Damian [3] || Edited

"It's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. My greetings are late, I'm Damian." Damian approached the Duchess and bowed his head, keeping an appropriate distance.

"Ah…nice to meet you."

Damian glanced sideways at her when she replied in a gentle tone. 'Is she too shocked that she can't understand the current situation?'

There was no hostility or disgust in the amber-colored eyes of the Duchess. Maybe she was yet to put her emotions in order or was a high-level actress. He couldn't decide yet.

Her appearance alone was different from the image he had pictured. He had imagined a lady full of the pride and gracefulness of a princess. However, the lady before him painted a vivid picture of innocence and gentleness rather than pride and class.

He couldn't understand the Ashin that had answered evasively when he'd asked him if she was pretty.

'But she is pretty…'

"Milady, the young master just came back from a long carriage journey and mentioned he would like to rest." (Jerome)

"Ah. He should get some rest. I know how exhausting a carriage trip can be. It's around the time for lunch, has he eaten?"

"…He's not in the mood for it."

"Even so, he can't continue to have an empty stomach till evening, he's at the prime of his growth. Steward, have them prepare something easy on the stomach and bring it out. For dinner too, prepare something that's easy to digest."

"Yes, Milady."

The boy that had been silently staring at Lucia, bowed his head and followed a servant. When the boy had gone far enough that he wouldn't see her, Lucia grabbed her reddening face with both hands.

'Ah, my goodness! So cute!'

He was a mini Duke! He was the childhood of the Duke that Lucia had not seen. It wasn't just his appearance but his stiff and cold expressions were practically a carbon replica.

"Milady…?" Jerome was worried that her Grace would be shocked but when she turned her head, her eyes were twinkling.

"You said he was eight, right Jerome?"

"That is correct. He was born with an uncommonly large physique."

"I see… Indeed, I don't think it would make any sense if his son was small."

"Are you…okay?"

"What?"

"…No, nothing."

"He's a much cuter child than I expected. Looks kind too."

"…yes???"

The word 'cute' was definitely not a word that matched the young master. It may have during his early childhood, but not now.

And kind? Where did she see that? The young master resembles the Duke in looking like he wouldn't bleed even if you stabbed him. Her Grace's eyes were questionable.

"If I said I want to have dinner together, would it make him feel uncomfortable?" (Lucia)

"…If Milady isn't uncomfortable, then…"

"Uncomfortable indeed. I'm looking forward to dinner tonight."

Jerome watched as her Grace left the receiving room cheerfully then he sank into deep thought. She had the contrary reaction that a normal person would have.

It was the tragic situation of a new bride marrying in and, within a few months of marriage, her husband's older son shows up. Her Grace's reaction was definitely not normal.

Maybe she didn't recognize the gravity of the situation or perhaps her Grace was just someone with no discretion.

Jerome then grabbed Ashin and pulled him into the steward's office. He glared sharply at Ashin while Ashin was trying his best to avoid the gaze on him, his eyes wandering all over the ceiling.

"What the hell is going on, Sir Ashin?"

"What do you mean?"

"What did you not tell me you would be picking up the young master?"

"That… well, I thought you already knew."

"Even if you thought that way, you should have informed me or Milady."

"…that…his Grace didn't give any instruction to do so…"

Jerome grabbed him by the neck. It wasn't like he was a rookie that had just become an administrative officer so, was that something a secretary should say?

If someone's worked as long as Ashin has, they should have figured out the Duke's nature by now.

It was very often that the Duke would give orders without the process to carry it out, and if one person could pass on his words to others then that was the end of it.

He had no interest in whether there was communication or not. It was all on their heads if there was a problem due to lack of communication.

And so, vassals of the Duke would often have short meetings between themselves to check if there were any holes in their knowledge.

"Do I have to point things out to you to that extent, Sir Ashin?"

Occasionally in some areas, the usually swift Ashin would strangely have his flexibility drop to a bottom when it came to work regarding the Duke.

Jerome heard a knock as he was about to continue speaking and after a while, the door opened slowly and Fabian's head peeked in.

"What's going on? Oh, Sir Ashin, It's been a long time."

"Fabian! It's been a while. Then you brothers can sort out yourselves… I'll just…"

They shared a brief handshake, lightly knocked their shoulders and as soon as the greeting was over, Ashin felt as though he'd found a way to survive and immediately scurried off.

"What's the matter?" (Fabian)

Jerome sighed deeply.

"It's not a big deal. Master isn't here right now, what is it? Didn't you hear he was going to deal with the barbarians?" (Jerome)

"I know. I received different order so I came here. It seems like the young master is here?"

"He arrived a little while ago."

"Your expression doesn't seem good. Is her Grace very unhappy?"

"No, it's not like that."

Unhappy? She liked it so much that even her steps grew lighter. He gave up on explaining to Fabian because Fabian would just call it nonsense. He would allow Fabian to see it with his own eyes.

"I was suddenly asked to bring the family registry document so was wondering what was going on. The young master is back, huh."

"…Registry documents?"

"Although I don't know if her Grace has given her consent. How are those two these days? Is his Grace still in his honeymoon mood?"

"Watch your words."

Jerome seemed very unimpressed with the topic as he frowned intensely and Fabian awkwardly shrugged his shoulders.

"What of the capital? Anything new?" (Jerome)

"There's always something new in that place."

Fabian recalled an incident that had caused a racket in the high society not too long ago. Roy Krotin, the current escort to the crown prince, beat a knight of a Count's family half-dead.

It wouldn't be a problem if it was a legitimate duel but the duel was quite undefined.

It would be correct to say he was suppressed by Roy's skills but the method was controversial.

Roy provoked the Knight by not drawing his sword; saying that if he was made to draw his sword, he would admit defeat, causing the opposing knight to blow his top.

And Roy beat up the Knight that jumped at him with his sword like a rag doll.

When Fabian first heard the news, he was speechless but afterward, he couldn't stop laughing. He knew that Roy was someone that his Lord often wreaked havoc on to beat sense into him.

Sure enough, there was controversy as to whether it was a fair duel. The count ran around asking what type of duel that was meanwhile at the crown prince's side, when he heard that Roy had crushed them with his skills, he burst into laughter.

And so, suddenly, Roy swiftly became the center of interest in the social circles. Fabian found the situation extremely hilarious but he didn't think Jerome would find it funny too so he just kept it to himself.

"Ah right. These days, there's a rumor floating around about the mine that his Grace gave as a dowry." (Fabian)

"Why has that turned into a rumor?"

A dowry was a private matter that only those involved in the exchange should know about.

For the receiver, it said how much one sold their daughter for, and for the giver, it was how much money one paid for their wife and so, to keep up appearances, it was the proper courtesy not to talk about it.

"What do you think? It's obvious who spread it. The King must have boasted about it so it spread."

"That…tsk."

The two brothers clicked their tongue in disapproval towards the senseless king.

"Anyways, that's why all sorts of rumors are flying around. It is said that because her Grace is such a beauty, even if a man looks from afar he would fall for her so his Grace fell for her at a glance, gave away his entire mine, and dragged her to his estate so that no one could see her."

Honestly speaking, her Grace wasn't to that extent.

Looking at the sight of Fabian giggling away, Jerome clicked his tongue.

"Someone like Milady is beautiful."

"…Did you eat something wrong?"

"Mmn, The problem is poking fun at other people without any basis. That's too much…"

"What's too much? His Grace doesn't care about things like rumors."

Was it really like that? Jerome had a hunch that his master wouldn't be indifferent to rumors concerning her Grace. He was almost certain of it.

Damian thought he'd slept for a long time but when he got up, it was still bright outside.

Damian's bedroom was located in one of the buildings connected to the central tower. It was a room originally built to be a nursery for the Duke's children.

It was considerably wide-ranging from the bedroom to the study room, enough for up to ten children to stay in.

When he looked outside the window from the second floor of the bedroom that had been his until he left for boarding school, he could see the garden that was covered with colorful flowers.

'Is this the work of the Duchess…'

He'd thought that flowers were unsuitable for the dreary Ducal House but surprisingly, they didn't look out of place and the scent of the flowers filled the air.

He didn't usually feel any sort of love or hate towards flowers but he thought it would be good to see the garden that was full of flowers.

And so, Damian went down to the garden. The scent that filled his nose was much more intense.

"Damian."

It was the first time the boy realized that his name could be said so sweetly. He stopped abruptly and turned to look at the approaching Duchess. As Damian laid his eyes on the Duchess who looked extremely happy, he tilted his head.

'Why is she happy?'

"Did you sleep well? You woke up pretty early. Aren't you hungry?"

It was a soft and clear voice. Her pleasant voice was filled with goodwill. Damian pulled the reins of his cautiousness tighter. What an incredible actress.

"…I'm okay for now."

"Have I perhaps interrupted you?"

"No."

Damian had no memory of his birth mother and whether it was his professors or the students at the academy, they were all male. The women that worked in the kitchen or did the chores were all middle-aged women.

He'd never conversed with a young woman that he wasn't in an employment relationship with, so he was extremely awkward.

"I thought the garden looked great so I came here." (Damian)

"I just planted a bunch of flowers but I'm glad you think it's nice." (Lucia)

"You can speak more comfortably." (Damian) (TN: She'd been using formal speech)

"Mm…Sure? I don't care much but…would that be more comfortable for you?"

"Yes."

"Alright. If you're taking a walk, would you like to take a short walk with me?" (TN: She's switched to informal)

"…Yes."

As they silently walked through the path in the garden, Lucia continued to sneak glances at the boy.

The more she looked, the more amazed she got. It seemed like her heart that had been wanting to see him could be satisfied by looking at Damian for some time.

Even the boy's stiff and polite tone somehow resembled him.

"I heard you were at boarding school. Is this a vacation?"

"…There are no vacations but an outing is possible. His Grace asked me to come so I came. He also asked me to give my greetings to the Duchess."

"Ah…"

Damian was keeping a distance from her. She could feel it.

'Although truthfully, if he'd called me mother once…mm….it may have been a tad creepy…'

When noble children reach the age of discretion, they would oftentimes become obsessed with a sense of entitlement and become arrogant and impudent.

There were also cases where they remain the same even after they matured, but still, when they grew older, they learnt how to keep what they really thought inside and pretend on the outside.

Damian was now eight years old but was as disciplined as a knight. But even so, she could only see him as the child he was.

'Is this the power of boarding schools? Then it would be nice to send all noble children to boarding schools.'

The fact that she was not in a position high enough to enforce such a thought was the fortune of all noble children.

"Damian, honestly speaking, right now, it is hard for me to think of you as a son ."

So direct—! Damian paused in surprise and looked at Lucia.

"You too, right? It's hard for you to think of me as your mother."

I didn't expect this kind of method! Damian chose his words carefully.

"…I apologize. Did I make a mistake…"

"No. I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying it's natural. We've just met, we don't know each other so it's only natural to be unfamiliar."

Red eyes much smaller than his (Hugo's) looked at Lucia. He evoked in Lucia the image of a young animal that had just learned about the world. He lifted his eyebrows adorably, searching her like she was the first existence he'd ever seen.

To the Lucia who had gotten accustomed to the predatory gaze of the gigantic beast called Hugo, Damian's sharp gaze was merely just that.

'So cute. So cute!'

Her hands were fidgeting. She wanted to pinch his cheeks a little or even pat his head.

Lucia restrained herself from doing so as that would make him more vigilant.

"We only differ in age by ten years. If I had a ten-year-old child at my age, then your father becomes a criminal." (Lucia)

Damian quickly suppressed the huge smile that was about to break out on his face.

"So, I want us to try and get a little bit closer to each other. Instead of being so formal and calling me 'Duchess', call me by my name, Lucia. It's my childhood name."

"…"

"Let's get along from now on, Damian."

Lucia had been influenced in various ways by hanging out with Kate. It would be hard to change her fundamental character but she liked Kate's straightforward way of speaking so she was trying to be more like that.

She stretched out her hand to ask for a handshake while Damian stared blankly at her hand. He couldn't make out what the Duchess wanted.

Why would she want to do such a troublesome thing? Damian was definitely the weaker party between him and the Duchess. He was young and an illegitimate child.

When the Duchess gives birth to a child in the future, he would be an obstacle. There was no reason for the Duchess to try and improve their relationship.

"Is that difficult?" (Lucia)

"…No."

Damian grabbed the Duchess's hand in front of him.

'I don't know what her true motive is but…since I can't read my opponent yet, I have no choice but to accept.'

Although Damian was young, he wasn't an idiot that would reveal his aggression to an opponent whose intentions he couldn't grasp.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If she hid a knife behind her smile, he would do the same too. He was still young and did not have any power.

It was a time where he definitely could not upset anyone.

'Seems like it will be hard to get close.' (Lucia)

Damian thought he was hiding his thoughts but to the Lucia that had experienced a lot in life, the vigilance of a young child was obvious to her.

Even if she said that she wasn't his enemy, he wouldn't believe her.

With his position as an illegitimate child without a mother around to embrace him and a father that did not give him warm care and attention, no matter who it was, they would be disillusioned.

'After some time, it will be okay. My sincerity will definitely be seen someday.'

Lucia knew that she would love his son just as much as she loved him.

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