“I already told Eve.”

“Told her… what?”

“About her father.”

Eclace leaned back lightly in his chair.

“I did my best to make her understand. By now, she should be with Duke Lester. If you ask why I spoke of it without consulting you first… I thought it would be better if it came from me.”

Better that way, so I would feel less wretched.

After spilling so many words, he swallowed the rest and smiled faintly.

For now, Eve might be confused. But Eclace knew the truth.

Barely three years. And even then, he had not always been there—only once every few months.

Perhaps Eve would soon forget the little time they shared. Perhaps in just a few days, she would cling to Shed as though she were his own daughter, without a trace of longing left for him.

Most children forget everything before the age of three. Someday, even calling him “Father” would vanish from her memory.

‘A little bitter.’

He admitted to himself. Or perhaps… very much.

Eclace curved his lips, concealing the wry edge.

For the first time, Luise felt as though she had glimpsed his true heart.

“Thank you, for everything, Eclace.”

“There’s no need to thank me. As I told you—I’ve already been paid in full.”

I didn’t do any of this for your sake. I did it for mine.

He gave a small shrug of his straight shoulders.

If there was one complaint, it was that this had become the biggest failure of his career. No matter how experienced a businessman he was, investing years in a venture only to see it collapse left him feeling hurt and disappointed. However, the blame for a failed gamble always lay with the gambler himself.

“Well then, I must go. There’s much work to be handled here as well.”

He deliberately checked his pocket watch as he rose to his feet.

The conversation had been far too brief.

“Lord Vitel…!”

Luise hurriedly stood as well, calling out to him.

At once, his steps came to a halt.

She bit her lip hard.

There were so many things she wanted to say to the man who had cared for Eve. There were so many things she wanted to hear, too.

There were too many tangled stories between them for them to part ways after such a brief exchange.

But for that very reason, she could not bring herself to stop him leaving.

“Until next time.”

All she could offer was a simple, ordinary farewell.

Yet Eclace understood its meaning. A faint smile curved his lips.

“Yes. Until next time.”

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺 

In the garden, where tender shoots had begun to tint the ground with green, birdsong drifted through the air.
From a small marble fountain, droplets scattered like stars beneath the sunlight.

Luise slowly opened her palm, holding it beneath the light. The faint red mark across it remained raw, stinging each time she closed and opened her hand. The wound had not healed well, leaving a clear trace—like her life, etched vividly upon her skin.

Through that ache, the sound of clear laughter rang out. She turned her head toward it.
There was Eve, her small hands overflowing with dandelions.

And—
“Daddy!”

A deep gaze fell upon the child.

Luise stopped where she stood, saying nothing, watching the sight before her. Shed’s lips curved into a gentle smile, touched softly by the clear sunlight.

For a moment, a memory surged to life.
A boy had once stood in this very garden, smiling at her with that same warmth. Even dressed in ragged, worn clothes, he had shone brighter than anyone else. And that boy now stood before her.

The old memory felt strangely fresh, as if it had happened only yesterday.

Luise did not want to break this radiant vision. Like one caught breathless before a masterpiece, she stood still, quietly taking it in.

Eve darted around Shed with her dandelions, teasing him. He looked bewildered at first, then let out a short, quiet laugh.

For the first time, Luise thought she wished she could capture a fragment of her life as though it were a painting.

Then—

“Mommy!”

Eve spotted her and immediately dropped the dandelions, running towards her.

“Eve.”

The child seized her mother’s hand eagerly, tugging with such determined strength that Luise found herself being pulled into the heart of the garden.

Eve stopped only when they stood before Shed.

The two adults, with Eve between them, faced each other. Faces they had seen countless times before—and yet, today, they felt strangely unfamiliar, even awkward.

Then Eve set her little hand on her hip, looking up between them with a bright grin.

“Mommy, say hello! This is my daddy!”

The cheerful, proud introduction made Luise’s and Shed’s eyes meet midair with a sharp, unguarded collision.

Luise blinked and her eyes widened.

Was that a greeting? She thought it was far too sudden and almost embarrassingly formal.

“Hurry up!”

When they were both just staring at each other in silence and neither of them spoke, Eve urged them on in a firm little voice.

Luise could see the joy sparkling in her daughter’s eyes, and how excited she was.

Without saying it aloud, she knew that Eve had wanted this.

The presence of a father would be a significant event in her short life.

Realizing this, Luise’s lips curved into a gentle smile. She stood up straight and faced Shed properly.

He was still looking at her with startled eyes.

Somehow, that unsettled expression seemed almost endearing.

“Nice to meet you, Eve’s father.”

Luise said first, offering her greeting.

The clear warmth in her voice stirred his gaze. But soon, his lips softened into a faint smile of his own.

“…And nice to meet you, my lady.”

Shed extended his hand toward her. It was a large hand, rough with scars and hardened calluses.

Luise clasped it without hesitation. A tingling sensation spread at the touch of their skin. Her heart raced like that of a young girl at the start of her first love.

How strange, after all these years of knowing him, that her chest could still flutter so.

A shy smile touched her cheeks, and in that moment, Shed pulled her into his arms.

‘My wife. My partner.’

The sight of her was so unbearably precious, he could not hold back.

He pressed his lips to hers.

At the meeting of their mouths, a sharp tremor coursed through her body, sensitive and flushed with heat. Luise closed her eyes, surrendering to the sensation that swept her in, her breath catching sweetly in her throat.

Watching from nearby, Eve’s mouth fell open, her eyes going wide.

‘So they weren’t distant after all! They were already at the kissing stage—of course he must be my father!’

Eve was convinced.

When the kiss finally ended—brief but deep—the two drew apart softly. Their breaths were uneven, their eyes tangled together.

Shed’s gaze lingered on Luise’s flushed cheek, unable to look away.

Human desire, he thought, had no end. Even after a single kiss, his thirst only grew stronger.

He entwined his fingers tightly with hers, his grip rich and intimate.

“Luise.”

Her name rolled from him in a deep, low voice, carried on the spring breeze as it wrapped around her.

“…Will you marry me—formally?”

Luise felt the faint tremor running through the hand clasping hers. It swept over her like a wave, rising all the way to her eyes.

At the word ‘marry’, tears welled up.

To others, it might be the most ordinary of things. But to her, it was too much—too precious. She thought it was a blessing far too radiant, far too happy, to ever belong in her life.

Her throat tightened, and she could not answer. She tried desperately to hold back her tears, not wanting to cry in front of Eve, but at last a drop slipped free, falling down her cheek.

“Daddy made Mommy cry!”

Startled at the sight, Eve cried out, while Shed, equally alarmed, reached up at once to wipe the tears from her face with his fingertips.

And Luise laughed.

“I’m crying because I’m too happy, Eve.”

She smiled, looking at the two faces turned wholly toward her.

“Because you’re happy?”

“Yes. Because I’m so happy we’ll all live together—you, me, and your daddy.”

Luise lifted Eve into her arms.

“But if you’re happy, why are you crying? I laugh when I’m happy.”

Eve tilted her head, baffled, yet reached out with her grass-scented little hand to brush away the tears clinging to her mother’s lashes.

At that clumsy but tender touch, Luise laughed softly.

“Sometimes, when you’re too happy, tears come instead.”

Someday, Eve would learn for herself what it meant to feel so full of joy that it spilled over into tears.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺 

It was on a day when spring had ripened a little more.

The tightly curled buds had burst into bloom, and the season carried the fragrance of the lemon blossoms she loved most.

Sunlight fell across the white silk of her gown, making the lace and crystal details shimmer faintly with every step.

Luise smoothed her hands over the dress, still awkward in its finery. She had grown so used to coarse fabrics that the feel of the finest silk, worn after so long, seemed almost foreign.

Her golden hair was gathered into a low bun, adorned with a hairvine that glittered like a spray of starlight. White lace gloves, a necklace studded with diamonds, earrings crafted from pearl and mother-of-pearl—the woman reflected in the mirror looked radiant, serene, and happy, so much so that Luise could scarcely believe it was herself.

From outside came the swell of voices, loud with excitement.

They had planned only a modest ceremony, no more than a simple exchange of vows with Eve as witness.

But—

“Forgive me. It seems things have grown larger than we intended.”

Shed’s quiet words held a trace of apology.

The guests they could not refuse had multiplied until the ceremony had swelled far beyond what they’d planned, the manor overflowing with attendees.

After all, it was the wedding of Shed Lester, hero of the Empire. Nobles from every corner had insisted on attending.

At first, Shed had rejected them all outright. But once the imperial court and the High Temple itself had sent word, even he could no longer refuse.

From the garden where the banquet was to be held, it seemed even members of the royal household had already arrived.

“People will be more interested in you than in Shed Lester. And once they find out you had a child before marriage, do you think the whispers will stop at just one or two?”

Though Giselle grumbled that attending her former fiancé’s wedding was irritating, she still added the remark.

For months, the weekly papers had been aflame with her name. Luise Ideana. That name alone had been enough to merit special editions, and so people traveled from far and wide, eager to see the woman at the heart of the rumors.

Luise, who had lived quietly in recent months, found the overwhelming attention burdensome—yet, at the same time, she thought it did not matter. For in her heart, only one thing truly mattered.

Just then—

“My lady, it is time to depart.”

From beneath the clear blue sky, the chime of bright bells rang out.