Did Louis think of my father in his childhood whenever he saw me?

A young Astariol who didn’t know how to communicate with people and didn’t mind even his parents’ neglect.

The boy who became Louis’s new patron after his mother passed away and sent him to the academy.

‘Now Louis… feels a debt beyond an employment relationship, whether it is now or back then.’

Louis raised his eyes again.

Guilt, admiration, respect, trust, a sense of duty.

Deep and poignant emotions quietly flowed below Louis’s eyes and face.

During the years he grew to an age where he could understand the other side of childhood, along the deep grooves made by the weight of layered guilt.

I calmly asked.

“When my father married my mother, Louis trusted him, didn’t he?”

Louis had been my father’s aide unwaveringly since he was young.

Even now, whenever my father couldn’t go out with us, he left Eciel and me in Louis’s care.

My father’s trust in Louis was absolutely impeccable.

Maybe because he never doubted my father’s words about my mother as Tara, not even a little bit…

That was probably why my father still trusted him even now.

Louis answered in a slightly choked voice.

“… yes.”

“For my father, that must have been enough of a reward.”

Believing in truth that no one else trusted, sometimes even enduring disgrace, and being a capable aide whom my father could trust to take care of his most precious daughters.

Wasn’t it truly a story out of a novel?

Louis had already sufficiently repaid my father.

At my words, Louis lowered his head again. He just seemed to want to hide his face, so I let him be.

At that moment, someone burst through the door without knocking.

“Claire.”

Dad.

The harsh winter wind walked in briskly.

“I was outside and heard the news late. I’m sorry.”

He inspected my face as he spoke, so I just smiled.

“I’m fine.”

I cried only once, but it seems that left quite an impression on my father.

Only after carefully examining my face and being convinced I was truly okay did my father turn to Louis.

“How did that person get out?”

“Miss expelled her.”

“… really?”

Dad’s eyebrows raised slightly. A newly renewed gaze at me.

As I nodded, a smile finally appeared on my father’s cold face. He asked playfully.

“Louis wasn’t much help, was he?”

“Louis offered to do it. But I think it’s right for me to handle what I can.”

“… hmm?”

“Mom used to say that you should do what you can by yourself.”

Dad and Louis burst into laughter.

I was serious, though. Why were they laughing?

As I watched, clueless, my father finally stopped laughing and whispered gently.

“I’m sorry. Let’s go, Claire.”

It seemed like he was trying to avoid the subject.

Suspiciously staring at him for a moment, I eventually took my father’s hand and stood up from the sofa.

Outside the door, Leah Fawcett was waiting.

Before our eyes met, she quickly bowed her head, without any sign of pride or boasting.

I tugged my father’s hand as if urging him.

“Dad, wait a minute. I have something to say before we go.”

My father glanced briefly at Leah Fawcett and let go of my hand.

As I stepped forward, Leah Fawcett finally raised her head with a slightly tense expression.

“Miss.”

“Thank you for today.”

“… it’s nothing. Galamad always provides the best service to its clients.”

A faint smile appeared on her face. It was a wise attitude.

Even if you noticed the secrets of a great noble family and helped them, boasting about it only yielded temporary benefits.

Displaying such things recklessly was no different from stepping onto the fast track to ruin.

“Anything more you want?”

I asked as a test, and she quickly shook her head.

“I wouldn’t dare. Rather, I’m sorry I couldn’t stop the madman today.”

If that was how she intended to handle it, there was nothing more to say. I nodded to match her tone.

Leah Fawcett then rattled off how she had already packed Eciel’s ordered items into our carriage and how she would send seamstresses if we let her know when it was convenient, quickly silencing any glances in our direction.

After all eyes had turned away, she whispered softly.

“If you wish, I can arrange for the lady to be sent to your house.”

It took me a moment to understand what she meant.

That was, she offered to send Lady Declamen to Duke Chelsier’s mansion.

If I wished, I could get my revenge as much as I wanted.

Unconsciously, I glanced at my father, who shook his head.

“No need for that.”

A calm and composed voice.

“I promised never to let that person into the mansion. I’ve kept that promise well until now, I can’t break it over such a trivial matter.”

Realizing she had heard something she shouldn’t have, Leah Fawcett’s face turned pale.

It seemed best to leave now to help her out.

I lightly patted her tightly clasped hand to mean not to be tense.

“Thank you for today. Send me a few sheets of good stationery if it comes in. I’ll tell the butler to pay generously for it.”

Meaning that as a reward for today, she should occasionally send small items like stationery, which I’d buy at a slightly higher price than usual.

Her face brightened dramatically, catching the hint.

“Yes, please visit again, Miss.”

Her voice, full of cheerful laughter, sounded pleasant, making me smile slightly.

But not as much as my father’s words when I returned to him who was quietly waiting.

“Let’s go home, Claire.”

 

* * *

 

The item Eciel had ordered was a music box shaped like a wooden box.

When you opened the lid, a small peridot was in the center of the lid, and in the middle, a small doll in the shape of a girl surrounded by flowers twirled around.

It was amusing to see that us twins had thought of the same thing, making me chuckle slightly.

Dad, who also knew that magic item, told me various stories about Mom’s magic in the carriage.

I also shared as much as I knew.

Things like how the magic stone was stolen and its whereabouts unknown, and that before it was stolen, my mother always had her most confident fever medicine inside it…

At the end of the story, Dad asked slowly and gently.

“The magic tower is on an island in the east. Would you like to visit it when we travel to the sea?”

“Was Mom there?”

“Yes. Since she was very young.”

Then Dad whispered as if in passing.

“If only I could turn back time, I would want to go back to then.”

I flinched, unable to respond, and my father just smiled faintly and gently patted me.

 

* * *

 

Originally, it was customary to send out invitations and hold a banquet for the birth anniversary of the Duchess, but my mother adamantly refused.

Reasons like needing to be careful about associating with powerful people despite being pardoned now, or having few people who genuinely celebrated it, seemed plausible…

But the biggest reason was that she wanted to spend it peacefully with just family, like last year.

Of course, we were no longer just three but four, so today was quite different from the <peaceful and modest birthday> Mom wanted.

“Mom, happy birthday!”

To start, the bouquet Eciel held was not a clumsily woven one from the fields by children.

The bouquet, carefully cultivated by gardeners in the grand garden of the ducal mansion and beautifully tied with a high-quality ribbon, was far more beautiful than last year’s.

Still, my mother smiled almost the same as last year.

The four of us sat around a not-so-large table for breakfast, and as we moved to the family room, Eciel, unable to hold back any longer, hurriedly brought out her gift.

“Mom, here’s your present!”

I exchanged glances with my father and brought out the gifts we had each chosen.

During that time, my mother thanked my sister and opened the music box, a so familiar tune played.

A simple and cheerful melody, a cute and intact doll, flowers around the doll that popped up and down with the music.

The lively and peaceful scene brought a smile to my mother’s face as well.

“Thank you so much, Eciel. It’s adorable.”

A beaming Eciel turned to me.

“Claire, what did you choose for Mom’s present?”

Instead of answering, I handed over a notebook.

“What is this?”

“A record of Mom’s magic potion recipes you’ve researched so far. Not all of them, just the ones I remember.”

Mom suddenly jumped up.

We had moved frequently, lived a long wandering life, and had unexpected accidents. Writings done on poor quality paper with bad ink would quickly become illegible when it rained.

My mother’s research had been lost many times like that.

But I could clearly remember the parts I had read, so I bought a notebook with high-quality paper and a thick binding from Galamad and wrote them down.

“Really… thank you, Claire.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Strictly speaking, I was boasting about my mother’s work, so I awkwardly shook my head and quickly stepped back.

Dad, who had been waiting his turn, smiled slightly.

“Since Claire and Eciel have already given great gifts, what I have to give may not be satisfactory.”

My mother, sitting and engrossed in the notebook, answered absentmindedly.

“Mm.”

“Your magic stone.”

“Mm… mm?”

“Your magic stone.”

My father kindly repeated.

Mom was so shocked that she couldn’t even stand up.

But my father was considerate enough to bring the magic stone to her.

The stone that had been cut out of my mother’s little box by a thief long ago was right there.