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Elise's eyes, which had been full of anger, wavered aimlessly.
Elise touched her stomach with trembling hands.
The biggest reason she was rushing the wedding was because of that.
The child in her womb, who had never existed in the first place.
And Paydon's attitude, which had begun to change as Leticia left the Duke's residence.
'I need to become the Duchess as soon as possible under the pretext of the child, and then pretend the child was miscarried...'
It would become difficult to delay the pregnancy as the months passed.
She didn't have much time left.
"O-of course. Thank you for your concern."
"Anyway, think carefully again about attending the founding festival. I'm only saying this because I'm worried about you."
Paydon pretended to be concerned about Elise until the end, affectionately stroking her shoulder before leaving the dining room.
However, as soon as the dining room door closed, Paydon's face showed a hint of annoyance, as if nothing had happened.
"She doesn't need to be so innocent, even with her hair..."
Clicking his tongue, Paydon went up to his office and muttered another curse when he saw the documents piled up on his desk.
He was getting sick of the documents that didn't decrease even after spending all day racking his brain, worrying, and processing them.
And every time that happened, Leticia would invariably come to mind, and he would feel annoyed.
'That impertinent woman. I gave the position of Duchess to a mere Baron's daughter... and she doesn't even appreciate it and runs away?'
Just as Paydon was grinding his teeth while thinking of Leticia.
Bang—!
The door opened without warning, and Lockard rushed in, his face pale.
"Y-Your Excellency! Something terrible has happened!"
"Don't you knock?"
"I-I'm sorry. But it's really, really bad...!"
"Haa... What is it now?"
"Th-that is... the tail we put on the Duchess is dead."
"What?"
"Judging from the circumstances, it seems Grand Duke Dellua noticed the tail and killed him."
The tail attacked Idris first, so it was considered self-defense due to attempted assassination of a member of the Imperial Family.
Idris wanted it to pass quietly, so it seemed like there wouldn't be an article about it.
...The same report continued, but Paydon didn't hear it.
"That crazy bastard..."
He didn't know if Idris had even noticed that he was behind it, but in any case, Idris's intention in killing the tail was clear.
Touch him one more time, and he'll die.
Paydon was feeling instinctive fear from the chilling warning when Lockard delivered the news.
"As a result, we didn't obtain any separate information, but according to people, the Duchess helped a man who runs a small clothing store in the plaza."
"...A man who runs a clothing store?"
"Yes, they say he's a men's clothing designer... Judging from how long she stayed at the store, I think she recruited him."
Considering that Leticia had posted a job advertisement at the workshop, it was a reasonable deduction.
"She said she was going to start a clothing business, and all she got was that no-name designer?"
And even a male designer that others ignore and avoid.
A twisted smile appeared on Paydon's lips, which had been stiffened by Idris's warning.
'Yeah. That's all that's within your level, Leticia.'
It had become difficult to put a tail on her anymore, but it seemed like a tail wasn't needed anymore.
'Go ahead and struggle as much as you want.'
Paydon smiled contentedly, imagining Leticia's despair.
Because this was a game that he knew he would win without even having to watch.
"We've arrived, boss."
A few days later, on a quiet afternoon.
I visited Amon's store again.
To check how the work I had entrusted to him was progressing.
The day I first met Amon, I immediately gave him work.
"Make something that suits us well and that you're most confident in. I don't care what the design is."
I didn't make any requests because I wanted him to exert his maximum capabilities.
'Come to think of it, that seems like the hardest thing.'
Do it well, neatly, perfectly!
That's the most difficult and ambiguous thing.
So, after checking if Amon's work had progressed.
I visited in order to help him with the direction if he was having difficulties as I had expected...
"Waaaaah!"
As soon as I entered the store, I was greeted by the sound of a child crying sorrowfully.
I looked inside the store and found Aria lying on the stairs leading to the second floor, crying, and Amon standing next to her with a helpless expression.
Just as the surprised Wii and I were about to approach them.
"Aria, what's wrong—"
"Daddy's mean!"
Aria ran up to the second floor.
'Fortunately, she doesn't seem to be hurt.'
I was relieved to see that the child was okay.
I approached Amon, who was looking up at the second floor with a troubled expression, and asked.
"What's going on?"
Amon sighed deeply and answered.
"I haven't been able to play with Aria because I've been using the excuse that I'm busy with work."
On the next table, there was a blank sketchbook that seemed to belong to Amon, and a sketchbook with clumsy drawings that seemed to belong to Aria.
Seeing that, I could roughly guess what had happened between the two.
'Aria probably lingered next to Amon, who was designing a dress.'
Aria wanted to be next to her dad, wanted to get more attention, and kept talking to him.
Amon, whose work wasn't going well, answered at first, but eventually got annoyed without even realizing it.
And that's why Aria was sulking.
"...It's all my fault."
Amon's face, which said that, was stained with guilt and fatigue.
'It's not easy to juggle childcare and work.'
I've never raised children in either my past life or my present life, but I felt like I knew how hard it must have been for him.
So, instead of scolding him, I gently comforted him.
"How can you be kind every time? Parents are also immature and clumsy humans."
"But..."
"That doesn't mean you did well, though. It just means that I understand as one human being to another."
Amon's expression momentarily contorted as if he was about to cry at my words, but he soon smiled.
"...It makes me feel a little better when you say that."
I felt sorry for him, who had lost his wife and didn't even have anyone to share his feelings with.
At the same time, I suddenly thought of a way to help him.
"How about leaving Aria with me for a few days?"
"Huh?!"
"Honestly, juggling childcare and work isn't easy, right?"
"B-but I can't trouble you like that..."
"I'm okay. I'm the one who demanded an unreasonable schedule in the first place."
A little over a month until the founding festival.
We had to hurry to make clothes for me and Idris by then.
'And since I hired a designer, I don't have much busy work for the time being.'
However...
"Of course, that's if Mr. Amon is okay with it."
The problem is the person involved's opinion.
As expected, Amon was lost in thought.
"I don't know if leaving my child to me just to make things easier for me is a good thing for Aria. I wonder if it's just my selfishness..."
"I've never raised a child, but if I think about it from the perspective of someone else's child."
"..."
"It might be a shame to be separated from her dad right now, but I think it will be good for Aria in the future."
"Really... Do you think so?"
"When Aria grows up, she'll be proud of her dad, who's more sincere about his work than anyone else."
"..."
"And you're not sending her away forever, it's only a few days, right?"
Of course, if someone neglects their family and only focuses on work, that's a problem.
But seeing how much Aria follows her dad, Amon doesn't seem like that kind of person, so I said it.
'I'm jealous of Aria, who has a good father.'
I inadvertently thought of my 'father', who was the complete opposite of Amon, and smiled bitterly.
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