Sikar Blake, after boldly spouting such lethal words, casually approached and took my hand.

“Reidox gifted you perfume. He’s not wrong. People may endlessly speculate about you, shrouded in mystery, but they’ll surely feel curious once they see you wearing this perfume.”

Ah, right—I nearly forgot, thanks to all that intimidation.

“Veronia?! What happened to Veronia? Did you find her?!”

Sikar Blake took a sip of tea brought by the maid and shook his head.

“Not found.”

“I see.”

Gillian wouldn’t be hard to find, nor would he hide her; even in the original story, Kian Blake only ever encountered Veronia by chance in the square, so finding her easily was unlikely.

My spirits instantly plummeted because I’d hoped too much.

“But it’s not as if we gained nothing. We confirmed Veronia’s face.”

“Huh? You confirmed her face?!”

“Since we’ve seen her face, it should be somewhat easier to find her than searching by crest alone.”

As Sikar Blake said, that was indeed a considerable gain—he could verify identities among people.

“Why on earth are you looking for that woman, Duke?”

I turned to see Vika Lamberst descending the stairs, his expression full of suspicion.

“Veronia is a princess. Why are you searching for a princess? Don’t you think you’re hiding too much from me?”

Sikar Blake, seemingly annoyed at having to respond, brought the teacup in his hand to his lips.

“You just need to do what you’re told.”

“Remember when the King visited last time? He filled the ducal manor with nightmare spirits before leaving. I didn’t mind feasting after so long, but it felt odd. We’re the ones who put the King in that position—why would he spread such things in this manor? What exactly have you been up to lately, Duke?”

“When the time comes, you’ll naturally understand. Don’t press me now.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“Must I explain every little thing to you? Like Durion, don’t ask for reasons—just follow orders. You never acted like this before, but lately you’re trying things you’ve never done.”

“I can’t just keep doing that anymore.”

Apparently, Vika Lamberst and Durion still knew nothing.

Durion naturally hated complicated, headache-inducing matters; even if you explained reasons to him, he’d refuse to listen and tell you to drop it. And Vika Lamberst, bound by his pact with Sikar Blake, never seriously doubted him.

So he wasn’t the type to ask such probing questions.

Indeed, ever since he overheard our conversation back then—and especially since I married Sikar Blake—his suspicions seemed to have grown.

Sikar Blake, by nature, disliked explaining his every action in detail, so I had no choice but to step in.

“Vika Lamberst. I’ll explain. Sikar Blake. I’ll explain to Vika Lamberst.”

‘So please, both of you, stop fighting already.’

I truly intended to explain thoroughly, but Vika Lamberst clearly didn’t want to hear it from me.

“That’s enough. I don’t particularly wish to hear it from you, Madam.”

It wasn’t that Vika Lamberst was being cold only to me—he was always aloof with everyone. Thinking that gave me some comfort.

Anyway, Vika Lamberst went upstairs to his room, as if deciding he’d rather not hear my explanation at all.

Sikar Blake apparently thought I’d said that deliberately.

“You know Vika Lamberst very well. You handled that excellently.”

No, I didn’t intend to “handle” anything—I genuinely wanted to kindly explain…

“Vika Lamberst greatly dislikes conversing with those weaker than himself. Especially not with frail, powerless people like you. You exploited that point very appropriately.”

So that’s why Vika Lamberst always wears only leather pants.

Honestly, I didn’t know much about Vika Lamberst—nothing that detailed was ever mentioned. Still, I realized it would truly be difficult to ever get close to him.

Feeling deflated, I spoke listlessly.

“If we’re done talking, I’ll head to my room now.”

“Wait.”

Sikar Blake snapped his fingers toward a servant. The servant brought over something wrapped in paper and handed it to Sikar Blake, who then passed it to me.

“Take it.”

“What is this…?”

Upon receiving it, I saw it was none other than rosemary.

“This is…?”

“Not drawn on paper—this is real rosemary flower. Inside, there are also rosemary seeds. If, as you say, this symbolizes domestic peace, then grow it well—for the peace of our family.”

“Sikar Blake…”

Is this… a little touching? Am I actually feeling moved? Toward this villain who just threatened to kill me?

‘I shouldn’t be moved by something so trivial. Consider all the threats I’ve endured.’

Still, I never imagined he’d actually buy rosemary flowers—it made my heart swell. Whether it was merely to lift his own curse or not, in this moment, my heart felt warm.

“I’m tired too—I’ll sleep now. See you tomorrow.”

Looking at the rosemary, I whispered as if to Sikar Blake,

“Protect our family’s peace.”

Upon saying it, I felt slightly embarrassed, realizing Sikar Blake might see this too if he reads my memories—but still, today my heart felt somehow comforted.

I instructed Mary to place the rosemary in the living room—to remind me daily of domestic peace.

Aside from the snow falling heavily, it was quite a peaceful morning.

Perhaps I annoyed Sikar Blake a bit from the start—enough to make me wonder if gifting me rosemary while talking about “domestic peace” might have been a mistake on his part.

Specifically, I asked him to personally make toast for breakfast—for the sake of domestic peace.

“I truly don’t see how domestic peace relates to me making toast from morning,”

he said, but kept his word about making an effort for parenting.

Granted, all the eggs broke, but nonetheless, Sikar Blake produced something resembling toast and placed it on Kian Blake’s plate.

It was a shame Durion and Vika Lamberst didn’t witness this—it was a heartwarming scene.

After breakfast, since snow still fell steadily, Sikar Blake couldn’t play ball with Kian Blake and instead decided to properly join the spirit game with Vika Lamberst.

“I was curious how it’s done anyway—may I watch too?”

“Of course.”

Thanks to Sikar Blake’s cheerful permission, I quietly sat in a chair tucked into a corner of Kian Blake’s room, careful not to disturb.

Until I saw Vika Lamberst and Kian Blake’s spirit game firsthand, I’d vaguely assumed it was fun. But seeing it with my own eyes, I realized it was an extremely complex and strenuous activity.

Calling it a “game” was misleading—it demanded tremendous mental stamina.

“Young Master. What did I say? You’re still inexperienced—even a slight shift in posture prevents spirits from gathering.”

Vika Lamberst leaned back in his chair in his usual slouched posture, but Kian Blake sat perfectly still, without the slightest tremor.

I felt I’d struggle to hold such a posture for even thirty seconds, yet Kian Blake endured it admirably.

In short, Kian Blake was impressive.

Even so, Kian Blake kept glancing sideways at me, seemingly worried I might be disappointed.

I found it adorably heart-stopping, but didn’t want to break his concentration, so I pretended not to notice and watched with a serious expression.

“Young Master. Your focus is too scattered today. Concentrate. Concentrate.”

“I am concentrating.”

At Vika Lamberst’s nagging, Kian Blake frowned slightly but soon met Vika Lamberst’s gaze with serious eyes.

Sikar Blake, seemingly watching this for the first time, observed with unusual focus.

Concentrating intensely, Kian Blake began summoning sparks around himself. This time, they weren’t tiny sparks like before—not even the small fire butterflies he’d shown me.

Gradually, more and more sparks gathered around Kian Blake, until fire spirits amassed in numbers sufficient to completely surround him—with some to spare.

‘Has he already grown this much?’

Though Kian Blake was still young and small in stature, the sight of him calmly summoning and surrounded by fire spirits, eyes gently closed, was incredibly majestic.

I gazed at Kian Blake with a rapt expression—and at that moment, he glanced sideways at me, and our eyes met.

Instantly, Kian Blake flushed with embarrassment, and all the surrounding fire spirits vanished in a flash.

I understood that. It’s common for children to wonder if they’re doing well, yet the moment they lock eyes with you, they get shy and hide.

Seeing all the painstakingly summoned fire spirits disappear, Vika Lamberst looked utterly deflated.

“Young Master. You’re unusually distracted today. Is it because Madam is here?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then don’t waste my time—focus again. The Duke is helping today too. You must do better, right?”

Kian Blake closed his eyes once, straightened his posture, then glared at Vika Lamberst with eyes that seemed ready to devour him.

“Again.”

This time, fire spirits gathered around Kian Blake slightly faster than before. Vika Lamberst roughly estimated their number by eye and nodded.

“Good. The number of spirits increased again today. Let’s begin.”

Just as I wondered what they’d begin, Vika Lamberst summoned a shadow spirit, and Kian Blake’s summoned fire spirits followed it. But they often failed to keep up, suddenly extinguished, or turned back—it was commonplace.

“So you can avoid the Duke’s interference?”

Kian Blake gritted his teeth, summoned spirits again, and chased after Vika Lamberst’s spirit. Summoning and controlling spirits consumed great mental energy—it must have been very taxing for Kian Blake.

“Duke, begin too.”

Though Sikar Blake couldn’t summon spirits himself, he could control spirits summoned by spirit masters. This was one trait of the Sitar clan—dominating spirits’ minds—and also one of Sikar Blake’s outstanding abilities.

However, since he couldn’t interfere with royal mental power, he couldn’t dominate the minds of spirits summoned by Kian Blake.

Thus, in the original story, he was utterly helpless against Kian Blake. Moreover, cursed by Agathion, Sikar Blake was fated to meet a futile end at the hands of the adult Kian Blake.

So I watched to see how he’d help—and since he couldn’t move Kian Blake’s spirits, he instead assisted Vika Lamberst by making Vika Lamberst’s summoned spirits move faster.

Naturally, two working together made Vika Lamberst’s shadow spirits far more active.

Kian Blake struggled hard to keep up. Even so, whenever he made a slight mistake, he’d glance at me—seeing him, with his child’s heart, trying so hard to impress me, was deeply touching.

Seeing Kian Blake’s exhaustion, Sikar Blake stopped Vika Lamberst.

“Enough. If you continue, the child will faint.”

“No. I can do more.”

“Stubbornness like that is merely reckless.”

Watching Kian Blake and Vika Lamberst use spirit arts was impressive, but I couldn’t stand by while Kian Blake overexerted himself.

“Kian Blake. Let’s stop the spirit game and plant rosemary seeds together instead?”

“Rosemary seeds?”

“Yes. Yesterday, the Duke bought rosemary seeds. Want to plant them together?”

Just moments ago fiercely focused on spirit arts, Kian Blake instantly brightened at the suggestion of planting seeds and opened his mouth wide with excitement.

“Yes!”

After successfully shifting Kian Blake’s interest from spirit games to seed planting, our little family of three sat side by side in the living room to plant seeds.

Vika Lamberst was excluded from planting—he said he might feel tempted to trample the seeds. Durion quietly excused himself, saying he wanted to let our little family enjoy harmonious time together.

So in the end, only the three of us planted seeds.

“Will that beautiful rosemary really grow from this tiny seed?”

“Of course. Just as Kian Blake is small now but will grow very large like the Duke someday, plants also grow from tiny seeds. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Yes. So amazing!”

While planting seeds in the pot, Kian Blake glanced at the fully grown rosemary, then wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Mother. Can I plant carnation seeds here too?”

“Hmm?”

“I want to grow carnations too. I want to give you carnations that I grew myself.”