Chapter 8

She sat across the table from Duke Bryce Conver.

She didn’t feel the excitement of meeting the male protagonist of this world.

Instead, she carefully examined his face.

His neatly combed dark black hair resembled Ray’s.

His piercing blue eyes also resembled Ray’s.

His straight, prominent nose, short and deep philtrum, and sharply defined red lips.

He resembled Ray too much.

She had once asked Ray’s mother.

「Ray doesn’t resemble you at all, does he?」

「Yes, he looks just like his father.」

‘Damn it.’

It seemed that the man in front of her was indeed Ray’s father.

She clenched her teeth.

Duke Conver spoke first.

“I heard that seven years ago, you rescued Isabella on Hurt Mountain?”

His deep, resonant voice wrapped around her ears.

His deep blue eyes shone like the ocean.

“Thank you so much for raising my child all this time.”

The Duke bowed his head to her.

His extremely respectful manner made her tense.

Gulp, she swallowed dryly and slowly spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better to confirm paternity first?”

“Paternity test?”

He tilted his head as if puzzled.

Was he certain that Ray was his son?

Even though they appeared so suddenly?

Based on what?

She spoke clearly and precisely.

“But there’s always a chance, right?”

“……”

“Given the circumstances, it seems Ray is your son, but maybe… just maybe… he might not be, right? Everyone could be mistaken, right?”

The Duke’s eyes narrowed, and his blue eyes took on a strange light.

But she didn’t stop speaking.

“The Geiser gang attacked us, and Lady Lesper and the Imperial Family came looking for him, so we had no choice but to come here, but honestly, it all feels like a lie, and I can’t believe it.”

“I see… Hmm.”

“Everything is so sudden. I wish it were a dream, and when I wake up, it never happened. Then I could continue living in the cabin on Hurt Mountain with Ray. So I need clear confirmation.”

“Very well. I’ll prepare the paternity test reagent.”

Having said that, Duke Conver stood up abruptly.

And he pulled a handkerchief from his br*ast pocket and offered it to her.

“Why this?”

“You’ve been crying since earlier, didn’t you know?”

“Oh.”

She quickly accepted the handkerchief and wiped her tears.

The light blue handkerchief was marked with her tear stains.

Ah, I had foolishly been crying…

‘Oh, Astrid… How embarrassing, how shameful.’

After handing her the handkerchief, Duke Conver went straight to the desk and rang the call bell.

Ding-ding-

As the clear sound of the bell rang, the door opened, and the butler entered.

“Go to the physician and bring the paternity test reagent immediately.”

“Yes, understood, Sir.”

The butler swiftly left the office with steps as precise as his answer.

Silence filled the office with only the two of them remaining.

For ordinary commoners, a paternity test reagent was something they might see once in a lifetime.

But it was different for nobles.

In the noble world, where issues of illegitimate children from free love and affairs were rampant, many households kept paternity test reagents on hand.

She didn’t know who the physician here was, but she hoped fervently for a thorough and conscientious doctor.

Fortunately, her wish was granted.

The physician, seemingly having rushed over, was holding a small glass bottle while tidying his windblown hair.

“Your Grace, I heard you requested a paternity test reagent.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She took out a handkerchief containing Ray’s hair from her pocket.

That morning, she had secretly gathered a few strands of hair from the child’s pillow while Ray wasn’t looking.

Duke Conver also plucked a strand of his own hair and handed it to the physician.

The physician’s hands moved swiftly.

The reagent in the bottle was a liquid with a reddish tint.

The test was simple.

They just had to put Ray’s and Duke Conver’s hair into the bottle with the reagent and shake it.

Both her and Duke Conver’s eyes were fixed on the bottle in the physician’s hand.

A minute felt like an hour.

The reagent turned black and then eventually…

‘It’s blue!’

Gasp, all three people in the office inhaled simultaneously.

The reagent, which had been red, turning blue indicated that the subjects were parent and child.

“The test results show that you are father and son. Congratulations, Your Grace.”

The physician, with an expression overflowing with emotion, bowed deeply to Duke Conver.

The physician slowly straightened up, sniffled, and quickly took out a handkerchief to dab at his tear-filled eyes.

‘Ah…’

She swallowed hard.

It had ended up like this after all.

Her heart fell to the floor, and it felt like all the blood in her body had evaporated.

‘Ray is now… becoming Ray of the Conver Ducal House.’

The tears that had stopped briefly began to flow again.

The handkerchief Duke Conver had given her was soaked with tears.

* * *

Bryce, leaving the office, headed to the first-floor reception room with Astrid.

He was on his way to meet the son he hadn’t even known existed.

It was natural to be extremely nervous.

An unimaginable event had occurred.

They said life was unpredictable.

Thump-thump, Bryce’s heart pounded as if it would burst.

In his 27 years, had there ever been such a tense moment?

He thought he had passed many turning points in life.

He had to hide from the Imperial Army as a criminal and started a business under a pseudonym.

He met many people and orchestrated many events to clear his family’s name.

Eventually, he restored his family’s authority and reached his current status.

He prided himself on having lived a more turbulent life than anyone else, but he was wrong.

A more significant event than all his past journeys combined awaited in the first-floor reception room.

The reality he would face in five minutes was so overwhelming it made his head spin.

As he descended the central stairs.

He had to focus on each step, fearing his legs might give out and cause him to stumble.

Bryce, who was always confident in everything, couldn’t be so this time.

He could only entrust himself to the situation he didn’t understand.

Huff, taking a deep breath, Bryce pushed the reception room door open forcefully.

* * *

The Second Imperial Knight Order returned to the palace with no results.

“I apologize, Your Majesty the Empress. I was careless in trusting that woman’s tongue.”

“Hmm…”

The Empress rubbed her forehead in thought.

It was troublesome.

Very much so.

If the Princess found out about this, she would surely be disappointed.

‘She seemed to have had a sleepless night…’

Princess Stephania’s heart had long been set on Duke Conver.

The Princess had been born very weak.

She spent most of her childhood recuperating in the countryside.

It was there she met Duke Conver, who was living under an alias, and began to develop feelings for him.

Since Duke Conver regained his status two years ago, the Princess had been expressing her feelings diligently, but their relationship showed no significant progress.

Both the Princess and the Empress knew why.

Duke Conver had a wife he parted with seven years ago, and he was employing a search team to find his missing wife.

The Imperial Family was also quietly conducting its own investigation into the Duke’s missing wife.

This matter was handled with considerable importance within the Imperial Family because Princess Stephania was an only daughter, and the man she favored would ascend to the position of consort.

It was a position that shared power with Stephania, who would one day become Empress.

Moreover, due to Stephania’s frail health, her husband would be granted more authority and responsibility than other consorts in history.

For these reasons, Stephania’s marriage was a matter of great significance for the fate of the Empire.

Two days ago, a report came in that they had obtained information about a boy who might be Duke Conver’s son.

Upon hearing the news, the Princess’s face turned as pale as a sheet.

The shock must have been great.

‘I need to confirm the truth quickly, but to lose the child…’

Tap, tap, tap, the Empress’s fingers tapped nervously on the armrest of her chair.

A heavy silence filled the Empress’s office.

It was then.

The door swung open, and Princess Stephania entered.

“Mother!”