Lea felt uneasy not knowing Dmitri’s thoughts. It seemed more comfortable to retort, asking why he was so concerned about dining etiquette.

‘Is having a bean allergy something to be pleased about?’

She awkwardly smiled while looking at Duke Belarus, who was staring at her as if piercing through her.

As the three continued their meal, Dmitri’s subdued voice was heard.

“How old is the apothecary?”

“I’m twenty-two this year.”

“Twenty-two…”

Duke Belarus mulled over something in his mind, and soon, a glint appeared in his eyes.

Perhaps, the Duke’s beloved daughter died around the same age as her.

Lea felt a sense of awkwardness in the atmosphere, as Duke Belarus continued to inquire.

“And your parents?”

Glancing at Akia momentarily, hesitating because it was such a personal question.

Then, deciding it was not a story to be hidden, she spoke.

“Actually, I don’t really know who my parents are. I was abandoned when I was born and grew up in an orphanage.”

Akia, who didn’t know much about Lea’s birth, looked at her with surprise.

She knew Lea grew up in an orphanage, but the fact that she was abandoned as a newborn was something new.

Dmitri’s expression darkened at the mention of growing up in an orphanage.

“An orphanage… Huh, grew up in an orphanage?”

“Yes.”

Dmitri, sitting across from her, asked in a subdued voice. However, his complexion turned gloomy after her immediate response.

Quivering lips. Dmitri’s wavering gaze met Lea’s. Dmitri was already convinced that Lea was Ariel’s daughter.

Lea, with an awkward smile in response to Dmitri’s incomprehensible gaze, lifted the glass in front of her.

Akia, sensing the strange atmosphere between the two, interrupted Duke Belarus’s words.

“Rather than that, are you really thinking of giving up the onsen at the salt mine?”

It was a topic already concluded during the previous conversation with Duke Belarus.

However, deliberately bringing up business during the subtly flowing meal, Akia revived the conversation.

Dmitri, feeling uncomfortable with Lea’s severed conversation, glanced at him as if annoyed. Duke Belarus opened his mouth again to convey his refusal.

“That matter was already discussed and conclu…”

“The onsen?”

Lea, with surprise, widened her eyes and asked Duke Belarus. Once again, in that moment, she overlapped with Ariel.

Ariel also loved the salt mine’s onsen during her lifetime.

Even though Bealitsukal had no salt mine, it had a changing landscape each season, making it a considerable scenic spot. That’s why they used to go there for vacation every summer.

‘Could she be Ariel’s daughter?’

She seemed to resemble her mother in showing great interest in Bealitsukal.

“An onsen in the salt mine? Does that really happen?”

“Whether it will happen or not, I don’t know. It’s certain that there’s hot spring water beneath the mine, but if we don’t develop it…”

Throughout the meal, Lea seemed awkwardly amused by Duke Belarus’s persistent questioning. She had worried that she might not handle the uncomfortable meal well.

Unconsciously, Lea’s expression brightened as the conversation shifted to discussing the hot springs. Duke Belarus’s stiff face softened as he looked at her in such a state.

“Do you, our apothecary, like hot springs?”

“Yes. Who dislikes hot springs?”

‘Our?’

Akia furrowed his brow deeply.

‘When did we become an “our”? Whose side is he on?’

Akia, bewildered by Dmitri’s behavior, chuckled as if finding it absurd.
Now Dmitry, who even used the word ‘we’ to express closeness to Lea, was incomprehensible.

Who is Duke Belarus?

Among the nobles he knew, he was the most authoritative and authoritarian.

In other words, it meant he was the least considerate in terms of status.

The Dmitry I knew didn’t have a character to treat an unfamiliar young commoner girl like a kindly neighbor grandfather.

‘Sigh. Am I getting senile?’

Akia’s gaze toward Duke Belarus, who was now looking at Lea affectionately, turned sharp.

Akia, who had been looking at him with an unpleasant look, downed the glass of water in front of him in one go.

“Well, our apothecary likes hot springs.”

“…….”

“Button.”

Dmitri, who seemed to be pondering with his hand on his beard, gestured to the butler waiting behind.

The butler approached Dmitri at his call.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Send someone to the capital immediately to bring a hot spring specialist. A salt mine onsen in Bealitsukal. Isn’t it quite a reasonable business idea?”

‘What?’

Akia was stunned by the sudden change in Duke Belarus’s posture. When he listed the reasons why he needed a hot spring yesterday, Duke Belarus didn’t seem to have heard it.

‘Why suddenly decide to start a hot spring business now? Why all of a sudden?’

He shook his head in utter confusion. Then his gaze fell on Lea, who was sitting across from Duke Belarus.

Dmitri had shown a considerable interest in Lea, enough for Akia to feel that something was odd during the meal.

At first, he thought it might be because she resembled the late Duke’s daughter and brought back memories.