The Duke’s eyes widened. Elodie squirmed uncomfortably but didn’t protest. This too was as expected. Bitterly, I knew Elodie would never refuse my words.

“Really… is that alright?”

The Duke seemed to be trying to act calm, but he couldn’t even hide the tremor in his voice.

“Not alone, though.”

I said firmly. This was the condition I absolutely couldn’t compromise on. Duke Baniche was a dangerous person, and I would never leave Elodie alone with him.

“And please come to the cafe only three times a week. It helps with sales, but Elodie finds it burdensome.”

“If it’s burdensome, I’ll come only once a week.”

Duke Baniche replied immediately.

“And I only ordered one menu item, so I’m glad it helped with sales.”

I stared at Duke Baniche for a moment, dumbfounded. It seemed this man hadn’t noticed the commotion he caused at the cafe at all. He was being treated like the superstar of this small town, and he hadn’t even realized it?

Well, I suppose it makes sense since he was only looking at Elodie…

“Then, I’ll bring out some paper.”

“Paper?”

Duke Baniche raised an eyebrow.

“We need to write down everything we’ve discussed as a contract and keep it.”

I looked straight into Duke Baniche’s red eyes and smiled sweetly.

“The penalty for breaking the contract terms will be… let’s say your ducal estate. You’re not using it anyway, so you can afford to give that up, right?”

***

The day of the first three-way meeting dawned. Elodie was visibly nervous from the morning, but she didn’t refuse to meet Duke Baniche. Since it wasn’t a day off for the cafe, I suggested to Duke Baniche that we go for dinner together after closing the cafe. The Duke seemed to like the idea and said he would make the restaurant reservation himself.

‘As expected, it’s an expensive place.’

I thought as I held the hand of a gloomy-faced Elodie, heading to the address the Duke had provided. It’s just having dinner together. Didn’t we already eat together at the picnic?

A little later. We stepped into a high-class restaurant that we normally wouldn’t dare to enter. The waiter guided us to where the Duke was without even asking for our names, probably having been given our descriptions in advance.

‘…?’

I stared at the Duke in bewilderment. He was holding a huge bouquet in his arms. It was a bouquet almost as big as Elodie, filled with flowers that looked extremely expensive at a glance.

The problem was that Elodie probably wouldn’t like such a large bouquet. Maybe if it were a teddy bear instead. That’s when Duke Baniche suddenly held out the bouquet to me. My eyes narrowed involuntarily. Why… is he giving this to me?

It wasn’t too difficult to conclude.

‘He’s trying to get on my good side.’

He had already lost any chance of winning Elodie’s heart. So it seemed he decided to target me, who appeared more approachable than Elodie.

But that wasn’t a particularly good guess either. Fresh flowers were the gift I disliked the most. Artificial flowers would last longer, but fresh ones would become trash in no time, and there was no bigger nuisance than that. I awkwardly accepted the bouquet and put it down beside me.

“Um… thank you.”

The words of gratitude reflexively came out of my mouth. Well, when you receive a gift, you should say thank you regardless of what it is.

“Do you like it?”

The Duke’s tone seemed strangely anxious. I blinked slowly and asked back.

“Does it look like I like it?”

“I don’t know. Mind reading isn’t my specialty.”

“I like it.”

I smiled brightly.

“…Really? You seemed a bit surprised at first.”

“Hmm.”

I quickly racked my brain.

“I was surprised, yes. At first, I naturally thought it was a gift for Elodie.”

“…Ah.”

The Duke let out a short groan.

“I have something to say about that later. For now, I want to know if the bouquet is a suitable gift for Miss Bertin.”

“Oh, it’s definitely suitable.”

I answered cheerfully.

“How could I not like something Your Grace carefully chose with me in mind?”

In truth, I didn’t particularly like fresh flowers originally. Especially large, cumbersome bouquets of fresh flowers. But this bouquet, contrary to my first impression, grew on me the more I looked at it. The reason was simple. Because it was expensive!

Each flower had an exotic shape I’d never seen before, undoubtedly some expensive and rare variety.

‘It would be perfect to have an event tomorrow giving out one flower to each customer who comes in.’

If the Duke had presented a bouquet of wildflowers picked from the roadside, talking about his sincerity, I would have asked him to throw it away immediately. But why refuse expensive flowers?

Soon, the food started to arrive. As expected of a high-class restaurant, each dish was refined and full of flavor. …Well, Elodie seemed to enjoy my food more, but it tasted decent enough to my palate.

“Elodie, why don’t you try some of this salmon? Don’t you like salmon? Then how about the grilled lobster?”

Watching the Duke, desperate to do something, anything for Elodie, even made my appetite improve. Fortunately, Elodie didn’t seem to be as wary of the Duke as before. She even asked various questions about the Duke with sparkling eyes.

“How old are you?”

“Are you rich? How much? More than Aria?”

“Are you good at anything? Can you sing well?”

It sounded more like questions for a blind date than what a child would ask a parent, but I just watched them fondly. Well, she might be curious about his wealth. After all, it would all be hers someday!

Moreover, the Duke seemed pleased that Elodie was showing interest in him. Thanks to this, I learned that the Duke was twenty-seven years old, richer than me, and not a good singer.

But Elodie’s chatter didn’t last long. By the time dessert arrived, she seemed tired and fell asleep leaning against me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her innocent sleeping face.

“…She looks the same when she sleeps.”

The Duke suddenly muttered. He was looking at Elodie as if she were the most precious treasure in the world, and the sight was so touching it made my heart ache.

‘Yes, these two will make a pretty good father-daughter pair.’

A slightly bitter thought followed. Once their relationship normalizes, I’ll become unnecessary to Elodie. But that’s okay. After all, Elodie’s happiness is more important to me.

“I should tell you this.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know exactly how old Elodie is? I mean, do you know when her birthday is?”

“Uh…”

I blinked. Of course, I wouldn’t know her birthday. I had never asked. A child who didn’t even know her name wouldn’t know her age or birthday. I had vaguely thought it would be nice to celebrate the day Elodie and I first met as her birthday.

“It’s the 5th of next month.”

The Duke dropped the words casually. My eyes widened. December 5th was less than two weeks away.

“Then, Elodie will turn six. If possible, I’d like you to celebrate it. Even if I’m not included…”

The Duke spoke calmly, but he couldn’t hide his sadness.

“Come.”

The words came out before I could think.

“You’re Elodie’s only family, after all. We’ll have a small party at the cafe, so please come.”

“…!”

The Duke’s face froze for a moment, then gradually began to light up with hope.

“Don’t prepare too extravagant a gift. It would intimidate everyone. Just something Elodie needs is enough. Understand?”

“…Is it really alright for me to come?”

The Duke’s hesitant voice sounded more desperate than ever. I nodded firmly. This poor man needed some stronger words of reassurance.

“It’s the day Elodie came into this world. If Your Grace doesn’t come, who else could celebrate it?”