I, who had come out again to see off the people of Teravita, held the hand of Rublion standing next to me in place of the disappeared Askal. I conveyed my gratitude to Riena with my eyes.

“Young master, take care.”

Rambermon embraced Rublion with tears in his eyes. The child made a disgusted expression for a moment, then soon gave up and his face smoothed out.

“I’ll come to see you again if I get the chance. Young master.”

At Riena’s words, Rublion escaped from Rambermon’s arms. Then he strode towards the girl who was about to lift the hem of her dress to greet him.

“Young lady.”

At the serious voice, everyone’s gaze fell on Rublion.

“The young lady did not keep her promise to me.”

I perked up my ears, wondering what this meant. It seemed I wasn’t the only one, as everyone around me was just blinking their eyes.

“It’s true I didn’t keep the promise, but because of that, the young master smiled. I like that much better.”

Riena’s brightly smiling face looked particularly cute and lovely.

‘Oh?’

I was smiling contentedly at the heartwarming scene when Rublion’s ears turned red.

‘Oh my, oh my?’

I lightly covered my mouth with my hand, wondering what was happening. The atmosphere between these kids was not ordinary.

Rublion stepped up close to Riena’s nose. The girl looked at the boy with puzzled eyes.

Smooch.

Rublion, who kissed Riena’s cheek, grinned and said.

“That’s the punishment for not keeping the promise.”

The girl froze with her mouth wide open. Next to her, the even more surprised Rambermon came to his senses with a start and shouted.

“Young master, get a hold of yourself! This is Riena!”

Rublion replied with his characteristic indifferent expression that resembled Askal’s.

“I know.”

“You just…ki…kissed, kissed the cheek of that ruffian Riena!”

“Hey! Who are you calling a ruffian!”

Riena, who had broken out of her frozen state, shouted at Rambermon. Then she stroked her cheek with her fingers a few times and said.

“I’ll come to play again, young master.”

“Yeah. You have to come.”

The kids, whose family register ink hadn’t even dried yet, were saying their goodbyes in an embarrassing way. The corners of my mouth twitched involuntarily.

The bittersweet farewells ended and the carriage of the Teravita ducal family completely disappeared into the distance. I whispered into the ear of Rublion, who had come to my side and gently held my hand.

“I thought you liked Rieta.”

Rublion, who understood the intention of my question, touched his nose and replied.

“I changed my mind. Someday, I will make the young lady of Teravita my wife.”

Butler Gaben and the maids exclaimed in admiration. I made a mental note to definitely tell Askal about this when he returned.

Although he seemed to be okay, I decided to make an effort to lift Rublion’s mood for the day.

When I asked if there was anything he wanted to do, the child hesitated for a long time before confessing that there was a place he wanted to go together.

“Where is that?”

“La Priti. The dressmaker’s shop.”

It wasn’t a luxury store or one located in the Louvre and shopping districts, but a dressmaker. Moreover, the name had a strong feeling of being a women’s clothing specialty store.

“You want to go there?”

“Yes.”

“Then shall we go together when your father returns?”

Askal hadn’t said when he would be back, but a woman’s intuition told me he would return soon.

“Can’t we just go, just the two of us, Mother?”

Rublion fiddled with his fingers.

“You promised to lift my mood…”

“Tell the coachman to prepare the carriage, Gaben.”

“Yes, madam.”

What’s so difficult about going out with just the two of us, excluding Askal?

I spoke to Gaben as I watched the servant running to the stable after receiving the order.

“If Askal happens to come while we are away from the mansion, tell him to come to the dressmaker’s shop.”

“Yes.”

“And I believe it’s unlikely, but if Askal returns after a big fight with Aron and is injured, have the royal physician attend to him first and then contact me.”

Of course, I believed he would have made a rational decision. But right before he rushed out, he seemed ready to kill Aron at any moment, so I was a little worried.

‘No matter how much of a lord he is, he’s not above imperial law.’

I could only hope they had a smooth conversation.

While I was feeling anxious and coming up with various hypotheses, I received news that the carriage was ready at the main gate. Rublion excitedly got on the carriage first.

‘That’s right. Right now, I’m making an effort to lift the child’s mood!’

From this moment on, no matter what happens, I will smile. For Rublion’s sake.

I clearly thought that.

“You’ll accept them, right?”

Rublion, sitting primly on the sofa in the center of the dressmaker’s shop, looked at me with slightly puffed cheeks and smiled cutely.

“Since you put it that way, I’ll consider it… but no matter how I think about it, this is too much.”

“But they’ve already been made, and the payment has been settled, you know?”

I shook my head in front of the hangers with an enormous amount of dresses hung on them.

According to Rublion, they were made long before I decided to marry Askal.

“If Mother accepts all these dresses, I think my mood will be much better.”

How can I say no when he says it like that? Moreover, for something the child had chosen, both the practicality and design were perfect.

“But where did you get the money to buy all these dresses?”

I asked, wondering if Askal was behind it. However, Rublion replied vigorously, snorting.

“I saved up two months’ worth of allowance.”

Can I even wear these dresses? The ones he bought for me by saving up his allowance little by little with those tiny hands?

“It must not have been easy to save up… Thank you so much. I’ll wear them preciously.”

The tip of my nose stung. Not because I got pretty new clothes, but because Rublion’s thoughtfulness for me was so lovely.

“Hehe, since Mother said she’ll accept them, shall we try them on now?”

“Huh?”

As soon as the child finished speaking, an employee of the dressmaker’s shop appeared from the fitting room, pushing four more hangers.

‘Wasn’t this all of it?’

Rublion smiled brightly with a truly happy face and said.

“All the dresses here were bought for Mother. So you have to try them all on. Together.”

My head felt dizzy. There were quite a few things I needed to teach the child in this situation.

I parted my lips to say this was too much, but in that moment, I was grabbed by both arms by the employee and dragged into the fitting room.

And thus began the long, long doll play.

Rublion looked contentedly at the dress boxes that filled the luggage compartment of the carriage and even took up the space next to the seats.

I stared blankly out the window, too exhausted to move a finger, feeling burnt out.

‘Askal hasn’t come back yet?’

There was no contact from the butler either. Even though it was almost time for dinner, the fact that he still hadn’t returned made me worry that perhaps the situation I was concerned about had occurred.

And that worry was half right.

As soon as we arrived at the mansion, the butler, who had rushed out, bowed deeply to me and Rublion. Seeing the maids also coming out in a group, it seemed Askal had just returned.

“The duke has also just returned.”

“Is that so? He’s not injured, is he?”

“Yes, that’s right, but… There was a bit of an incident.”

The butler hesitated on whether to speak or not. I tapped his shoulder, saying it was okay.

“Madam, may I tell you?”

At the voice of a young man, I turned my head and saw Knight Eric standing there. He was the one who had previously taught Rublion about adult dating.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. But he had already grabbed Rublion and started talking.

“As soon as His Grace saw the former young duke, he threw a punch at him.”

It felt like my heart had dropped to the floor and stomped on my foot.

“You know that, right? That His Grace always puts on gloves before using force.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“With that fist, he beat up the former young duke, and wow. It was so satisfying.”

It was my mistake to think he would make a rational decision. He had indeed lost his mind.

“When he got hit about three times, his front teeth were all broken and he was covered in blood. The former young duke was shouting that he would sue and not to even think about settling, but, heh. Do you know what His Grace said then?”

“What did he say?”

Rublion asked, his eyes sparkling.

“Rather than giving settlement money to a bastard like you, I’d rather pay the fine and be done with it… Ugh.”

Knight Eric spoke and then grabbed the back of his head. The knight commander had hit him on the back of the head with a grim expression, then discovered me with Rublion and turned pale, bowing deeply.

“I apologize, madam. This fellow just loves to gossip… I will discipline him thoroughly.”

“Is it true? That Askal used violence against Aron.”

The knight commander rolled his eyes and soon answered yes. I felt dizzy and staggered.

“Father… really pulled out his teeth.”

Rublion suddenly muttered to himself. Then he grinned.

“Violence is a bit much, but Father must have had his reasons for doing that.”

It wasn’t a well-thought-out action. When it comes to you, he’s someone who rushes in without regard for anything.

‘How does he intend to deal with the aftermath?’

A sigh escaped me involuntarily. It was a situation that needed to be handled on a different level than when I had beaten up Johnston, who had destroyed my mother’s furniture.

Although he had practically cut ties with the family, Aron was still a member of the Artenbach ducal family, Askal’s elder brother, and a nobleman.

“Gaben, when Askal finishes his bath, tell him I wish to see him for a moment.”

I needed to hear the proper situation first. Only then could I decide whether to scold him or not.