After their sweet rest, the two left the café and walked outside for a while. Cecilia seemed eager to explore the streets.

“Count! There’s something sparkling over there!”

“We should walk slowly, Cecilia.”

“Oh, yes!”

Tantania opened her white parasol and gently tilted it toward Cecilia. The child loved this and walked slowly, watching the shadow cast upon her.

As they walked like this, Cecilia, not watching where she was going, lightly bumped shoulders with a child approaching from the opposite direction.

“Ah!”

“What the!”

Though it was a light collision, a loud exclamation escaped from the child who bumped into Cecilia.

Cecilia opened her eyes wide and was about to offer an apology. She would have apologized if only the other party hadn’t spoken first.

“How dare you bump into me? Can’t you see properly? Looking deficient and acting deficient too, I see.”

“……What did you say?”

Cecilia swallowed the apology she was about to offer.

Sparks flashed in her eyes. She raised her chin and glared fiercely at the person she had bumped into.

“Hmph, glaring at me makes you even more unpleasant to look at.”

The boy brushed off his shoulder where he had touched Cecilia, as if removing something dirty. He seemed to be from some noble family, completely looking down on her.

The boy’s blue eyes met Cecilia’s light green ones. Cecilia rolled up her sleeves and shouted.

“Hey, can’t you speak properly?”

“You’re the one who’s talking back? Judging by your appearance, you must be from some nouveau riche family. Walk with your eyes open.”

“Hey!!”

In case you’ve forgotten, Cecilia was a street child. This meant her natural temperament wasn’t exactly docile.

Cecilia raised her fist as if to hit the boy. Seeing this, Tantania swallowed a sigh and stepped forward.

She really didn’t want to get involved in children’s fights. But as a guardian, if her ward was trying to resolve a situation through violence, she had a duty to provide proper guidance.

“Cecilia.”

“Ah, C-Count!”

Cecilia, who had momentarily forgotten Tantania’s presence in her anger, jumped in surprise and hid her fist behind her back.

The boy, who had been looking back and forth between the fidgeting Cecilia and Tantania who had stepped in front of her, tilted his head.

“Count?”

The black-haired child visibly flinched when the adult intervened.

Tantania glanced at him briefly, but ignored the boy for now and first addressed Cecilia.

“Cecilia, making a scene in a public place is not the way of a lady.”

“But… that child insulted you, Count.”

“Even so, acting in a way that gets you caught isn’t ladylike.”

“So it’s okay to hit him if I don’t get caught?”

Cecilia watched Tantania’s reaction while still saying what she wanted to say in a small voice.

Tantania’s eyebrow twitched momentarily as she looked at Cecilia, who had struck at the core of her statement. Then, with a pleased feeling, she whispered.

“If it’s secret, that’s a lady’s weapon.”

That was her advice from an older sister who had fought endlessly with her younger brother during adolescence.

Cecilia looked at Tantania’s serene face, her eyes sparkling as she nodded.

“What are you saying?! Are you really a Count?”

The boy, who had overheard Tantania’s words, burst out in anger.

It was then. Cutting through the harsh spring sunlight, a heavy voice that instantly cooled the surroundings penetrated the scene.

“You have a unique approach to child-rearing, madam.”

Tantania turned around at the unfamiliar voice. And the moment she saw the owner of the voice, she thought:

He’s like the night incarnate.

He had black hair that wouldn’t fade even in the midday sun, and beneath it, eyes like embedded topazes.

Tantania’s gaze was momentarily fixed on his brilliant golden eyes. But her appreciation of his handsome eyes or the coolness settled on his bridge of his nose was brief.

Unfortunately, with her abundant aristocratic knowledge, Tantania could recognize who he was just from these features.

“……Could you be Count Bertmuller?”

“Y-Your Highness the Grand Duke!”

Before the man could brighten his eyes toward her who had recognized him at once, the boy’s voice rang out first.

Tantania glanced at the child who had stolen his response. Come to think of it, the boy’s black hair was also a symbol of the Bertmuller grand ducal family.

“It seems no answer is necessary. And you are?”

“Tantania of Magellan, in the presence of Your Highness the Grand Duke.”

“Count Magellan, I see.”

“……What brings Your Grace to such a street?”

The man stared at her without answering her question. Even just standing still, he exuded the unique aura of someone accustomed to authority.

Tantania avoided his gaze obliquely and lightly gripped Cecilia’s shoulder, who was tense, hiding her behind herself.

Unconsciously protecting the child, Tantania suddenly paused. Wait, if this man was the Grand Duke of Bertmuller.

‘Perhaps, this one……’

Tantania felt an inexplicable tension as she glanced at the boy.

The boy’s eyes, which had been darting around with tightly pressed lips, suddenly met Tantania’s.

Like containing an endless ocean. Or like capturing winter’s bitter cold—deep blue eyes.

Tantania’s eyelids trembled slightly. She sensed it.

A boy with black hair and blue eyes. This impetuous boy before her would likely be the Grand Duke of Bertmuller thirteen years later.

“Is this young man the Grand Duke’s son?”

“As you can see.”

“……My ward briefly collided with the young Grand Duke. I was in the process of mediating.”

“Ah, I see.”

When the Grand Duke gestured, the boy came and stood beside him.

He seemed to freeze up completely at the Grand Duke’s appearance.

“Jonas.”

“……Yes, Your Grace.”

“It seems you’ve been discourteous to the lady.”

The name Jonas confirmed Tantania’s suspicions.

This was indeed the boy. The one who must end up with Cecilia—her “true love” who would, if their relationship failed, become so obsessed that he would destroy even the Empire itself.

“It’s quite alright, Your Highness. The young duke has shown me no disrespect.”

Concerned that Jonas might be left with an even worse first impression, Tantania quickly intervened.

She raised her lips into a gentle smile as she met the Grand Duke’s gaze directly. It was merely a polite smile, nothing more.

Though her face wore a smile, her eyes revealed clear indifference. At this, Grand Duke Simon Bertmuller, momentarily flashed a look of interest.

Having grown accustomed to sycophants attracted to his position, he had developed a habit of giving extra points to those who showed confidence in his presence.

“Is that so? I hope you’re not overlooking his rudeness simply because he’s a child.”

“Not at all. Rudeness is rudeness, even from a child.”

After giving an answer that precisely matched Simon’s values without realizing it, Tantania gently lowered her gaze.

In truth, her mind was in turmoil at that moment. When her eyes had met the Grand Duke’s, she recalled with a loud mental click what she had read before.

〈”I like that power.”

—The power you gained by sacrificing your father to me? Hehehe……

“Shut up. I have no father.”

—Did you not see those golden eyes rolling on the ground? Was that man contorted in pain not your father?〉

This was why Tantania had avoided the Grand Duke’s eyes. In the story, the grown-up Jonas had sacrificed this man as an offering to summon monsters.

When the vision of red dust and blood that seemed to ass*ult her nostrils appeared, her legs nearly gave way beneath her.

Tantania tried to stand firm by squeezing her eyes shut, but as her body swayed momentarily, a solid arm supported her.

A weighty presence enveloped her. When Tantania raised her wavering eyes, a cool golden light pulled her back to reality.

“Are you alright, Count Magellan?”

The man’s voice resonated from somewhere low. At his voice, Tantania unconsciously released the breath she had been holding.

After straightening her body, Tantania immediately moved away from the Grand Duke.

She bit the soft flesh inside her cheek and released it, hoping her voice would sound steady.

“Thank you. I seem to have experienced a moment of dizziness.”

A warm breeze briefly scattered between them, causing a few strands of Tantania’s red hair to fall and brush against her pale cheek.

Grand Duke Simon Bertmuller stared at her cheek for a moment with an unreadable expression.

“Quarrels are mutual affairs.”

Then came his gruff voice.

Tantania stared at him blankly, not understanding his meaning.

“Even children’s momentary quarrels must have surely troubled you. So in return for the discourtesy……”

Golden eyes met verdant ones, each radiating their own light.

He produced a formal smile. Though it was distinctly mechanical, the smile drawn on his well-chiseled face was quite handsome.

However, Tantania’s mind was preoccupied with questions about the words that had just passed.

Return? What kind of return……

“I shall invite you and your child to the grand ducal residence. Please honor us with your acceptance and grace our home with your presence.”

With this thunderbolt of an invitation, the Grand Duke extended his hand. Tantania inadvertently drew in a sharp breath.

His body, slightly inclined toward her, cast a cool shadow like the night. She could not read his intentions in his eyes, which gleamed like metal.

This made her feel vaguely uneasy, but as a mere count, Tantania had no choice but to accept his invitation.

“……Gladly, I accept your invitation.”

Tantania brushed her disheveled hair behind her ear and placed her hand on the Grand Duke’s.

The man briefly gazed at the back of her hand, as if watching a butterfly that had just landed.

※※※

Simon Johannes Bertmuller.

The current Emperor’s cousin. Having surrendered Olders Castle to become the Grand Duke of Bertmuller, he was a man who wanted for nothing.