-6-

「Dear, are you doing well? I heard that you weren’t feeling well. Are you alright? Even Cain seems to be worried about you. (…shortened) I am very concerned about you. I will come to see you this afternoon.」

What? Today? Father. Just a moment. I’m not prepared for this. I almost fainted just yesterday, so how did the news travel so fast?

The thought of meeting the father who gave birth to this body made my stomach churn a bit. After all, I am not the Delis he knows.

Marquis Caesar is the only one in the novel who genuinely worries about Delis, referring to her as his child.

That’s why, unlike with other characters, I needed to mentally prepare myself. But for him to come so suddenly…

His daughter is no longer here. I sighed inwardly, unable to voice my thoughts.

And mentioning Cain in the letter?

Cain, the only family Delis had besides the Duke, was her brother.

Cain and Delis didn’t get along very well. He was a very sane person, which made it impossible for him to understand Delis’s misdeeds or greed, and he disliked her for that. Delis, in turn, disliked his coldness towards her.

I didn’t see any reason for Cain to be worried about Delis.

‘Until he arrives, maybe I’ll explore the mansion.’

I decided to pass the time by taking a tour of the mansion until Marquis Caesar arrived.

The interior of the mansion lacked extravagant decorations but had a certain charm in every piece of furniture and even the small patterns on the walls. The structure was so different from modern houses that it reminded me again of being in a medieval era.

The mansion was so large that I feared getting lost inside. Should I drop stones along the way like in the fairy tales?

As I walked around, I found myself standing in front of stairs leading to the basement. The atmosphere here felt quite different from the rest of the mansion. Although I’d never been here before, my curiosity was piqued.

Surely, as the Duchess, they wouldn’t say I can’t go down there, right? I justified myself and cautiously descended into the basement.

It didn’t seem much different from the other floors. It wasn’t dark like I’d expected a basement to be. Huh, this wasn’t so bad. I was scared for nothing.

As I looked around more comfortably, I noticed a door with an unusual texture.

It looked sturdier than the other doors. I tried turning the handle, but it was locked. What is this? My curiosity flared up again.

I’ll have to ask Roan about it later. He’ll tell me what it is, right?

“Your Grace!”

I heard Mary calling me. I came out of the basement.

“The Marquis has arrived.”

“Your Grace, the Marquis is here. Shall I escort him to the drawing-room?”

Victor asked.

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Marquis Caesar entered the mansion and immediately looked at me.

“Del!”

He called me by what seemed to be Delis’s nickname the moment he saw me. He had the same blond hair and light gold eyes as Delis.

I was a bit surprised. Delis was a late child. He had her when he was 34.

In the Empire, nobles typically married young, usually around 18 or 19 years old. Delis and Roan had also married when Delis was 19 and Roan was 20. So, by Imperial standards, it was clear that the Marquis had her quite late.

Delis was now 20, making him 54 years old. But he looked no older than his early to mid-40s. In other words, he was a youthful-looking, handsome middle-aged man.

He must have been quite famous in his youth. I could see where Delis got her stunning looks from.

“Del, are you alright?”

“Yes, Father. I’m fine.”

“Del… Why are you speaking so formally? And why are you calling me Father? You used to call me Dad last time we met. You must have been really ill to be so polite.”

Ah, she used to call him Dad informally. Marquis Caesar didn’t know that Delis had lost her memory. I didn’t want to tell him either. It was bad enough that his daughter’s soul had changed; telling him she had also lost her memory…

“No, …Dad. I just wanted to try speaking formally.”

Calling him Dad felt a bit strange. As an orphan, I’d never had anyone to call Dad.

“Is that so? How cute, my daughter.”

Cute, huh. I could bet he was the only one who would describe Delis that way.

We were sitting in the garden, enjoying the warm weather and drinking tea served by the maid.

“Del. So how have things been lately…?”

He asked, somewhat cautiously.

For a moment, I wondered what he was referring to, but I soon realized he meant my marriage with Roan.

Delis would have complained about Roan and whined about how much she hated married life every time she met the Marquis. He would have been troubled but unable to do anything about it.

“Oh, it’s really good these days. Roan treats me so well.”

Well, at least by my standards, haha. The Marquis’s eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing from me.

“Really? So you no longer want to…”

He must have been referring to her desire to become Empress.

“I’ve given up on that. It was never going to happen anyway. Besides, I like Roan now.”

The Marquis’s eyes grew even wider.

“You really like Duke Roan? He treats you well?”

“Of course!”

“I see. For some reason, the Duke wrote to me yesterday that you seemed to be unwell. I’m glad to see that things have improved between you.”

“Did he?”

So that’s how the Marquis found out about yesterday. Roan had informed him. I felt unexpectedly touched.

“What made you start liking him? Tell me, Del.”

“Dad, you just don’t know how adorable Roan is. He’s absolutely cute.”

At that moment, something flew towards us out of nowhere.

As it got closer, I saw it was a small bird. The maid, who had her back to the approaching bird, seemed startled and slightly trembled while holding the teapot.

In that instant, some hot tea splashed onto my hand.

“Ah!”

“Y-Your Grace.”

The Marquis looked at me with a startled expression. The maid, also shocked, stared at me with teary eyes.

“I-I’m so sorry.”

“Del, are you alright?”

The Marquis spoke cautiously as if knowing how I might react.

“Y-Your Grace! I’m really sorry!”

The maid knelt down. I was a bit taken aback. It wasn’t something worth kneeling over.

“No, it’s alright. Please, get up.”

Both the maid and the Marquis stared at my face.

The maid seemed to think I might punish her if she got up, so she remained kneeling.

The Marquis looked at me with an expression of disbelief. Was this really his daughter?

“I deeply apologize. Please, show mercy just this once…”

Mercy? I’m telling you it’s fine. In fact, it wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Who could have predicted a bird would fly in at that moment? And I couldn’t exactly scold the bird for flying in. Yet she still wouldn’t get up.

“Really, it’s fine. Get up. I won’t punish you. What’s your name?”

“E-Emily.”

“Alright, Emily. Could you fetch a cold wet towel for me? The spot where the tea splashed is a bit red.”

Emily looked bewildered for a moment before she cried out.

“Thank you so much, Your Grace. I’ll get it right away!”

She stood up and quickly went to get the towel. The Marquis continued to look at me with a puzzled expression.

“Del, what happened to you? You’ve really changed.”

He spoke with a sense of emotion.

“I knew it. No matter how much others said you had a bad personality, I always believed you just didn’t know how to love others! Sniff, sniff.”

No, Father. Your daughter originally did have a bad personality.

She grew up with a loving father, had plenty of money, and was beautiful. Why did she have such a bad personality? Thanks to Delis, I’m starting to believe in the theory of innate evil.

“Cain would be so proud to see you now. Maybe you two can get closer. You two never quite got along, did you?”

The Marquis was generous in his phrasing. In reality, Delis was the one who was abnormal, haha.

We continued our conversation.

Outside, the sun was setting. A beautiful sunset of red and orange hues filled the sky.

“Del, I have to go now. I wish I could stay, but I came in a hurry thinking you were sick. Send my regards to your husband.”

The Marquis was now calling Roan his son-in-law.

Talking with me seemed to have increased his affection for Roan. I walked the Marquis to the mansion entrance to see him off.

He waved vigorously until he got into the carriage. I’m glad to see he’s healthy. I smiled.

I returned to the mansion. After the Marquis left, I lay on the bed, rolling around. This is paradise.

-Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

“Your Grace, the Duke has just arrived at the mansion!”

Roan is back! I quickly sprang out of bed where I had been buried under the covers.