Herdin, who was welcoming guests at the banquet, spotted a familiar face among them.

“Baron Felton.”

He was a nobleman who had attended Blair’s first banquet as a duchess last spring, accompanying his heavily pregnant wife.

Now, beside him were his wife and a young daughter who resembled both of them.

He had a friendly impression before, but now, after a year, he greeted with an even brighter face.

“Thank you for the invitation, Your Grace.”

“No, thank you. I’m grateful that Lady Felton could also grace us with her presence.”

The child in her father’s arms, seemingly realizing she was being talked about, stared intently at Herdin.

‘Will she be shy like Asiel?’

Just as Herdin noticed the child’s gaze and thought this, the child who had been looking at him for a while burst into laughter and clapped her hands.

Surprised by the unexpected reaction, Herdin looked at the child curiously and said,

“It seems Lady Felton is quite sociable. I heard children at this age are usually very shy.”

However, Baron Felton, the child’s father, seemed bewildered, as if seeing this side of his daughter for the first time.

“No, she’s usually very shy and tends to hide… This is strange.”

As the two men were puzzled, the Baroness Felton, who had been watching her daughter, chimed in with a smile.

“Children, just like adults, are fond of pretty and handsome people.”

“Can children distinguish such things?”

“Oh, of course. They’re even more honest than adults. Loving beautiful things is human instinct.”

“Instinct…”

“And Your Grace is undeniably handsome, whether to adults or children. I doubt there’s a child who wouldn’t like you. Isn’t that right, Lira?”

“Mm-hmm.”

The child answered while sucking her finger, not understanding what her mother was saying. But her gaze remained fixed on Herdin.

Finally understanding his daughter’s heart, Baron Felton burst into laughter.

“Oh my. Lira, if your uncle saw this, he’d be in tears.”

After laughing for a while with his wife, Baron Felton joked with Herdin.

“My younger brother would be so envious of you, Your Grace. He adores Lira, but when he met her after a few months, she burst into tears as soon as she saw him.”

Herdin stared blankly at the child who was still looking at him, then turned his gaze towards where Blair was.

Blair was greeting guests a short distance away.

Asiel, cradled in her arms, would either wave his hand while held by his mother’s hand or look at the guests with a blank expression. While he didn’t welcome the guests, he didn’t cry or fuss either.

Watching this scene, Herdin self-deprecatingly thought.

‘Envious, huh…’

Even if every child in the world liked him, what’s there to envy when his own beloved son bursts into tears at the sight of him?

He could somewhat understand the feelings of Baron Felton’s brother, who was said to be upset about this.

“It seems we’ve kept you too long, Your Grace. We’ll see you later in the banquet hall.”

Seeing other guests arriving, Baron and Baroness Felton bid farewell to Herdin and went inside.

As Herdin absently watched their retreating figures, he saw the child in the Baron’s arms waving her small hand towards him.

He watched for a moment before slightly waving back. The child smiled brightly in response.

A bitter smile spread across Herdin’s face as he watched this scene.

* * *

After the banquet, Herdin, who had finished washing up before Blair, came to Asiel’s room.

Asiel, who had been diligent in his role as the young master in greeting guests, had fallen asleep even before the banquet ended.

Herdin quietly gazed at his son sleeping like an angel, then gently tapped the child’s small hand with his index finger. In response, Asiel tightly grasped his finger even in his sleep.

That small gesture melted his heart. But the smile was short-lived.

The child only allowed him close when asleep.

Looking at Asiel like this, he sometimes wondered if it was karma from his past life.

‘Of course, Asiel wouldn’t have memories of the past, so that can’t be the reason.’

Still, it was okay.

He wouldn’t give up on Asiel, and even if it was slow, he could learn more about the child and things would get better.

Of course, since Asiel cried whenever he saw him, he was a bit worried about how difficult this process might be for the child.

But more than Asiel, he was worried about Blair, who wanted the three of them – husband, wife, and son – to do many things together.

A month ago, as Blair’s birthday was approaching, he asked if there was anything she wanted or needed.

She said she didn’t need a gift, but after hesitating for a while, she carefully brought up a request under his prodding.

‘Then… I’d like to paint a family portrait.’

‘A family portrait?’

‘Yes. The three of us together.’

Come to think of it, they hadn’t painted a family portrait in their past life.

More precisely, they hadn’t painted one ‘together’.

He often left the mansion, distancing himself from Blair, and Blair painted family portraits with just her and Asiel. He, who was absent, was painted separately by the artist.

And Herdin would only discover the completed painting hanging in the mansion much later.

But it wasn’t just him who felt heartache every time he saw that painting.

Something he hadn’t thought about in his past life, being consumed by his own emotions, became apparent as he saw his wife’s face carefully making this request.

It was her wish, and he wanted to grant it without fail.

Even if he couldn’t erase the wounds of their past life completely, he could at least replace them with different memories.

That day, Herdin immediately made an appointment with the most promising painter from the private art gallery.

The date he set was just two weeks away.

‘But at this rate, I wonder if Asiel and I can paint together…’

As he was looking at the sleeping child with a sigh, he sensed a familiar presence quietly entering the room.

Blair, her hair still damp, was approaching.

“Is Asiel still asleep?”

“He must have been very tired. He hasn’t even stirred once to fuss.”

“That’s understandable. He greeted many guests very gracefully as a young master today. He didn’t cry once despite all the strangers.”

Blair, who had been chattering about how admirable the child was as usual, belatedly closed her mouth, but the words had already been spoken.

“Just like our son.”

Herdin spoke as if he found Asiel’s behavior admirable, but Blair caught a glimpse of the bitter smile that flashed across his face for a moment.

She too had noticed that Asiel cried whenever he saw Herdin.

Although he had never openly shown it in front of her, she could imagine how hurt he must feel being rejected by his beloved son.

Blair sat down next to him on the bed beside the cradle and spoke up.

“Herdin, maybe… it might be my fault.”

“…Your fault?”

“I wonder if Asiel sensed my hatred and resentment towards you while he was in my womb.”

Herdin frowned at her words.

Blair could be surprisingly strong when it came to matters related to Asiel, but she also tended to become weak-hearted and afraid over trivial things.

And now seemed to be the latter situation.

“I shouldn’t have let the child feel such negative emotions.”

Blair’s eyes filled with guilt as she looked at the sleeping Asiel.

She hoped the child wouldn’t hate his father.

That feeling would have remained unchanged even if she and Herdin had ultimately gone their separate ways.

She had hoped that regardless of her own feelings, the baby would only experience positive emotions, but now it seemed like it was all her fault that the relationship between son and father had turned out this way.

Watching her, Herdin took her hand to stop her words.

“Blair. If, as you say, Asiel was influenced by his mother’s emotions, then it’s entirely my fault. Not yours.”

“But…”

“If that’s true, then this is the karma from my past life that I must bear.”

“…”

“But if that’s the case, the solution might be surprisingly simple.”

At the mention of a simple solution, Blair looked at him with wide eyes.

Instead of answering immediately, Herdin pulled her into an embrace and lay down on the bed. This position left Blair’s delicate body completely draped over his larger frame.

It was his favorite position. One where he could fully feel her warmth, scent, and weight pouring onto him.

“Herdin?”

As Blair blinked at him quizzically, he smiled slightly and answered a beat later.

“You just need to love me more. Embrace me more often, kiss me more. Especially when Asiel is watching.”

So that was his solution.

Blair’s eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

“…So Asiel is being used?”

“I’m being serious.”

True to his words, his face held both an undisguised playfulness and a rather serious expression.

Looking at him, Blair caught on to his intentions.

‘He’s trying to comfort me.’

Of course, there was probably some self-interest mixed in as well.

But thinking over his words, she felt they weren’t entirely unreasonable.

Asiel trusted and loved his mother, so if the man his mother loved was shown more affection, he might feel more familiar with him too.

Suddenly, she felt like laughing.

It was endearing how this man had come up with such a scheme just to get a few more kisses.

Blair burst into soft laughter and rested her head on his chest.

Listening to the strong beat of his heart, she felt like everything would turn out alright.