“I feel completely…… healed.”

Claudia’s voice trailed off.

“I’m glad you’ve made a full recovery. With my healing arts, anything is possible except bringing the dead back to life or reattaching severed limbs.”

The healer said this in a tone that subtly boasted of something self-evident.

Claudia paid no mind to the healer’s attitude and jumped to her feet, bowing repeatedly.

“Thank you so very much, sir……”

Should she ask whether he could treat her father as well?

In the empire, healers were considered high-end professionals. Receiving even a single treatment required a considerable sum of gold coins, and without a proper introduction, it was not easy to meet one at all.

The war compensation would be coming soon, and if she steadily saved her monthly pay from the knights’ order…… perhaps she could afford at least one treatment?

She hesitated over whether it would be all right to bring up her father to the healer. Claudia’s lips moved slightly.

Just then, the healer, still seated, waved his hand in an arrogant gesture as if to say that was enough, and spoke.

“Sir, you say…… ahem, if you wish to express your gratitude, please direct it to the Duchess.”

He had assumed the treatment had been arranged on the orders of the Duke of Valdevern.

But the Duchess?

Claudia blinked rapidly. It was an entirely unexpected person.

“When you say the Duchess, do you mean the Duchess of Valdevern?”

The healer, who had nodded without thinking at Claudia’s question, suddenly clapped a hand over his own mouth.

“Ah……”

A look of dismay quickly spread across his face.

“Is something the matter, sir?”

“……Well, the words are already out and there is no taking them back, so I will just tell you.”

The healer stole a glance beyond the parlor.

He appeared to be taking care to check whether anyone outside might be eavesdropping.

“……!”

Sierra, who had been secretly watching the situation unfold, quickly hid herself behind the wall at the healer’s sudden movement. She held her breath and strained her ears.

“I would prefer that you believe you received treatment on the orders of His Grace the Duke of Valdevern.”

His voice was noticeably quieter than before, but not so low that it was impossible to hear.

“What do you mean by that……”

“I am not entirely sure of the reason myself, but the Duchess requested treatment for Sir Claudin and specifically asked me to say as much.”

There was no response from Claudia for a moment, as though she was thinking it over. Soon, the healer’s rapid-fire words followed.

“Do you understand? If I lose her trust, the Duchess of Valdevern will no longer call upon me.”

The healer appealed that if he did not act in accordance with the Duchess’s wishes, he would lose a major client.

“……I understand. If that is what the Duchess wishes, I will consider what was just said as though I never heard it.”

“Thank you. I am glad you are a reasonable person.”

A feather would be heavier than that healer’s mouth.

Pressed flat against the corridor wall, Sierra shook her head.

Before heading to the study to attend to her work, Sierra had handed the healer a considerable number of gold coins under the guise of Claudia’s treatment fee.

Since it was more than the cost of treating one person, the healer could not have been unaware that it was also meant to buy his silence.

She had told him that if Claudia ever asked whose orders had arranged the treatment, he was to say it had been on the orders of Duke Ahin of Valdevern.

‘And yet he went and blurted it all out!’

Just as Sierra pursed her lips with a displeased look.

In the distance down the corridor, she could see Ahin walking in her direction.

‘At last, he’s here!’

Sierra quickly hid herself.

—

The scratching of a quill pen filled the quiet study of the Duke of Valdevern.

Ahin was rapidly skimming through an enormous pile of documents in order to make up for two years of absence.

Even on the battlefield, he had been handling important matters here and there through carrier pigeons, but there was still a great deal left unfinished.

As Ahin was working through the mountains of paperwork at a swift pace, the butler came to see him.

“Young master. You are working very hard.”

The butler was carrying tea and dessert to accompany it.

“Leave it there.”

Ahin glanced at the butler and gestured with his eyes toward the table by the window.

“……”

Contrary to Ahin’s expectation that the butler would leave the dessert and tea and promptly step out, Eddie did not leave the study.

Under the butler’s lingering gaze, Ahin finally lifted his head.

“……?”

And there was the butler, standing right where he was, dabbing at the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.

Watching Eddie, who appeared to be overcome with emotion, Ahin furrowed his brow slightly.

“Why are you standing there like that?”

“Ah, please do not mind me and carry on with your work.”

How many people in the world could truly not mind someone watching them while wiping away tears?

And Eddie, at that, was the person who had looked after him in place of the late Duke and Duchess of Valdevern, who had passed away early.

Letting out a faint sigh, Ahin rose from his seat.

“You want me to take at least a short rest, don’t you?”

Ahin walked over to the table where the tea and dessert had been placed.

“Did it come across that way? That was not my intention……”

Despite his words, the butler quickly pulled out a chair.

“Please, sit.”

Ahin had no choice but to take a sip of the tea Eddie had brought.

Whether honey had been added or not, it was slightly sweet with a faint floral fragrance.

The tea was at just the right temperature for drinking, neither too hot nor too cold.

“Thank you, Eddie.”

Even at Ahin’s blunt words, Eddie’s face lit up with joy before quickly becoming wet with tears.

“I am so deeply moved……”

Sniffling, Eddie continued.

“If the late Duke and Duchess could have seen you grow into such a fine young man, they would have been truly delighted.”

Perhaps because he was from the Butlerway family, who had served the Dukes of Valdevern for generations, Eddie’s loyalty ran deep.

Boys born into the Butlerway household were sent to an academy at a certain age to receive advanced education in preparation for serving the next Duke of Valdevern.

This applied to Eddie as well, though with one slight difference. Eddie had been required to return to the Valdevern estate shortly before completing his studies at the academy.

It was because when Eddie was nineteen and Ahin was around seven, the late Duke and Duchess of Valdevern had died suddenly.

And alongside them, the previous butler of the Valdevern household, who was also Eddie’s father.

For that reason, Eddie had raised Ahin, who was considerably younger, as though he were his own son. Though of course, Ahin did not regard Eddie as a father.

“Stop crying.”

At Ahin’s blunt words, Eddie stopped his tears at once and smiled faintly. The dessert on the plate and the tea that Eddie had brought were already completely finished.

“Was it to your liking?”

“It was a little sweet, but……”

Ahin stopped himself there.

He had a feeling Sierra would enjoy even this tooth-achingly sweet cake.

“Bring Sierra the same thing.”

“I have already set aside something for the young lady separately.”

Just as Ahin was about to say well done, the sound of knocking echoed through the room.

Knock, knock.

“Your Grace, are you in?”

“What is it?”

“Lady Sierra asked me to pass along a message.”

“Sierra?”

“Yes.”

Eddie looked at Ahin as if asking for his permission. When Ahin gave a nod, Eddie opened the study door.

“What is the matter?”

“She asked whether you would be able to meet her in the parlor in thirty minutes.”

“……Sierra asked that?”

“Yes.”

“Tell her I will be there.”

“Yes.”

The maid bowed and turned to leave. As if about to step out as well, Eddie gathered the empty plate and teacup.

Ahin watched quietly before asking,

“Eddie. A moment.”

Eddie, who had been tidying the table, turned toward Ahin.

“Is there something you need?”

“How has Sierra been doing these past two years?”

“For something like that…… might it not be better to speak with the young lady directly?”

Eddie gave a perfectly sensible answer, and at the same time, Ahin’s brow creased.

“You can’t say? So something happened that you can’t talk about?”

“No, no.”

When Ahin growled, Eddie shook his head vigorously and waved his hands.

“Then?”

“There is nothing I cannot tell you. I simply thought it might be an opportunity to give the two of you a reason to have a conversation.”

When Ahin dropped his gaze, Eddie added,

“More importantly, you haven’t forgotten that tomorrow is the young lady’s twentieth birthday, have you?”

Sierra’s twentieth birthday.

It was a birthday he had shared with her eleven times, save for the two years he had been away at war. There was no way he could forget. Of course Ahin knew that tomorrow was Sierra’s birthday.

It was also partly why he had hurried back to the estate, to celebrate Sierra’s birthday.

But Eddie, unaware of Ahin’s circumstances, continued once more.

“I am not without understanding of your feelings, Your Grace. You were married at far too young an age, and to a partner you did not choose, at that.”

Ahin’s lips parted slightly, but Eddie did not give him a chance to speak and pressed on quickly.