Ribeta kept glancing at Luna. Luna’s face was nearly grey, her eyes dull and lifeless. Something serious had clearly happened.

She had been worried since morning, but kept telling herself it wasn’t her place to pry. Now, though, she couldn’t hold back any longer. Ribeta opened her mouth carefully.

“Is something wrong? Is there anything I can do……”

“My lady!”

Luna snapped her head up toward Ribeta as though she had been waiting for exactly that. Her tightly sealed lips parted, and a torrent of grievances poured out like a waterfall.

“That man! That wretched man tore out the beads and took them. He ripped out the eyes right in front of me, cruelly, and took them away, and damaged the doll on top of it.”

“What? He tore out the eyes?”

“Yes! That madman, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to use such rough language in front of you, my lady. Please forgive me. But the nerve of him! The precious doll you repaired for me……”

He was being called by various names, that man and that madman among them, but it wasn’t difficult to figure out who she meant. Luna wasn’t the type to show her emotions this intensely, not to anyone except, perhaps, Luca.

“Please don’t cry, Luna. I know this won’t be much comfort, but would it be all right if I made you a new rabbit doll? As close to the same as I can……”

“Do you mean it!”

Luna, who had been fuming and then deflated into a slump on the floor, shot to her feet.

“Am I not causing you unnecessary trouble, my lady?”

She said it, but she couldn’t hide her joy. The look in her eyes was pure and earnest, as though she saw Ribeta as her savior, and it made Ribeta’s chest feel warm and ticklish.

It’s only making a doll. And yet Luna is this happy about it. The happiness Luna felt passed right through to Ribeta.

I’m not only receiving help. I can be helpful to someone too.

And because Ribeta knew exactly how precious that doll was to Luna, the meaning of it felt all the more significant. Entrusting a cherished memory to someone meant that person was worthy of trust.

“If you don’t mind it being me.”

“Why would you say something like that? It’s not a matter of minding. I’m genuinely happy that you’re the one making it. I’ll treasure it as a keepsake for the rest of my life. It will be my second greatest treasure.”

A treasure. Is it really all right to call something I made with my own hands something so grand?

“Miss, here’s the lace I wove. The one you said you wanted……”

“My, you actually made it? What were you thinking. Something this shabby doesn’t suit me at all. Did you really think this would suit me when you brought it?”

The image of Melissa smiling sweetly as she cut the lace to pieces with scissors had faded from memory. Only the lace itself remained vivid, falling apart in fragments.

What had happened to those pieces? A fellow maid had gathered them up, saying it was a shame to waste them, but Ribeta had refused to take them back and given them all to the maid instead. Use them however you like. The shredded lace had felt too much like her own shredded heart. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to carry it home.

“……”

“My lady? What’s the matter? Your color just changed.”

Luna spoke with a worried expression.

“Are you tired? If I’m making things difficult for you, please don’t feel obligated to make the doll. Just saying you would was more than enough to make me happy. It was my fault for not keeping it safe. I’ll beat Luca within an inch of his life.”

“No. I’m sure Luca had a reason for taking it. He’s not the kind of person to do something like that without……”

“Right now! Are you defending that madman? Surely not. He walked in without a word and pulled out Barbara’s eyes. He is shameless and merciless! My lady, I understand that he looks exactly like me and that might make him seem trustworthy, but please don’t be fooled. Whatever he looks like on the outside, he is completely different from me on the inside. You are my lady!”

Ribeta’s eyes wavered. …… Was Luna always this talkative? And Barbara……

“So the rabbit’s name was Barbara.”

“Yes! I think it’s a perfectly fitting name for someone as lovely and adorable and charming as Barbara.”

It sounded like quite a bold name, but if that was how Luna felt about it, who was to argue. Either way, giving the doll a name was very like Luna, who loved all things small and sweet.

Ribeta barely managed to calm Luna down once Luca’s name came up again. And then a question drifted into her mind.

Why did Luca go out of his way to take just the doll’s eyes? If he had wanted the doll, he would have taken the whole thing. Why pull out only the beads?

Is there something wrong with the beads I made?

“Um, Luna.”

“Yes?”

Ribeta had been about to ask Luna more about Luca, then shook her head. Luca didn’t seem to have said much to Luna, and if he had said anything about her, Luna would have passed it along on her own.

“Is there anything you’d like in the doll I make for you?”

“Whatever you make will be perfect, my lady. I’m certain it will be the most adorable thing in the world. Oh, if you could put a ribbon on the ears, I would love that.”

“A ribbon on the ears. Understood.”

“I can’t wait!”

Luna’s eyes lit up with genuine anticipation.

Ribeta smiled and told her not to get her hopes too high, but inwardly she couldn’t stop thinking about the beads Luca had taken.

I hope it’s nothing.

❀❀❀

As if to mock her worry, nothing happened for several days after the doll incident.

One morning, Ribeta woke to the sense of someone nearby, which was unusual. She opened her eyes and blinked hard, unable to believe what she was seeing. Diego was sitting on the edge of her bed, idly playing with her hair. He was in loose, casual clothes rather than his usual formal wear, which made him look far more languid and unhurried than normal. He caught her gaze and smiled.

“You wake up quite early.”

Is this a dream? Or a delusion born from loneliness?

The thought that this could be real didn’t even cross her mind.

The bed next to hers was always, without fail, empty. He came back late at night and left in the early hours of the morning. He came and went while she was asleep. Unless Diego deliberately made time for it, there was no chance of them crossing paths, and in practice, they never did.

And yet here he was, glowing in the morning light. If this wasn’t a dream or a delusion, what was it?

“Still sleepy? Then go back to sleep.”

Ribeta shook her head in a daze. Diego gave a short laugh.

“I was going to sing you a lullaby if you wanted to sleep more.”

“…… Are you really the Count?”

“Is there a fake count somewhere?”

Diego had only answered her foolish question with a joke, but Ribeta felt a pang.

What am I saying. The only fake here is me. How dare I say something like that to the Count.

Whether he read her thoughts or not, Diego reached out and tapped her forehead with one long finger.

“If you have time to think useless thoughts, get up.”

“Oh…… do you have plans? I’m sorry. I’ll get up right away.”

“Yes. The more time we have for our date, the better.”

Ribeta, halfway through sitting up, froze in that awkward position. Diego rose from the bed and extended his hand to her, wearing his characteristic confident smile.

“I’m looking forward to it, my dear. Aren’t you?”

What is happening all of a sudden?

Ribeta kept stealing glances at Diego as he walked with her arm in his.

The magnificent Diego Ruperto remained as effortlessly at ease as ever. Unlike her heart, which had been pounding loudly from the moment she woke up.

She was happy. More than happy. A private outing with just the two of them. Simply walking like this, hand in hand, was enough to make her heart race so fast she could barely breathe.

But at the same time, Ribeta thought: this outing must have some meaning and purpose behind it.

Diego was not a man who acted on emotion. His actions, his words, even the way he looked at people, all of it was intentional, shaped to serve a goal.

“Count, where are we going?”

“Ilesia.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I was going to wait until you were more comfortable, but I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Diego’s narrowed eyes gleamed with something dangerous. Before Ribeta could respond, his face came close to her ear.

“Today, you will call me by my name. Without fail.”