Once Lia left her seat, Eileen hummed a tune and cut the cake into bite-sized pieces.

“Are you trying to kill me now!”

“I-I’m sorry. I definitely cleaned the floor thoroughly……”

“Well, considering the owner himself caused his parents’ death, I suppose trying to kill customers isn’t much different.”

However, the voice echoing vividly in her ears made her put down the fork she was holding.

‘……What nonsense is that?’

The commotion was a bit far away so she couldn’t hear clearly, but Eileen could be certain of two things.

First, that person was the same one who spoke rudely to Aaron on Etoile Hill.

Second, that person was trying to trigger Aaron’s trauma again.

‘Is he crazy?’

Even a demon would be better than that person. Eileen tightly closed her eyes as old memories once again took over her mind. Her stomach churned terribly. She tried to calm herself by closing her eyes tightly, but still felt dizzy.

And at that moment, one person’s face came to mind.

‘Ah. What about Duke Aaron?’

Someone who stupidly couldn’t say anything shouldn’t hear these words.

That simple sentence stopped her continuing nausea.

Eileen craned her neck to check where the commotion was happening.

Hoping desperately that he wasn’t in the middle of that disturbance.

But reality was the opposite.

“Why, why are you just standing there again?”

From the right or left, the familiar silver hair was unmistakable. When Aaron, who was foolishly listening without saying anything just like on Etoile Hill, came into view, Eileen felt her heart stop.

“After causing your parents’ deaths, do you want to kill your customers too?”

“I apologize. Duke Andrew…… but please don’t say such things to our master……”

In front of Duke Andrew stood an employee, pale with fear, repeatedly bowing his head. He appeared to be the one who had cleaned the floor today.

Meanwhile, Duke Andrew’s shouts filled Patisserie de Monston. Though many people were in the store, not a single person stepped forward.

Duke Andrew of the Partz family, one of the three great ducal houses of Bereut.

The weight of that name was far heavier than imagined.

“Hah……”

She couldn’t bear it anymore. This time, she wouldn’t let it slide.

By now, Eileen’s eyes were rippling with hatred. She reached for the crutches on the floor to confront Duke Andrew.

Just then, someone not far away began to whisper softly.

“That’s Duke Andrew, isn’t it……”

“It starts again this year too.”

Though the voices were barely audible, they sounded louder than anything else to Eileen’s ears. She withdrew her hand from the crutches and focused on the voices behind her.

“Why does he come to the shop around this time every year and act like this?”

“That’s obvious. Because Duke Aaron is younger than him but holds all the honor, power, and money. Plus, Duke Aaron is handsome too.”

Her stomach started churning again.

This wasn’t the first or second time.

The fact that Aaron, who had foolishly listened on Etoile Hill, had been hearing such words every year and even at this moment, made her feel both miserable and angry.

‘That damn guilt……!’

He just wanted time with his parents, he said. He was grateful, he said!

Yet his inability to break free reminded her so much of her past self. Eileen pressed her hot eyes firmly and slowly turned around.

“Excuse me, ladies.”

Eileen sighed deeply and called out to the noblewomen speaking in low voices.

“Yes, what is it……”

The noblewomen who had been deep in conversation looked up with puzzled expressions when they heard someone calling them.

“Hello, ladies. I have something I’d like to ask, do you have a moment?”

“Could it be…… Lady Eileen! It’s been a long time, my lady!”

“Yes, it has been a while. Baroness Rose, have you been well?”

Eileen gave a slight eye greeting to Baroness Rose, who recognized her.

“Yes, my lady! Ah, you said you had something to ask……”

“I’m sorry, but could you tell me in detail what you were just discussing?”

“……What?”

“About Duke Andrew and Duke Aaron.”

The green eyes looking at the noblewomen held a coldness. Intimidated by her presence, the noblewomen couldn’t easily open their mouths.

“……”

After a long silence, the sound of someone swallowing was heard. Baroness Rose, the oldest among the noblewomen and acquainted with Eileen, opened her fan and carefully looked around.

“Well then, I’ll tell you.”

Baroness Rose slowly opened her heavy lips.

“I believe you know that among the three great ducal houses of Bereut—Ceres, Monston, and Partz—Duke Andrew’s Partz family is the only one not trusted by His Majesty the Emperor.”

A family not trusted by the current Emperor…

Eileen answered by slowly nodding her head.

“So when the Duke and Duchess of Monston had their accident, he was secretly pleased. Duke Aaron was too young to lead the family then, and he thought he could naturally seize power during that time.”

Her throat became parched.

Secretly pleased when the accident happened……

Eileen tried to soothe her burning throat by swallowing some lukewarm tea, but the thirst wouldn’t easily go away.

“But the Monston family didn’t fall, and Duke Aaron succeeded spectacularly, which made him angry.”

“……What?”

“To put it delicately…… all those words come from jealousy. No, ‘consumed by an inferiority complex and sense of defeat’ would be more accurate.”

She felt reason crumbling in her mind.

Inferiority complex and sense of defeat.

These unexpected reasons made Eileen’s heart beat faster and faster.

“Ah, come to think of it, the late Duke and Duchess probably had their accident around this time of year.”

“……No way.”

“I think what you’re thinking is correct, my lady.”

With Baroness Rose’s final words, Eileen’s gaze fell to the ground.

‘Even the strange feeling I had today.’

The puzzle pieces began falling into place.

When she realized the true nature of the inexplicable discomfort she felt upon meeting Aaron today, Eileen’s entire body began to tremble.

‘And he just stands there foolishly listening to those words.’

She tried to clench her fist to stop her shaking hands, but the trembling wouldn’t cease. This trembling would likely continue as long as her regret and indignation remained.

“But I don’t understand why Duke Aaron just stands there when hearing such things. If it were Duke Aaron, he could just……”

Baroness Rose sighed deeply with frustration.

“Thank you for telling me, Baroness.”

“Ah…… yes, my lady.”

When the Baroness finished speaking, Eileen thanked her and bent down to pick up the crutches she had placed on the floor.

“If Duke Aaron cannot do it, then I should do it for him.”

“What?”

The noblewomen got goosebumps seeing Eileen answer with such cold eyes.

The only daughter of Duke Kyle and Duchess Lia, power players of Bereut comparable to the Emperor of the Empire.

That fact was firmly imprinted in people’s minds once again.

* * *

‘Aaron, if only you hadn’t existed……!’

“No.”

‘We died because of you!’

“Damn it……!”

Even though the sun had risen and he had awakened from his dream, the voices tormenting Aaron continuously whispered curses in his ears. Like a shackle he could never escape, they gradually consumed him.

“Please, please stop……”

He covered his ears and shut his eyes tightly, but the voices didn’t disappear. Rather, the more he struggled to break free from the shackles, the more persistent they became.

While trying his best to shake them off, Aaron picked up his pen again when urgent footsteps and a knocking sound were heard.

Knock knock! Knock knock knock!

“Master!”

The knocking sound echoed in his ears to the point of irritation. Aaron muttered a small curse before telling them to come in.

Then with a bang! The door opened roughly, and an employee rushed in.

“M-Master……!”

The force that had been pounding on the door had disappeared somewhere, and the employee, looking like he might collapse at any moment, couldn’t easily continue speaking while taking deep breaths.

“……What’s the matter?”

His vision blurred from the headache that had started throbbing again. Aaron covered his eyes with his hand and spoke with a strained voice.

“D-Duke Andrew……!”

When Duke Andrew’s name left the employee’s lips, the headache became even more intense. Simultaneously, the voices gnawing at him grew louder.

“He’s making a scene in the shop, demanding that we bring you immediately!”

Finally, the moment the employee uttered his last words, the black shadow swallowed him.

“Alright.”

Aaron barely managed to answer and went outside. Duke Andrew was fuming in the center of the shop.

Aaron slowly steadied his breathing, approached him, and spoke,

“……You’ve arrived, Duke Andrew.”

“You arrived quite early, Duke Aaron.”

His already terrible mood plummeted further with Duke Andrew’s sarcasm. Though he barely had the strength to speak, Aaron slowly uttered each word.

“I heard you experienced some discomfort in the shop……”

“After causing your parents’ deaths, do you want to kill your customers too?”

‘You killed us!’

Aaron tried hard to ignore the voice that overlapped with Duke Andrew’s, but the more he tried to push it away, the louder it became.

Satisfaction bloomed on Duke Andrew’s face at Aaron’s expression, which was turning pale and breaking into a cold sweat.

‘Yes. This is how Aaron de Monston should be.’

He loved seeing Aaron unable to speak whenever he brought up his parents. Each time, it felt like washing away the humiliation of losing to this youngster. Duke Andrew pulled his lips up into a slanted smile.

‘Why did you have to revive your family……’

He thought the Monston family would quickly collapse after the accident of the Duke and Duchess.

Then he would devour the Monston family and become a house that even the Ceres family, or even the Emperor, couldn’t treat carelessly.

Perhaps he could even establish a principality.

“Ah. I suppose Duke Aaron doesn’t feel any guilt anyway?”

Until this youngster, Aaron de Monston, shattered that dream.

From the moment he found Aaron’s weakness, from the moment he discovered his guilt over the Monston couple’s death, Duke Andrew vowed to thoroughly destroy him.

“Ah. How heartbroken the poor Duke and Duchess of Monston must be to see their son turn out so pathetically!”

Since today was the death anniversary of the Monston couple, he should destroy him more thoroughly.