“I made a few stops along the way.”

That was all he said in response. It wasn’t yet time to tell her he was investigating his father’s death.

Fortunately, Renéee didn’t ask any further questions. Instead, she asked,

“We have a new family member. Have you met her?”

“…Yes.”

“She looks just the same.”

Izer answered indifferently.

“I don’t remember well. Her face does seem similar.”

“She seems to have been through a lot. I asked her how she came here? She said Dr. Owen introduced her. Before that, she was in the countryside.”

Izer wondered about this fact — that the young lady who had been hiding from creditors had found the courage to come to the capital.

Even though a tutor mostly spends time inside the house, people would remember her. If it became known that Celian Berienne had returned to the capital, wouldn’t her father’s debts and creditors surely appear?

Renéee resolved her son’s curiosity.

“Celian knew Harris well. Harris resolved most of the debts. It seems he felt guilty for not being able to help much when his friend Marquis Berienne ended up like that.”

By the time the war ended, there was no one left by Marquis Berienne’s side. Treven had lost the war, and someone had to take responsibility.

James III, the King of Treven, unhesitatingly shifted that responsibility to the General. Unable to withstand the barrage of insults and debts, Marcotti Berienne offered his life and escaped from responsibility.

Afterwards, those who called themselves friends of the Marquis, or rather the nobles of Treven, emptied their pockets to save the country. Among them, the house that contributed the most was Chesterfield.

Chesterfield sold lands they owned all over the continent to pay the war reparations. Those with some intelligence even said this: Chesterfield, who had money to burn anyway, only raised their reputation by contributing to paying the reparations.

It seems Chesterfield, who thought they were only saving Treven, also saved the Berienne sisters. They wiped clean the blood-stained bonds that followed as the marquis’s house plummeted. Although they couldn’t protect the title, money was more important than an empty title in escaping the fate of being sold to a brothel.

‘The Duke must be a benefactor to that woman.’

Renéee continued calmly. They were already on their second lap around the garden.

“Harris isn’t such a bad person, Izer. Don’t hate him too much.”

It was when they passed the fountain for the second time. There was a noise from the direction of the main gate. Izer muttered indifferently.

“Your husband has arrived. I should go greet him now.”

“Izer, I’ll come too…”

“Mother, please come a little later. The Duke doesn’t like seeing me with you, does he?”

Whenever Harris was involved, a cold wind blew between mother and son.

Renéee moved slowly. At this pace, she could hide the fact that she had just been walking with her son who looked exactly like her ex-husband.

* * *

The visitors who suddenly came to Owen Caleb’s house all bewildered him. It hadn’t been long since Celian barged in, and now his father had settled in his house.

The reason Dr. Caleb, who had said he didn’t want to live with his grown son because it was creepy, had been staying for days was very simple. The doctor cut bread with a pleased face and offered it to Beth.

“Here, child, eat plenty.”

Eleven was a bit old to be called a child. And she could cut bread by herself. But Beth quietly accepted the bread.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I told you to call me uncle.”

Dr. Caleb had always dreamed of having a daughter. Honey dripped from his eyes as he looked at Beth Berienne who had suddenly dropped into his old age.

So much so that his son felt compelled to say something.

“Father, I’m your child, you know.”

“You’re not eleven years old.”

“You never looked at me like that even when I was eleven.”

“That’s because you weren’t a daughter.”

“As a doctor, if you blame me for not being a daughter…”

Dr. Caleb glared at his son.

“Shh. You’re making Beth uncomfortable.”

“……”

How can I live with this heartbreak?

While Owen was rubbing his face in frustration, Beth finished her meal. From her polite thanks to clearing the dishes from the table, there wasn’t a single aspect that didn’t please Dr. Caleb.

Compared to her, his son…

First of all, he was tall. He was a head taller than himself, far from being cute. Not only that, his pale face from being cooped up studying all the time made him look just right to be picked on by thugs if he walked alone at night.

The father and son sat facing each other across the table.

Dr. Caleb asked, a gentle aroma wafted from the coffee cup in front of him,

“Have you looked into boarding schools?”

“There aren’t any suitable ones in Humming. Perhaps because it’s the capital, the tuition is expensive, and the students who enroll are mostly from the middle class and above. It’s not a good environment for Beth.”

“I thought so. Should we send her to the provinces?”

“There’s a place that looks good a bit away from the capital. The tuition of thirty pounds a year isn’t exactly cheap… I’m thinking of telling Celian it’s twenty pounds.”

Dr. Caleb’s eyes narrowed. Owen hurriedly explained.

“I won’t ask you for money. Thanks to you speaking well of me to your patients, I can manage that much income…”

“Are you thinking of marriage?”

“……”

“If you marry Celian, there will be tremendous gossip following you. You might even lose patients.”

The doctor coldly pointed out Celian’s reality.

“People flock to even the smallest bit of gossip like moths to a flame. No matter how good a tutor Celian is, being Marcotti Berienne’s daughter will follow her like a tag.”

“But Celian is not at fault. She wasn’t involved in the war…”

Dr. Caleb retorted.

“Since when did people care about such things?”

Although Chesterfield took the lead in paying the reparations, they couldn’t cover all the compensation goods.

The humiliation following a defeated country started from the warehouses of the lower class. Children with nothing to eat struggled. Women and children with nothing to wear froze to death. Houses that were hastily built collapsed, crushing families huddled inside.

The war had ended, but Treven’s hell was still ongoing. Owen bit his lip.

Dr. Caleb looked at his son with pity.

He knew his son had been in love with Celian for a long time. The silver-haired young lady who was once beyond his son’s reach remained the same even now that the situation had reversed. Like a seesaw that couldn’t find balance.

He gently admonished his son.

“I won’t stop you from being friends. But I hope you won’t do anything that might burden Celian or cause misunderstandings. I’d like Beth to grow up in a good environment too, but that’s for Celian to figure out.”

“…Yes.”

It seemed he had pushed too hard. Dr. Caleb tried to lighten the mood.

“And get rid of the arrogance that Celian will accept your feelings. That confidence of yours is the problem.”

“It’s not easy to contact her. We only communicate by letter. She said she barely got permission to go out in a few days. Have you met Celian, Father?”

“I haven’t seen her either. I just treated the young duke and left quickly. That house is suffocating…”

He laughed heartily.

Dr. Caleb didn’t know about the relationship between Izer and Celian. All he knew was that Duke Chesterfield had remarried a commoner woman and adopted her son.

Owen sighed with a troubled face.

“Is it normal for a tutor to live so confined? I feel terrible for Beth. She seems to want to see her sister.”

“Chesterfield is very strict. There’s no need to send Beth to boarding school right away, so don’t think too hastily.”

“That’s different from what you said earlier…”

“That was about Celian. If worst comes to worst, I can raise Beth in the countryside. The Berienne name is well-known, everyone will like it. A ranch is the best environment.”

So this is what you wanted to say. Dr. Caleb ignored his son’s incredulous look and opened the newspaper. Coincidentally, there was an advertisement for teddy bears that girls around ten years old supposedly liked.