The Marquis jumped up from his seat just before ‘three’ could leave her mouth. Arinne nearly laughed involuntarily at his swift movement.

“But, Lady…”

The Marquis, who’d only been quick to stand, hesitated in front of Arinne.

“Could you… come with me?”

“Together?”

She’d just told him to make an effort himself without relying on others. What kind of man had so little sense?

Arinne glanced at the fidgeting Marquis. Half with sympathy, half with contempt.

“…Please.”

His voice trembled pitifully. His face was thick with defeat, having completely lost confidence.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Seeing that pitiful face made even her desire to scold disappear, so Arinne eventually nodded.

His complexion brightened. The slowly spreading smile seemed like a boy’s rather than a man’s.

The two walked the corridor together. The marquis’s estate became even quieter at night, so only their steady footsteps filled the corridor.

“Do the children make you uncomfortable?”

Arinne broke the silence first and spoke.

“Is it strange? For a parent to find their children difficult…”

The Marquis asked back.

Even questions that could be sufficiently answered with just ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ he would ask back uncertainly or answer vaguely in roundabout ways.

Was he lacking in confidence, or was that just his way of speaking? It wasn’t her business to know in detail, but either way, he seemed to have little conviction in himself.

A man who looked solid and dry like a sculpture carved from marble was actually stuffy to the point of being damp and flimsy.

Arinne subtly stopped walking and took in his back, as broad as his loneliness.

“Lady?”

The Marquis, who’d gotten several steps ahead, belatedly stopped walking and looked back at her with a puzzled face.

Arinne quietly met his eyes. In the darkness, his eyes took on the color of a deep forest.

“It’s not strange. At least I don’t think so.”

She didn’t want to comfort him.

She still didn’t want to get involved in others’ affairs. She didn’t want to waste emotions on unnecessary things either.

Unfortunately, she often acted contrary to her thoughts.

“You don’t need to take my side. I’m not qualified as a father.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Arinne sharply rebuked him with an irritated voice.

“I’m not taking your side, so don’t get the wrong idea.”

“…”

The Marquis had nothing to say even with a mouth. He just pressed his lips tightly and avoided her eyes.

“Before falling into self-pity talking about qualifications, struggle more.”

In Arinne’s view, he loved the children enough. Enough to lose his reason and act foolish when it came to the children.

A good house. Good clothes. Good education.

He must have given the children what he thought was best until now. He probably granted them anything they asked for.

He just didn’t know that a quality life wasn’t made of material things alone. Some say that is happiness, but if that were true, Arinne herself should have been happy first.

“Even if it’s difficult, approach them. Children don’t know unless you show them.”

What kind of parent he was would be for his children to judge as they grew.

“Being a ducal family isn’t any different.”

Arinne casually revealed her own wounds.

At least the Marquis wasn’t a parent who would give up on his children because things were hard for him.

One to the academy, one to the estate. He was different from someone who pushed them out of sight and regretted it later.

“The Duke probably finds me more difficult than his own parents, you know?”

The Marquis still had a chance. In that the children were young and needed him.

“We’re similar. I also find my children more difficult than the former head of the family.”

The Marquis finally said clearly with a much better face that the children were difficult.

“It must be hard doing both child and parent.”

“It’s fine. I’m not doing the child role anymore.”

“I see.”

Even though it was a scene of unfilial behavior where they both called their parents ‘the Duke’ and ‘the former head,’ the atmosphere was strangely comfortable.

The Marquis found her attitude of treating all this talk like someone else’s business strange yet oddly reassuring.

To the Marquis, she had a talent for making people comfortable and honest.

“You’ll have to do the parent role properly from now on.”

They were near Jade’s room before they knew it.

She lightly pushed his back as he started moving sluggishly. It was a well-built back, just like when she’d touched it during the day.

“…Aren’t you coming in with me?”

Knowing it wouldn’t work, he stubbornly insisted with a hopeful heart.

“Jade doesn’t really like me.”

“He doesn’t hate you, so it’ll be fine.”

“Huh? It’s not fine.”

She saw Ray in the Marquis stubbornly insisting. She’d wondered where Ray’s tantrums and stubbornness came from—apparently from the Marquis.

“It’s not like you’re going somewhere you shouldn’t. It’s your son’s room. Hurry up.”

Arinne pushed the Marquis’s back hard again. This time he pretended to give in and moved his body.

He was about to grab the doorknob but stopped and looked back at her.

Thinking he was hesitating again and about to scold him, the Marquis unexpectedly showed her a gentle smile.

“I think I understand why the children follow you.”

“Why they follow me?”

The Marquis liked her characteristic calmness and indifference that objectified everything. Her unconcerned attitude and indifferent gaze made him comfortable.

Even when her intention wasn’t comfort or consolation, he felt comforted. Like she was consoling him that he wasn’t that terrible.

“Yes. That cynical attitude of being uninterested in everything puts one at ease.”

“…”

Her eyes narrowed. Looking at the context, it was clearly a compliment, but the content was far from complimentary.

Did people actually call that a compliment? Wasn’t he passive-aggressively attacking her for being a noble too?

Arinne examined his fine face to determine the truth.

“You’re a good person, Lady.”

“…”

The Marquis slowly moved his hand toward her.

The swordsman’s rough hand extended carefully, very carefully, lest it wound the woman’s cheek.

“Thanks to you, I’ve gained courage.”

The Marquis gently pressed the wrinkle between her brows with his thumb to smooth it out.

Meeting her questioning eyes, the Marquis smiled softly.

He looked quite pleased whenever emotions showed on her face.

“You’re kind.”

“…Kind?”

Arinne’s eyes widened. She felt a momentary pain in her chest.

Her heart beat rapidly. What was certain was that it wasn’t because she liked those words.

It was the first time she’d been called kind. Arinne couldn’t believe that word, disgusting like a curse and high-handed, had come to her as a compliment.

Until now, ‘kindness’ to her had been Noah. ‘Kind’ was a word that referred to Noah.

Even now, kindness was still Noah.

Sometimes she hated Noah so much that she hated everything that reminded her of him, and now she even hated the word ‘kind.’

So Arinne couldn’t react to the Marquis’s words with anything other than confusion.

‘How much has he even seen of me…’

Even gathering all the time they’d faced each other, it hadn’t been a week.

It was strange that he called her kind after just a few days, just a few encounters.

“Kind…”

“Yes, kind.”

The ‘kind’ that came from the Marquis’s mouth might not be the same word she knew.

Because it felt like hearing it for the first time.

“Well then, I’ll be back.”

The Marquis smiled at her again and entered Jade’s room alone.

Soon after, voices came from inside. Jade apparently hadn’t gone to bed yet. Or the tactless Marquis had woken the child.

“…”

Arinne stared blankly at the door leaking small sounds, then turned around.

* * *

As soon as day broke, the Marquis came looking for Arinne.

Perhaps because he had fewer worries than the previous day, the Marquis looked well.

On the other hand, Arinne’s complexion was the worst since entering the marquis’s estate. The single word ‘kind’ he’d launched had brought a flood of random thoughts, and she’d tossed and turned before finally falling asleep at dawn.

“What brings you here so early?”

Arinne covered her mouth and yawned softly. If Jo hadn’t turned pale and stopped her, she would have shamelessly greeted him in her nightclothes.

“Why did you go alone yesterday? After agreeing to go together.”

The Marquis suddenly complained.

“Did you come before the rooster crowed just to argue about that?”

Arinne couldn’t control her limp body and pressed her forehead against the sofa backrest. It was an action that would have horrified Jo, worrying about marks.

“If you’re done complaining, leave now. I only slept three hours.”

Her temper showed when her stamina dropped and she lacked sleep.

“Why did you only sleep that much? Was the bed uncomfortable? Were you cold?”

He leaned his upper body toward Arinne. Unable to actually touch her body, he just moved his head busily, trying to examine her complexion.

“Could it be those aftereffects… Lady. Please lift your head.”