Heh.
Estelle and Durén were fast asleep, unaware of the world.
Meanwhile, Estelle was clutching a book tightly in her hand, and from the tower of books stacked beside her, it wasn't hard to guess what she had been doing.
Lennox started to wake Estelle but hesitated.
If the concept of family could be given form, it would look exactly like this moment.
It seemed so peaceful that he didn't want to disturb it for no reason.
"She's only just gotten out of bed after being bedridden, I can't bring myself to interrupt even her deep sleep."
With that thought, Lennox tilted his head slightly, gazing down at Estelle.
"But… was what I gave her really mandrake medicine?"
The results were less than satisfying.
Even now, just watching over her made one corner of his heart uneasy.
Would that anxiety fade if she gained a little more weight, became just a little sturdier?
Over and over, she exhausted herself, pushing her frail body—barely half as strong as his—for the sake of the ones she loved. His eyes couldn't help but follow her.
There she was, at the end of his gaze—someone who didn't care if she broke, shattered, or fell apart.
"If everyone in the world were like you…"
His hand reached out slowly toward Estelle.
The tips of his fingers trembled faintly.
Yet, after countless moments of hesitation, he couldn't even touch a single strand of her hair. Instead, he muttered softly:
"There would be no such thing as betrayal."
If that were true, then perhaps Lennox—perhaps his family—could have remained intact as well.
Lennox pushed that impossible "what if" into the darkest corner of his mind.
"I actually fell asleep just like that…"
Though she had slept soundly, Estdel awoke with a strange chill running down her spine.
Her attempt at split-sleep had failed.
"Today, I'll definitely go to bed before Durén."
Resolutely making up her mind, Estdel, with her hair in a messy bird's nest, hurried to tend to the half-drowsy Durén and led him to the dining hall.
There, she came face-to-face with Lennox, who was already seated.
The moment their eyes met, Lennox's expression showed clear fluster. After a brief pause of consideration, he spoke:
"…You woke up earlier than I expected."
What's that supposed to mean? Is he complaining? Or was he… waiting?
Estelle's thoughts were written plainly across her face.
Durén, pressed close against Estelle's side, glared at Lennox with wary eyes.
It was then that Pippin, standing behind Lennox, spoke up:
"For someone who always says mealtimes are a waste and never leaves his office, you've been sitting here since early morning, downing five cups of coffee. That's a rather mild comment coming from you."
So he really had been waiting since dawn.
Only then did Estelle realize that Lennox had blurted out something meaningless simply because the situation felt so unfamiliar.
"You could've just said 'good morning.'"
"…What?"
"In a moment like this, I mean."
He had said he wouldn't help her get closer to Durén, but this much should be fine.
"…Good morning."
Lennox glanced once at Estelle, then once at Durén, and spoke awkwardly.
"The weather's really nice today. Don't you think so? Durén, you should answer your uncle too."
"G'wood morning."
Durén responded reluctantly.
Even so, Lennox's discomfort was still plain on his face.
Estelle noticed it, but on purpose, she seated the child right next to Lennox.
"..."
"..."
Two people who could barely manage a morning greeting weren't suddenly going to have a warm conversation just because they were seated side by side at breakfast.
An awkward silence settled over the table.
"Bring me the morning paper."
"Here it is, my lady."
Ignoring the uncomfortable silence, Estelle unfolded the newspaper handed to her by a servant and scanned its pages.
Nothing noteworthy yet.
Recently, Count Bellonsa had been quiet.
She had half-expected Mathias to make demands for money again, using another failed business venture as his excuse.
Since I've changed my attitude, they must be acting cautiously too.
But she guessed their patience would run dry soon enough.
Perhaps it's about time I started moving again.
Her health had recovered enough that she had little to fear now.
Even if the dining hall atmosphere felt so stifling it was hard to breathe.
I must've been reading this paper for quite a while…
During all that time, Lennox and Durén hadn't exchanged a single word.
Wriggle, wriggle.
When Estelle glanced at Durén, he was shifting in his seat, looking as if he might spring up at any moment just to put distance between himself and Lennox.
Sneak, sneak.
Meanwhile, Lennox pretended to be reading the documents Pippin had brought, but his eyes kept flicking toward Durén.
So it wasn't as though they were completely ignoring each other.
The grown-up should be the one to start talking first!
Watching them made Estelle want to scold them both out loud from sheer frustration.
"Your Grace, don't you have anything you're curious to ask Durén?"
It didn't seem like Lennox was being deliberately difficult, but Estelle couldn't stand it anymore and gave him an opening.
After a moment's hesitation, Lennox finally managed to ask a question.
"…What have you been up to lately?"
Disaster.
That was the sort of line an uncle might say at a family gathering after years apart.
It couldn't possibly have been more awkward.
Durén stared at Lennox, eyes wide.
Was that… a question for me?
His confusion was written all over his face.
It's not even "What are you doing today?" but "What have you been up to lately?" What kind of question is that…
A dull throb pounded in her head.
Just throwing in a word or two wasn't going to make this conversation flow smoothly.
"Durén, your uncle's asking what you've been doing. What did we do last night?"
At that, Durén's eyes lit up in sudden realization.
"Mommy told me a story about the stars!"
"A story about stars?"
"Boom! The stars go boom!"
Answering Lennox's question, Durén clenched his little fist and banged it down on the table in imitation.
It must have stuck with him, the way Estelle had compared a fist to a star.
"And then Mommy said Uncle was a bad guy!"
"Not you, but your grandfather's grandfather's grandfather."
Since Lennox seemed completely lost, Estelle quickly corrected him.
"Right! The grandpa's grandpa killed a pretty lady! So the pretty lady got mad and the grandpa's grandpa got caught!"
Only then did Lennox seem to catch on to which fairy tale Durén was talking about.
His brow furrowed.
Of course, no one would be pleased about a storybook that slandered their own ancestors.
Estelle hastily tried to steer the topic away.
"And what other books did you read?"
"Um… lots!"
It seemed Durén couldn't quite remember.
He wasn't capable of lying.
"As you can hear, Durén loves reading books. Did you know that?"
Of course, there was no way he would.
Lennox shook his head.
"Tonight, I'm planning to read him another fairy tale. Would you like to join us? Since you're Durén's father, I'll make an exception and let you in."
Estelle offered the suggestion as though she were doing him a favor.
For a brief moment, Lennox had to suppress the laugh threatening to escape.
Just last night, he had witnessed Estelle nodding off mid-story, book still in hand.
So he could easily guess her true intention.
She's betting I'll never collapse before Durén does.
It was an obvious ploy.
"Fine. Let's do that."
But he chose to go along with that obvious ploy.
Just now, it had sunk in—without Estelle's help, it was nearly impossible for him to spend even a single minute, let alone an hour, with Durén.
A quick bargain had been struck.
"You're handling things unusually quickly today."
"I've always been quick."
Ignoring Pippin's irritating smirk at his retort, Lennox moved as if to rise from his seat.
"Just one last thing for you to check. This message just arrived from the temple."
"Those temple rats never bring anything useful to life."
Lennox frowned the moment his eyes scanned the document.
"Dispatching priests for a pilgrimage? Isn't that a bit sudden?"
"I thought the same, my lord."
At this time of year, priests didn't come calling. At least—not in his previous life.
"Tell them not to come."
But just as he was about to set the papers aside, a name caught his eye and froze him in place.
Kelios Kreuzen?
Estdel's former husband.
His name was printed clearly among the priests assigned to the holy pilgrimage.
Fixing his gaze on that name, Lennox gave a sharp order.
"If they absolutely must, tell them to come next year."
He had no intention of letting Helios and Estdel come face-to-face.
So the real reason for this sudden visit is Estelle. That much is clear.
Did that man, Helios, still cling to some pathetic attachment for his former wife?
Or perhaps he intends to take belated revenge on Estelle? If that's the case, then his heart is every bit as petty and small as his body.
Lennox loathed Helios.
In his previous life, the temple dog who won the bid for the mandrake had been none other than Helios.
"No—don't let him come even next year. Tell them the monsters are under my control, and he has no business setting foot in Winterlen to 'take in the breeze.'"
As Lennox's stance grew harsher, Pippin barely stifled his laughter.
He had quickly realized that all this insistence was because of the lady.
"If they do insist on sending someone, I'll make sure to tell them to exclude any priest whose name starts with 'Hel.'"
"Yes. That will… wait, what?"
"Didn't you say the young master is waiting for you? I'll take care of wrapping things up here, so you should go."
"It's not because of Estelle."
"Yes, yes. I know, I know."
Leaving Pippin chuckling behind him, Lennox headed for Durén's room—
unaware that soon, lying on that bed, he would be unable to conceal his own awkwardness.
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