“But when I think about it, it’s really amazing.”

“What is?”

“I mean Miss Valerie. How did His Highness the Grand Duke recognize that he was her father? As soon as he saw her, he said ‘Papa, Daddy’.”

“Did he?”

“He did. In Urentum.”

In Urentum… Right, now that I think about it, Carl did ask with a frown why the child was calling me daddy.

At the time, I thought it was just a babbling child making random sounds by chance, but as I kept watching, I realized that wasn’t the case.

Valerie didn’t just say “daddy” to anyone. At first, I thought she was saying it to anyone whenever she felt like it, then I wondered if she only did it to large adult males, but even after observing further, I discovered that she never made such sounds at all when Carl wasn’t around.

There were times when she babbled sounds similar to “papa”. But she never clearly said “papa” or “daddy” while looking at someone.

What could be the reason for this? Is it really, really an amazing coincidence? Or an instinctive pull of blood…?

“Ah, that’s nonsense.”

“Pardon? What is, my lord?”

“By any chance, is there an expression here like ‘blood is thicker than water’?”

“What’s thicker?”

“Never mind. It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

After the brief conversation with Hannah ended, there was nothing else to do. Since returning to the capital, my body has truly become comfortable, but boredom and tedium came along as a bonus.

Everyday life without special events was similar in Urentum, but at least there I could go out freely. What’s the use of living in a magnificent mansion? It’s like being confined without actually being confined.

The time when having a lot of money feels good is when you spend it. But since I can’t go out to spend money, this wealthy life doesn’t feel that good right now. I wonder if it might be better to be a little less wealthy but free and happy.

“Haah.”

At the end of a sigh, I turned my gaze to the window. Outside, a drizzling rain was falling. If the weather had been nice, I could have at least taken a light stroll in the garden. Even the weather isn’t being helpful.

Just then, in the distance, a carriage was spotted climbing the hill. If it comes straight down that road, it will be right in front of the mansion.

Who could it be? Looking closely, a carriage with a golden seal was coming this way. The golden seal is the mark of the imperial family.

Thinking that His Highness the Grand Duke, who hadn’t been seen for days, must have come, Hannah and Liv ran excitedly to the lobby in one breath.

As the knights guarding the mansion pushed open the large iron gate while enduring the pouring rain, the carriage slid in as if it had been waiting.

And Liv, who had been expecting the black-haired Grand Duke to naturally step out of the carriage that arrived in front of the mansion, ended up with her face frozen like stone when she saw who actually got out of the carriage.

The one who visited the Louisette estate on this gloomy day, riding in an imperial carriage, was not Carl.

“His Highness the Grand Duke sent me.”

It was the Grand Duke, but not the Grand Duke they were expecting, but rather someone sent by another Grand Duke.

The name of the man with a somewhat pale complexion and sharp features was Stilico. He was one of Grand Duke Toskur’s close aides.

“What brings you to the Count’s estate so suddenly…?”

Although she wasn’t unaware of why he had sent someone all the way here, Hannah asked the man the purpose of his visit.

The man didn’t answer and just stared blankly at the people standing in front of him. It meant why bother asking when it’s not the first or second time, and why aren’t you bringing the Count quickly.

Normally, they would have gone up to call Celeste without saying anything else, but today the situation was different. Above all, she has no previous memories. How could they call her when she doesn’t know why she has to meet Franz, or what she should do when she meets him?

Hannah and Liv exchanged troubled glances.

“Um, the Count is unable to go out today.”

Hannah managed to utter a word with difficulty. Although it wasn’t the Grand Duke himself who came, Stilico was an aide who acted on behalf of the Grand Duke’s rights. His words carried the force of an order equivalent to the Grand Duke’s, not just that of a mere aide.

Therefore, Hannah’s statement that she couldn’t go out essentially amounted to rejecting Franz’s request.

“What did you just say? That she’s unable to go out?”

As expected. Stilico asked again as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard. Although he had been coming to the Louisette estate for over several years, this was the first time she had answered that she wouldn’t come out.

“Yes, that’s right. The Count is unable to go out, and it will probably be the same in the future. Please go and relay that to His Highness the Grand Duke.”

The one who answered in a firm tone instead of Hannah was the head butler, Mueller. Holding an umbrella in one hand, Mueller calmly walked out and stood face to face with Stilico.

“I repeat, from now on, Count Louisette will not be able to respond to His Highness the Grand Duke’s personal summons.”

“Is this the position expressed by Count Louisette herself?”

“This is a statement I’m making on behalf of the Count.”

After a few brief exchanges, Stilico said no more. He stood still as if thinking about something, silently gazing at each person one by one, then wordlessly got back into the carriage.

The coachman immediately cracked his whip to start the horses, and the carriage smoothly left the mansion just as it had entered. The wheels splashed through puddles formed by the heavy rain on the ground.

“Ah, cold.”

Leaving without even saying goodbye, just getting in the carriage and going off like that. Is he the Grand Duke, not the one he serves? Liv pouted her lips while wiping off the water that had splashed on her face and skirt.

“…Will it be alright?”

Hannah asked, looking at the carriage disappearing into the rain. Seeing Celeste’s current state, they couldn’t let her meet Franz alone.

Not only because of her memory loss, but also because the issue with Grand Duke Albrecht and the child hadn’t been fully resolved, so it wouldn’t do any good to get more entangled with Franz.

“What can we do? With gossip knights pouring in every other day, if we carelessly ride in Grand Duke Toskur’s carriage and frequent the Grand Duke’s residence, it would be like adding fuel to the fire.”

“I think so too, but… It’s strangely quiet with His Highness Albrecht, which makes me uneasy.”

The best solution in the current situation would be for Grand Duke Albrecht to propose to the Count, saying he would take responsibility for the child. There was a possibility that he might say he’d only take responsibility for the child without proposing, but given Grand Duke Albrecht’s known personality, that seemed unlikely.

If Grand Duke Albrecht proposes, Miss Celeste will become the Grand Duchess. She might become the noble Grand Duchess, so we couldn’t let her loiter near the flames and get soot unnecessarily.

Keeping away from anything unfavorable as much as possible, and even if there was only a tiny possibility, preventing sparks from flying, even if it meant taking the long way around…

“What are you uneasy about?”

With all the servants of the Count’s estate gathered at the entrance of the mansion, it seems to have caught the eye of the mansion’s owner. Hannah quickly turned around at Celeste’s sudden voice.

“It’s nothing, my lady.”

“What was that carriage just now? Who came by?”

“It was… no one.”

“How can it be no one? Isn’t that golden seal something only royalty can use? I mean that golden seal.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Don’t tell me Carl came by? Then why didn’t you call me?”

“No, it wasn’t the Grand Duke. Well, it was a Grand Duke, but not that Grand Duke.”

Hannah stepped in to replace Liv, who was flustered and speaking incoherently. She explained that while the carriage just now did indeed belong to the imperial family, the person inside wasn’t who the Count had been waiting for. It was a carriage sent by Grand Duke Toskur, and she would now explain the reason as she led Celeste back inside the mansion.

It took a full two hours to hear the reason why Franz had sent someone to the Count’s estate.

“Isn’t this just a lesson? You say you’re briefly explaining how Grand Duke Toskur is entangled with our family…”

The history of the Louisette family, their family business, even hidden secrets of the family unknown to others. It’s nice to say it’s a brief explanation, but from the listener’s perspective, it’s a full-on history lesson. My head nearly dropped several times, but Hannah caught it, barely preventing me from banging my head on the desk.

“To understand that relationship, you need to be well-versed in the family history! If you hadn’t lost your memory, my lady, there would have been no need to explain all this in detail…”

I just wanted to know why Franz had personally sent a carriage to the Count’s estate, but Mueller and Hannah sat me down and started telling me the story of the Count family’s history spanning over a hundred years.

They added that as the owner of the family, I should rightfully know this much, and they apologized for not informing me immediately after I lost my memory. They said they thought my memory would return quickly if I just held out a little longer, or something like that.

Anyway, I got to learn well about the connection between Franz and Celeste.