#Chapter 4. An Uncommon Daughter

Lucy’s innocent smile accompanied her.

The children who had chased Derek from behind whispered to their mothers while rolling their eyes.

Since they were children who couldn’t control the volume of their voice, all those stories reached the ears of the gathered ladies.

“Mom. Miss Lucy said the duchess is an angel so she teaches all the studies too. Is it true? Is the duchess an angel?”

One child who said that glanced at Ariel, then quietly continued.

“But the duchess really looks like an angel.”

Only Jessica was biting her lower lip, when Lucy took a step forward in front of Jessica,

“As a cousin, couldn’t I be of help to Derek? Though I’m one year younger, I think I could teach Derek history.”

Looking only at the child’s pretty heart, it wasn’t a bad thing to say. In conclusion, it meant she wanted to help.

But Lucy, who was one year younger, saying she would teach Derek was a very insulting statement.

Ariel looked at Jessica with anxious eyes, but fortunately, because so many people had gathered, Jessica matched Lucy’s eye level with a smiling face.

“Miss Lucy. Derek was just nervous because it’s been a while since he came to the imperial palace. There’s no problem at all, so it’s fine. Rather than that, Miss Lucy……”

Just when Jessica’s lecture was about to continue, Lucy’s head turned back.

Damian, who had just finished his audience, stood in the center of the hall.

“Dad!!”

Lucy looked at Damian and shouted loudly.

Ariel was startled by the voice that rang through the banquet hall.

She thought there was no way our daughter, who uses perfect etiquette, would make such a mistake, and at the same time opened her mouth at the fact that the target she called was none other than Damian.

Before she could stop her, Lucy’s steps moved.

Lucy, who ran pattering, spread her arms wide and ran toward Damian.

Damian, who held a champagne glass in one hand, looked at his daughter Lucy but only tilted his head slightly without any particular reaction.

Then he chuckled, put down the champagne glass, and picked up Lucy.

That scene was such an affectionate father’s appearance that Ariel covered her mouth.

“Dad!”

Lucy, held in Dad’s arms, hugged Damian’s neck and smiled brightly.

For some reason, Damian gazed at Lucy with a chuckling smile.

Everyone looked surprised at Lucy’s loud voice, but then smiled warmly at the affectionate father-daughter scene.

And naturally, the most pleased among them was Ariel.

Ariel was on the verge of shedding tears from emotion.

At home, she seemed to feel hostility toward Dad, so she had worried a lot, but outside, since only Dad and Mom were there to rely on, she seemed to be acting spoiled.

Of course, she would have to teach her that shouting in places with many people or interrupting adults’ words was behavior that went against etiquette.

“Ariel.”

Damian, holding Lucy, approached Ariel.

When Lucy, who had been hugging Damian’s neck, quickly spread her arms toward Ariel, Damian pulled Lucy’s arms back.

“Lucy.”

When Damian said that, Lucy whispered to Damian first with a brightly smiling face.

Ariel was curious about what the father and daughter were whispering to each other, but also wanted to preserve this small, precious moment.

Next time, it would be good to invite a painter to the house and have Damian preserved in a painting too.

A pose like today’s would be for personal collection! The sight of Lucy whispering to Damian would be so pretty.

And it would be good to draw one neat pose to hang in the center of the ducal residence.

Come to think of it, we haven’t had a family portrait yet.

“Wife.”

Damian softly called Ariel, who was only thinking about preserving this moment.

“Lucy seemed to be hearing something from Madam Jessica. Did Lucy do something wrong by any chance?”

Damian’s gaze moved from Ariel to Jessica. When Ariel moved her lips with a slightly flustered face, Jessica bowed her head first.

“…… No, Duke. Derek was just a little surprised because he was nervous visiting the imperial palace. I’m sorry, but would it be alright if I take Derek and leave first?”

“Children can be like that in unfamiliar situations. Please do so, Madam.”

When Damian nodded readily, Jessica, who took Derek, moved away from the group.

“Dad, put me down.”

Following Lucy’s words, Damian carefully put Lucy, whom he had been holding, down on the floor.

Then, like someone who had finished his business, he nodded to Ariel and the surrounding ladies and moved away.

Ariel tilted her head while watching her husband’s retreating back. He definitely wasn’t someone who would add words to such matters.

He’s not someone who would step into such things…… One thing that changed. Our daughter! They say fathers are weak to their daughters. Could this be that?

Ariel was a little puzzled thinking of her own father, but thought Damian might be a bit different.

And that planted a very pleasant expectation.

Perhaps the expectation that even if their educational philosophies differed slightly regarding the child, the big direction of loving and respecting the child might be the same.

Among the ladies saying the father-daughter relationship looked so good, Ariel carefully asked Lucy.

“Lucy, what did you talk about with Dad?”

“Well…… It’s a secret from Mom.”

“A secret?”

When Ariel opened her eyes wide in surprise, Lucy smiled.

“Actually…… I asked if Mom wasn’t too pretty. So he said Mom is the prettiest in the world.”

Lucy, who smiled brightly, said that. Ariel, whose face turned red, coughed unnecessarily.

“Did Dad really say that?”

“…… Yes! Oh, Mom, did you pray with Dad yesterday?”

Ariel smiled gently at Lucy who asked.

“Well. That’s Mom’s secret too.”

“Huh? I told you, so why is Mom’s a secret?”

Ariel, who poked Lucy’s puffed cheek with her finger, narrowed her eyes.

“I’m sure you talked about something else with Dad besides that story? It seemed like a longer~ story.”

“Um, Mom, I’m hungry.”

Ariel burst into laughter seeing Lucy lightly change the subject and picked up Lucy as she was.

She planned to be lightly fooled by the cute lie.

This way, Lucy would also create memories with Dad.

*

“Damian. I think you’re right. Our Lucy seems to need a tutor.”

In the carriage returning to the mansion, Ariel spoke with conviction.

Lucy was fast asleep with her head on Ariel’s lap, and Damian was looking at Ariel and Lucy.

Even while speaking to Damian, Ariel smiled while stroking Lucy’s blonde hair.

“Our daughter seems uncommon.”

At Ariel’s words, Damian raised his eyebrows and nodded.

“It seemed that way.”

“Right? You heard it too! Our Lucy has already read imperial history!”

Ariel raised her head brightly with a radiant expression.

“Our daughter seems to be a genius! What should we do? It’s all because she takes after you.”

The kind Ariel always had the habit of praising others when speaking, and this time was the same.

Takes after me…… Damian chuckled. He didn’t know about genius, but his daughter seemed quite cunning.

It was the same at the banquet hall.

To others, it might have looked like she got excited seeing Dad and ran to him, but Lucy was definitely threatening Damian.

From the moment she ran over, she moved her lips saying ‘Stone, hug me. Mom is watching.’

Mentioning that Ariel was watching in the midst of that was a smart move.

It was a sentence that accurately grasped how to threaten the opponent.

“She does seem to have aspects that take after me.”

Damian readily admitted only that part. They say blood can’t be deceived — only her eyes resembled Ariel, but what was inside was Damian.

Moreover, when he picked her up, she proposed a deal in a whisper.

‘If you cooperate in chasing away Aunt Jessica, I’ll help with your relationship with Mom.’

It was quite a plausible threat.

‘If you want to see a sibling, wouldn’t persuasion be needed rather than threats?’

When Damian countered, Lucy snorted.

The tiny thing’s expressions and actions were like those of a much older adult.

She wouldn’t have learned such behavior from Ariel, and if she had learned it, she must have seen someone do it.

Did she perhaps spy on the maids during their breaks?

‘If you don’t pray, I’ll sleep with Mom every day. I don’t need Dad unless it’s for a sibling.’

‘Really? Then why did you make the offer to help?’

‘Because Mom needs Dad.’

The child’s green eyes sparkled. Her distinction of affection was clear.

She said Dad was not just a stone but unnecessary, while she took great care of Mom.

That was funny, so Damian chuckled and listened to Lucy’s words.

If Lucy said she wanted to sleep together every day, Ariel would naturally do so and more.

Of course, if Damian said one word to Ariel, she would have no choice but to sleep in the bedroom.

Because Ariel was that kind of woman. But Damian didn’t want to have his wife beside him that way.

Damian liked Ariel who voluntarily worried about and loved him.

He didn’t want to experience her turning her body with narrow eyes like yesterday.