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Chapter 56
Theophanes stared at the documents for a long moment before suddenly throwing them onto the desk.
“……”
“Ahh….”
Watching the papers scatter through the air, Dante wore a look of utter despair.
Now he would have to organize them again.
He didn’t even have time to sort everything as it was!
Glaring at Theophanes, Dante thought he’d really like to hit him just once.
If it were the first time, that would be one thing—but this was already the third time.
“Why are you doing this?!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Dante shot to his feet and began gathering the papers.
After watching him pick them up with an irritated huff, Theophanes slowly spoke.
“Daphne is angry.”
“Madam?”
“Yes.”
“She’s not someone who gets angry easily. What on earth did you do?”
Dante widened his eyes and stared at him.
As Dante said, Daphne was not the type to lose her temper.
Since that day, Daphne had given him one kiss a day.
But that was all.
As if it were merely an obligation, she would kiss him and then return to the room she had originally been using.
Yes—she had even started sleeping separately.
Yet Theophanes couldn’t bring himself to stop her.
After collecting all the papers, Dante returned to his seat and began arranging them in order.
Midway through, he paused and looked at Theophanes.
“Come to think of it, this might actually be a good opportunity.”
“A good opportunity?”
Theophanes’ eyebrow twitched.
“Think about it. Lately, you’ve been completely smitten with Madam.”
“What? I’ve done what?”
At Dante’s words, Theophanes furrowed his brow intensely.
“You didn’t realize?”
“What?”
“I thought you knew. The way you’ve been looking at Madam lately—it’s unbearably sweet.”
Theophanes’ lips parted slightly.
“I… did that?”
“Yes. I thought it was intentional. Part of your acting….”
At that, Theophanes dragged a hand down his face, looking troubled.
Seeing his expression, Dante couldn’t say anything more.
Because he looked as if he might collapse at any moment.
“Mother…?”
Several days had passed since their fight, but they were still in a cold war.
“Madam.”
Why was she so angry?
It hadn’t been something worth getting that upset over.
After all, she hadn’t lost anything.
She stabbed and pushed her salad around with her fork.
She knew it was improper, but it was an unconscious act to calm her restless mind.
[Daphne! Everyone’s calling you!]
At the voice ringing in her head, Daphne jerked her head up.
Looking around, she realized all eyes were on her.
“Ah…”
She set down her fork and lifted her glass to take a sip of water.
“Mom, are you sick?”
Jaquet asked with a worried expression.
Daphne shook her head and smiled reassuringly.
“I’m sorry for worrying you. Please continue eating. I need a bit of fresh air.”
With that, she rose from her seat and left the dining room of the annex.
The moment she left, silence fell over the room.
What on earth had happened a few days ago?
It was clear something had occurred between the Duke and Duchess—but no one knew what.
Looking as if she might cry at any moment, Jaquet set down her spoon.
Seeing that, Michael hurriedly checked on her.
“Jaquet, aren’t you going to eat more?”
“Mmm…”
“Let’s eat a little more, okay?”
Michael lifted her spoon himself and brought a spoonful of soup to her lips.
But Jaquet weakly shook her head.
Watching them, Helio let out a small sigh.
“Michael, my lady. Keep eating. I’ll go check on Madam.”
As Helio stood, the two little chicks turned their eyes toward him.
“Don’t worry, my lady.”
At his words, Jaquet nodded, lips trembling as if holding back tears.
Compared to children born into ordinary families, this child might feel insecurity even more deeply.
Helio quickly left the dining room to find Daphne.
After looking around, he stopped a passing servant and headed in the direction she had gone.
Daphne was sitting by the lakeside in the forest behind the estate.
She stared blankly at the water, sighing heavily as if feeling suffocated.
Rustle—
At the sound of grass being stepped on, Daphne quickly turned her head.
“Your Highness?”
“I followed because I was worried about you, so don’t think anything strange of it.”
Helio had completely recovered by now.
“Strange? Not at all.”
Her voice lacked energy.
Helio approached her.
“May I sit beside you?”
“Yes. That’s fine.”
“Thank you for permitting me.”
He plopped down next to her as if sitting on the ground were completely natural.
“The lake is beautiful. Anaxis truly has many lovely places.”
Daphne stared at him, puzzled that he was simply admiring the scenery.
“What?”
“You followed me out here, yet you’re not asking anything.”
“Do you want me to?”
“……”
“If you want, I’m willing to listen as a friend.”
Helio gazed at the rippling lake surface.
“The Duchess’s daughter is extremely worried. She barely ate.”
“Jaquet skipped her meal?”
Daphne widened her eyes.
“Yes. And because of that, my younger brother followed suit. His eating habits were just starting to improve. Because of you, Duchess, it looks like they’ll revert.”
At Helio’s pointed remark, Daphne flinched and avoided his gaze.
“Well, I’m not forcing you to talk. It’s a personal matter. I can’t demand anything.”
His tone was light, as if he truly didn’t mind.
He casually pulled weeds from the ground beside him.
“If staying beside you is comforting, I’ll stay. If you want to be alone, I’ll leave.”
After staring at him, Daphne smiled faintly.
“Then as a friend, I have something I’d like to ask.”
“I’ll listen. Ask.”
“It’s about a friend.”
“Wait, Duchess. You had a friend besides me?”
“I do. Becky.”
“Your maid?”
“Yes.”
That wasn’t wrong.
Helio nodded calmly.
“So, what about this friend?”
“Well, my friend’s friend entered into a contract with a man.”
“What kind of contract?”
“A contract where they agreed to benefit each other by fulfilling what the other lacked….”
“Well, all plans usually proceed just as the wife says—”
At his interruption, Daphne stared at him coldly.
“Could you please take this seriously? I’m truly being serious.”
Under her chilly gaze, Helio shut up and nodded.
“Anyway, the two who agreed to this contract….”
As she explained, she even grabbed a stick and began drawing relationship diagrams on the ground.
“So in short, your friend’s friend is angry because the other party only cared about your friend’s clause and completely ignored the condition he himself set?”
“Yes! And his condition involved his life. If something went wrong, he could have died.”
Watching her tremble with anger, Helio sighed and rubbed his brow.
It didn’t seem like she had any intention of hiding that it was her own story.
“Duchess.”
“Yes, Crown Prince.”
“As a friend, I’ll say this just once, so listen carefully.”
Daphne nodded solemnly.
“The reason your friend’s friend is angry is…”
