‘This person isn’t the one either…’

After meeting countless people, every single one was a disappointment.

Moreover, the gifts were all meant to impress Jackal and Yvonne rather than please Charlotte.

When a noble brought jewelry along with cuff links as gifts, Jackal spoke up.

“Do you think Charl can wear those earrings and necklace? Is that why you brought them as gifts?”

“What? Well, that’s…”

The man rolled his eyes around, not knowing what to do.

“The invitation clearly stated that this is Charlotte Riesta’s first birthday.”

“…”

The man couldn’t answer and merely gulped.

Honestly, he had thought the birthday party was just a ceremonial event.

There had been rumors that Jackal deeply cherished Charlotte, but he had dismissed them as false.

Still thinking this was an opportunity, he had prepared earnestly, but ended up with the worst possible outcome.

“Even useless cuff links… I understand your intentions perfectly well.”

Jackal’s eyes grew increasingly cold.

As his displeasure became evident, the man began trembling.

The atmosphere in the party hall instantly froze.

Royan, who was standing nearby, muttered quietly.

“Someone’s going to die.”

At those words, Charlotte opened her eyes wide.

‘Such a terrible thing absolutely cannot happen on my birthday!’

Jackal’s expression was worsening, and she needed to defuse the situation somehow.

Charlotte clenched her fists, took a small deep breath, and then burst into tears.

She didn’t particularly like crying, but since she couldn’t shout at them to stop, she had no choice.

“Jackal! How could you act like this in front of Charl!”

“I’m sorry, Charl. Daddy was wrong.”

Yvonne glared sharply at Jackal, as if she had expected this.

He fumbled about, rising from his seat and approaching Charlotte.

“Charl, I’m sorry.”

She hadn’t intended to shed actual tears, but somehow they came out anyway.

Seeing Charlotte’s tears, Jackal looked even more apologetic.

“Daddy will hold you.”

Just then, Yvonne abruptly stood up, pushed Jackal aside, and took Charlotte in her arms.

“Jackal, go back and sit down. I’ll calm Charl down and return.”

“Okay…”

The guilty party couldn’t offer any objection.

Yvonne took Charlotte to the back and began comforting her.

“There, there, Charl. Was daddy scary?”

Caught off guard by the sudden situation, the man who had been trembling until just now wore a dumbfounded expression.

Royan twitched his eyebrow and spoke.

“Why don’t you leave now?”

“Ah, yes, yes!”

As if he had been waiting for this, the man hurriedly gathered his things and quickly left.

Chesar clicked his tongue briefly, walked over to the pile of gifts, and began rummaging through them.

What emerged in his hand was a newly gifted rattle.

“Charl, look at this.”

Chesar held up the rattle and shook it in front of her eyes.

Now that her tears had stopped, she felt somewhat embarrassed and kept her eyes on the rattle, when suddenly a doll popped out as well.

“Charl, look at this too.”

The person holding the doll was Royan.

He had spotted a doll among the gifts that was just the right size for Charlotte to hold and quickly brought it over.

Apart from her embarrassment, both the rattle and the doll were truly beautiful.

When Charlotte reached out her arms, Chesar promptly placed the rattle in her hand.

She gripped the rattle tightly and also reached out toward the doll Royan was holding.

“Charl, do you like this too?”

Royan grinned broadly as he placed the doll in Charlotte’s arms.

The soft, fluffy doll was enough to lift her spirits.

‘This seems to be the softest doll I have.’

Yvonne, while stroking Charlotte’s hair, turned her head to look at Jackal.

He was fidgeting nervously, glancing repeatedly at Charlotte.

He wanted to hold her but was afraid she might reject him.

Yvonne, who clearly understood what Jackal was thinking, shook her head.

She smiled gently and spoke.

“Who’s next?”

* * *

After crying so much, her body felt tired.

Her eyes kept closing on their own, and as she was trying her hardest to stay awake, she heard Yvonne’s voice.

“The guest of honor will retire now. Everyone, please enjoy the party until it ends.”

Yvonne nudged Jackal in the side.

He hesitantly approached Charlotte and carefully took her in his arms.

‘It’s wide. Like a bed.’

Though Yvonne’s embrace was more comforting, when she was sleepy like now, Jackal’s broad chest was better.

It was perfect for leaning against and falling asleep.

“Sigh…”

Looking at Charlotte in his arms, Jackal imagined hitting his own head dozens of times.

If he could turn back time, he would never have acted that way in front of Charlotte.

Jackal walked slowly toward Charlotte’s room.

Janet was waiting in the room, and when she saw Charlotte, her eyes widened.

“Did the young lady cry? Who made her cry? Duke, I’ll go k*ll them right now.”

She looked ready to pull out the dagger hidden in her skirt, so Jackal cleared his throat and answered.

“It was me.”

“Pardon?”

“…I made Charl cry.”

“Ah…”

Janet pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes around.

The atmosphere in the room instantly became awkward.

She cleared her throat several times and hurriedly changed the subject.

“W-well, at least the young lady seems comfortable in your arms, Duke!”

“She’s probably just too sleepy to know who’s holding her.”

His tone was deeply self-deprecating.

Janet couldn’t say anything more.

She didn’t know what to do in the face of his deeply dejected expression, as if he wanted to dig a hole and disappear into it.

Charlotte found Jackal’s embrace strangely uncomfortable, so in her sleepy state, she pushed against his chest.

It was an instinctive action to find a more comfortable position, but to Jackal, it was like a bolt from the blue.

Janet, who had been watching carefully, took Charlotte from Jackal.

After staring intently at Charlotte, he finally turned away weakly and left the room.

The party must have ended by then, as Yvonne was waiting for Jackal in front of the stairs.

“Jackal.”

“Yvonne.”

Jackal murmured weakly and embraced Yvonne.

She smiled faintly and patted his back.

“It will be fine by tomorrow.”

“I was too short-sighted.”

Jackal sighed deeply with a serious expression.

“Next time, just don’t do it again.”

“What if Charl doesn’t want to see me anymore?”

At those words, Yvonne let out a small laugh.

But Jackal was in a very serious state right now.

“That won’t happen, Jackal.”

“But…”

Yvonne cupped Jackal’s cheeks with her hands and pulled him close.

“Charl couldn’t possibly hate you. She was probably just scared for a moment.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. She’ll probably smile at you tomorrow, don’t you think?”

As Yvonne spoke soothingly, the shadow gradually lifted from Jackal’s expression.

“Yes, if you say so, that must be it.”

“Hurry and wash up, change your clothes, and come back.”

“Alright. I’ll be back soon, so don’t fall asleep while waiting.”

As Jackal entered his room, Yvonne shook her head and headed to her own room.

* * *

Early in the morning, Jackal approached Charlotte’s room with careful steps.

After hesitating, he took a short deep breath and opened the door.

“Charl?”

Charlotte, who had been sitting on the floor playing with her doll, quickly turned her head to look at Jackal.

‘Why does Papa look like that?’

He seemed restless, as if he had done something wrong, and didn’t approach readily.

As Charlotte tilted her head in confusion, she remembered yesterday’s events.

‘Papa thinks I’m angry with him.’

Deciding that showing through actions would be much better than trying to explain with words he wouldn’t understand anyway, Charlotte got up.

And she began walking toward Jackal.

He stared at Charlotte, then slowly knelt on one knee and opened his arms.

She smiled brightly and fell into Jackal’s embrace without hesitation.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and hold her tightly.

“You’re not mad at daddy?”

There was no way she could be mad.

Because this was her first “real family.”

Charlotte shook her head and hugged his neck.

As she clung to him with no intention of letting go, Jackal smiled contentedly.

After bouncing Charlotte in his arms for quite some time, he suddenly came to his senses.

Looking at the time, he realized it was time for breakfast.

Jackal carefully seated Charlotte in her chair.

“Enjoy your meal, Charl.”

Meaning to say “you enjoy your meal too,” she waved her hands back and forth.

Jackal lingered as long as possible to see Charlotte before finally leaving the room.

Janet placed pieces of finely cut steak on a plate and gave them to Charlotte one by one.

While eating, she pondered deeply.

‘In the end, I couldn’t find the child the deity mentioned at yesterday’s birthday party.’

She was beginning to feel a bit frustrated about when she would be able to meet this person.

As she wondered if she needed to go outside the ducal residence to meet them, Janet’s voice reached her ears.

“Young lady, shall we go see the Duke off after your meal?”

Charlotte’s ears perked up at the mention of seeing him off.

When she nodded in agreement, Janet smiled contentedly.

Charlotte ate much more aggressively than usual and then changed her clothes.

‘I need to go out before Papa leaves.’

Thinking about how happy Jackal would be, she wanted to hurry out and surprise him.

When she left the room, she could see Jackal in the distance talking with Yvonne.

As she hurriedly approached, he seemed to sense her presence and turned his head to look at Charlotte.

“…Charl?”

His eyes were round with surprise.

Charlotte paid no mind to this and approached him.

Jackal lifted her up and said with a broad smile.

“Did you come to see me off?”

When Charlotte nodded, he felt as if he had the whole world.

Suddenly, she realized she had never given Jackal a kiss first.

So without hesitation, Charlotte planted her lips firmly on Jackal’s cheek with a loud smack.

At the sound, Yvonne, who was standing nearby, was startled and opened her eyes wide.