#Chapter 2. Dad is a Stone

“Because prayer is an act done between people who like each other.”

Damian, who stuck right next to Ariel, bent his waist and stared at Lucy.

“So Mom likes Dad very, very much.”

Damian looked as if he was delivering a decisive blow.

Ariel tilted her head and frowned at her husband’s appearance she was seeing for the first time. She felt like she was seeing something wrong.

“No. Mom likes Lucy more. Mom is praying because Lucy said so. She’s not doing it because she likes Dad. She’s doing it to live happily with Lucy and Lucy’s sibling.”

Lucy, who softly refuted Dad’s words, pushed her face forward just the same without avoiding Damian’s eyes.

“Dad…… isn’t needed unless it’s for a sibling.”

Lucy stood in front of Ariel. She spread her arms wide to both sides as if trying to protect Ariel from Damian.

“Mom likes Lucy more!”

Lucy’s confident voice was even chilling, making Ariel blink.

Unfortunately, Lucy had her back to Ariel so her face couldn’t be seen.

“Lucy?”

At Ariel’s call, Lucy slightly turned her head back and smiled brightly as if everything was fine.

Seeing that face, Ariel fell into serious contemplation.

She sighed automatically at Lucy, who seemed like a hero from a fairy tale protecting her mother.

At this age, they do follow mom more…… But thinking of dad as a monster is a little…….

Ariel was worrying with a troubled face about how to teach Lucy about the existence called dad.

“No. Mom belongs to Dad.”

“No! Mom is mine!”

Lucy pulled Ariel’s hand tightly and looked up.

“Right, Mom? Mom belongs to Lucy. Right? You like Lucy more than Dad, right?”

Though it was obvious that she liked Lucy more, Ariel still lifted Lucy up, thinking of her husband’s position who had come after a long time.

Above all, saying dad wasn’t needed was a bit problematic.

“Mom loves both Lucy and Dad. There’s no such thing as liking one family member more than another, Lucy. Let alone being needed. Family aren’t objects.”

At Ariel’s words, Lucy’s eyes wavered.

Her green eyes frowned, then drooped powerlessly and welled up again.

Tears seemed about to flow any moment, so Ariel gave Lucy’s cheek a gentle kiss.

“Lucy.”

At Ariel’s call, Lucy nodded slightly.

“Mom.”

“Yes?”

However, when Ariel looked at Lucy again after finishing the kiss, not a single tear could be seen in Lucy’s green eyes.

Resolute green eyes stared at Ariel. Lucy’s tiny finger pointed at Dad.

“Dad said Mom belongs to him. Then that’s wrong. Only livestock have ownership rights. Where does Mom have ownership? Mom is just Mom. Lucy’s mom. Right?”

Ariel gulped. Large, clear eyes demanding an answer turned toward Ariel.

“R, right? Mom isn’t livestock……”

Ariel blinked and looked down at her daughter.

Looking at those upright eyes, Ariel felt a little unfamiliar.

Ownership rights that only apply to livestock…… Lucy’s words felt like a sharp spear stabbing one corner of Ariel’s heart.

They say children are harder because they’re pure. Was this what they meant?

Unfortunately, Damian’s words weren’t wrong.

A wife did belong to her husband, and Ariel was now close to property as the duchess of the Zenova ducal residence.

The trophy her father had told her about long ago. The most beautiful trophy in the Zenova ducal residence.

Ownership was correct, but…… When Ariel couldn’t finish her words completely and just stared at her daughter with her lips parted.

“She’s not livestock, but she’s part of private property. Mom is property this dad gained through marriage. Now you’re included in that property too.”

Damian filled the gap in place of Ariel.

Ariel, holding Lucy tightly, looked at Damian with cold eyes. She didn’t mind him calling her property.

But even Lucy…… property. To try to put a price on our daughter as if she were just some mere trinket.

“Dad is…… a stone! A stone!!”

Lucy screamed loudly as if angry at Dad’s story.

This time, Ariel also didn’t correct Lucy’s words.

Because words harsher than stone came to mind.

He must have hated losing to a child about that one thing as an adult.

Ariel glanced sharply at Damian while holding the raging Lucy in her arms.

She sighed and patted Lucy’s back.

Since she couldn’t let the raging child curse at dad, it seemed better to soothe the child’s emotions with other words.

“Mom will be Lucy’s mom for life. And how much does Mom love our Lucy?”

Whether Ariel’s words were effective, Lucy in her arms poked her head out slightly. The tears hanging at the ends of her eyes stopped.

“Right, Mom…… is Lucy’s mom. Dad is a stone.”

“Of course. Naturally. Dad needs to wash, so in the meantime, shall Mom read a book to our Lucy?”

“Yes!”

Lucy hugged Ariel’s neck tightly as if happy.

Of course, the matter about Dad needed some correction in various ways, but she didn’t really want to do that today. Ariel turned her body, passing by Damian who was standing beside her.

Stroking the small, cute child’s back, Ariel made a resolution.

She would definitely raise Lucy as a child who laughed brightly and ate well and was healthy. Not as someone’s property or trophy.

‘Stone.’

Lucy, held in Ariel’s arms, glared at Damian.

There was no trace of laughter in the mouth shape that precisely articulated “stone.”

It was quite a difficult facial expression for a seven-year-old to make. It wasn’t a mistake.

The child looked at Damian as if looking at trash until just before Ariel took her to the room.

It seemed…… her daughter was very different in front of and behind Ariel.

When he came home, none other than his own daughter was firmly trying to steal Ariel away.

…… That wouldn’t do.

*

Fortunately, after reading a few books, Lucy quickly fell asleep.

In the quiet room, Ariel, who heard Lucy’s breathing sounds, got up from her seat.

She thought she should talk with Damian.

Ariel, who arrived at the bedroom, looked around. Judging by the sound of water from inside, Damian seemed to still be washing.

Ariel sighed deeply and sat on the edge of the bed. She needed to organize her thoughts first.

She had to persuade Damian once more about the tutor matter, and for the rest, it seemed good to caution him about his language.

Anyway, since Damian didn’t have many days facing Lucy, she hoped he would be a little more careful even during those brief moments.

Of course, starting tomorrow, Damian’s victory party would be held at the imperial palace, so he would be busy for a while.

After today passed, it would become difficult to see Damian’s face again.

Suddenly remembering Damian who had come to Lucy’s room, Ariel sighed once more.

She couldn’t get a sense of whether she should expect him to play a father’s role or not.

Even before the child was born, he was at war, and even after returning, he went to the battlefield again without rest, and when she gave birth, due to a quite long war, Ariel gave birth alone.

She thought that would be the last time, but he crossed the sea again to suppress another rebellion.

The days they met were short enough to count on one hand.

She hoped this would be the last time, but no one knew when Damian might go on campaign again.

Other noble families take turns going if they have brothers.

For some reason, even though Damian had his younger brother Bruno, Damian went on campaign every time.

Even the most recent war he went to was because Bruno asked Damian, saying he was sick.

He’s the Duke of Zenova, but this treatment…….

Ariel closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and shook her head.

No. Damian is fulfilling his duty as an imperial duke, so I shouldn’t think like this.

Ariel touched the wedding ring on her fourth finger with a bitter face.

In frequent conquest wars, Damian continued to achieve great merits and return, and this should have been a very joyful thing, both as a wife and as an imperial citizen.

But…… Ariel, sitting in the ducal residence, was on anxious thorns every day.

On days when she heard someone’s obituary, she couldn’t sleep that night from anxiety.

“Ariel.”

“Kyaah!”

Startled, Ariel screamed. Damian’s face was in front of her eyes.

“What are you thinking about that you don’t answer when called?”

Water drops dripping from Damian’s hair fell onto Ariel’s skirt.

“D, did you call me?”

Damian silently tilted his head. His blue eyes stared at Ariel.

His eyes seemed to contain a small sea, making Ariel startled.

Eyes that contained not her and Lucy from this Zenova ducal residence, but something bigger—the sea.

Eyes that a Duke of Zenova should naturally contain.

Ariel, who looked at his eyes for a moment, inhaled sharply.

So she too should say what she naturally should say as Lucy’s mother in this ducal residence.