The fight that had taken place in my room overnight was quietly covered up. Only the duke, the head butler, my mother, and I knew about it. Even Mother didn't know the details. She only knew that the duke had saved me from an assassin.

I didn't know what had happened after the duke left my room that night, but what happened at the mansion the next day told me the outcome. The second duchess, Duchess Maria, was leaving in a hurry for her family home, a viscount's household. They said she was going away to recuperate because of her health, but the sudden decision caused an uproar.

But no one in the mansion—no, in the entire territory—could defy the duke's orders. And when people saw how drawn the duchess looked, as though she had been gravely ill, they buried their questions deep in their hearts.

The duke stood at his study window, looking down at the carriage in the front courtyard. People had gathered around it to see off the duchess, who was leaving so suddenly. She had been loved by everyone in the mansion, and it seemed they had all come out to say goodbye. The servants were there, of course, as were the first duchess and her sons. Amanda, the duke's concubine, stood some distance away with her son to see Maria off. Finally, Maria's daughter Elena stood before her, crying without pause.

But Maria seemed genuinely unwell. She could barely manage a proper farewell, even to her daughter. People were puzzled by the change in her demeanor, but they saw her off sincerely all the same. She glanced once toward the study window, then looked over the crowd. Suddenly, as though something had startled her, she hurried into the carriage. A little later, it set off amid the crowd's farewells.

The journey had been arranged in haste, but a duchess's departure had still been properly prepared. Guards escorted the ornate carriage from front and rear, while a knight rode ahead to lead the party. The carriage passed along the path between the flower gardens and through the mansion's main gate. The gate closed, and the carriage dwindled into the distance.

Watching it go, the duke spoke. "I put it in the letter, but warn the viscount once more. Make certain he understands that Maria is never to leave his family estate again, and that she is not to see Elena."

"Understood," the head butler answered from behind him.

"But what do you intend to do about Lady Elena...?"

Before the duke could answer, a young girl's voice rang out from beyond the door. "Father! Your Grace! I'm here! Please let me in!"

The duke turned his head. "Let her in."

"Understood."

The head butler opened the door, and Elena rushed in, her face drenched with tears.

"Why is Mother leaving? She wasn't sick yesterday. What on earth happened? Why won't anyone tell me?"

The duke looked at his daughter. Her face bore a striking resemblance to Maria's—the Maria he had known before he came to his senses. The face Maria had worn yesterday seemed to appear over his daughter's.

When Maria had seen the duke enter her bedroom, she had smiled brightly. "You came! I thought you wouldn't!"

She had looked genuinely delighted. The sight of her radiant face had only darkened the duke's expression. She still loved him sincerely. Though the circumstances were different, her smile had not changed a bit since the day they first met.

"Come over here. Look at me—I haven't even made myself presentable."

She had not changed since then, but the duke had. He frowned as he looked at her, remembering how he had felt when he first used mana to break her ability. That day, he had learned that his love for her was false, and that her love for him was nothing more than desire steeped in possessiveness. The realization had left him feeling so suffocated that he could no longer bear to be near her.

From that day on, the duke had not visited her room. Even when they met during the day, he kept their dealings formal and avoided her as much as possible. He had shut his heart away, put on a mask, and continued living as the duke.

Yet he had not punished her. Though her deception had been a grave offense, he had forgiven it by ceasing to visit her. Because she had borne his daughter. Because he had already taken her as his wife. Or perhaps because he had believed he truly loved her.

But that weak decision had led to what happened today.

["I was in Alex's room just now."]

["What?"]

Maria's smile fell apart at his words. Only then did she notice the sword he held. Blood was spattered across his hand and the sheath into which he had put the blade. Her face turned deathly pale.

["When Alex was nearly poisoned a few years ago, I let the matter be swept aside. That was the last time I would forgive you."]

Maria stared at him, stunned.

["But you brought an assassin into this mansion to kill my child. Did you think so little of me—of the ducal house of Gresia?"]

The moment he finished, Maria burst out shouting. ["Because you won't even look at me! I love you so much, so why do you keep your distance? I endured and endured, all so you would love me. I swallowed my anger, and I even smiled at people I hated. Everyone else loves me. Why are you the only one who turns away?"]

Even without her ability at work, the sight of her shouting was wretched and pitiable. But the duke's expression did not change.

["It's all Amanda's fault. If that brat died, I could drive Amanda—that bitch—out of the mansion..."]

["So that was what you had in mind?"]

Maria nodded at his question. As she lowered her head, tears spilled from her eyes. Then, over the sound of her weeping, came the duke's cold voice.

["I made a mistake. Your mind was far more broken than I thought."]

He placed a hand on Maria's head. She looked up in alarm, but his eyes remained cold.

["No. Both of us must be broken."]

The duke channeled mana into his hand.

HUMMM.

Maria shook her head in alarm at the force seeping into her mind, but the duke gripped her head and would not let go.

["I won't kill you. But you can no longer stay in this house."]

["Th-this... How..."]

Mana surged into her mind and began to tear through it. Her inherited ability—the mental ability that won people's affection—lay deep within her head. The duke's mana cut into it and broke it apart. She could feel her ability gradually vanishing.

She could not believe it. Never once had she imagined such a thing was possible. Besides, the duke's ability—or rather, the ducal house's ability—was supposed to be one of the mana Heart Methods. There was no reason he should be able to destroy someone else's ability.

["N-no!"]

She screamed and seized the duke's hand, but she could not pry away the hand of a man stronger than a knight. A short while later, he lifted it from her head. Maria collapsed to the floor.

["Now you won't be able to toy with anyone using that ability. Return to your family home tomorrow, and live there quietly until you die."]

Maria's shoulders flinched at his words.

["If I hear a word of trouble from tomorrow until the day you die, you and the entire viscount's family will suffer for it. Elena will not go with you. If you remain quiet, she will remain a Lady of this house to the end. If not..."]

Maria slowly raised her head. Her face was twisted with pain and resignation. Slowly, she spoke. ["You're not the man I loved long ago. The person you are now is truly frightening."]

He turned away. Maria broke down in tears, and as the duke left the room, he muttered under his breath, ["I changed that day. Because of someone."]

"Sob... If Mother did something wrong, please forgive her. I'll apologize too."

Maria's sobs gave way to her daughter's. The duke returned to the present. While he had been lost in memory, his daughter had been pleading with him for forgiveness.

He looked down at her. Her face resembled her mother's, but Elena was different from Maria. Hers was not a carefully fashioned face full of pretense. Elena was still a little girl, untainted by the world.

"If Mother really has to go, I'll go with her. I can stay beside her and heal her with my ability."

He could not allow that. He had cast Maria aside, but Elena was still a daughter of the ducal house.

"I see. It would be hard for you to live here alone. It's a little early, but you should prepare to attend the academy."

"What?"

Ignoring Elena's surprise, the duke gave the head butler an order. "Her inherited ability concerns mental recovery, so the academy run by the Sisterhood would be a good fit. Send word to them."

"Understood."

The head butler led the weeping girl out of the study, and the duke looked out the window again. In the distance, he could see the child walking with his concubine.

The boy had been stirring up trouble since he was a baby. A child who did astonishing things. A child famous as a genius, though he seemed a little different from one. A child who bargained with him as though he were not a child at all. And a child with an unusual inherited ability.

"Well, now that you've put me through all this trouble, prove your worth yourself."

The duke watched the boy with a cold expression. As if his ear itched, the boy stuck a finger in it and scratched.

* * *

A number of things happened after the second duchess left the mansion. First, Lady Elena was sent away to be educated. She was still young for the academy, but no one could defy the duke's orders. Elena left the mansion looking miserable, and Mother and I did our best to comfort her as she went. To be honest, I did feel a little sorry for her. But I couldn't exactly stand by and let myself be killed, so I had no choice but to bury that guilt deep down.

Second, despite being an illegitimate son, I began receiving proper knight training at a young age. The training took place out of sight at the ducal family's practice ground behind the mansion, but word inevitably spread. People whispered, and more eyes followed me. I was too busy keeping up with the training to pay attention to anything else. At least no one came looking to kill me after that.

Time kept passing. Four winters went by. Then, in the spring when I turned ten, a visitor arrived at the mansion.

She was a beautiful girl: the daughter of a marquis and the fiancée of my eldest brother, Simon. The moment she saw me, she raised her sword.

"So you're the ducal house's hidden blade? Come on, let's have a match. I'll teach you a thing or two."

All I could do was gape at the words coming from the beautiful girl dressed so elegantly in a gown.