DLC 3. Happily Ever After

The incident occurred on an afternoon when Lysith’s work finished earlier than Verheigen’s, unlike usual. Seraphiel, who had just turned five, suddenly dropped a bombshell statement while reading a fairy tale book.

“Umm…… I want to meet someone like the Grand Duke when I grow up.”

Crash—!

At the shocking statement, the teacup that had been obediently held in Verheigen’s hand fell and shattered with a loud noise. The peaceful emperor’s office was instantly enveloped in silence, and that silence was crossed by the sound of the sleeping Camael tossing and turning.

“Uuung……”

“Shh…… you can sleep more.”

When her son, who was sleeping soundly using her lap as a pillow, seemed about to wake up, Lysith calmly stroked his head and patted his back to soothe him, then turned her gaze toward Verheigen.

What she saw was truly the most shocked face she had ever seen on him.

“Se, Sera…… Wh, why on earth?”

That man stuttering like that? In the years she had been with Verheigen, he had never stuttered even once except when he shed tears after she had s*x outdoors. Recalling this fact, Lysith felt a bit curious and watched the situation with interested eyes.

But whether he stuttered or not. As if uninterested in her dad’s confusion, bewilderment, and sadness, Seraphiel looked up at Dietrich, who sat quietly beside her in silence.

After looking at his firm, sharp profile for a while, she turned her gaze toward Lysith, who sat in front of her.

Meeting her loving mother’s gaze and smile, Seraphiel giggled once, then calmly answered Verheigen’s question.

“Umm, I once thaw the Grand Duke talking with another noble before.”

“Saw?”

Seraphiel narrowed her small brow tightly and continued speaking, whether because her teeth hadn’t fully grown yet or because she was young and had a short tongue, which caused her pronunciation to become muddled and seemed to displease her.

“His face was completely different from the face I usually thee.”

What Seraphiel had seen recently was him conversing with some unknown noble in the imperial palace corridor. At that time, Eve, who was attending the princess, happened to be panting while chasing after her.

Seraphiel, who stopped walking exactly at the corner, raised her cute index finger to Eve who had followed her, telling her to be quiet.

“Shh, shh! Be quiet, Eve!”

“……”

Seeing her extremely serious expression and narrowed brow, Eve roughly caught on to the situation and obediently kept her mouth tightly shut without even responding. Then Seraphiel, taking her eyes off Eve, stuck her head out again to look at Dietrich beyond the corner of the corridor.

‘Oh my.’

Second dad — actually, Seraphiel and Camael secretly called their dads this way. The order was simply by age. — had a face she was seeing for the first time in her five years of life.

Rather than seeing the expression itself for the first time, it meant she was seeing Dietrich with such an expression for the first time.

So, the young princess had always seen Dietrich only when he was with her mother, Lysith. However, when talking with that unknown noble, Dietrich naturally didn’t have the same softly relaxed face as when he was with Lysith.

‘So he makes that kind of face too……’

Rather than being scary because that face she saw for the first time was too cold and chilly, her impression was that it was fascinating. There was no reason to be scared. She could tell that was definitely not a face that would ever be shown to her.

The noble who heard a few words from Dietrich trudged away down the opposite corridor. Dietrich, who seemed to stand still for a while, suddenly brightened his face upon hearing the presence of someone approaching from the corridor where that noble had just disappeared.

And Seraphiel, who witnessed his face changing completely in an instant, opened her already round eyes even rounder.

“……!”

Lysith was the first to discover Seraphiel, whose eyes had grown as big as lanterns, as she faced the protruding face head-on.

“Sera, what are you doing there?”

“Ah!”

Seraphiel, who stopped hiding awkwardly and ran out to jump into Lysith’s skirt, glanced around and earnestly stole glances at Dietrich, who had a completely relaxed face.

“Umm, so after that I watched? Observed? the Grand Duke…… he only acts like that in front of mommy……”

Whether she couldn’t think of the word or was looking for an appropriate expression, Seraphiel, who frowned for a while and moved her lips, clapped her small hands together and soon continued speaking.

“I thought he was like a fool!”

“Pfft.”

The current laughter came from Ashites, who sat with his legs crossed beside Lysith. Seraphiel, who glared once at the culprit of that laughter that somehow seemed mocking, pouted her lips.

“Even if he acts like that to other people, umm…… I think it would be good if he’s someone who always gives in to the person he loves. The Grand Duke…… can’t do anything against mommy.”

“……That’s somewhat true.”

But that was the same for the other three men too. Among them, Dietrich was particularly obvious about being flustered by her.

Lysith, who had been quietly listening to the story, asked her daughter a question out of sudden curiosity.

“Sera, then what about daddy?”

“Daddy is…… just……”

Just?

Wondering what answer she would give, everyone’s gaze focused on Seraphiel’s small lips.

“He bothers mommy a lot, always clings to her, and seems like someone who hasn’t matured.”

“Puhaha!”

The one who burst into laughter was, as before, Ashites again. Who would know that someone whose laughter was so rare would be completely disarmed in front of Lysith and the twins?

Lysith, who pinched Ashites’ cheek once as he even snickered, sighed and scolded him to stop laughing.

“Ash, stop laughing.”

“No, Noona. But.”

Though only Ashites laughed openly, the other two men seemed to find Seraphiel’s words equally funny. Dietrich was barely holding back his laughter, and Penchev was trembling his body imperceptibly.

Realizing that her daughter’s observational skills were above average, Lysith turned her gaze toward Verheigen. A man who looked as if he had been bleached sat without moving.

That’s understandable…… she thought while finding it funny.

Verheigen cherished both Seraphiel and Camael, but really just a tiiiiiny bit more Seraphiel. She had only recently learned the reason for this, because she heard what Eve, who had served Lysith for a long time, casually mentioned to her.

“Her Highness the Princess seems to resemble Your Majesty the Empress a lot.”

“Really? I don’t really know.”

“Your eyes. When you get stubborn, they become somewhat pouty……”

“What does that mean……”

The rift between the emperor and the Grand Duke couldn’t be filled quickly, but anyway, time had passed, so it showed improvement compared to before.

But even so, his beloved daughter said she wanted to meet someone like the man he disliked as a future marriage partner — though she didn’t say marriage partner, that’s how it sounded to his ears — so the shock was understandable.

On the other hand, to Dietrich’s ears, Seraphiel’s words sounded like ‘I want to meet a man like daddy when I grow up!’ so naturally joy and sorrow had to intersect.

Due to succession issues and for Lysith’s body, they had decided to have children only once, so naturally they cherished Seraphiel and Camael like their own children.

Lysith believed that family wasn’t simply connected by blood alone, and since all the other men agreed with her thoughts and intentions, this was possible.

“Stop laughing!”

“Look at her glaring now that she’s grown a bit.”

“Hmph.”

Seraphiel, who had completely forgotten what she particularly liked during her baby days, found Ashites the most annoying recently.

Despite her telling him to stop laughing, when he didn’t stop laughing, the upset princess snorted and turned her head, then firmly grabbed Dietrich’s arm beside her.

Ashites let out an incredulous breath at this sight.

“Sera, I carried you around when you were little.”

“What are you saying.”

During her baby days, she always came only to him, causing Verheigen’s anger and receiving jealousy, but now that she’s grown up, she’s forgotten all those memories and now says that dark guy is her favorite! Ashites squeezed out tears that wouldn’t even come from his sense of betrayal and clung to his wife.

“Noonaa, Sera says she hates me.”

Sigh, even while sighing, Lysith accepted him by giving a light kiss on his face as he approached while whining.

“Ash is the same too.”

Incidentally, Seraphiel and Camael called Ashites ‘Ash’ just like Lysith did. They used to call him daddy too, but that was only for a very short period.

Actually, about how to explain their situation, which was quite different from ordinary families, Lysith had worried a lot since the twins were babies who couldn’t properly understand her words.

It wasn’t like she had divorced and remarried her husbands, nor was it a concept like concubines or consorts, so there were too few examples to explain.

Still, somehow now the two children understood their peculiar environment as ‘It’s because mommy is special!’ What was most important was that both Seraphiel and Camael considered all four people as their dads.

When they were all together and clear distinction was needed, they called them by titles like calling Dietrich ‘Grand Duke’ or nicknames like calling Ashites ‘Ash.’

Verheigen being called daddy was partly because he was their biological father, but also considering external issues.

Anyway, Seraphiel, who looked at Ashites whining to Lysith with pitying eyes, leaned against Dietrich beside her and began reading the fairy tale book she had stopped reading.

Lysith, gently stroking Camael’s head as he slept soundly even in this situation, suddenly rolled her eyes toward Verheigen, who remained frozen stiff.

No matter how she looked at it, the one who seemed mentally devastated wasn’t Ashites, whom she had just comforted, but that side……

‘Still, he recovers quickly…… so he’ll be fine in a little while and start clinging again.’

* * *

……Making her daytime thoughts meaningless, Verheigen didn’t cling to Lysith all day that day. Lysith, who felt something was strange, asked the other husbands for understanding that she would sleep with him tonight, then headed to Verheigen’s bedroom.

“Ver—”

She deliberately used a bright tone and drew out the end of her words longer than usual, but the other party remained silent.

Are you ignoring me?

She was certain he was in the room. She had asked beforehand and heard from Serul!

Oh right, Serul had succeeded in marriage three years ago. The partner was naturally the woman from the love triangle. Recalling the commotion that occurred in high society at that time…… Lysith could only say it was truly terrible. Though now it had fallen to just one of the fun episodes from a few years ago.

Thus, Duke Gronevelt was still maintaining his bachelorhood.

Anyway, Lysith, who frowned deeply, entered the bedroom where she had only stuck her face in, then closed the door with a thud.