“Damion was very smart and clever. He was a child who knew himself well.”

Marianne smiled with her eyes. A graceful smile lingered on her lips.

One of Damion’s eyebrows tilted.

Knowing oneself well. Depending on the content, it could be heard as praise or criticism. It was clear that she was expressing her reluctance to fully cooperate while not breaking her promise to him.

“Don’t praise me too much, Mother.”

Damion deliberately responded in a light tone. So that Ansi would only perceive those words as praise.

“Yes, when he was young.”

The Duke, who had been drinking whiskey continuously beside them, laughed heartily.

“He took after me from a young age. Everyone envied our family because Kardian and Damion each resembled the two of us.”

“Hoho, that’s right.”

A voice tinged with slight intoxication, steeped in memories.

Rather than being good at fabricating the truth, it seemed they truly believed they had such memories. Considering how they always mentioned that they had raised Damion well, it wasn’t unreasonable to think they had such delusions.

In any case, the conversation seemed to be concluding that way.

But then, Kardian gently threw in a comment with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Those are things anyone could say just by looking at Mion now, Mother, Father. What Ansi is curious about is Mion when he was young.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Kardian.

It was a barbed comment. That he didn’t like this superficial conversation.

Marianne, who had been lifting her wine glass after completing her share of the mission, put it down, hiding her confusion.

“That could be true. Um… Damion… yes, when he was young, he was quite small in stature. It’s hard to imagine now, isn’t it?”

Ansi nodded. Now he’s so tall that he can easily be found among countless people. She imagined a small boy with platinum blonde hair and purple eyes in her mind.

Suddenly, she was reminded of a boy she had actually met when she was young.

But Ansi shook her head inwardly. Now was not the time to get lost in other thoughts. She gathered her thoughts again and brought them back to the dining table.

“I remember when we went swimming, he didn’t get in the water because he couldn’t swim.”

However, Basilov’s words brought that boy to mind again. A boy who had been flailing in the water, drowning.

“Didn’t you say all soldiers should be able to swim? When did you learn?”

Ansi asked Damion.

“…Around when I was 9 years old. I suddenly thought it would be good to learn, so I did.”

“Right, was it Kardian who taught you to swim?”

Satisfied with successfully finding one difference about his son that he didn’t know well, Basilov added a question. Marianne poked his side for the unnecessary comment.

“No, Mion learned to swim on his own. Admirably so.”

Kardian smiled gently, as if praising a good child. And he added,

“Mion came from the south, so he probably learned quickly. They say all southerners have a talent for swimming.”

The Duke cleared his throat. Marianne brought the wine glass to her lips with a breath. A moment of silence followed.

A question settled in Ansi’s eyes. He had lived in the south, not the capital or the north where Sobelbio was. Why hadn’t he mentioned it when they met at the Ziden mansion in the south?

She felt that the strange discomfort she was feeling in the dining room now was related to this. But it also seemed unnatural to pretend she hadn’t heard anything about a story related to her husband.

“It seems you spent some time in the south.”

Ansi said lightly, looking up at Damion sitting next to her. Noticing Ansi’s gaze, he deliberately pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, briefly, a very long time ago. It’s from when I was so young I barely remember.”

“Eight years isn’t really brief, is it?”

A tiny crack appeared in Damion’s smile. He stared at Kardian with cold eyes. Kardian tilted his head to the side with an innocent face.

“Ah, it seems you haven’t told Ansi.”

Kardian confirmed once again what he had already been certain of. A subtle smile played on his lips, having found a weakness.

“Then I should hold my tongue. Right, Mion?”

Ansi tried to grasp the situation.

From the context… it seemed Damion had lived in the south for 8 years, but what did he mean by holding his tongue? It was clear there was another story hidden that she didn’t know.

She was curious.

About the story that Damion de Orphe, who always seemed composed in her eyes, who should have grown up receiving only love as the second son of the Orphe ducal family, was hiding.

But now was not the time.

Damion looked somewhat troubled, and this wasn’t a story to bring up here. Especially not in front of that bastard Kardian.

“If it’s something I should know, Damion would have already told me. If there’s something he hasn’t been able to say yet, tell me directly today, Damion.”

Ansi placed her hand on top of Damion’s.

“…Alright.”

Damion nodded.

One of Kardian’s eyebrows raised slightly. But he quickly hid his expression and leaned back in his chair, which he had been leaning forward in.

“Do that.”

He smiled as if giving permission and turned to Bekishi sitting next to him.

“Beki, why don’t you show Ansi around Sobelbio tomorrow? If she arrived yesterday, she probably hasn’t had a chance to look around properly yet.”

“Shouldn’t that be Lord Damion… No, Ansi, is tomorrow okay?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s take a look around together tomorrow.”

Bekishi smiled kindly. Kardian’s eyes darkened as he looked at her.

At the sound of the door clicking open, Bekishi, who had been sitting in front of the dressing table brushing her hair, flinched. The mirror reflected Kardian entering the room.

“Stay seated.”

Kardian stopped Bekishi as she was about to stand up from the sofa at the dressing table. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he commanded her.

“Did you speak to the Empress about giving the river in the Tibo region for industrial use?”

Kardian approached the dressing table and began brushing Bekishi’s hair. Her soft brown hair rippled in his hands.

“Not yet…”

“Why?”

“There hasn’t been a chance to talk about it. That matter, if you, Kal, speak to His Majesty anyway…”

“Beki.”

Bekishi squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden pain. It was because her hair caught in Kardian’s hand was sharply pulled.

“I told you. You need to make them think they’re moving on their own, not because of someone else’s words, for things to go smoothly. The Empress should speak to the Emperor, not me.”

“I’m sorry. When we return to the capital, I’ll make sure to speak to Her Majesty the Empress.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

The hand brushing Bekishi’s hair became gentle again. He pushed her hair to the side and kissed her exposed neck.

“But Beki, why were you trying to argue earlier?”

“I was short-sighted. I’m sorry.”

Bekishi’s closed eyelids trembled. Kardian stared at them through the mirror, then straightened up as if bored.

“Sleep well, Beki.”

“…You too, Kal.”

Kardian smiled affectionately and kissed Bekishi’s cheek. Then he left the room without lingering.

His eyes were coldly frozen as he walked down the corridor.

Dealing with Bekishi was no longer fun. If she’s going to be submissive, she should be completely submissive, and if she’s going to argue, she should argue to the end. Half-heartedly trying to argue and then quickly backing down didn’t make her an excellent subject as a plaything.

Yes, it should be fun.

Like his brother’s wife, with her bright and clear eyes.

“Ansi, I have something to say.”

The man who had been quiet when they returned to the room for a short rest, when he came out after washing, and when he was preparing for bed, finally opened his mouth as they were about to get into bed.

Ansi, who had lifted the blanket and had her knees on the bed, got up again. Damion had stepped back from the bed and was looking down.

He didn’t look at Ansi.

If he looked, he felt he wouldn’t be able to speak.

It was a lie that he didn’t remember well the time he lived in the south.

Although it was his childhood, Damion remembered clearly.

The expression the Duke made when he first met him and saw how much he resembled himself. What he talked about with his mother.

And even how his mother died.

He couldn’t tell Ansi all of that. But he had to explain about the keywords that had already been thrown out.

What was likely to be revealed in the future and what wasn’t. He had spent the time from dinner in the dining room until this moment distinguishing between them.

In conclusion, he had to tell the story that he was the Duke’s illegitimate child and that he had lived in the south for 8 years as a commoner.

However, even though he had made the distinction, it was difficult to start speaking.

If it was something he had decided to say anyway, there was no point in hesitating. It was an objective fact that he couldn’t change with his efforts, so it would be right to spit it out quickly and focus on something else.

“I…”

Damion opened his mouth with difficulty. At that moment, Ansi interrupted him.

“Damion.”

Damion raised his head. Ansi was looking at him, blinking her large eyes. Her lips were tightly pressed beneath her straight nose, wearing her characteristic stern expression.

Damion swallowed dryly.

The back of his neck tingled as if he were standing before a judge about to reveal his wrongdoings.