“Ray!! You stop too!”

“Jade was mean!!”

Lawrence lifted Ray high up. Dangling in his grip, Ray kicked wildly at the air.

“You’re the mean one!!”

“……Jade, please!”

At least the fortunate thing was that Jade threw his tantrum from where he stood. If it were Ray, he’d have already charged in to attack.

“Arinne, help me!!”

Even at his desperate cry, Arinne gave no response.

She stood there with a blank face, like someone unrelated to this situation.

‘Am I a scary person?’

She couldn’t stop thinking about how Jade had defined her as a ‘scary person.’

“Jade is stupid!!”

“The person who calls someone stupid is stupid!”

“Kids!!”

The lobby was in complete chaos.

It started with an argument between the Duke and Arinne, then the children got involved, followed by the Marquis.

Now somehow all the adults had dropped out and the kids were crying and fighting amongst themselves.

“Enough!!”

Unable to bear it anymore, the Duke shouted sharply. Louder and more booming than when he’d gotten angry at Arinne.

“Oh……”

“……Ah.”

“……”

The cheetah cubs froze in place, becoming startled rabbits.

“How long are you going to fight?!”

And today, Lawrence finally learned the source of Arinne’s quick temper.

She took after the Duke. Her face, her personality. Everything.

“W-we weren’t fighting……”

“I think we… fought.”

“……So they say.”

Lawrence slowly lowered his arm to hold Ray like before. Jade completely changed position from beside him to behind. Like that, slowly and carefully. Reading the Duke’s mood, the three of them huddled together small.

“Well now. I’m the only villain here.”

The Duke spoke self-deprecatingly.

“Your Grace. Dinner is ready. Shouldn’t we escort the young lady and the guests to the dining room?”

Cutting through the awkward air, the butler stepped forward representing everyone.

“Is dinner really the issue right now?”

“I’m hungry.”

“That’s a problem then. Let’s go right away.”

Truly the Marcedea butler. The servants who’d been hiding quietly gave the butler thumbs up and revealed themselves one by one.

Thanks to the butler’s timely intervention and Ray’s specialty of changing the subject, the chaos fortunately wrapped up.

“Marquis. You bring Arinne. Kids, come here.”

“Eek?!”

“Ah!!”

The Duke pulled Ray from Lawrence’s arms. Then he scooped up Jade, who was hiding even further back, and headed to the dining room carrying both.

Lawrence waved slightly at the children looking at him desperately as they were carried away by the Duke, then turned his head to Arinne.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“No. Enjoy your meal.”

“Wait.”

How am I supposed to handle the Duke with just me and the kids without you?

Lawrence grabbed Arinne, who was trying to go in a different direction from the dining room, and questioned her with his eyes.

“You’re really not coming?”

“I’m not going.”

Whether she couldn’t read his eyes or didn’t understand his meaning, Arinne remained calm.

Maybe she understood but was just staying put. She wasn’t the type to consider others while enduring her own discomfort.

“Can’t be helped then.”

He now seemed to understand why the Duke had taken care of someone else’s children instead of his own.

The Duke found it hard to handle his own daughter, so he’d dumped the task of looking after her onto the very person he’d been wary of until just now.

“I’ll carry you.”

“What, whoa?!”

Lawrence lightly picked her up. Last time he’d slung her over his shoulder like luggage and gotten scolded, so this time he lifted her high with one arm supporting her bottom, like when he held Ray.

“Are you crazy?”

“I’ve been hearing that for more than a day or two, so it’s fine.”

“This is really driving me crazy!”

“I think it’s good for friends to go crazy together.”

He finds everything good.

Arinne, who’d lost her fighting spirit at his shameless attitude, muttered quietly.

‘What a lunatic……’

* * *

“Where’s Arinne?”

“……As you can see.”

Lawrence appeared alone, his hair torn messily on one side, looking disheveled.

Clear disappointment appeared on the Duke’s face. Lawrence bit his lip slightly then released it and quietly took his seat.

After that, only clattering sounds continued without conversation.

Ray, whose energy had run out early, already had his eyes half-closed and was nodding off.

In the morning he’d run around playing at the marquis’s residence, in the afternoon he’d hidden uncomfortably in the luggage cart to come to the ducal residence, and after arriving he’d cried and caused a commotion—no wonder he was tired.

“Ray. Wake up……”

Jade tried quietly waking Ray several times, but it was useless.

Giving up on waking Ray, Jade kept his eyes down and just picked at the food in front of him.

“I’m indebted to you.”

As the meal was wrapping up, the Duke broke the silence.

“I wonder if Arinne didn’t cause any trouble there.”

“Not at all. Rather, thanks to her, both the children and I had a good time.”

“I see.”

The Duke replied perfunctorily and pushed his dessert portion toward Jade.

‘Huh?’

Jade lifted his head. His father was looking at the Duke, and the Duke also continued his conversation with his father without giving Jade a separate glance.

“You keep calling her by name?”

“It’s natural to call someone by name when you’re close.”

“Close?”

The Duke’s eyebrow twitched.

“Yes. Friends.”

Like teasing him, Lawrence went even more shamelessly without backing down.

“Do you really think of that child as a friend?”

“Duke, do you want ‘us’ to be friends, or more than friends?”

“I’d prefer less than that?”

The war of nerves between the Duke and Lawrence continued.

The servants in the dining room pretended not to while secretly listening to their conversation.

“You’re thick-headed. Arinne hates frustrating people.”

At Lawrence’s impactful words, one servant choked and coughed.

The two continued their fight-like conversation without caring.

“I wondered who the kids got their boldness from—it was the Marquis? You’re quite bold yourself!”

“Parents and children naturally resemble each other. The Duke is exactly like Arinne too!”

“Is that so?”

“……Why are you pleased?”

“Ahem!”

The Duke seemed irritated by Lawrence’s disrespectful attack, but somehow quickly seemed fine again.

‘Please stop fighting……’

Jade listened to their conversation for a moment, then just pulled over the panna cotta that had appeared in front of him.

‘Sweet.’

Feeling detached from the space, Jade scooped a spoonful of the new panna cotta.

“Ahem.”

The Duke glanced sideways at Jade eating the dessert he’d given him and pressed down hard on his twitching lips.

“I should get up now.”

After finishing the meal, Lawrence first took care of Ray, who’d fallen asleep midway. Mumbling in his sleep, Ray buried his face in his embrace.

“Why not stay until morning?”

“It’s fine. The children will be more comfortable at home too.”

Jade silently followed behind him. He should be looking ahead while walking, but his gaze kept dropping.

Feet as large as his father’s entered Jade’s view. Those large feet kept following Jade.

Jade looked alternately at his father’s back ahead and the Duke’s feet walking beside him, matching his pace.

“You’re leaving?”

In the lobby was Arinne, who’d come out after hearing the news.

“Jade. Was your stomach okay? Were you uncomfortable eating with the Duke?”

Arinne ignored the Duke beside her and only spoke to Jade.

“I’m going to sleep here.”

Only after seeing her face did Jade stop in his tracks.

Lawrence looked back at Jade with a bewildered face. Jade avoided his gaze with his mouth shut.

“Earlier you were insisting on going home?”

Lawrence wasn’t the only one flustered. So surprised was she that Arinne even exchanged glances with the Duke.

The Duke was no different. He also didn’t know why Jade was acting this way. The child was even gripping the edge of his jacket.

“If you don’t go now, you’ll have to sleep next to me or next to the Duke. There are no cleaned rooms. Is that still okay?”

“I can… share a room with the Lady.”

Still with his eyes down, Jade nodded.

“He seems quite sulky? Did something happen during the meal?”

“I don’t know.”

If not during the meal, was it because of his fight with Ray?

Arinne tried to read Jade’s heart, but it was impossible unless she heard it directly. Though Jade wasn’t the type of child to speak his feelings straightforwardly even if asked.

“What are you worrying about? Just let him sleep here.”

“Is that okay?”

Whoosh! Jade’s head shot up instantly, looking at the Duke with expectant eyes.

“Do as you wish.”

At the Duke’s kind answer, Jade awkwardly rolled his eyes then pressed his lips together.

“Let’s go up first.”

“Yes.”

Jade read the room and grabbed two of the Duke’s fingers. The large hand full of calluses clasped the child’s hand in response.

“Jade, you’re really not going? It’s okay to stay here? Dad’s leaving? Really?!”

“Ah, just go already!!”

The Duke snapped at Lawrence, who couldn’t bring himself to leave and was lingering.