“You’re up early, miss.”

Delphia’s short hair was still damp, as though she had come immediately after washing.

“Yes. You’re up early as well, Lady Delphia.”

“We have training at dawn.”

Delphia winked and settled beside the sofa. Then she stretched out one arm and arched her body.

“I’ve been working myself to the bone in the training yard until now. Ah! I thought coming to the capital meant I could sleep until morning!”

Irina laughed softly at Delphia’s heartfelt lament.

Delphia glanced at her, then leaned closer.

“But what brings you all the way over here?”

“Breakfast, of course! Let’s go to the dining room together.”

At the word breakfast, Irina nodded.

Truthfully, she had been ravenously hungry for some time.

It felt, with only slight exaggeration, as though her stomach were touching her back.

“Our chef is truly the best. His cooking was the only thing that kept me going on the battlefield.”

“Wow.”

“Once you taste his food, you’ll never be able to live without it either. His meat dishes are especially magnificent.”

‘Meat.’

Irina swallowed at the word.

Whenever Ben was in a particularly good mood, he treated everyone to delicious food once a year.

One of those dishes had been meat.

Although the piece she received had been very, very small, it had tasted wonderful.

Surely meat served in a place like this would be even more delicious.

After praising the chef’s skills at length, Delphia turned fully toward Irina.

“And since you don’t know your way around the estate yet, I’ll show you around after breakfast. This place is rather large for a townhouse, so you could easily become lost if you aren’t careful.”

Delphia added that the building had originally served as the mansion of another noble family.

But Irina was so preoccupied by another thought that she missed the rest of the explanation.

‘You can become lost inside a house?’

That was something she had never known.

Meanwhile, Delphia finished speaking and briefly turned her head from side to side before……

“Miss, I’m afraid I have no talent for speaking indirectly, so…… did your conversation with His Grace go well yesterday?”

Delphia attempted to ask the question casually.

Irina nodded.

“He told me many things. He spoke about my parents…… Ah, and he said I could remain at this estate.”

“So you heard about Sir Azen and Senior Leira.”

“Yes. He told me they loved me dearly and were truly remarkable people.”

A puzzled expression crossed Delphia’s face.

“Did he tell you anything else?”

Watching her, Irina shook her head.

Why was Delphia asking such a question?

“Hmm……”

Delphia furrowed her brow and scratched her head, looking troubled.

“Lady Delphia.”

“Yes?”

“Was there something His Grace forgot to tell me?”

“Ah……”

“I thought he was about to say something yesterday, but he stopped.”

At Irina’s words, Delphia’s eyes began darting from side to side. She appeared to be thinking furiously.

“N-No!”

Delphia nearly jumped out of her seat.

“Well, um…… Right! I mean……”

“……?”

“I was wondering whether he told you about Viscount Ventren!”

It was yet another unfamiliar name.

Irina shook her head.

“Viscount Corbin Ventren is your paternal uncle. In other words, he’s Sir Azen’s younger brother.”

Delphia rubbed the back of her neck as she continued.

“And he’s the bastard who abandoned you.”

“What?”

Delphia’s expression grew uncharacteristically grave.

“Sir Azen and Senior Leira feared they would be unable to guarantee your safety once they left.”

It was not as though they had no loyal followers around them.

Even so, the thought of leaving behind their smiling infant, still wrapped in swaddling clothes, filled them with endless anxiety.

“So they decided to entrust you to Viscount Ventren.”

He was Azen’s younger brother.

He was family.

‘I can trust you.’

They had entrusted their daughter to him with that belief.

“But the moment Viscount Ventren took you into his care, he traveled to the capital and abandoned you in the slums.”

Delphia sighed and raked a hand through her hair.

“That was why it took us so long to find you. His Grace actually came here to search for you much earlier, but……”

When the Duke of Winfried and his knights visited Viscount Ventren and his wife, the couple had told them,

“She…… died.”

“She contracted a fever when she was around two years old and passed away.”

“We truly tried everything we could. But the child…… my niece……”

“And when I learned that my brother had died as well……! I felt guilty for being alive!”

Delphia’s face twisted in disgust.

“To be honest, we believed him at first.”

Viscount Ventren fainted while recounting the story, and a terrible fever spread through the region when Irina was two.

While her husband was unconscious, the viscountess showed them the child’s grave in a corner of the Ventren estate.

“But it was all a lie.”

As they left Viscount Ventren’s estate burdened by grief, the Duke of Winfried quietly murmured,

“That was a lie.”

“……How did he know?”

Delphia hesitated briefly before answering.

“He was smiling.”

“What?”

“His Grace said he saw it. The viscount raised a hand to cover his mouth while sobbing, but behind it…… he was smiling.”

Irina released a short, disbelieving breath.

‘He smiled?’

He had pretended to weep while secretly smiling?

How could anyone do such a thing?

Delphia resumed her story.

“After that…… we investigated everything thoroughly. By sheer good fortune, we found a servant who had been dismissed long ago. That was how we finally found you.”

Delphia continued speaking, but Irina could no longer concentrate properly.

The words he abandoned you echoed endlessly through her mind.

“How can anyone be so cruel?”

It felt as though flames were surging inside her.

Overwhelmed by the unfamiliar emotion, Irina clutched her chest and lowered her head.

“How could he…… abandon his own family? A helpless baby……?”

“Exactly.”

Delphia nodded.

“I really should have pretended to lose my mind and killed him back then.”

“……What?”

Irina’s head snapped up.

Delphia continued muttering to herself.

“I looked into it afterwards, you know?” Apparently, the courts tend to show leniency towards long-serving veterans who commit murder in the heat of the moment. I could have claimed that I mistook him for an enemy soldier. If only I’d known that at the time, I would have pretended to do just that and cut off his head. Well, even if they sent me to prison…”

Delphia grinned.

“His Grace would get me out.”

“…….”

“The next time I see him, I’ll cut off his head and present it to you as a gift.”

“No!”

She was completely serious.

Both Delphia and Irina were.

“If…… if you did that, you would be punished. I don’t want someone as kind as you to suffer because of a wicked man.”

Irina clenched both fists.

“I would rather hit him myself.”

“Miss……”

Delphia sniffled, seemingly moved. Then she nodded vigorously.

“You’re right! There’s no reason for me to be punished! Besides, His Grace has already begun uncovering all of Viscount Ventren’s crimes.”

“It’s only a matter of time before that bastard is punished.”

Delphia added with a broad grin.

“His Grace is doing that?”

“Yes! Everything must be returned to you.”

“Returned to me? What do you mean?”

“Sir Azen and Senior Leira’s fortune, their territory, and the title of Count Leonid.”

‘A title.’

The word felt so utterly removed from her life that Irina could only blink.

“Once Viscount Ventren has been dealt with, you will inherit the title of Count Leonid.”

“What? How could I possibly become a count?”

No, when she thought about it, perhaps it was only natural.

She was the daughter of a count.

Yet the distance between herself and that title had closed so suddenly that it felt both unfamiliar and impossible to believe.

“You are their daughter. That alone gives you every right to inherit.”

‘But I can’t even read. And as shameful as it is, I can barely do arithmetic……’

The words died before Irina could voice them.

“His Grace will help you with anything you lack.”

Smiling, Delphia clasped Irina’s hands tightly.

“From now on, all you need to do is reclaim what was always yours and enjoy it.”

‘What was always mine.’

Irina quietly repeated those words to herself, then nodded.

Becoming a count still felt beyond her reach, but she wanted to reclaim at least a little—just a small part—of what had always been hers.

Seeing her response, Delphia smiled brightly.

“Excellent! Then shall we go and have breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll show you the way to the dining room. Let’s eat together!”

Still holding Irina’s hand, Delphia sprang to her feet and headed toward the door.

Swept along by her enthusiasm, Irina followed.

“I would love to introduce you to the members of our order, but they’ve probably finished breakfast and left by now.”

“Already?”

Irina glanced toward the window.

The sun was only beginning to rise. It was the time when diligent people awakened and started their day.

Yet the knights had already finished eating and left?

“Of course! By this hour, they’ve probably digested everything too. Those men practically drink bread like water.”

‘Drink bread like water? Is that even possible?’

As Irina stared at her with her mouth open, Delphia laughed heartily.

“We can take our time. I’ll explain everything to you while we eat. First, the layout of the estate, then the location of the training yard and the food storeroom, and……”

Watching Delphia walk ahead while organizing everything she intended to explain, Irina suddenly remembered something she had not yet told her.

“Um, Lady Delphia.”

Delphia turned and met her gaze, silently encouraging her to continue.

“There’s something I want to tell you.”

Irina’s lips moved hesitantly.

She had repeated the name hundreds of times the day before, yet now that she was about to introduce herself with it, the words refused to come easily.

“Well……”

Her continued hesitation might have frustrated anyone else.

But Delphia waited patiently, allowing Irina to speak when she was ready.

“My name is Irina.”

At last, Delphia heard her name.

“My real name.”

Irina smiled, her cheeks turning pink.

“Irina Leonid. That is my name.”

A smile gradually spread across Delphia’s lips and cheeks until she was grinning broadly.

“That’s a wonderful name! It’s adorable!”

‘Isn’t it? I think so too.’

Irina smiled just as brightly in return.