Daniel unfolded the small paper handed to him by the butler and sighed, touching his forehead.

“Oh dear.”

“Is it some bad news?”

Daniel’s expression was not very good. He crumpled the telegram into his pocket and said.

“Louisa, I’m sorry.”

“Yes?”

“They’re urgently looking for me at the lab. It seems something has come up. I’m afraid I’ll have to go for a while.”

For someone to be called so suddenly on a weekend meant it must be quite an urgent matter.

Worried, Louisa asked.

“It’s not something serious, is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ll check when I get there and send a telegram, so wait for it.”

He took out his pocket watch and checked the time and date. After checking, Daniel furrowed his brow and said.

“This is troublesome. If today passes, it’ll be difficult to receive the evening gown for the banquet on time.”

Daniel frowned deeply.

He wanted to gift his sister a nice dress, but the situation wasn’t favorable. His sister might already become an issue due to unfavorable topics, and if he sent her in an inadequate dress on top of that, he knew what people would say.

He shook his head a couple of times and said.

“This won’t do. Why don’t you go alone today and take a look?”

“It’s alright. Is the dress important? I was going to get fitted for a dress while out with elder brother anyway. Don’t worry about me and just go.”

Daniel looked down at Louisa with a touched expression. He patted her head and said.

“I’m sorry. Since today seems to be ruined anyway, if you’re bored, go out somewhere. But don’t think about going out alone.”

“You worry too much, elder brother.”

Louisa said with a playful smile.

Despite such a request, Daniel seemed to still be concerned about her and called the butler to say.

“This child is dull of hearing now, so if she says she’s going somewhere, make sure she takes a companion. Understood?”

“Yes. Understood.”

Only after turning back several times did Daniel finally leave through the mansion’s main gate.

Having bid farewell to the master, the butler approached her and greeted.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Allen. If you need anything while staying at the Averitt mansion, please feel free to let me know.”

He seemed to have guessed who she was from how Daniel treated her.

“Nice to meet you. I’ll be in your care during my stay.”

“How would you like to go out?”

“I’d like to go to the shop with elder brother, so today I thought I’d visit Ernest’s facility after a long time.”

“In that case, I’ll assign one driver and one maid to attend to you.”

“Thank you.”

Louisa smiled reluctantly at the suddenly increased company.

The facility operated by Ernest was located quite on the outskirts, to the point where it could be called the border of the region.

Because of this, to get from the high-class residential area where the nobles stayed to Ernest’s facility, one had to travel quite a distance, and the Averitt family’s driver seemed unfamiliar with the route, getting lost a couple of times.

Taking longer than usual, they arrived at the facility’s main gate. The Averitt family’s car passed through the vehicle entrance and entered the inner courtyard.

The silver ‘Averitt’ engraved on the black-painted vehicle shone in the sunlight. It was specially engraved at Edward’s instruction when he gave it as a gift.

The driver hurriedly got out and opened the back door where Louisa was sitting.

The wind blowing was quite cold as the weather had suddenly turned chilly. Louisa tightened her fox fur cape as she got out of the car.

“I’ll be waiting here.”

Louisa nodded once at the driver’s words that he would wait. When the young maid, still awkward with the unfamiliar guest, tried to follow her, Louisa told her it was fine and to stay here, then headed towards the main building where Karen would be.

But at that moment, a small figure burst out of the building.

A tiny child ran hurriedly past Louisa’s eyes.

“Ah! I don’t like it, it’s cold!”

Following right after were two very familiar figures. Louisa blankly watched the two approaching people.

“Your sister is too noisy, try to quiet her down a bit.”

“Kids are just like that. I told you to leave her be, didn’t I?”

Two people very familiar to her.

Edward and Alisa. Louisa called her husband’s name.

“Ed?”

Somehow hearing his wife’s faint voice, Edward’s head snapped up.

“Louisa…?”

“Louisa!”

Discovering Louisa following Edward’s gaze, Alisa shouted and ran towards her. At that sound, Yeriel, who had run far away, began running back while sniffling.

“Louisaaa―”

The big and small children jumped into her arms. Louisa hugged the two children clinging to her. Patting the children full in both arms, she looked at her husband watching her.

Edward had his sleeves rolled up without an overcoat in this cold weather. The unnatural way he held his hands out front suggested they were probably wet.

His right hand awkwardly clenched into a fist, hesitating whether to greet her or not, unable to approach her.

She smiled first and greeted Edward.

“What a coincidence this is again.”

Only then did Alisa realize, looking back and forth between Louisa and Edward.

She whispered in Louisa’s ear.

“Louisa. Is it okay to meet Uncle Ed like this?”

A breeze stirred by her ear. It seemed Alisa had said something. Louisa let go of the children in her arms and said.

“Alisa. I’m sorry, but my hearing is dull right now. Could you say it again in front of me?”

However, Alisa hesitated for a moment and then waved her hand.

“Uh… It’s nothing.”

“But this is quite unexpected. How are you two here?”

“Oh, that’s because!”

Alisa explained the whole story.

“We just visited uncle’s lab earlier. He said he’d take us back, so we came, but Yeriel was too dirty… Ah.”

Speaking truthfully without thinking, she covered her mouth with both hands and rolled her eyes.

Edward approached and waved his hand, saying it was fine. Standing in front of Louisa, he said.

“I simply couldn’t tolerate the child I’m directly sponsoring going around looking like this.”

He glared at the mud-covered child with snot hanging from his red nose as he spoke.

Yeriel, who disliked the cold water on his face in the chilly weather, clung even more tightly to Louisa’s leg.

As the child was about to rub his nose into the hem of her clothes, Edward panicked and reached out his arms.

“Come here!”

“Uwah, Louisa!”

The child, lifted up, struggled in Edward’s arms.

“Uncle. I grew up like that when I was young too. It’s normal to wipe with your sleeve and such.”

“If you’re going to keep chattering, come and hold your sister.”

“Okay.”

He finally took the child to the tap and washed his face and hands. Then he threw him the towel he had brought and only then, seemingly satisfied, put his hands on his waist and let out a big sigh.

“Phew.”

Watching this scene from beginning to end, Louisa burst out laughing without realizing it.

“I didn’t know you had this side to you.”

“Well, there hasn’t been a chance for it to come out before.”

Water splashes were visible here and there on the hem of Edward’s clothes.

The child who received the towel ran straight into the building, pulling his sister’s hand, saying it was cold.

Louisa stroked her mouth with her hand, her smile constantly spreading.

It was such a pleasing sight.

A scene she had only imagined in her dreams.

Thinking that this might have been her daily life by now if she had shared a normal love with him, Louisa blew on her fingertips.

Edward, having dried the moisture from his hands, awkwardly approached her.

“Now I understand why you always came with ruined clothes. It’s not easy to just let that sight go.”

Louisa burst out laughing at his muttered observation. Edward sheepishly watched that and then said.

“More importantly, why did you dangerously come here alone? Did you come alone from Tanasen?”

“As if that would happen.”

“I thought so too, but just in case.”

Edward’s trust in Daniel was currently at rock bottom.

The place he had gotten to help with recovery was a flat multi-family building with many restrictions in various ways. Having witnessed something he would never have done himself, Daniel had now fallen to being a rather unreliable person in his eyes.

Louisa said with a smile on her face.

“I came up early to get fitted for a dress while attending the Duchess of Portland’s party.”

“You’re attending, I see.”

Edward’s voice noticeably brightened. But soon his excited eyes returned to their place and took on a somewhat subtle look.

Louisa observed his demeanor and asked.

“Are you attending too? I wanted to ask about that, actually.”

“Of course I have to go. Invitations tend to come to people of interest, you know.”

“I see.”

She quietly nodded.

Actually, when she first received the invitation, she thought it would be troublesome. Because if she went and faced her husband, she would have to see things she didn’t want to see as well.

But now it seemed like it might be okay. Rather, it seemed like it might be good to talk more with him to clearly resolve lingering questions.

Edward watched her reaction and asked.

“Do you… perhaps have a partner to go with? Like Lord Averitt, for instance.”

“No. If you’re attending, I should go with you. So I didn’t make any such promises.”

Louisa shook her head as she spoke.

Edward’s face brightened instantly.

He had been anxious, wondering if she might have promised to attend as partners with someone like Evan Winston, but fortunately his wife hadn’t given her place to such a guy yet.

“Have you decided on a dress? I hear it’s a ball.”

“No. I haven’t decided on that yet.”

“Then shouldn’t you be busily preparing for the party around this time? What about the dress, why are you here?”

“Elder brother had something come up. We decided to buy the dress next time.”

“What? Will it be ready in time even so?”

Edward asked with wide eyes. Louisa nodded slightly.

“A custom dress would be difficult, but we can alter a ready-made one to wear.”

Edward touched his forehead. The answer that seemed not to care much about dresses and such was certainly like his wife.

“Are there dresses that fit your size at the Averitt mansion?”

Edward asked, recalling the dresses he had ordered and sent.

However, Louisa shook her head.

“I haven’t checked that yet, but if elder brother hasn’t prepared anything separately, there probably aren’t any.”

It seems the ones I sent haven’t arrived yet.

Edward read the current situation from her answer.

‘It’s a good thing I bought in bulk in Tanasen.’

He was relieved at his choice to sweep up dresses from store displays earlier.

However, now that such an opportunity had come, he couldn’t be satisfied with just that 20-minute shopping spree.

“This won’t do. You, come with me now.”

Edward declared.