An act. At first, he thought everything was an act. When he saw the woman come to the office, he ended up laughing because his expectations were right. But when he realized that the woman was looking for Edward, not him, he couldn’t manage his expression properly.

Still, he made excuses, assumed that the woman was looking for him, and even greeted her in person. But she greeted him without even looking at him and disappeared.

“….”

Recently, Raphael’s mood wasn’t good. It was because Amelia kept avoiding him. Even when they encountered each other, it was clear to anyone that she was actively avoiding him. It was more accurate to say that she pretended not to see him. But suddenly, she requested cash for her personal expenses.

She even said that she would be going out for the first time. He reluctantly muttered that he couldn’t oppose her. He wondered if this was the Amelia he knew. Amelia didn’t like going out in the first place.

“Your Grace, is there something wrong?”

“No.”

In response to Edward’s words, Raphael stiffened his face and extended his hand, meaning to give him documents. He had never been like this before, but these days he thought of that woman several times a day. He thought it would be better to just act like he did before.

“Oh, by the way…”

“What is it?”

“I heard Her Highness doesn’t touch alcohol at all.”

Hearing that she didn’t even drink alcohol, Raphael eventually put down his pen. Wasn’t she a woman who couldn’t live without it? Can a person change so suddenly? He had also heard reports of her extremely sincere attitude towards the child.

“Edward.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Lately, the reports about Amelia have been a mess. It couldn’t be explained with mere words. She would dine with Leonel as she pleased, and she wouldn’t come out of the library. Now she was even asking for money to go outside.

At first, he thought she was avoiding him to get his attention. But as time went by, he realized it wasn’t the case. It was hard to believe, but Amelia had no interest in him. It was the same at night. The woman, who used to be so desperate to get closer to him every night, disappeared.

On the contrary, there was only a woman who tried her best to avoid being touched.

“What do you think of her?”

“What?”

“I’m talking about the Grand Duchess.”

It doesn’t seem like she was trying to attract his attention by behaving strangely. She was terrified, and she hated meeting him even once during the day. There’s no way Leonel couldn’t sense the same thing. Recent reports stated that Leonel loves having meals together with her every day.

“If you’re asking me how she is…”

“Forget it.”

He was the wrong person to ask in the first place. The person I should ask should be the person who’s probably feeling this change the most.

“Your Excellency? Master? Where are you going?”

Raphael threw the documents at Edward, who was following behind him, and left just like that. He knew it would be annoying to have him unnecessarily stick around. The only thing he liked about him was that he wasn’t intimidated by him, but he had a problem with his meddling.

“Father?”

He appeared without any notice, so it was natural to be surprised, but Leonel showed no signs of surprise at all. On the contrary, he just looked straight at him as though he were demanding an answer as to why he came.

In moments like this, Leonel was more like a Siegfried than anyone else.

But when this child stood in front of Amelia, he behaved like a meek lamb.

“I heard the Grand Duchess went out.”

“…Did you come just to tell me that?”

Look at him now, answering straight while looking at him. It was amusing how he acted innocent only in front of his mother.

“I guess she’s grown tired of you.”

“It’s not me she’s tired of, it’s you, Father.”

Was Leonel dispirited? That was what Amelia thought, because she didn’t know. Leonel had never been dispirited before. It was the same when he went to the border of the western forest. On the contrary, he went forward and killed the demons. He didn’t show any signs of being tired.

The same was true on the day he suddenly returned, claiming to be in pain. He forced himself and said he had to return to the castle because he was not feeling well.

“There’s something I know about your mother.”

Come to think of it, something was strange. Since that day, Amelia has changed. It could be a coincidence, but there were a lot of things that didn’t add up.

“No, there’s nothing.”

Knowing that he wouldn’t open her mouth even if he forced her, he had no choice but to give up. He was getting annoyed that he kept paying attention to Amelia. It was only because she resembled Evelyn that he married her.

Amelia Seraphin was a woman who couldn’t be reasoned with.

* * *

Upon hearing the report that Leonel had cried for a long time in front of the Grand Duchess, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. Although Amelia seemed to believe that her son was innocent, it was far from the truth. He was rather wicked and downright evil. It amused him to see the child hiding his claws and whimpering like a lamb in front of his mother. The Grand Duchess couldn’t see through it at all.

Even if his eyes were slightly different, he couldn’t be anyone other than a Siegfried. Leonel was a Siegfried through and through, even to the core.

Even if the Grand Duchess fell for the child’s play, it had nothing to do with him.

“Well, it’s none of my business.”

And that’s why. He opened the door and went inside, unknowingly lured by a voice coming from within.

“You had quite a day today.”

“You’re here.”

“Did you enjoy going out?”

“Thanks to you. I appreciate you increasing the budget.”

Amelia, who readily returned his remarks without showing any surprise, seemed unfamiliar. She used to be a woman who couldn’t speak well to him without alcohol. And the scent that filled the room. It seemed that it had changed from the smell of alcohol to something else.

“But, anyway.”

“Why, why are you like this?”

Raphael’s eyebrows twitched as he saw Amelia hesitate and step back when he approached her. It was truly strange.

“What did you spray this time?”

“Spray?”

“Yeah, your scent is even worse today, it’s driving me crazy.”

One day, a strange smell trailed at the tip of his nose. The scent grew stronger over time, reaching a point where it remained even when he covered his nose. And that smell intensified when he was with Amelia, as though it telling him that she was the source of that sweet scent.

“But I just took a bath?”

Because she was moving around after just showering, the fragrance became even more intense. Raphael felt like he was going to lose his mind, so he raised his hand to cover his nose. If it was just the smell, he could endure it. Women wear perfume, after all.

“It’s so bad, I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“It’s disgusting?”

But it wasn’t that kind of scent. The moment he smelled it, his mind went blank. It was a scent that made him feel like he would lose his sanity. For the first time, he felt the instinct to bite that white nape.

“If you don’t like it, you can use a separate room.”

“I already told you last time.”

“Because of tradition?”

Amelia shot back sharply, unaware that he was barely holding himself back.

“I don’t like it either. So let’s use separate rooms.”

Ah, now he understood. The Amelia in front of him was a completely different person. He finally discovered the identity of the discomfort he had been feeling all along. The way she’s avoiding him, the nonsensical sleep talking—everything was all because she was a different person.

The original Amelia would never propose using different rooms.

“No one ever asked the Grand Duchess first, do they?”

And she even boldly questioned if he had ever asked her. How could he not have realized until now that they were so different?

“That’s not possible.”

“What?”

What came out of his mouth was a firm refusal. Despite his will, the words of discontent escaped first. He couldn’t understand why he said such a thing when he had been waiting for this moment for so long. It even made him feel bad because of her attitude of refusing him until the end.

“Father?”

Amelia struggled on the edge of the bed, trying to stay away from him until she fell asleep. But once she falls asleep, it begins. Even when she was on the edge of the bed, she snuggled closer and embraced him tightly. At first, he thought it was some kind of trick, but it wasn’t. She was really doing it unconsciously in her sleep.

“Why did you come down here?”

“I wanted to have a meal together.”

Raphael didn’t get up from his seat even at Leonel’s facial expression, which contorted in response to his offer to dine together. This was an opportunity to see firsthand how he begged in front of his mother.

“You don’t eat anything.”

“You eat a lot of unnecessary desserts these days.”

“Because they’re delicious.”

A child is still a child, after all. Just like Leonel said, he didn’t eat much. Since some time ago, he couldn’t taste anything he ate.

“Why are you here…?” 

Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, it was amusing to see her all over Leonel as soon as she arrived. How would that face change if she knew how the child actually behaves?

“Why, do you think I scolded that child?”

“Your Grace!”

“That child follows the Grand Duchess a lot.” 

Strangely, his judgment was distorted by Amelia’s behavior as she glared at him with the child in her arms.

“It’s only natural for a child to follow their mother.”

“That’s why I wanted to try it too.”

It was highly impulsive. At that moment, he couldn’t control himself.

“I’m also a parent. I want to experience being a parent.”