“What does that matter?”

“I was pathetic. Staying away from the baby… Theodore. I don’t deserve to be a father.”

He looked ready to dig himself into the ground if left alone.

Shasha carefully examined Edgar’s downcast eyelashes and his eyes reddened from the aftermath of tears.

‘Is that what caused his nightmare?’

In essence, perhaps he wasn’t unstable because of the nightmare, but rather overly sensitive to a minor nightmare because he was already unstable. Hadn’t she thought about it earlier? That the man’s condition seemed quite poor before going to bed.

Or maybe it was a recurrence of the chronic instability that had persisted since the birth. Recalling this, Shasha said:

“There’s no need to rush. You can take it slowly.”

She was well aware that he had been trying to get closer to Theodore lately. It wasn’t incomprehensible that a man who had been terribly shocked by his beloved wife’s horrific labor pains couldn’t immediately bond with the baby. That was fine, even if it was excessive tolerance born from her love for him.

Shasha splashed water on the face of the man who looked uncharacteristically serious. She scooped water with her cupped hand and threw it on him several times in succession.

Suddenly met with this playful shower, Edgar opened his eyes wide. Without his glasses, the blue of his eyes appeared even more vivid. Looking into those eyes, Shasha said:

“Besides, you sometimes try too hard.”

“…What? Me?”

To the man’s bewildered question, Shasha added with something like a sigh:

“I’m not completely oblivious, you know.”

Edgar looked even more puzzled at this. While showing signs of not quite agreeing, he quickly nodded his head, blindly following her words.

“Yes, that’s right. You’re quick to notice things, Shasha.”

“……”

Shasha briefly closed her mouth and glanced at him.

She knew well that he didn’t truly believe what he was saying. However, that unconditional and blind attitude was genuine. Edgar regarded his wife’s words as truth.

He was the type of man who would nod enthusiastically if she told him the sun rises in the west, or that the moon currently in the sky was actually the sun.

Recalling this characteristic of his, Shasha continued:

“I know very well that you’re not as puppy-like as you think.”

“…Puppy?”

It was the first time she had uttered such a term. Hence, Edgar looked quite taken aback. It was too cute a word to apply to a large adult man. But Shasha continued without minding:

“Yes, you only wag your tail in front of me. I’m saying I know well that’s not entirely your natural personality.”

It was something she had naturally noticed while spending a long time with him. It used to be somewhat vague, but now she knew to some extent. That Edgar’s behavior in front of her differed quite a bit from how he acted in front of others. Additionally, that the man wasn’t entirely docile.

〈…I was going to submit a marriage proposal. Along with a chastity pledge from the Papal Office…〉

The fact that he had even entertained such a crazy idea was evidence that he wasn’t simply an innocent person.

“But that doesn’t mean those aspects of you are false. They’re just sides of yourself you want to show only to me.”

“……”

“However, if you make efforts to show me only your impressive side and maintain a dependable image, that would be false. Above all, I prefer the puppy.”

Shasha’s expression was quite blunt.

“I’m saying there’s no need to try to show only your good side. So what if you’re a bit pathetic? I used to pick up the laundry you scattered around. Compared to then, you’ve become much more mature. At the very least, you’re more than adequate as a husband or father.”

“Ah, back then….”

Seeing the man’s ears turn red, Shasha added firmly:

“And I intend to adore you no matter what you do. Just as you do with me.”

Then she grabbed his cheeks and planted cute little kisses on his lips.

“Even if you lose your mind over a nightmare… well, we can resolve it through conversation like this.”

“……”

“…But thinking I had an affair because I was unsatisfied with s*x without penetration is a bit…”

“…What?”

“You said you’d do better from now on, so I wouldn’t even think of anyone else. That’s how it sounded to me. That I had an affair because I was lacking something, because I wasn’t satisfied.”

Shasha quite mischievously recounted what he had said. As her monotone voice continued, Edgar’s face grew increasingly red.

“That’s… I didn’t think that far… It was just because I’m inadequate… um, the dream was strange….”

The woman’s eyes curved playfully as she watched the flustered man. With a soft chuckle, she hugged him and patted his back.

“You know this is all your own karma, right? You’ll need to control that anxiety a bit more in the future.”

“Yes….”

Edgar answered obediently. As if he had truly become the docile puppy Shasha mentioned. At that voice full of his usual shyness, Shasha laughed once more.

〈I intend to adore you no matter what you do. Just as you do with me.〉

Edgar recalled Shasha’s words to him all day long.

Would she still adore him if he cut out the tongue of that servant who called her name, or gouged out those golden eyes that looked at her? No, she wouldn’t.

Edgar smiled bitterly while repeatedly pondering a question to which he already knew the answer. Yet he kept turning over such questions because he couldn’t let go of his lingering attachment.

Although he had confirmed by looking at her clear eyes that nothing had happened between her and the servant…

It was extremely difficult for him to remove that impudent servant through moderate means. While he trusted Shasha, he couldn’t trust that servant.

Though he couldn’t know the exact details, it seemed clear that the servant had provoked him due to his feelings for Shasha.

However, rather than thinking he had been played by that ridiculous ploy, he repeatedly felt the urge to cut off the feet that had been moving toward the curtained area of the baby’s room.

At that point, Edgar recalled another thing Shasha had said, and suppressed his feelings.

〈However, if you make efforts to show me only your impressive side and maintain a dependable image, that would be false. Above all, I prefer the puppy.〉

‘Puppy….’

It would be foolish to shatter the perception of a woman who loved him enough to use such a term without hesitation. One mistake made while losing his reason was enough.

In the end, Edgar sent a letter to Grace to suppress his impulses. He specifically requested an urgent meeting with his sister who visited whenever possible to see Shasha and Theodore.

Grace, who immediately responded to the request, listened to his plea without expressing any particular doubts while looking at Edgar’s gentle face, no different from usual.

The carriage bearing the ducal family’s crest departed.

Sitting inside with his arms crossed, Grace let out a hollow laugh as he mulled over Edgar’s request.

〈I’d like to ask a favor regarding one employee.〉

〈A favor? I’m surprised you even have an employee you care about, Ed. Are you trying to give them a better opportunity?〉

〈No, rather… I have no reason to keep them close.〉

〈Strange way of putting it. There’s no need to assign reasons or meanings to keeping employees around, is there? If they’re unsatisfactory, you could just dismiss them… Above all, you could entrust such matters to your butler. Honestly, it’s not the kind of favor you should ask me, the head of the family. Likewise, it’s not a request you, as the head of your own family, should be making.〉

〈Well, if I tell the butler, Shasha will find out.〉

Edgar smiled with a troubled expression.

Though he didn’t explain the detailed situation, there was something that could be inferred from their conversation. The pendant he had picked up and thrown away in Theodore’s room. If it wasn’t a simple lost item, there would have been some kind of disturbance in one way or another. The object may have disappeared, but its owner certainly hadn’t.

And Edgar’s request to quietly relocate a servant without any special reason indicated that the item had not been a simple lost object.