“And I heard that Bushin visits that place regularly every month.”

“……Bushin does?”

“Yes. A maid who was on vacation happened to see Bushin at that hospital.”

“……”

Lucas said nothing more and firmly closed his mouth. Giselle also remained silent, quietly waiting for him to organize his thoughts.

“Bushin has no family. His parents passed away a long time ago, and his only sibling died from illness at least ten years ago. That’s what I remember.”

“Is that so?”

“Moreover, his relationships are almost entirely limited to within this mansion. He’s been extremely careful to avoid receiving any favors while working as the Taylor family’s butler. Almost to the point of obsession. So he has neither close relatives nor friends.”

Lucas carefully organized his thoughts as he spoke to Giselle. And yet, questions remained.

Why would Bushin visit the same place every month?

And what was the meaning of the money that flowed into the place he visited?

Especially with the purpose of the money not properly recorded.

⟨No matter how I look at it, it seems your father, the previous family head, deliberately concealed the purpose of the money. Not just an accidental omission, but because he didn’t want to disclose something……⟩

Giselle’s words from before echoed in his ears. He hadn’t paid much attention then because he hadn’t questioned it.

It wasn’t so much that he trusted his father, but rather that he trusted his butler.

Because he believed Bushin would never hide anything from him.

During his childhood under his cold father, Bushin had been like a father to Lucas.

No, since he had filled the void left by his mother who died early, it would be more accurate to say he was like a ‘parent.’

……But what had he been hiding all this time?

Lucas hadn’t even known that Bushin went out monthly.

Since he left early for work and returned in the evening, he had completely entrusted the internal affairs of the mansion to Bushin.

“What I mean is that Bushin has no personal reason to go out regularly like that.”

He could understand why Giselle had asked him if there was someone admitted to Brensy Mental Hospital.

“……But as far as I know, there’s no one admitted there. Besides, my father wasn’t the type of person to spend money frivolously on such places.”

Whether it was a donation or paying hospital bills for someone he didn’t know about.

Neither seemed to fit his father, Sille Taylor. The cold man who only cared about money wouldn’t have spent money on something that brought no benefit.

⟨But you seem to trust Bushin completely? What if he’s the one who didn’t record the ledger properly?⟩

Giselle’s playful question now seemed like it might be reality.

Lucas involuntarily hardened his expression. He felt anger rising at the situation where he had to suspect Bushin.

He wanted to summon him and demand to know what he had been hiding. But he had a feeling that even if he called and asked, he wouldn’t get a proper answer.

Given that he had kept it hidden from him for so long.

“Lucas.”

At that moment, he felt a touch on his shoulder and turned his head. The woman who had risen from her seat and approached him was looking at him with concerned eyes.

“Are you alright? Did I do something unnecessary……”

“No. You only did what you needed to do. You did well, Giselle.”

Giselle had faithfully fulfilled her duty as the mistress of the house. In fact, she had done more than Lucas had expected of her.

Unlike him, who had completely trusted and relied on Bushin, she had identified questions by viewing the Taylor family’s situation with an objective eye.

“I’ll handle the rest from here.”

Finding the answer to the question she had discovered should be his responsibility.

* * *

『Mom! The flowers have bloomed in the garden!』

The child was lovely.

The breath of the child who came running with a spring flower was sweet, and the warmth of the child who embraced her was cozy.

『It’s spring, Mom.』

『Yes, it is. Did our Lu bring spring to Mom?』

Stella brightly smiled as she embraced the spring that her young son had brought in the flower. The child also smiled happily and buried his head in her skirt again.

『So Mom, don’t leave me. Don’t abandon me.』

The child raised his head again and spoke with a desperate voice. In place of the child’s fresh smile that had disappeared, there was an expressionless face.

Though just a five-year-old child, the child…… had to stand alone, robbed of spring.

『Darling? Lu? No! My baby, give me back my child!』

And the child instantly moved away. Torn petals and broken brushes blocked her path.

『Lu!』

Stella screamed her child’s name and reached out her hand, but it was in vain.

The hands that had painted beautiful and warm pictures were grotesquely bent, and the child moved further and further away.

As she was about to collapse in despair, watching the child recede to a tiny dot…

……she smelled the scent of spring.

She instinctively looked down toward the source of the fragrance. It was rising from the flower the child had brought her.

The pink flower, covered in dew, caressed her hand as if to comfort Stella. Then her twisted hands began to straighten.

Like in the days when she could paint freely.

Enough to embrace her child with all her might.

『……Lu.』

Why was it? She felt courage again. She looked at the already distant child, clenched both hands tightly, and shouted loudly.

“……Lu! Lucas!”

At that moment, Stella’s eyes flew open. Faint light was entering the hospital room that had never seen a ray of sunshine.

As if today would be an entirely different day.

* * *

「Prioritize this matter above all others. And don’t speak about this to anyone…… not to anyone, including the butler.」

For Howard, who had served as Lucas’s secretary for a long time, there had never been a year with so many strange events as this one.

Not only the President’s sudden marriage, but the instructions he had received recently were equally strange.

To track down who was hospitalized at Brensy Mental Hospital.

He had readily agreed to that secretive order, but he couldn’t understand his employer’s unusual behavior.

But…… now he could understand.

Why Lucas had given him such a strange order, and why he had told him to find out quietly on his own without telling anyone, including the butler.

The secretary unconsciously gripped the documents in his hand tightly. The papers crumpled mercilessly in his hand, but he had no energy to care about that.

The documents contained a terrifying truth.

The person who had been hospitalized there was…….

“Huff!”

The secretary took a deep breath at the top of the stairs, having practically run up them.

Then, after belatedly noticing that the documents he was holding were crumpled, he moved his hands several times to smooth out the wrinkled paper.

His hands spasmed uncontrollably, unlike his usually composed self.

He barely managed to calm himself and then, still firmly gripping the documents with both hands, walked toward Lucas’s office.

“Ah! Mr. Howard. Erento Shipyard has contacted……”

“We’ll talk later. I have an urgent matter to report to the President right now.”

An employee approaching from the opposite direction tried to speak to him, but he cut him off with a wave of his hand.

After hurriedly walking to Lucas’s office, the secretary took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

—Come in.

The voice that came from beyond the door was calm. But the secretary knew all too well that this calmness would soon be shattered.

Because of the truth he had discovered.

* * *

“President, as you instructed…… Ah! Madam, you’re here.”

The secretary who had entered the office began to speak urgently but then politely greeted Giselle when he saw her with Lucas.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Howard. Um…… I should be going now.”

She blinked with a surprised expression, nodded in acknowledgment, and then gathered her hat and gloves that she had set aside. Lucas looked at her and asked.

“Leaving already? Didn’t you say you finished your business at the bank?”

“I’m going to stop by the bookstore before heading home. I also promised to buy knitting yarn for the nanny.”

Giselle answered his question as she put on her hat. Lucas rested his chin on his hand as he quietly watched her, then smiled slightly and beckoned to her.

“Why…… why?”

Giselle glanced nervously at the secretary as she questioned Lucas’s gesture toward her. In response, instead of beckoning again, he rose from his seat and approached her.

Then, as he straightened her crooked hat, he spoke.

“Your hat was crooked.”

“……Ah. You could have just told me.”

Giselle touched the hat he had adjusted and blushed slightly. Lucas was quietly looking down at her when a sudden cough diverted his attention.

The secretary, who had unexpectedly witnessed the couple’s affectionate interaction, couldn’t contain his embarrassment and coughed. When his eyes met Lucas’s, he hurriedly lowered his head.

“Did you find out?”

Lucas finally seemed to realize the purpose of the secretary’s visit to his office and asked a question. The secretary nodded with a serious expression, as if he had never been embarrassed.