At that moment, Onyx stepped forward.

“Come on, let’s hurry! Grandmother and grandfather will be waiting!”

“Ah, right! Yes!”

Urged by Onyx, Veronia and Jediel, who had been standing hesitantly, turned and continued on their way. But Jediel turned back, peeking at Killian and waving his hand.

“Goodbye, sir!”

“… Ah, goodbye.”

Killian also waved back reflexively. His heart seemed to stop at the sight of the child’s bright smile.

This was because the beloved face of his elder brother Aaron overlapped with the smiling child’s face.

‘A child resembling elder brother Aaron… Could such a thing be possible? Perhaps a distant relative of our family?’

Blonde hair and blue eyes were a common combination in the Drea ducal family, so it wasn’t entirely impossible if the child was from a collateral branch.

However, that gaze, smiling expression, and even the shape of the lips and nose. Apart from the hair and eye color, the child’s face was strikingly similar to elder brother Aaron’s.

As he stood still, still bewildered, a subordinate who had been searching for him found him and approached immediately.

“Your Grace, here you are! We thought you might have lost your way and have been searching for a while. Let’s go quickly! Everyone is waiting.”

“Y-Yes…”

Even as he was led away by his subordinate, Killian kept looking back. Though the child and his companions had already disappeared, his gaze kept returning there.

The inside of the tavern was boisterous.

Half of the group was swaying drunkenly, and the other half also showed quite flushed faces from drinking.

“You’re very late, Your Grace.”

“Didn’t you miss seeing us after so long, Your Grace?”

The subordinates rushed to embrace their long-missed superior, but Killian shook off the clinging bodies and took his seat.

“Have a drink, Your Grace!”

Killian accepted the beer handed to him by a subordinate and gulped it down. The simple drink he hadn’t had in a long time went down his throat pleasantly.

But regardless of the taste of the alcohol, he couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling in his chest.

Killian asked.

“I saw a child in the market earlier. He looked just like our elder brother when he was young. Is that possible?”

“Come on, don’t all children look pretty much the same?”

Someone waved their hand dismissively in response to Killian’s question. Then someone else laughed loudly and shouted.

“That’s not true! There’s no way your face as a child would look the same as the Duke’s face when he was young!”

Hahaha, laughter erupted from all around. But only Killian couldn’t laugh.

‘They looked too similar…’

‘I thought nobles and commoners lived in completely different circles, so we’d never cross paths… To think we’d run into each other like this! Was commuting to the capital too risky after all?’

Veronia’s mind was in turmoil. Her heart was still pounding.

‘Moreover, the way Killian looked at Jediel was unsettling.’

Why? Was he drawn by blood ties? Surely not! Veronia shook her head at the terrible possibility.

Though it was just a glimpse, the side profile of Killian gazing intently at Jediel remained as an afterimage, refusing to fade.

Though five years had passed, Killian still maintained his handsome appearance.

His flowing black hair, his straight, prominent nose bridge, his eyes both cool and gentle, his vividly red lips were all the same.

As she slowly recalled his face, her heart fluttered.

“Mom? What’s next? You should keep reading.”

“Ah, sorry.”

Veronia snapped back to reality at Jediel’s urging.

To think she’d been so lost in thought that she forgot she was in the middle of reading a book! Her face flushed with embarrassment at herself.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

“Liar!”

The gazes of mother and son met in mid-air. The mother’s gaze was quick to flee while the son’s gaze was quick to chase.

“… You caught me. I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I’ll focus now. So don’t be angry. Okay?”

“Jediel is not angry.”

“Alright. Then I’ll continue reading the fairy tale.”

“Were you thinking about Uncle Onyx?”

The question was so sudden that Veronia was momentarily stunned.

“Why Uncle Onyx all of a sudden?”

“Just… Because you two are friends.”

“No. I wasn’t thinking about Uncle Onyx.”

As Veronia was turning the page to continue reading, Jediel’s question burst out again.

This time it was an even more unexpected question.

“Then… were you thinking about Dad?”

“Dad…?”

Why is he suddenly talking about Dad when he never does? Veronia’s face turned red, surprised as if her inner thoughts had been exposed.

“You really were thinking about Dad, right? Right?”

“Jediel… I said I wasn’t.”

“Aw… I guessed right, didn’t I? I can tell from Mom’s face.”

Jediel pointed at Veronia’s face and giggled. It seemed her expression had given her away.

What a truly perceptive child! Veronia glared at Jediel while clenching her molars.

“Fine, so what! You little rascal, is it fun teasing Mom?”

Veronia lunged at the bed, hugged the child, and launched a tickle attack. Jediel writhed, giggling.

“Ah, Mom! Stop, stop! I, I was wrong! Jediel was wrong! Please stop!”

“You were wrong, right?”

“Yes. Jediel was wrong.”

Jediel clasped his small hands together, begging while watching Veronia’s expression. He was a child who knew his mother would surrender immediately if he made a pitiful face.

“Come here and give Mom a hug.”

“Yes.”

Jediel fell into Veronia’s embrace. It was the best mother’s embrace in the world.

“Jediel wants to hear too.”

“Hear what?”

“About Dad.”

“…”

Veronia was at a loss for words.

Jediel had never asked about his father before. She had only told him once that his father was a brave man who passed away early.

‘But why is he acting strange today?’

She wondered what change of heart could have caused this.

Veronia calmed her flustered mind and finally opened her mouth.

“Jediel’s father was a really kind and gentle person. He worried a lot about Mom.”

The child’s blue eyes sparkled brightly at hearing about his father in detail for the first time.

“More.”

“More? Um… More… Dad was an amazing person. He was extremely good at fighting, and he was an excellent horseman. He was tall and strong.”

“More.”

“More?”

Jediel stared intently at Veronia with an expression like a child starved for a week salivating over a sandwich.

She felt pressured to meet the child’s expectations and grew tense.

But just as she was racking her brains, having run out of things to say, Jediel asked again with a bright smile.

“Was he handsome?”

“Huh? Oh… Of course. He was handsome. Extremely handsome! That’s why our Jediel is handsome, because he takes after his father!”

This forehead, these cheeks, this nose! Smooch, smooch, smooch, Veronia cupped the child’s cheeks and kissed all over his face. The child giggled, tickled.

After laughing for a while, the child suddenly asked.

“Like that gentleman from today?”

“That gentleman? Which gentleman? Do you mean Uncle Onyx?”

“No. The gentleman who picked up the candy for me at the market!”

“Huh?”

Veronia doubted her ears for a moment.

She never imagined those words would come out of Jediel’s mouth at this moment. Unaware of her thoughts, the child continued chattering.

“That gentleman was extremely handsome, wasn’t he? The most handsome person I’ve ever seen! Is our Dad as handsome as that gentleman? Right?”

“Ah…”

Veronia was at a loss for words.

Could they really be drawn to each other because of shared blood? Impossible…! She shook her head. She didn’t want to acknowledge it.

‘No, that can’t be. He’s just such a handsome face that the child was fascinated. It’s probably just simple curiosity. That must be it…’

Veronia let out a shallow sigh and gave Jediel the answer he was waiting for.

“That’s right. Jediel’s father is extremely handsome too. He’s very handsome, just like the gentleman we met at the market.”

“Mom had high standards!”

“What? Where did you learn to say things like that?”

“All the kids at kindergarten say it?”

“Oh my… You adorable little rascal!”

Veronia hugged Jediel tightly. She felt both proud and a little sad to see the child growing day by day.

‘Still, don’t grow up too fast, my baby…’

Upon returning to the ducal residence, Killian headed straight for the fifth floor. Though he had drunk a few beers, he wasn’t very intoxicated.

He couldn’t get drunk.

It was because the face of the child he met in the market kept appearing in his mind. He had to confirm if his memory of the child looking exactly like his brother was correct.

‘What do you plan to do after confirming? So what if they look alike? What would change?’

He must really be going crazy. Killian shook his head, finding himself ridiculous.

But he couldn’t stop his feet from heading to the fifth floor. Some inexplicable attraction kept guiding his heart and his steps.

The large room at the far east end stored old portraits. Killian entered the room and stood in front of the fireplace.

He held up a lamp to look at the large portrait hanging above the fireplace. It was a portrait of his parents with his elder brother, who was about 5 years old, before Killian was born.

“Indeed… they look alike!”

His young brother sat right next to their mother, smiling brightly.

The bright golden hair, the round blue eyes, the shape of the eyes and nose all looked so much like the child he saw earlier that day.

“Elder brother… Who could that child be? Could he be a distant relative of our family?”

Killian murmured to the young brother in the portrait, just as he used to murmur to his brother while looking at the stars in the night sky.

“… Or could it just be a child who happens to look remarkably similar? And why… do I keep thinking about that child?”