Perhaps if it’s time for a picnic, it would be summer.

But in early summer, Asiel would be born, and shortly after, she was planning to leave this place.

He had set the contract marriage period for one year, so he probably thought she would still be here in the summer.

‘There’s no need to mention that fact right now.’

Blair hid that thought and nodded with a pleasant smile.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

As she was about to eat the roasted marshmallow, she recalled something and held it out to him.

Herdin looked at her with curious eyes.

“I saw you eat my marshmallow this morning. If you want to eat, you can.”

One of Herdin’s eyebrows raised.

“…’Your’ marshmallow?”

“Wasn’t it mine since you gave it to me?”

“No. Everything in this house is mine. The food, the items.”

As he said this, his eyes held a strange playfulness and at the same time, a strangely sharp light as he looked at Blair.

“Of course, the people too.”

Like that of a beast guarding its territory.

Blair was puzzled by his sudden claim of ownership, but since everything in the Delmark ducal house was indeed his property as he said, she didn’t particularly deny it.

“Anyway, I didn’t eat it.”

At his nonchalant answer, Blair blinked. If he hadn’t eaten it, there were only Lina and Melly.

After thinking for a moment, Blair protested with a rather serious face.

“Lina and Melly aren’t the type to touch my things carelessly.”

“Hmm, then I guess there must be a ghost in this room.”

Hearing Herdin’s glib response, Blair finally realized he was joking and furrowed her delicate brow.

“Don’t lie.”

Instead of answering, Herdin chuckled and took Blair’s hand holding the marshmallow. Then he led her hand and bit into the marshmallow she was holding.

It looked as if Blair was feeding him.

Blair blankly watched him eat the marshmallow.

Was it just her imagination that the sight of the soft marshmallow disappearing into his mouth somehow felt erotic?

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she tried to turn her gaze away, but at that moment, her eyes met his as he swallowed the marshmallow and looked up.

Her image was reflected in his eyes like a winter lake. As if captivated by those eyes, she couldn’t look away.

In the silence where a strange current flowed, his lips, red for a man, broke the silence first.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

Along with his whispering voice, his firm arm wrapped around Blair’s waist.

“I’ve developed an appetite for something else.”

What that ‘something else’ was, his lips that touched hers answered instead.

* * *

“My lady, we’ve arrived.”

Blair, who had dozed off to the vibration of the carriage as a lullaby, woke up to the voices of Melly and Lina.

Through the carriage window, the orphanage building was already visible. The orphanage under the temple’s jurisdiction had the temple’s symbolic crest engraved on the outer wall of the building.

As she got out of the carriage, a priest who had been waiting after receiving prior notice welcomed her with a bright expression.

“Welcome, Duchess! It’s an honor to meet you like this. My name is Miriam.”

“Nice to meet you, Miriam. Thank you for taking the time for us when you must be busy.”

“Oh, please don’t say that. We’re the ones who are grateful.”

Blair instructed the knights to unload the donated goods they had brought, then entered the orphanage with the priest.

The children who had been peering at Blair through the windows even before entering the building were now pressed against the doorway.

The children whispered among themselves as they looked at Blair.

“Wow, she’s so pretty. Like a princess.”

“But they say she’s a real princess.”

“That’s all lies. Why would a princess come to a place like this?”

They thought they were speaking quietly in their own way, but unfortunately, Blair could hear it all.

Blair tried to hold back her laughter, pretending not to hear. But Lina seemed to have no such intention, as she abruptly joined the children’s conversation.

“You little ones have good eyes. That lady is a real princess.”

“No way! Really really?”

“Yeah. Really really.”

“But how do you know, auntie?”

“Because I’m the maid who serves the princess. ……And who are you calling auntie?”

“Then if not auntie, are you uncle?”

“No, not uncle, but a stupid mutt.”

The children giggled, playing pranks that only they understood. Blair and Melly laughed as they watched Lina get caught up in the children’s mischief.

“Calling a guest a stupid mutt, that’s not right.”

The priest who had been coaching the children clapped her hands to gather their attention.

“Now, children. Come gather around.”

The children hesitated, eyeing Blair’s group cautiously, before coming forward one by one.

The priest introduced Blair to the children.

“This is the guest I mentioned earlier.”

“The princess?”

“She’s not a princess anymore, but a duchess now.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Blair.”

As Blair greeted them, the children applauded enthusiastically as they had been instructed by the priest beforehand.

Then, a child whose curiosity had been piqued raised their hand high and asked.

“But why did you come here?”

It was a question that might have been somewhat rude if an adult had asked it, but coming from a child, it just seemed cute.

As she had been planning to explain why she came here anyway, Blair explained in a gentle voice.

“Today is the day my husband’s mother went to heaven. She wanted this day to be a happy day for you, not a sad one. So we prepared snacks and gifts.”

“Wow!”

The mention of snacks and gifts excited the children. The children, now infinitely interested in Blair, asked another question.

“So if you’re a princess, is your husband a prince?”

Blair smiled awkwardly.

For the children, whether it was a duke or a baron, they would all be considered important people, so there seemed to be no need to explain in detail.

“Well… He’s not a prince, but he looks like one.”

“Wow, I want to meet a prince too.”

“Me too, me too.”

Not only the girls, but also the boys who admired princes were excited about the ‘prince’.

Blair finished her introduction amidst the children’s expectant gazes, then toured the orphanage with the priest before coming out to the yard.

While they were inspecting the orphanage, the donated goods that the knights had unloaded were piled up in one corner of the yard.

“Now, boys on this side. Girls on that side. Form two lines and receive your gifts. Don’t forget to say thank you!”

It was then, as she was about to distribute the donated goods with the priest.

“Oh? It’s Sister Miela!”

At one child’s exclamation, everyone’s gaze turned towards the entrance of the orphanage.

There stood Miela.

The smile disappeared from Blair’s face when she saw her.

‘Why… did she come here?’

In her past life, Miela had been at the main temple at this time on this day…

Now that she had appeared here, it seemed the reason Blair had specifically chosen the orphanage instead of the temple had disappeared.

“Sister Miela!”

“Sister!”

The children who saw Miela rushed towards her. The priest, who belatedly noticed Miela, wore a surprised expression.

“Oh my, Sister Miela. What brings you here?”

“It’s my day off, so I came to see the children, and it looked like you could use some help.”

Miela saw Blair and approached with a bright expression, offering a friendly greeting.

“Duchess, we meet again. I hope you’ve been well?”

“Thanks to you. I’m glad to see you’re doing well too.”

Blair quickly composed her expression and responded. She might not be good at lying, but she was confident in hiding her expressions.

“The Duke must be very busy. I thought he would have come with you.”

Words that she would have dismissed without much thought in her past life now sounded a bit different.

At a glance, it didn’t seem much different from an ordinary question, so Blair decided not to point it out. She might even be seen as an overly sensitive person if she did.

“As you know, he’s a man with many affairs of state to attend to.”

“Ah, I see.”

For a moment, a glimmer of expectation seemed to flash in Miela’s eyes, but it was just for an instant.

Miela approached Blair’s side and asked.

“May I help you as well?”

“If it’s alright with you, Sister.”

Miela naturally joined in distributing the donated goods.

The children gathered more around the familiar Miela than the unfamiliar Blair or the maids of Delmark.

Watching the scene, Lina grumbled grumpily.

“Somehow it feels like we’re being sidelined.”

Melly then poked Lina’s side to make her keep quiet.

With Miela joining, the distribution of donated goods finished faster than expected, and it was time for playtime.

Blair sat in the shade of a tree, watching Miela and Lina play with the children.

It was surprising that Lina, who had never had much to do with children, was so popular.

On the other hand, Miela, as someone who had been looking after children for a long time, quickly figured out what the children wanted and played with them skillfully.

‘I wonder if by acting differently from my past life, the ripple effect has caused that person to be here now?’

Even knowing the future, it seemed that many more variables than expected arose in small details.

As Blair was lost in thought, a girl who looked about three or four years old with her hair tied in two pigtails approached.

The child placed the storybook she had received as a donation on the table and tried to sit across from Blair. But it was difficult for her to sit in the adult-sized chair.

“Do you want to sit on the chair?”

The child nodded at that question.

Blair picked up the child and sat her on her lap.

“Can you read letters?”

The child shook her head.

She had definitely seen her talking with other children earlier, but seeing her just nod instead of answering, it was clear she was shy.

Even so, the child who had boldly approached to be with her was cute.

“Then I’ll read it to you.”

Blair opened the storybook the child had brought.

It was one of the storybooks she used to read to Asiel.