quite serious, stroked his chin and said.

“My lady, if I accept your marriage proposal, many things will change from that moment. Are you prepared to handle all of that when making this proposal?”

I nodded vigorously.

“If I become the Duchess, Rublion will be able to call me mother from now on. We can also save the honor of the Baron Deli’s family, and Johnston will no longer try to take away the title with money.”

I decided to say everything I had prepared.

“Even if you take a mistress, I won’t interfere. You only need to treat me as your wife in official settings.”

The Duke’s eyes slowly widened.

“So please marry me, Your Grace.”

“…”

The Duke just stared at me with his mouth closed. As our eyes kept meeting in the silence, I felt a bit embarrassed and fiddled with my fingers for no reason.

“My lady.”

He spoke to me, as if freed from a frozen state.

“Let me tell you in advance, I don’t do trashy things like keeping a mistress while married.”

His long, slender fingers smoothed his sleeve. It looked exactly like he was tidying up his attire.

“Someone like Duke Lumps might threaten you. Are you really prepared for that as well?”

“You said you’d protect me. I trust you on that part.”

“You trust me…”

He slowly raised one corner of his mouth. It was chilling enough to make my heart drop, but at the same time, it was an incredibly captivating atmosphere.

“Alright. I accept your proposal.”

“Thank you for letting me become Rublion’s mother.”

While thinking it was fortunate, I couldn’t help but imagine how happy Rublion would be when he found out about this. I could picture the child dancing with joy.

The Duke reached out his hand to me. I thought he was offering a handshake to commemorate our successful agreement, but he bowed his head and kissed the back of my hand while looking up at me.

It was unexpected, so I was surprised. A warm sensation spread where his lips touched, sending a shiver through me.

“I’m the one who’s honored that you made this decision first.”

He looked at the hand he was holding for a moment, then kissed it again.

His golden eyes gazed at me, filled with countless thoughts. It felt like the eyes of a beast looking at a small animal that would become its prey in the dead of night, making my skin crawl, but now it was time to get used to this frightening person.

“Well, the problem is whether Baron Deli will permit your marriage to me.”

Right. Duke Artenbach was, publicly, someone with very unfavorable conditions in the marriage market – having a child and raising them alone before even becoming an adult.

It’s fortunate that his wealth and power overcame those conditions.

“I’m planning to enter the army tomorrow, would you like to come along?”

“Yes, I’ll go with you.”

It would be better if the Duke went together rather than me going alone to persuade them.

On the afternoon when Askal went to the government office and Schmidt went to work at Black Swan.

Rublion secretly called a famous atelier’s designer to the mansion along with the butler.

“The goods?”

The designer spoke in tune with Rublion’s solemn manner, as if he were on a secret mission.

“I’ve selected only the latest items.”

He took out several notebooks from an angular bag. Then he spread them out in front of Rublion.

“There’s everything from elegant dresses to sexy outfits. And on the back…”

The designer grinned as he flipped the notebooks. Inside the notebooks as white as his teeth were designs for couple outfits and clothing that could be mistaken for either men’s or women’s wear.

“These are couple outfits preferred by noble ladies.”

Seeing him chuckle, Rublion smiled with satisfaction.

“I like it very much. Shall we look at the dress samples first?”

The designer clapped his hands twice with a confident attitude. The atelier staff waiting outside entered, pushing a rack with sample dresses. The new dresses that had never been shown to anyone were truly dazzling.

Rublion flicked his fingers, sending each dress to the side. While doing so, he muttered with a serious face.

“…This is a problem. I can’t choose.”

“Young master, do you need help?”

The butler tactfully stepped forward. Rublion pointed to each dress and said.

“I like that one because its light color will highlight auntie’s appearance, and I like that one because its body-revealing design will please the Duke.”

Rublion was genuinely serious. All the dresses here seemed like designs made for Schmidt.

“What should I do… I want to buy them all, but wouldn’t that burden auntie?”

The butler nodded. The sigh of the ten-year-old child who heard the answer echoed trivially.

“Auntie is so pretty that there’s no outfit that doesn’t suit her.”

The butler, looking at Rublion who was deep in thought with his eyes closed, recalled the time when he worried that the Baron’s daughter might not be pretty but would be fine because she was a woman.

‘Has his thinking changed in the meantime?’

The butler secretly chuckled at Rublion, who was still muttering, unable to decide.

“Alright, I’ve decided.”

After a long deliberation, Rublion clenched his fist and said.

“Let’s make them all first. We can give them one by one instead of all at once, right?”

When I went to Black Swan, Ranson handed me a wooden owl sculpture he said he had made to pass the time.

“It will look good if you put it in a flowerpot.”

The end of the thumb-sized sculpture was long enough to be easily stuck in soil. I quietly exclaimed as I looked at the sculpture that had even expressed the rough edges of the wings in detail.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Ranson’s sculpture up close.”

“Is that so? I thought you had already seen it when you came to watch me work last time.”

“Work?”

“Yes, when I was making the statue to be placed in the garden of the Artenbach mansion.”

“Ah!”

That’s right. I had watched him work together with Rublion. I thought he wouldn’t know I was watching because the distance was far.

“I thought you might come to at least say hello, but you didn’t.”

He smiled with a kind-looking expression.

“Ah… I was afraid I might disturb you.”

“You can watch anytime. Rather, I hope you would watch.”

He muttered as if letting it slip. I opened my eyes wide at the words that he would rather have me watch.

“Really? Can I watch now?”

“Would you like to come into the workshop?”

My heart pounded at the thought of being able to watch him work right beside him. As if enchanted, I followed Ranson into the workshop that used to be a warehouse.

After pulling back the thick curtains and entering, wood shavings were scattered on the floor. On the work desk he had carefully selected were the lamp and knife holder we had bought together, and a small hand broom used for cleaning the desk.

“Please sit here.”

Ranson placed a folding chair next to the desk. I sat down with a reverent yet excited heart.

Ranson sat in the chair and picked up the wooden sculpture he had been working on. It was a four-legged animal sculpture similar in size to the flowerpot owl, but it was still impossible to tell what it was.

Scratch, scratch.

Only the sound of carving wood with a chisel echoed in the quiet workshop. The large hands gently yet delicately pushed the knife, slowly shaping the form of the sculpture.

From the slightly open window, the laughter of children in the shopping district could be heard. The irregularly mixed sound of wood carving among those voices gave an indescribable peacefulness.

I glanced at Ranson, who was concentrating.

Hands that possess the beauty of creation.

The artistic life to be born from his hands.

All of it was beautiful and lovely.

“Is there something on my face?”

“What?”

“You were staring…”

“Ah, did I disturb you? I’m sorry.”

Ranson hesitated for a moment, then held out the chisel he was holding to me.

“Would you like to try?”

“Try what?”

“Carving.”

Having received it without thinking, I blankly stared at the wooden block placed in front of me.

“I’ve never done carving before.”

“Is that so?”

Ranson said as he took out a new chisel from the knife holder.

“Don’t grip the handle too tightly. It’s better to gently push the back of the blade with your thumb, but since you’re not used to it, be careful not to let your fingers touch the blade.”

I held the chisel as he showed me. But Ranson tilted his head, seeming unsatisfied.

“If you hold it like that, you’ll get hurt.”

He took each of my fingers and moved them, adjusting their position. I kept tensing up because it felt awkward.

“It’s alright. Everyone’s like that at first.”

Ranson grinned. I ended up grinning along with him.

‘What should I make?’

The first thing that came to mind was Rublion. It might be nice to carve something the child could play with.

‘But there’s a 100% chance it won’t turn out the way I imagine.’

After thinking for a while holding the chisel, I decided to try making something that even a beginner could do.

‘Let’s make a die.’

I remember seeing a board game table somewhere in the mansion. I’ll try making a die to put there myself.

Taking a deep breath, I cut the wooden block into a square shape. Then I gently scraped the edges with the chisel so they wouldn’t be sharp.

‘This is fun!’

Carving the pips of the die, blowing away the sawdust that came off with the knife with my mouth.

Just as the once-awkward chisel was starting to feel comfortable in my hand, I gained confidence and became familiar with the knife, so I let my guard down. As I was trying to carve the edge of the die, I put my thumb on the back of the blade but couldn’t control my strength and ended up cutting myself.

Goosebumps rose all over my body as I hurriedly put down the knife, but it was already too late. Blood started gushing out of my thumb that had been cut by the knife.