“……I understand.”

Count Jacob, looking weary, covered his face with his dry hand.

“I’m not sure where to begin, but I’ll tell you what I know.”

I swallowed hard. No matter whose child Elodie was or what her birth circumstances were, my love for her wouldn’t change. But thinking that Elodie might be hurt when she grows up and learns the truth, according to Count Jacob’s story, made my heart tighten.

“Let me be clear about this first. I don’t know who the woman who gave birth to the young lady is.”

“…!”

My eyes widened involuntarily. If even Count Jacob, who was practically Duke Baniche’s right-hand man, didn’t know, then truly only the Duke himself would know the truth.

“You look surprised.”

Count Jacob smiled faintly.

“But it’s nothing compared to how shocked I was when the Duke suddenly appeared with a newborn baby one day. I thought I was going to faint.”

“…He suddenly appeared with her?”

“Yes. Until the day before, he had been following his usual routine, and then the next morning, he suddenly showed us a newborn baby and declared it was his child.”

“There must have been a woman presumed to be the mother.”

It takes two to tango. The Duke couldn’t have had the child alone, so there must have been a woman involved.

“That’s the strangest part. There wasn’t.”

“What?”

“His Grace didn’t keep women close to him.”

I blinked. Somehow, Count Jacob’s words sounded peculiar.

“Ah, I don’t mean it that way!”

The Count hastily waved his hands.

“Just… he didn’t indulge in carnal desires. He didn’t like children either. Rather, he said children were just noisy and wouldn’t let them anywhere near him.”

“So the probability that it’s not the Duke’s child… is zero.”

“Yes.”

Count Jacob nodded.

“If that were the case, things would have been easier. But anyone could see that the young lady was the Duke’s daughter, and the Duke himself never doubted that fact.”

“Well, they do look very much alike.”

“His Grace insisted it wasn’t simply because they looked alike.”

“Why?”

“He never explained the reason… but I suppose he must have known the woman well.”

I nodded.

“She was probably of very low status. His Grace isn’t the kind of scoundrel who would hesitate to marry someone just because they were of slightly lower status.”

“Was she a commoner?”

Count Jacob’s face darkened dramatically.

“A peasant or… perhaps a slave from another country. Otherwise, there would be no reason to hide the woman who gave birth to the young lady even from us.”

I thought that was debatable, but not wanting to break Count Jacob’s illusion, I nodded.

“Is that what Marquis Carbodin criticized? That he heartlessly abandoned the lover who gave him a daughter?”

“The Marquis?”

The Count asked with a surprised face.

“Did you believe what he said earlier?”

“Of course I didn’t.”

I quickly replied.

“But I just want to know what actually happened.”

“Miss Aria.”

The Count looked directly at me.

“Marquis Carbodin is a master of cunning lies. What he did then isn’t much different from what he’s doing now. Because of the rumors he spread in society, His Grace became a cruel villain who separated a daughter from her mother.”

“That could be true.”

“Do you really think so? If her status was that low, he would have allowed her to stay by the child’s side, even as a nurse. His Grace isn’t someone who doesn’t know that a child needs both parents.”

This was also something I couldn’t know for certain. But since there was nothing more foolish than doubting Duke Baniche in front of Count Jacob, I changed the subject.

“Please tell me more about what the Marquis did. His Grace only said that he insulted Elodie.”

“…Very well.”

Count Jacob took a deep breath and began listing things. At first, it wasn’t too extreme—morally criticizing Duke Baniche and such. But it gradually got worse…

“…Eventually, he brought a tavern hostess claiming she was Elodie’s mother. Of course, she was a woman His Grace had never seen before. In the end, it was revealed that the woman hadn’t even stayed in the duchy during the period she claimed to have been pregnant with Elodie, and she was greatly humiliated.”

“Why does Marquis Carbodin go to such lengths?”

I murmured blankly. I got goosebumps from these past events where human malice was so vividly felt. If he had simply mocked Elodie, I would have been filled with anger. But after hearing Count Jacob’s explanation, what I felt was fear—fear stemming from the fact that someone so full of malice was approaching me.

“I don’t know either.”

Count Jacob answered briefly.

“Even the late Duke had a fairly good relationship with the Carbodin family. Why the Marquis acts this way…”

“Perhaps that’s why His Grace suggested I play the role of a spy.”

I calmly organized my thoughts. Yes, if he was receiving such inexplicable malice, it made sense that he would grasp at straws like me.

“Pardon?”

The problem was, Count Jacob didn’t seem to think so.

“Miss Aria, what are you saying?”

“When Marquis Carbodin first approached me, I immediately told His Grace that day. His Grace said…”

I hesitated for a moment. Count Jacob was a loyal servant. Should I speak ill of the Duke in front of him?

“He said it might be an opportunity. An opportunity to find out what Marquis Carbodin was plotting.”

“…Is that true?”

Count Jacob seemed unable to believe my words.

‘Why is he so surprised?’

Theodore Baniche was a high-ranking noble. That meant he was someone who would accept certain sacrifices to reach and maintain his current position. I was also surprised and disappointed, but not to the extent that Count Jacob seemed to be.

“Yes. If you don’t believe me, ask him directly. He doesn’t seem like someone who would lie.”

The Count inhaled.

“I didn’t mean I don’t trust you, Miss Aria. It’s just so unexpected…”

What was so unexpected? That question remained unresolved even after we arrived at the Duke’s mansion.

***

“You suggested Miss Bertin play the role of a spy.”

Theodore Baniche looked up at the openly reproachful voice.

“…Count.”

He responded in a tired voice.

“I suggested it once, and Miss Bertin declined. Why bring up something that’s already over?”

“Your Grace.”

Count Jacob strode toward the desk. Theodore didn’t bother to rise from his chair, but half-reclined and glared at him.

“I didn’t force her, so why are you confronting me like this? Do you perhaps have feelings for Miss Bertin?”

“Ha, me?”

Count Jacob snorted.

“Honestly, don’t you think it was an absurd proposal, Your Grace? Miss Bertin as a spy! Have all the spies in the empire died or something?”

That was true. Theodore had been regretting his words from the very moment Aria Bertin had looked at him with that startled deer expression. If Aria had readily agreed to help as a spy, he would have dissuaded her. Why he had made such a preposterous proposal to Aria in that moment remained a mystery even to himself.

“…It was a mistake.”

“A mistake, you say.”

The Count’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“I don’t think so.”

“Then, are you suggesting I deliberately troubled Miss Bertin?”

“Of course not.”

The Count shook his head.

“I’m just saying… Your Grace has a strange habit of pushing away people you’re drawn to.”

***

Was I too naive? I cleanly rejected both Duke Baniche’s absurd proposal and Marquis Carbodin’s dating request. So I thought there wouldn’t be any more troublesome matters…

“Miss Bertin and Marquis Carbodin? Impossible!”

In short, it was a naive misconception. I quietly peeked at where the agitated voice was coming from. Fortunately, Elodie was out for an outdoor lesson with Madam Salamander, so she wasn’t present.