“Thank you for coming all this way, Your Highness.”

“Not at all.”

Demon courteously greeted the Duke.

‘I’m relieved that nothing I was worried about happened.’

The Duke, who was worried that Demon might be shouting at Rosé to leave, was relieved that his worry was needless.

He looked at the Serviat people sitting side by side before him. Both Rosé and Demon had eyes that were badly swollen.

Among them, Rosé’s eyes were the most swollen. Looking at her, barely able to open her eyes due to the swelling, the Duke couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Ugh.”

Rosé, who had been wiping away her tears, lifted her head at the sound of the Duke’s snickering.

‘Surely he’s not laughing at me?’

Rosé, who had been staring blankly at the Duke, quickly realized. The Duke’s laughter was directed at her.

When the Duke met eyes with Rosé, he snickered once more and turned his head. He then struggled to shut his smirking lips.

Though he was a person she was grateful for, having brushed aside his own pain to come all this way, for some reason his appearance seemed irksome.

However, Rosé did not let it show. She was not bold enough to question the Duke about his laughter.

“How are you feeling?”

The Duke asked without even looking at Rosé’s face.

“Thanks to you, I’m better.”

“Thank you so much, Your Grace. You carried my daughter all this way.”

Libera sent the Duke a look of gratitude.

The Serviat mansion was quite far from the square. The closer to the square, the higher the cost of housing, so the fallen family naturally settled in a quiet place.

This mansion too was hardly recognizable as a noble’s mansion. To put it bluntly, it was more like a shanty.

But it was quite suitable for two people to live in. It was a mansion with two floors and a basement.

“You arrived quicker than I expected.”

The Duke replied leisurely to Libera’s words. He didn’t lie because he used teleportation, not walking.

“I was so flustered that I didn’t prepare anything for you. Please eat before you go. I’ll prepare it right away.”

“No, I’m fine.”

The Duke stood up and shook his head. He wanted to be considerate of them, seeing them after a long time.

But Libera seemed unwilling to let the Duke leave just like that. She quickly ran to the Duke’s side and grabbed his hand.

“No, please sit. I would be too sorry if you left like this.”

She was as kind as ever, but the Duke was quite uncomfortable.

‘Such a fing… Full of pasta in the head. I really want to hang her upside down and feed her to the crows.’

The image of Libera, cursing with a cold expression, kept circling in his head.

Libera forcefully sat the stiff Duke down and hurried to the kitchen.

“Please eat before you go. I feel bad letting you go like this after a long time. As a mentor, it weighs on my mind to send Your Highness off like this.”

Demon emphasized the word ‘mentor’ and stared at the Duke.

The Duke, who had been sitting awkwardly, let out a small sigh and nodded his head.

“…If my mentor asks, I will eat before I go.”

The Duke sat upright. Rosé, who had been listening to the two’s conversation, widened her eyes at the unknown fact.

‘Was Rosé’s father the Duke’s mentor?’

She hadn’t known at all.

The book didn’t explain these relationships in detail.

‘If he taught the Crown Prince, he must be very outstanding in one field…’

She wondered what field Rosé’s father taught in. But she was sure that if she asked here, she would receive strange treatment.

Rosé forcibly tucked away the curiosity that was bubbling up and closed her mouth.

“But it’s strange. I’m surprised that you remember His Highness. No, it makes sense that you remember. You used to sing about the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince.”

“…What?”

Rosé cast a confused look at Demon’s words.

Remembering the Duke, were we… familiar with each other before?

‘The Duke didn’t seem to know me.’

Of course, when they first met, he did say ‘Countess of Wence,’ but that did not imply a connection from their childhood.

Rosé looked at the duke with a confused expression. The duke responded with a peculiar smile.

‘…What’s with that smile!’

“It seems I’m the only one who remembers our childhood. Regrettably, you don’t seem to have any memories of me.”

The duke nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and said.

A cold sweat trickled down Rosé’s back. The thought of her childhood, of which she had no information, was dizzying.

‘No, calm down. If he’s surprised that he remembers, it probably wasn’t a deep connection.’

Rosé recollected the story the duke had told her, doing her best to calm her pounding heart.

“Honey, could you help bring out the food?”

At that moment, the voice of Riviera calling the duke from the kitchen rang out. The duke immediately stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Thanks to that, the conversation was cut off. Rosé let out a sigh of relief.

The duke and Riviera came out of the kitchen with both hands full of food. The aroma of the food was quite fantastic.