First of all, those two black-haired people stuck so closely together over there were people Kara was already familiar with.
“Dad! There’s no snow in the North!”
“There isn’t in sumr.”
“But I’m sure there was before we left.”
“Maybe you ate it all, Leo.”
“Dad, are you answering carelessly because you're annoyed right now?”
“You’re the one asking weird questions.”
Those two, exchanging pointless jokes and bickering like that, were the masters of this northern land, returning after several months away.
“My goodness, is this really sumr?”
And that murky pink hair standing between them belonged to a stranger Kara had never seen before.
“The weather in the capital and the South feels like a lie.”
“Unni, are you cold? Should I give you my cloak?”
“Soone bring sothing to wrap around her.”
When the stranger moved her arms, the beastly father and daughter made a fuss. In the end, the unfamiliar woman ended up wrapped in two blankets.
“What is going on here.”
Mono approached Kara, who still hadn’t co to her senses.
He, too, was staring in surprise at the strange relationship between those three.
In fact, not just the two of them—every servant who had co to greet the beastly pair’s return was thinking the sa thing.
Who was this person, that their masters were sticking so closely to her?
Just how incredible must she be, to have tad those two beasts?
“Lord Ricoss!”
“Kyah! His Lordship collapsed!”
“Please stay with us!”
Even Lupe, upon seeing the scene, muttered “This is a dream,” and fainted on the spot.
That’s how disturbing the sight was.
The black-haired beasts were arrogant beings that no one could control.
The smaller beast was a bit milder, but the larger one was dangerous enough that just making eye contact with him could an death.
Yet those two were sitting calmly by a stranger’s side like tad dogs, frantically fussing over not being able to care for her properly.
Everyone was shocked beyond words.
Lupe fainting was perfectly understandable.
“Head Butler! Head Butler!”
At that mont, Mia, who had arrived with them, ca rushing over.
“Where’s the room the master told us to prepare?”
“......Huh? Room?”
Kara, who never made mistakes, asked back in a dazed voice.
But managing to collect her thoughts, she pointed toward the room she had thoroughly cleaned and furnished a few days ago.
Now knowing the room’s location, Mia passed the ssage to the other servants.
Soon, they carried the luggage from the carriage into the mansion.
Only then did Kara realize—the room she had cleaned was right next to Ferio’s bedroom.
‘No way......!’
A trendous suspicion finally flashed through Kara’s mind.
“Kara Grandma!”
Leonia flung her arms around the frozen Kara.
“Have you been well? I missed you, Grandma!”
“I’m so glad you’ve returned safely.”
Thanks to the ever-strengthening hug, Kara finally ca to her senses.
Once composed, the butler regained her usual poise. Kara welcod her masters’ safe return.
“But, young lady.”
“Yeah?”
“Pardon , but who is that.......”
Kara finally asked about the stranger.
Leonia followed Kara’s gaze, then gave a sly grin as if she understood.
“Dad! Unni!”
Soon, Ferio and Varia approached.
Leonia stepped away from Kara and linked arms with Varia.
“Grandma, this is the precious person who’s going to beco my mom.”
“Let’s correct that wording.”
Ferio, standing on the other side, clicked his tongue lightly.
“She’s going to beco my wife.”
“I brought her, so she’s my mom!”
Leonia shouted, pulling Varia toward her.
“For that to happen, she has to marry .”
Ferio casually wrapped his arm around Varia’s back and pulled her to his side.
“Then you can give up custody and unni can adopt !”
“And at the sa ti, you’d have to forfeit the Voreoti estate......”
“......Dad.”
Leonia frowned.
“Are you really going to keep blackmailing with money?”
As if that trick would work forever—she turned her head sharply.
“Grandma, this is the precious person who will beco our father’s wife.”
And after that, she’ll beco my mom.
The dutiful daughter corrected herself with facts, unconcerned with money.
“......What about my opinion?”
Stuck between the two noisy beasts, Varia muttered.
From all the chaotic back-and-forth, her face had flushed bright red and was about to burst.
“.......”
Kara looked at Varia briefly, then turned back to Ferio.
In the elderly butler’s eyes, full of age and experience, there was clear confusion.
“Hmm?”
Leonia tilted her head.
Sohow, this situation didn’t feel unfamiliar.
Soon, the girl realized—it was just like five years ago, when she had first co to the Voreoti estate.
Back then, too, Ferio had brought her in, holding her in his arms.
And now, he had brought Varia and suddenly declared her to be his precious person.
“Hehe.”
Leonia couldn’t help but smile.
“......It’s a pleasure to et you.”
Soon, Kara politely greeted Varia.
If Ferio and Leonia said this was who she was, there was only one thing for a butler to do.
“I am Kara, the butler who serves House Voreoti.”
To wholeheartedly serve the one who would beco the new mistress of Voreoti.
“Please feel free to call Kara.”
“Thank you for welcoming .”
Varia responded in a shy voice.
Only then did Kara truly look at Varia.
With her dusty pink hair, she had a gentle and soft impression.
The atmosphere she gave off was completely different from the sharp Voreoti father and daughter.
Perhaps it was an improper thought, but Kara couldn’t help but wonder if her masters had kidnapped this innocent and bashful young lady.
“Wow, it’s really huge.......”
“Doesn’t our house look like a murder scene waiting to happen?”
“Right? If there’s a dungeon, I bet a dozen people died there.”
“There is a dungeon.”
“There really is? That’s amazing!”
Yet sohow, the three of them chatting together looked perfectly harmonious, like water mixing into water.
“Unni, I’ll show you around °• N v l i g h t •° the house!”
“Then take Kara with you.”
“I can do it on my own!”
“Kara knows better than you do.”
Ferio signaled Kara with his eyes.
He ant: take good care of Varia, and if those two need anything, provide it imdiately.
Kara gave a subtle nod and guided Varia into the mansion.
“Let first show you the room where you’ll be staying, Miss Varia.”
“But I just got here?”
“I bet Dad already contacted them to prepare your room in advance.”
“The young lady is correct.”
Ferio quietly watched the three won ascend the stairs.
“M-My Lord.”
Mono approached him during the mont. He looked quite flustered.
“What is it?”
Ferio’s gaze finally shifted after watching Varia and Leonia disappear down the corridor.
“May I ask sothing directly?”
“Depending on the content, maybe not.”
“I’d like to ask if you intend to marry her.”
“That one you can ask.”
With Ferio’s permission, Mono quickly got to the point.
“Will you marry that lady?”
“If she agrees.”
Everyone in the household—including Mono—froze in shock.
One even brought their hands together and muttered a prayer. It was a senior knight who had trained Ferio in his youth.
“Why is it always so sudden with you, My Lord.......”
“What’s so sudden?”
“Why must you always do such enormous things out of nowhere?”
Five years ago, he brought Leonia and declared her his daughter. Now he brought Varia and dropped a marriage bombshell.
“So you’re opposed?”
“Opposed? What opposition!”
Leonia had long since been established as the successor.
No one could challenge that point.
But the ergence of a duchess for House Voreoti was an entirely separate matter.
Since Ferio had been so absorbed in parenting and completely disinterested in romance, most—including Mono—had concluded this generation of Voreoti would have no duchess.
Then ca Varia.
And Ferio looked at her like he wasn’t just fond of her—he was madly in love.
It was clearly different from the warm gaze of a father when looking at Leonia.
“At last... a madam...”
Mono was deeply moved.
“Congratulations, My Lord.”
“Already ddling again.”
Ferio smiled at Mono, who had bowed his head in genuine congratulations.
“People from the capital will co.”
But the smile soon faded. Ferio whispered quietly to Mono.
“What should we do?”
Mono asked.
But those words ant: should we kill them quietly and throw them into the northern mountains?
Ferio shook his head.
“We’ll send the Imperial Court a map of the northern terrain. The Emperor will dispatch his n to verify its accuracy.”
“So wouldn’t it be better to handle it in advance......?”
“I have no intention of staining my knights’ hands with blood.”
Ferio continued.
“Just pick two patient and nimble ones in advance.”
Still, he was willing to provide escort, at least.
***
Varia ran all around the northern estate like a puppy.
She stared wide-eyed at the famous paintings hanging along the halls and gazed in wonder at the statues and pretty flower pots placed in every corner.
“Unni! You’ll get hurt if you run!”
Leonia, following behind her, called out.
“Miss, this is the North......!”
But Varia showed no signs of calming down.
When she had first arrived at the mansion earlier, she’d been so nervous she couldn’t enjoy anything properly. But as she toured the estate, a sense of reality began to return.
She had co to the North.
She had co to the North she had longed for so desperately.
Because of that, it was difficult for her to settle down.
“Ugh, unni, honestly.”
Leonia grabbed Varia’s hand to get her to calm down.
Watching the two of them, Kara struggled to hold back her laughter.
A twelve-year-old looking after a twenty-five-year-old—it was just too funny.
“It’s so beautiful and magnificent.”
“Right? Isn’t our house amazing?”
It’s your house now too, Leonia added with a bright smile.
“The exterior already looked impressive with that grand northern architectural style, but the interior is just as incredible. That pointed roof earlier, and the unique patterns on it...”
Varia praised the mansion, referencing architectural styles she was familiar with.
Kara thought Varia was well-versed.
No one who truly appreciated the splendor of House Voreoti’s mansion could be ignorant.
‘A wonderful person has arrived.’
As soone who would beco the new mistress of Voreoti, there was nothing to find fault with.
“But why is unni’s room right next to Dad’s bedroom?”
Leonia said in a tone of mock disapproval, as if the motive were too obvious.
But inside, she was cheering with a clenched fist.
At long last, that father of hers seed ready to break free from his mismatched, overly pure image and flex those muscles properly.
“Mmhm, Dad, you pervert!”
The baby beast’s lips twitched in mischief.
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