At that time, Ansi had already finished the contract to witness Damion’s death, so she had no certainty. Thus, she had only come to that place based on a guess.

However, from Ansi’s perspective, there was a definite basis that Damion had not thought of. With this, she could make a rather easy judgment.

“Well… it’s because Damion is a person who pursues romance.”

“Romance? Me?”

Ansi nodded her head.

“Just looking at how you remembered the stars we saw together and gifted me a painting of the night sky, I can tell.”

“That’s just because Ansi seemed to like it…”

“It’s also because you have your own place where the fireworks can be seen best.”

“Hmm…”

“So I thought you would find meaning in the place you wanted to make your last. The lake in the Dede Forest is where we first met and the last place we went before the divorce. I judged that it could only be there.”

Damion couldn’t refute anything. Exactly as Ansi said, it was true that he had also gone to that lake, attaching such meaning to it.

“It seems I have become a romantic person after meeting Ansi.”

“It’s not a bad reason.”

“For the sake of romance, I’m thinking of setting off fireworks for Ansi after we eat.”

“Don’t say such things, even as a joke.”

When Ansi spoke seriously, Damion burst into laughter. He decided not to mention the fact that fireworks were actually prepared.

“Ah, by the way… did you hear the news about Sovelbio?”

Damion nodded at Ansi’s question.

Sovelbio, which was originally a country house owned by Orphe in the north, had been confiscated along with Orphe’s assets, and a new owner had been decided.

It was said that a wealthy businessman paid a large sum of money to the Belgader government and bought Sovelbio.

“Don’t you think it’s a shame? Damion originally wanted to have Orphe.”

“That was a dream from long ago.”

Damion let out a chuckle. He raised his wine glass and took a sip. Then, after swallowing it silently, he opened his mouth again.

“Actually… I think I didn’t want to have Orphe but wanted to destroy it. I wanted to look down on them, who crushed and trampled me, from a higher place. Well, it turned out well in the end. It was a rotten egg from the beginning.”

Damion spoke casually with a laugh as if it wasn’t a big deal.

However, Ansi stared at Damion silently without answering. Then she suddenly got up from her seat.

Damion looked at her with a face full of question marks. Ansi walked around the dining table, taking big strides, and approached right in front of Damion.

“Ansi?”

At the same time as he called Ansi’s name in puzzlement, she hugged Damion’s head.

“Why…”

“You’ve had a hard time.”

Ansi just said that and held Damion tightly.

Damion’s face, which had been smiling with embarrassment, gradually stiffened.

He should have rightly said he was okay and pushed her away. But he couldn’t do that. As if he had been waiting for her to hug him like this, Damion closed his eyes and felt this warmth.

His world had existed only within Orphe for a long time.

But now, he had broken out of the egg and escaped from that narrow world. He had stepped outside the shell of Orphe.

It was a shell that he didn’t have to look back on. Considering how Kardian and the ducal couple had treated him, it was rather right not to look back.

However, it wasn’t entirely refreshing.

The time he had put effort into for that purpose wouldn’t disappear.

Even though he thought everything had turned out well, sometimes he was reminded of his past self who had been engrossed in acquiring Orphe. The time he had run for something that turned out to be nothing felt futile.

But because he disliked himself for feeling even a little bit of such emotions, he closed his eyes tightly and covered up his thoughts.

However, in the end, it was an emotion that he had to properly look into at least once.

Even if it was an emotion he didn’t want to acknowledge, he had to face it once without ignoring it. Only then could he make a new start.

To the young him who was simply happy to have a new family. To him who was ostracized, abused, and suffered within it.

To him who had to live in the world with hatred toward them. And to him who had wanted to climb to the highest place in Orphe.

It was understandable to feel a sense of futility since the tower he had been climbing had collapsed.

Just because there was a happy ending didn’t mean that futility was wrong.

“You endured well. Thank you for coming this far.”

Damion raised his head and looked at Ansi. She was the one person he least wanted to show this sense of futility he was feeling.

But at this moment, Damion realized.

The woman standing before him had noticed his emotions before he did and was looking at them squarely.

That by her side, he could say to his past self that he had worked hard and that he was sorry.

And at the same time, the path he had run on wasn’t a complete dead end.

“…I’m fortunate to have Ansi.”

The tower he had been climbing had collapsed, but if there hadn’t been a time when he was climbing that tower, he wouldn’t have been able to be with Ansi like this. He wouldn’t have been able to cherish the time he spent with her now so preciously.

So Damion decided not to deny himself for feeling a sense of futility or for feeling a sense of happiness like this.

He was convinced that those emotions would not be obstacles to his future with Ansi, but rather would become fertilizer.

Ansi woke up to the sound of birds announcing the morning. The master bedroom, which had hardly changed since she left, unfolded before her eyes.

She was definitely supposed to stay in her own room yesterday and had just stopped by the master bedroom to look at the sky painting before that. She had planned to just look at it and leave, but somehow…

She sat up in bed with a half-awake face, pushing aside the blanket. Hearing the sound, Damion, who was inside, came out.

“Are you awake?”

He had already gotten fully dressed. With a familiar hand, Damion poured tea and offered it to Ansi. Sipping it, Ansi stared at him with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“It feels like we’re already married.”

It wasn’t something she shouldn’t have said, but at that moment, Damion’s face turned bright red.

“We haven’t gone through various procedures yet…”

He answered, clearing his throat.

Procedures. At that word, Ansi fell into thought.

As he said, marriage required various procedures. This wasn’t just about holding a wedding ceremony or submitting documents announcing the marriage. There were also many other decisions to be made.

For example, her last name.

In Belgader, when you get married, you take the man’s last name.

It meant that once Ansi de Rouveille obtained that name, she would lose the Rouveille name.

Of course, a last name wasn’t always the same as a title, but in the case of the Viscount of Rouveille title, it was a type of title given only to those who had that last name.

Marriage and the viscount title. According to the rules, it was impossible to have both.

In fact, it was an issue she had briefly pondered when she decided to inherit the Viscount of Rouveille title. However, at that time, she had judged that her relationship with Damion didn’t necessarily have to be tied to “marriage” and had stopped worrying about it.

But the moment Damion said they should get married, Ansi realized.

I want to marry this man.

In reality, and on paper… I want to become a real couple and family that no one questions.

So now, Ansi found herself in a situation where she couldn’t lose both the viscount title and marriage.

‘Isn’t there a way to keep my last name even if I get married?’

First, she had to find out if there were countries where that was allowed. If it really didn’t work out, she would have to get married in such a place. But what if Belgader didn’t recognize marriages from abroad?

“Hmm…”

Ansi pursed her lips. Damion pressed her forehead to smooth out the wrinkles. She must have been making a strange expression, but Damion just smiled as if she was lovely.

It would definitely be difficult to find a solution right away, so the wedding would be postponed for that long.

However, looking at the face of the man who was blushing, thinking they would get married soon, she felt it wasn’t an issue to worry about alone.

Moreover, she didn’t know if Damion would agree to this decision…

“Damion.”

“Ansi.”

They called each other’s names at the same time. Ansi nodded at him.

“You go first.”

“Ansi, you talk first.”

“My issue is a bit complicated. It would be better to talk about Damion’s first.”

“Then I will speak first. It’s a simple matter if Ansi agrees.”

Ansi nodded. Judging from the fact that agreement was needed, she thought it was an issue related to marriage, but as he said it was simple, it seemed like something that could be resolved quickly.

However, at the words Damion offered next, Ansi’s eyes widened.

“Even if we get married, it would be better not to change Ansi’s last name.”

“What?”

“It’s exactly as I said. Ansi de Rouveille, I’d like you to keep your name as it is.”

“…”

“Ah… you don’t want to?”

“No, it’s not that. Is it really okay with you, Damion?”

“In foreign countries, there are quite a few cases where a married couple uses different last names. I don’t want to take away the Viscount of Rouveille title from Ansi. No, to be honest, I prefer Ansi being the Viscount of Rouveille. You’re really cool when you work.”

Damion raised the corners of his mouth.

In the end, they had wanted to say the same thing. Contrary to the thought that Damion might not agree to not changing the last name, he also had the exact same idea as her.

Ansi burst into a hollow laugh.