Pulcheria was now unable to distinguish whether she should cry or laugh. It felt as if she had been swept away by a storm of sudden information.

To sum it up, it was like this. Her nephew, who had always acted as if he had no interest in women at all, causing her to worry, suddenly came out saying he would get married.

And the person he was marrying happened to be the woman who was rumored to be the lover of that Franz fellow. That alone was enough to make her furious, but on top of that, this woman even had a child.

She thought there was nothing more to hear here, but… what kind of twist of fate was this? The biological father of that child was Carl.

Given that he had declared he would take responsibility for the child and get married as soon as the funeral was over to create a solid family, Carl’s words must be perfectly sincere. Carl was not the kind of person to ever say something he didn’t mean.

It was a situation where she couldn’t distinguish what was real from beginning to end and what was false. Her head felt not only filled with fog, but as if lightning and thunder were striking down as well. A terrible headache that made the back of her head tingle tensed her entire body.

Seeing Pulcheria staggering in her seat, Layla hurriedly got up to support her.

“Ma’am, are you alright? Shall I lay you down to rest?”

“That child, I need to meet that child.”

To confirm what was true from beginning to end, she needed to meet the person involved in the story.

“Yes, ma’am. I will make arrangements so you can move out as soon as day breaks.”

Layla hastily prepared her bed, but Pulcheria was unable to sleep all night.

The first of the most chaotic moments since I became Celeste was when Valerie suddenly appeared. The second was when Urentum’s cottage exploded. And the long-awaited third was…

“I have already heard the rumors related to the viscount.”

Right now.

“What rumors are you referring to?”

I broke out in a cold sweat while dealing with Carl’s aunt, who had barged into the viscount’s residence in the morning without any notice.

If I were to pick the most flustering moments since becoming Celeste, this very moment would be tense enough to be in the top three.

“Well. I think the viscount would know them well too, considering they’ve circulated enough to reach my ears.”

What does she want to say? She’s speaking as if it’s nothing, as if she’s at ease, but an overwhelming pressure was strongly felt from Lady Pulcheria.

She was just looking at the person sitting across from her, but it felt as if she could see right through me. Rather than intentionally glaring to intimidate, this sharp gaze was probably Lady Pulcheria’s characteristic.

A cold and icy woman of the blade, Pulcheria. Facing her this closely, I could understand why her nickname was like that in the novel.

“The nuance of your words suggests they are not very good stories.”

“That’s how rumors are. Good stories don’t circulate as rumors. People are more interested in others’ misfortunes than their happiness.”

A philosophical conversation with an inscrutable inner thought began to go back and forth. I could roughly guess the reason why she had come here, but I was curious about her exact intentions.

It was probably because of Carl, but I couldn’t distinguish whether she had rushed over after hearing the news of the marriage or because of the rumors entangled with Carl.

“Actually, I didn’t think very highly of you either due to the unfavorable words surrounding the viscount.”

She’s outright saying she dislikes you like this? I became somewhat embarrassed and sipped my tea.

I couldn’t refute Lady Pulcheria’s words because of the things Celeste had done in the past. She was a villainess who hadn’t even properly formed basic human decency.

“Basic behavior and attitude can vary depending on how you look at it. The person who spread the rumors may have acted maliciously, so I’m not saying anything about that. The reason I find the viscount disagreeable is because you got involved with someone you shouldn’t have.”

“Ah…”

I have enough sense to understand this much. Lady Pulcheria was talking about Franz right now. She meant that while she could overlook a bad personality and lack of basic human decency, the scandal with Franz was something she could never tolerate.

In particular, such conditions seemed to be considered the worst of the worst as Carl’s partner. It was understandable enough.

“Buba?”

Just as I was racking my brain to come up with a response, Valerie’s cute babbling was heard from nearby.

“Boo, poo, poo.”

“Valerie…!”

Looking in the direction of the sound, sure enough, the cute baby with flushed cheeks was standing unsteadily, grasping the chair leg. Lady Pulcheria’s eyes widened to twice their size upon discovering Valerie.

“Why is Valerie out here alone?”

Liv should be taking good care of her.

Looking around, I finally noticed Liv knocking on the slightly open drawing room door and revealing herself.

“I don’t know when Young Lady Valerie came all the way here. I apologize for causing a disturbance during your conversation.”

It seemed Valerie, who had become engrossed in practicing her first steps, had secretly slipped out here, eluding Liv’s eyes.

Liv, who had barely found Valerie and was relieved, belatedly realized that Lady Pulcheria was here and deeply bowed her waist in apology. It was an apology for daring to interrupt the solemn occasion where noble people were having a conversation.

“Poo, poo-ah, poo-hoo.”

As she was being held in Liv’s arms, Valerie waved her hand. With her face towards me and her arm stretched out, waving her hand, it looked as if she had something to say to me.

“I’m truly sorry.”

“Wait a moment.”

But unable to take care of the child in front of Lady Pulcheria, I signaled with my eyes for Liv to leave for now, and Liv tried to turn back the way she came, holding Valerie. But Lady Pulcheria called out to stop her.

Liv, recalling Lady Pulcheria’s reputation for valuing basic courtesy and decorum above all else, closed her eyes tightly and then opened them, perhaps fearing she would be severely scolded.

“Yes, ma’am…”

“What is the child’s name?”

“Pardon?”

“I think I heard Valerie a little while ago, is the child’s name Valerie?”

“Yes. That’s correct, ma’am.”

I thought she would inevitably be scolded, but the reason Lady Pulcheria stopped Liv was to ask Valerie’s name.

“If it’s alright, may I take a closer look at that child?”

This time, she asked the child’s mother, Celeste, for permission. I readily nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Liv approached, holding Valerie. Valerie usually becomes a little shy when she sees a completely unfamiliar person, but for some reason, she didn’t show any signs of dislike or fuss today. Thinking it was fortunate, I watched Liv and Valerie slowly approach.

“Come here…”

Lady Pulcheria couldn’t take her eyes off Valerie. As the child came closer, she even stood up from her seat and stretched out both hands, which was truly unexpected.

How could one refuse when the aunt of His Majesty the Emperor asked to hold the child? Liv carefully handed Valerie over to Lady Pulcheria.

The moment she was separated from Liv’s arms, Valerie, whom I thought would burst into tears, was unexpectedly quietly held by Lady Pulcheria.

“Oh, my goodness…”

Lady Pulcheria’s voice trembled slightly at the end. Did I mishear? The icy woman of the blade’s voice trembled.

“So this child is…”

She stopped mid-sentence and caught her breath. As she inhaled, exhaled, and inhaled again, her shoulders heaved greatly. It was as if she was so moved that she didn’t know what to do.

My thought was ridiculous. There was no way a person who had come to confront me, saying why I had ensnared her good nephew despite my bad reputation, would be moved to see the child.

“So, our…”

No. What I had hoped for, even if just a little, became reality. Lady Pulcheria’s voice was trembling to the point that anyone could hear it. She was so overwhelmed right now that she couldn’t continue speaking. I didn’t know what kind of emotion was causing that.

“This is our Johann’s child.”

Who was Johann again? Thinking about it quietly, I remembered that Carl’s full name was Carl Ludwig Johann Albrecht, and in the novel, a very small number of people who were very close to Carl used the name Johann affectionately when addressing him.

“Oh, my goodness. Bless my soul.”

Does she like it? It was hard to keep up with Lady Pulcheria’s emotional changes. I just closely observed her, hoping she would say something.

“Valerie.”

“Ah-oo, boo-ah, poo, poo-hoo-poo.”

It was babbling with a perfectly matching rhythm, as if in response to being called.

“Valerie?”

“Poo, poo-poo.”

Strangely enough, Valerie accepted her grandmother, who was moved to see her, with a smile. Even when Valerie, held in Pulcheria’s arms, moved her small hand to tap her cheek or tugged at the lace trim of her dress, she didn’t show any signs of dislike.

Please say something.

After calling Valerie’s name a couple of times, Lady Pulcheria pressed her lips together. At a glance, it seemed as if she had bitten her lip. As if she were holding back tears.

It took quite some time to realize that the action was truly to hold back tears.