At his threat, I quietly closed my mouth and gave him an earnest look. Damian let out a deflating laugh and turned towards me while sitting. Then he lowered his head and reached out his hand over my head.

Rustle-

As he delicately untangled my hair from the bushes, the moonlight shining behind him cast a deep shadow over me.

I hadn’t noticed from afar, but being this close, I realized he was quite large in stature.

As I stared intently, Damian briefly took his eyes off my hair and looked down at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s burdensome.”

“I had forgotten, but it just occurred to me that you’re a man too.”

For a moment, his hand paused.

“Why did you forget that?”

“Because you’re like a mother.”

He sighed, not hiding his disbelief.

“See, you’re untangling my hair right now.”

“Be quiet.”

“And you always nag when you open your mouth.”

Finally, Damian’s patience ran out and his face hardened. He looked down at me rather coldly.

When we’re bickering, I don’t notice it, but Damian had cool eyes and a sharp nose bridge. So when he wiped the expression from his face, he looked quite fierce.

To me, who was already used to him, it just seemed like an everyday expression.

But then…

“What are you doing right now?”

As I was half-risen, my hair still caught, Damian’s face came close to mine, one hand supporting my neck and the other still untangling my hair.

Startled, I raised my hands to his shoulders to push him away, but he stopped when our noses were almost touching.

As I blinked rapidly, trying to understand his intention, he removed his hand from my neck and narrowed his eyes.

He gently brushed my hair once with his other hand, then took my hand and helped me stand up. During this, his face that had been close gradually moved away. He opened his mouth as he looked at me, still dazed and trying to grasp the situation.

“It’s done.”

What was that just now?

I took a step back from where he had set me, sending him a wary look. He chuckled.

“Do I still seem like a mother to you?”

I felt an inexplicable stubbornness and nodded. He laughed again. I think this is the day I’ve seen Damian laugh the most.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“What doesn’t?”

“Whether I’m a butler or a mother.”

He smiled weakly, as if he found his own words amusing.

“As long as I can be by your side, Miss.”

He spoke to me as I stood there, rooted to the spot, as if he wasn’t expecting an answer.

“We should probably head back now.”

“Okay.”

Coming to my senses, I nodded slightly. He held the bushes aside effortlessly, just as he had when we entered.

And then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to his usual composed self, escorted me to my room, bowed, and disappeared.

***

“You’re back.”

“Welcome back.”

When I arrived at the room, Sion and the maid came out to the door as if they had been waiting for me.

“Ah! Thank you for calling Damian. You’ve worked hard. Go and rest now.”

“It’s nothing, Miss. Then I’ll take my leave. Have a good night.”

After the maid left, I took out the bundle of letters I had been writing from under the bed and started writing again. Sion approached and asked worriedly.

“Lady Lora, did the conversation end well?”

“Hm? Well, let’s say it helped me make a decision.”

He tilted his head in confusion.

“What kind of decision?”

“The decision to finish what I was planning to do before I leave.”

I continued writing the letter as I replied.

“I see. Then I’ll be going,”

“By the way, Sion, what about your room? We can’t let you keep using that room.”

“I’m fine with it.”

I couldn’t let him sleep in that place that was like a haunted house. I paused my busy hand for a moment and pondered.

“Should we share my room?”

“W-what? What do you mean?”

Sion malfunctioned at my words.

“I mean this drawing room. If we bring in a bed here, wouldn’t it be much more livable than that room?”

It was a space that no one used anyway, except for Damian, the maid, and people who came to pick fights.

However we use it, it would be more beneficial than now.

Of course, there would be rumors about bringing a slave into the room, but that wasn’t a problem at all. It was like adding a handful of sand to a beach. Like sprinkling a cup of salt into the sea.

“What? Ah, no. That room is fine,”

“No, it’s not fine.”

I cut off Sion’s words firmly.

The room I had given him could be called the ghost room of the Count’s mansion without exaggeration. It was questionable why such a room even existed in the wealthy Count’s residence.

I couldn’t let him stay there when we still had a few more weeks to spend.

But it was also awkward to ask for a new room.

“Hmm. Given the current atmosphere in the house, if I ask for another room for you…”

Just thinking about it made my head throb.

“Lady Lora, I’m really fine.”

Seeing me shaking my head at the unpleasant imagination, Sion calmly tried to dissuade me.

I didn’t listen at all.

I thought about asking Damian for a room, but I was worried that Damian might get on the Count’s bad side and suffer because of it.

“I think letting you sleep here is the best solution after all. Sion, is that okay?”

“I’m really fine,”

“For now, sleep on the sofa tonight, and we’ll sort out the bed tomorrow. Good night then.”

“Lady Lora…!”

“Ah, Sion. Just in case, let me tell you this – don’t you dare go back to sleep in that room. Understand?”

I headed to my room, leaving Sion with a bewildered face.

***

The next day, at my insistence, a huge queen-sized bed was placed in one corner of the drawing room.

Sion was restless when he saw the size, but I was adamant.

“Sion, with your build, such a small bed won’t do.”

“But…”

“No buts!”

When I scolded him with an incredibly strict tone, Sion reluctantly agreed. Damian, who had been looking at us with exasperation, surprisingly allowed the bed to be placed and even gave instructions for its arrangement.

“It should be placed over there.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

It seemed he had given up on nagging while holding his head.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Yes, there is!”

He asked out of courtesy, but I answered brightly.

“What is it?”

His expression was about to turn sulky at my impertinence, but he decided to give me one more chance.

“Play with me.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“You know, when I go to Eslina, I won’t be able to see you often.”

“That’s true.”

“So I want to make memories with the friends I’ve made here.”

“Friends like you,”

I glared at him.

“Well. It’s not bad.”

He said with a smirk.

It was obvious that he had hastily changed his words, but a generous and kind master could overlook this much.