His head tilted slightly, and his black hair glowed red in the light as it fluttered in the wind. For a moment, I wondered why the wind had calmed, but it was because the train was gradually slowing down. Looking at the distant Bakota station, Emilia muttered with a half-resigned face.

“I hope you’ll be satisfied with just staying at my mansion.”

“I’ll judge based on what you do while we’re here.”

She had planned to spend all day searching the mansion until it was time to leave, but it seemed she shouldn’t put him on the back burner. After a brief pause, she spoke.

“What should I do to make that judgment positive?”

“Well. I think it would be good if you figured that out on your own.”

“I’d like to, but there’s really nowhere worth going in Bakota. Honestly, I’m practically an outsider since I only lived here as a child.”

“Then let’s take a look around together as fellow outsiders.”

Is he doing this on purpose? He clearly knows her interests are only inside the mansion, so why does he keep bringing up going out? Emilia pressed her lips together and looked at Enrico, who was smiling mischievously.

“…Duke, I’m more curious about the inside of the mansion. How about we take a look together?”

“Inside the mansion… Is there anything worth seeing compared to my mansion?”

As if there could be. With a collection of art rivaling the National Museum, what mansion in the world could compare? I heard that even the items in the mansion are only a part of it, and that the older purchases are kept in the exhibition hall in the Michele territory…

Emilia turned her head to face forward with a resigned expression.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing like that, just traces of my childhood everywhere, I suppose.”

“For example?”

“My old room, my collection. Oh, if they haven’t taken down my portrait, it should still be hanging there.”

“A portrait. A young Emilia, that sounds quite interesting.”

Enrico tilted his head towards her and smiled, his eyes crinkling. Due to the suddenly close distance, the afterimage of the sunset reflected clearly in his purple eyes. Whether because of the scenery or not, his face seemed particularly radiant.

“Let’s be satisfied with that for now.”

Shortly after, they arrived at Bakota station, but Emilia didn’t have much to do. As if everything had been prepared in advance, Fabio brought the carriage, and the coachman who had already set out for the mansion dropped the party off in front of a fence overgrown with yellow climbing roses.

Emilia slowly surveyed the mansion with nostalgic eyes. Unchanged from her childhood, the mansion showed only traces of time. Soon someone came out from inside and opened the main gate.

“…Butler?”

It was Domenico, the butler who had been with the viscounty family for a long time. Though he had a few more wrinkles, he was still looking at her with kind eyes.

“Young lady! It’s been a long time. You’ve grown into such a beautiful woman.”

Domenico hurriedly opened the door. His eyes were brimming with tears. Seeing him express his joy with his whole body, as if he didn’t know what to do, tears welled up in Emilia’s eyes as well. She tried hard to hold them back, furrowing her brow as she grasped Domenico’s hand.

“You’ve been here all this time? Thank you so much. I was worried there might be no one, or maybe strangers…”

“Where would I go? This is always where I need to be.”

The two, overcome with emotion, were holding each other’s hands tightly when Enrico naturally passed between them, causing them to separate.

As if to prove that his path was the right one, he made Emilia and Domenico let go of their clasped hands and walked between them towards the mansion.

“Oh my, I apologize. You came with a guest, and I started chatting first.”

Emilia hurriedly ran in front of Enrico and looked at Domenico, who was opening the front door, with pitying eyes. She felt a bit sorry for bringing such a cumbersome guest when she hadn’t seen him in so long.

The interior, while not without some empty and lonely corners, was fine as the large furniture remained in place. Domenico had been managing it alone all this time, but it seemed even cleaner thanks to the maid Enrico had hired.

“It looks quite empty, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. It seems like something’s missing…”

“It’s where the artworks used to be.”

“Ah. Don’t tell me Uncle sold them?”

“Yes…”

Domenico bowed his head as if distressed.

“As soon as you left for the art academy, he ransacked this mansion, sold everything of value, and went to the capital.”

“Hah… Then there’s been no contact since?”

“He only asked to be contacted if the mansion was to be sold.”

“He put the mansion up for sale?”

“Yes, but no one has ever come to see it.”

“Huh? Really…? That’s fortunate, but a bit strange.”

“There might have been some interested parties, but since the initial asking price was set very high, it seems they didn’t even consider looking.”

Domenico said proudly, puffing out his chest. Emilia burst out laughing for a moment.

“What? Is that okay?”

“Yes. He only said to sell it on my own, he didn’t specify an exact amount, so it’s fine. And I haven’t gotten permission from you yet, young lady. I wanted to put the mansion up for sale only after getting your approval.”

Emilia’s lips twitched to a stop. Her jade-colored eyes flickered for an instant.

“Young lady, I finally get to ask.”

“…”

“What would you like to do with the mansion?”

“…Don’t sell it.”

“Yes. I’ll follow your instructions.”

Domenico bowed his head with a knowing smile and took a step back. Emilia looked around the interior slowly with a strange expression.

Then she noticed Enrico standing in front of the stairs, watching her, and moved her legs with a start.

“I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been here that I’m late in guiding the guest to his room.”

“Now that you’ve calmed down, shall we go? Seeing the state of the living room, I’m quite curious about the condition of the rooms.”

It was an unsurprising sarcasm. Given that he had been quiet until now, which was enough to be grateful for, he had said his piece.

Emilia ignored his words for now and signaled to Domenico with her eyes.

“Which room did you prepare for the Duke?”

“I prepared the one across from the master bedroom.”

Across from her parents’ bedroom meant it was on the side where her room was. That room was the second largest and was prepared, but it being right next door was a bit undesirable.

Emilia walked to the front of the stairs, managing her expression for now.

“I apologize for the delay. As a gesture of apology, I’ll guide you to your room myself.”

Instead of answering, Enrico held out his hand. She calmly placed her hand on top of his. As she felt the warm body temperature, their fingers intertwined slightly.

“Is there somewhere to eat out?”

“If we go towards the city center, there are quite a few shops. Though they won’t be as fancy as the ones in Deciro.”

“I wasn’t expecting that anyway.”

Enrico briefly scanned the interior of the mansion.

“I heard it was a wealthy family that invested heavily in automobiles, but the mansion is surprisingly modest.”

“Ah, it’s been passed down from our ancestors, so we’ve continued to live here. They said we’d move to the capital when I was close to the age for my social debut.”

Emilia’s voice was calm. His gaze flickered downward. He thought she might become wistful again when family was mentioned, as she usually looked deathly pale, but surprisingly, her face remained composed.

“Then let’s just check the room location and go eat.”

“Yes. Your room is this way, Duke.”

“Where’s your room?”

“…My room is right next door.”

“Hmm…”

Enrico stopped in the second-floor hallway and stared at the room.

“The location’s not bad.”

“Pardon?”

As he moved his gaze along the wall, he stopped at a corner. She followed him curiously as he suddenly went in a different direction, and when she saw the frame attached to the corner wall, her eyes widened.

“The portrait really is still here.”

It was a portrait in a subtle angle, as if hidden secretly, not easily visible. Inside the frame was a young girl about six years old wearing a white lace dress, a beautiful woman with the girl on her lap, and a gentle-looking man standing behind them.

“…I thought they would have thrown everything away.”

It was her parents, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. She guessed that Domenico had hidden it and then secretly hung it up again after Giorgio left the mansion.

“You really looked like a doll back then.”

Enrico narrowed his eyes as if trying to get a closer look at her in the frame.

“You resemble the viscountess a lot.”

“Yes, that’s why Father loved me more. He said it was much better that I resembled the woman he loved rather than himself.”

Of course, he added at the end that he would have loved her no matter what she looked like. Anyway, Emilia gazed at the portrait for a moment, thinking it meant how much her father had loved her mother.

She was too young to remember how this was painted, but the three people in the frame looked very happy.

“Is this the only portrait?”

“There used to be many hanging on the walls, but I suspect my uncle sold or threw away most of them.”

“On the train, you made it sound like there would be a lot to see, was that a lie?”

“I did say ‘if they haven’t taken them down’…”

He chuckled and straightened up from his slightly bent posture.

“Let’s go. Ask your butler if there are any others besides that one.”

“Ah, yes.”

Emilia followed him as he turned around, glancing back to take in the portrait one last time.

“From tomorrow, we’ll be able to eat meals in this mansion.”

She started moving her feet again at his words.

Could he have hired a cook? She had planned to stay alone and manage moderately, but somehow the number of people kept increasing.

Why not just stay comfortably at a hotel? Well, if he was going to stay at a hotel, he wouldn’t have come along in the first place. Emilia nodded to herself in understanding. And she gave a fleeting glance towards where the portrait was now out of sight.