âYour relations.h.i.+p with the boy is pretty good.â
âI thought you wanted me to get along with Damian.â
Hugo had figured they should at least know each otherâs faces so heâd called Damian back but he didnât have any intention in particular regarding their relations.h.i.+p.
His wife was still young and heâd considered that it would be a bit difficult for her to tolerate an eight year old child, also, since Damian was a stiff child, if the both of them werenât put together on purpose, they wouldnât ever get involved with each other.
âWhy are you taking him to the garden party?â (Hugo)
âBecause they arenât many chances to introduce him to other people. Heâs your son and now, heâs my son too so itâs troublesome if people donât even know his face.â
ââŚEasy.â
âWhat?â
âItâs very easy for you to call him your son.â
Lucia did not know the exact intention behind his words so she stopped walking and looked at him. When she stopped walking, Hugo also paused his footsteps.
âDo you dislike my interest in Damian? Do you perhaps think I have some other intention behind this-â
âNo, Vivian. Itâs not like that.â
He sighed softly.
âHonestly, I didnât think
both of you would get along so well.â
Hugo recalled the scene from earlier where sheâd stroked Damianâs head. The appearance of Damian as he offered his head like an innocent puppy was an unfamiliar yet familiar scene causing Hugo stop and look at it.
Without warning, a piece of memory from his past surfaced in his mind.
[Hey! I said donât touch my head!]
Hugh screamed frantically at Hugo that had carelessly touched his head.
The head was the most important weakness of human beings. The moment it was exposed to the enemy, it was a direct gateway to death.
Mercenaries never touched each otherâs heads unless they wanted their wrists to fly off.
[Itâs a sign that weâre friendly.]
Even though Hugh screamed frantically, Hugo laughed and replied in his usual manner.
[Inconsiderate jerk. Whatâs so funny youâre snickering everyday?]
[Smile. If you smile, youâll get good fortune, Hugh.]
[HaâŚweakling.]
Hugo suddenly pushed his head in front of Hugh.
[You can touch mine too.]
[Move that thing away.]
[Just try it. I heard this is what parents usually do for their children but since we donât have anyone, we have to do it for each other.]
[Iâm fine without that c.r.a.p.]
[But I want someone to do it for me. Come on.]
Hugh stretched out his hands, his expression
expression telling how much of a nuisance it was and stroked Hugoâs head.
Watching Hugo laughing in delight, Hugh couldnât help but think it felt nice as he stroked Hugoâs head.
âI meanâŚwhat Iâm trying to say is, just tell me if heâs ever rude to you.â (Hugo)
âThat wonât happen!â (Lucia)
Hugo fiercely pulled her arms, drawing her into his embrace. He hugged her small figure tightly in his arms.
Although she was a bit taken aback, she returned the hug, placing her hands on his back. Feeling her small hands holding onto his back, Hugo couldnât help but smile.
From time to time, when memories of his brother surfaced, he felt both sweet happiness and heart-aching torture.
The pain of it was the same as usual but when he felt her body temperature, the heart-wrenching pain in his heart was relieved to some extent.
[Thereâs a woman I want to marry. Iâll introduce her to you one day.]
One day, his brother had told him so as he laughed happily.
If his brother was still alive, then he would have told him this.
[I have someone like that too. Weâre already married though.]
That evening, Hugo sorted out data from the meeting heâd been having all day then he looked at the report from
report from Fabian.
Fabianâs reports was usually about the capital. They contained information about movements of major powers, the arrival of foreign key figures, who they came in contact with and so on and so forth. At times, the visible status of the trading giants were also included.
Although Fabian knew his master wasnât very interested in this kind of thing, he still looked into rumors floating around social circles and included it since it was still sort of a formal report.
When it came to his work, Fabian was really thorough. Even when gathering information of rumors, there were no gaps and even if it was a rumor that would displease the Duke, he did not exclude it.
If Fabian was overflowing with work concerning the duke and repeatedly worked overnight, he would gather rumors even more diligently for the Duke. That kind of work was more like stress reliever to him.
And so, Hugo was mostly up-to-date on the rumors concerning him.
Hugo casually flipped through the contents of the rumors as usual then suddenly, he knit his brows. The contents of the doc.u.ment read that rumors concerning his dowry had spread throughout the capital.
âTsk.â
Hugo unhappily clicked his tongue. The Kingâs lips were too light.
âIf that old man actsold man acts in a dignified manner and something will definitely go wrong.â
Kwiz had once given such a review to the King. Then said,
âI mean, it would be nice if it wasnât just going wrong but he breaks his ankle in the process.â
After saying so, Kwiz had proceeded to laugh like a devilish underground boss.
Hugoâs expression as he read the following rumors became increasingly strange. The contents read that d.u.c.h.ess was such a celestial beauty that the Duke had dragged her off to his manor before anyone else could see her.
âHmmâŚâ
Although Hugo felt a slight sense of discomfort with the rumor that portrayed her as a colossal beautyâŚ
âWell, theyâre not entirely baselessâŚâ
Was what he was thinking. According to the rumors, they married in secret so that no one else would see her.
âIt doesnât exactly match the facts but theyâre pretty close.â
His actions, such a building a horse-riding field or restricting boating so that no other man would see her was an ongoing process.
The part of the rumor that said he dragged the d.u.c.h.ess to his manor was also not completely wrong either because right after they got married, she came to his estate.