“I’m sorry I didn’t care.”

“…Thank you for saying so and congratulating me.”

Alyssa murmured in a tight voice.

Ophelia smiled with relief only then.

***

“Whoa…”

He doesn’t know how long it’s been.

Cambridge’s gardens are the same as before, but they welcome Seidrick differently. He swept his cheek. His fingertips felt that it had lost weight, perhaps because he hadn’t eaten properly. Pauline advised that today is Alyssa’s birthday, so he should go back to the mansion now and congratulate her on her birthday.

Well.

Seidrick’s casual glances passed through the mansion. Will she greet her husband, who has neglected her for several months who never properly faced her even once. He was infinitely skeptical about the matter.

He can’t be saying something insincere in the first place.

It was much more comfortable to face each other as Lisa and Sid who had no relationship. So Seidrick thought of celebrating Lisa’s birthday in his own way.

Seidrick knocked on Gilbert’s hut.

“Who is it.”

“Gilbert.”

“Oh my! Your Excellency! Duke!”

Gilbert opened the door wide to the happy face which had come after a long time. Seidrick was waiting for Gilbert at the door.

“How have you been?”

“Of course! Your Excellency! Mona! Come out and see!”

At Gilbert’s call, Mona, who was preparing dinner inside, ran out.

“Oh! How long has it been!”

Seidrick brightly smiled as he entered the warm atmosphere that welcomed him after a long time.

He came all the way here because he had a favor to ask. Seidrick said hello and pulled out the stuff he was hiding behind him, and put it out. There were lots of seasonal fruits in a small basket that had just been bought from the market.

“I would like to ask for a pancake… is it okay?”

Mona accepted the basket from Seidrick, and spoke awkwardly.

“Of course. Are you going to eat it for midnight snacks?”

“Perhaps.”

Ladies also enjoy simple pancakes and wine in the middle of the night. Perhaps so would Alyssa. Seidrick still didn’t know that his wife couldn’t eat properly and threw up easily. Only those who watched Alyssa every day knew that she was getting drier by the day.

Anyway, Seidrick was confident that Mona’s pancakes would be a pretty good gift for Alyssa. Mona was really good at this rural and folk food. Is it because it is filled with sincerity? Maybe Alyssa will like it too.

***

Seidrick helped Gilbert pick up the bucket.

“You don’t rest.”

“I’ve only been sitting here. What are you going to do at this late hour?”

“Isn’t it spring? I’m going fishing for fish that have fallen asleep in the melted stream.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, yes. I need to get some fish for the table tomorrow morning.”

Gilbert laughed kindly as he looked at Seidrick shining in his eyes. Even though he became a Duke, he had not changed from his childhood. That pure honesty will be the strength of Seidrick.

However, after Kendrick’s incident, it was only heartbreaking that his sweet eyes began to retain cold energy.

Ophelia boiled an egg porridge for Alyssa, as she had promised. It wasn’t such great food, but her whole body warmed up the moment she put it in her mouth. Alyssa ate the egg porridge with a light smile.

“Is it okay?”

Ophelia asked, looking at Alyssa’s eyes.

“…Thank you, Ophelia. It really tastes the same as Mona’s boiled egg porridge.”

The atmosphere, warmth, and tenderness.

It couldn’t capture all of that. The egg porridge that Alyssa ate at that time was filled with Mona’s comfort and goodwill. However, even Ophelia’s comfort felt warm to her.

They both had the same heart for Alyssa. As she ate the egg porridge that sweetens her empty stomach, she realized one thing.

‘It’s her first meal.’

From early this morning, she was called to the royal family to serve the queen’s request, so she couldn’t eat a single meal.

Her stomach, which had been sorely empty, was warmed. The speed at which Alyssa moved the spoon gradually slowed down.

Sasha and Ophelia watched quietly. They don’t know what she’s thinking, but they couldn’t have comforted it despite the frequent disturbances outside.