“I greet you, Your Grace.”

The irregular footsteps that had been heard, likely due to the use of a walking stick, came to a stop. Lutis spoke to the young man bowing to him.

“Your father, the former head butler of the capital mansion, was of common birth. I heard he received the title of honorary viscount for helping the previous duke in the past.”

“That is correct.”

This was information that Lutis and Aeli had heard secondhand.

Although the former head butler had the title of honorary viscount, it was in reality just an honorary position without any actual territory or ability to be inherited.

High nobles like dukes don’t appoint commoners to positions like head maid or butler, so it must have been the previous duke’s way of bending the rules.

In other words, the person before them now was a commoner. Normally, after leaving his position as a butler, they shouldn’t even have had the chance to meet.

‘…Yet he embezzled?’

Aeli tilted her head, unable to hide her puzzlement. To be precise, it was the former head butler, the butler’s father, who had done it, but it was strange that he wasn’t immediately detained and was instead politely called to the office.

…Though it wasn’t hard to guess why.

The child’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the man before him. Noticing the strangely favorable expression, Aeli asked quietly.

– …Did you know each other?

Blinking repeatedly.

After a moment of hesitation, the child shook his head in denial. It was an answer that didn’t match his previous behavior.

‘Hmm…’

Given the circumstances, it was certain that all the money embezzled by the head butler had gone to his son, and it was clear that Lutis had no intention of simply sending him away.

Though he chose the office as the location out of consideration for the child’s feelings.

Wasn’t it sufficiently explained by the fact that he hadn’t told the former butler to straighten up from his bow or to take a seat?

Especially for someone with leg troubles, there was nothing more exhausting than maintaining one position for a long time.

“You must know why I called you here. Let’s hear it first, have you prepared any excuses?”

“…”

Though it wasn’t you who did it, I have no intention of letting it slide when you’ve bitten the hand that fed you.

At Lutis’s cold attitude, Aeli turned her gaze to the child.

“Uh, uhh…”

His face showed confusion as his eyes darted about.

Finally understanding why Lutis had deliberately brought the child here, Aeli opened her mouth slightly.

Even if the child had accidentally found out, it could have been dealt with secretly.

‘Yet he deliberately arranged this to tell Adi the truth?’

This wasn’t just because he had softened towards the child.

It was to give hope and then take it away. Nothing more, nothing less.

Faced with such a malicious intent, Aeli watched the situation with a sour expression, unsure how to react.

– I should have noticed when I heard the sound of the office being wrecked…

When he had spoken harshly to the captain of the knights or the current head butler, he had at least given them a chance to apologize after venting his anger.

“If you won’t speak, I will. Over 1 year and 6 months, there was a discrepancy of about 17,348 gold in the private funds of the annex.”

“…”

“I had entrusted the task of distributing private funds to the annex to my aide. After he went down to the duchy, the head butler took over that role.”

“…”

“The period when the ledgers were falsified seems to overlap with when my aide went to the duchy. It couldn’t have happened without your father’s connivance. Isn’t that interesting?”

It wasn’t the butler before them.

Aeli silently looked down at the butler, knowing there was no intention to give him a chance even if he begged for forgiveness.

It’s not that she liked this butler.

As Lutis said, who could smile and understand when someone they trusted had bled their child dry to fill their own child’s belly? However…

‘Isn’t this what they call guilt by association?’

She found it disheartening that the one truly responsible was no longer in this world.

Lutis would probably pretend to quietly send the butler away, but once the child left, he would surely punish him.

Feeling a bitter taste in her mouth, Aeli clicked her tongue softly.

It was then that the butler, who had maintained silence until now, opened his mouth.

“…I won’t make excuses. But please allow me to return this.”

The butler spoke in a small voice and pulled something out from his breast.

Reflexively, Lutis took a defensive stance to subdue the butler.

“…”

In stark contrast to his sudden display of killing intent, what the butler pulled out was just a thin piece of paper.

Moreover, it seemed to have been handled for a long time, judging by the visible fingerprints.

“This is the secret account and password my late father left in my name. I had suspicions about the substantial amounts being deposited at intervals of several months, but I’ve been turning a blind eye out of fear of the consequences.”

“…”

“I knew he was deeply saddened by my leg becoming like this, but…”

I didn’t know it would be to this extent. Though it was an obvious statement, the butler said so while bowing deeply with his head lowered.

“…I’ve done something unforgivable to the young master. I sincerely apologize.”

Lutis silently unfolded the paper, and Aeli, who went behind him to check, covered her eyes with one hand.

Far from being spent, the amount had actually accrued interest.

‘If it was going to be like this, why did Adi…’

Why did he have to be treated that way?

While partly resentful, the birthdate written on the paper weighed on her mind, making it impossible to hate him fully.

…If that was his real age, he would have been fifteen at the time.

Since most commoners find work in their early teens, it wasn’t an unusual age.

‘But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t young…’

Under imperial law, adulthood began after one’s sixteenth birthday.

So this butler would have been a minor.

If a cherished child became disabled, even she would likely hold a grudge.

However, she was angry that their resentment was directed at an innocent child instead of themselves.

She gritted her teeth at the attitude of the former head butler who had irresponsibly ended his own life without cleaning up the mess he had made.

– …

The dead don’t speak.

Those left behind could only struggle with the reopened wounds.

After a moment of silence. Surprisingly, it was the child who had been quiet until now who broke the stillness.

‘Come to think of it, he could have said a few words long ago, so why… Ah.’

[I’ll be quiet for now. I’m really, really good at that…] […Then let’s make a promise. If you don’t keep it, there will be no snacks for a week from now on, is that alright?] [A, a week?] [Yes.]

That’s right, we made such a promise. Aeli turned her head to look at the child.

If it was something he had to say even at the cost of giving up a week’s worth of snacks, it deserved to be heard.

The child grabbed Lutis’s sleeve with both hands and said.

“Don’t… don’t get angry…”

“…”

“…He’s not a bad person.”

Lutis stared at the child who spoke while gauging the situation, then opened his mouth with a stiff expression.

“Even so, this isn’t a matter that can be overlooked.”

If embezzlement of the duke’s property was lightly dismissed, similar incidents would likely be repeated.

‘That… doesn’t make sense.’

Aeli agreed with this opinion as well.

The child then asked Lutis. What would happen if it wasn’t overlooked?

“If handled in the usual manner, the person in question would face immediate execution, and relatives up to fourth cousins would be put on trial.”

“Gasp.”

“Though he embezzled, there’s no record of actual use, so he won’t die. He’ll probably face forced labor.”

“Hic.”

“Well… with his leg in that state, even if he goes to forced labor, he won’t survive long.”

“Sob…”

“…”

Can’t you do something about those strange interjections? Though he didn’t say it out loud, that expression was clearly written on Lutis’s face as he answered the child’s questions.

The child turned to Aeli with a face drained of color after hearing Lutis’s answers.

Aeli felt a headache coming on at the highly inappropriate words spoken in front of a five-year-old child.

‘If it was going to be like this, there was no point in choosing the office as the location…’

Aeli rolled her eyes to look at the butler who was still bowing.

Whether he was scared by the recent conversation or struggling to maintain the same posture.

“…”

His hands were trembling badly.

Seeing the face that still had traces of youth, somewhere between a young man and a boy, Aeli felt uneasy and finally whispered something into the child’s ear.

She had given him a hint on how to keep the butler from going to trial immediately.

‘This isn’t usually allowed, but…’

Reason cried out that following the law and holding a trial was right, but the desire to let the child have his way was stronger.

After listening to Aeli’s words, the child cried out urgently.

“Then… then give this brother to me!”

“…Pardon?”

Startled by the unfiltered outburst, the butler unknowingly asked back. Immediately after, with a face that seemed to realize his mistake, he lowered his head deeply again.

Lutis opened his mouth, meeting the child’s eyes as if he had a headache.

“Buying and selling people is illegal.”

“That’s, that’s not what I meant!”

“…”

“…Instead of putting him on trial, rehire him as a servant. If we promise he’ll stay until I say he can leave…”

“Hiring him as a servant is far too lenient to substitute for forced labor. Moreover, since his body isn’t well, he won’t be able to work properly.”

“But still…”

As the child insisted, Lutis sighed and said.

“We can’t make an exception for him alone. If the remaining relatives complain about fairness, it will only undermine the duke’s authority—”

“Br-brother doesn’t have a mother!”

At that, the child cried out,

– …

Aeli grabbed the back of her neck.

She couldn’t understand why he spoke in such a way.