Chapter 7
“First, let’s take a good look at your current situation, ma’am.”
The little boy unfolded a notepad on the table. Then, from who knows where, he pulled out a pen and began to write with his tiny hand.
“You are in debt to me.”
“…Huh?”
“Oh, maybe I should say you’re the perpetrator instead of the debtor?”
Either way, wasn’t that a bit too intense of a word? What kind of ten-year-old talks like that?
“Anyway, it’s kind of the same thing, right?”
“R-right.”
The corners of the boy’s mouth lifted mischievously. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were not—it sent a chill down my spine.
“In exchange for not telling the Duke that the pink diamond was used as collateral, you’ll have to do a job for me at Black Swan.”
“What kind of job?”
“Find me a woman who can be my mother.”
The boy’s expression turned slightly gloomy.
“Mother… you mean someone who will be your mother?”
“Yes. I need a mother. Someone who’ll sing lullabies to me at night, drink tea with me, and go on picnics too.”
A sharp pain pricked my heart.
He was a brilliant child, I knew that much—but after all, he was still just a child.
“Kiddo, I can find someone who could be your mother, but if I do that, that woman will have to become the Duke’s wife.”
“If I don’t bring someone, the Duke will live alone forever.”
He must’ve heard that rumor somewhere. Whether it was true or not, no one knew—but if it was, then the Duke was still longing for the woman who had left him to become the Crown Princess, raising her child alone for the rest of his life…
‘What a mess. An absolute mess!’
The child before me wasn’t at fault. It was all the adults’ doing.
“Would you like to see this?”
The boy pulled out a crumpled note from his vest pocket.
“Drawing pictures, doing puzzles, staying up all night talking until we fall asleep?”
There were quite a few other things written there too.
“These are things I want to do once I have a mom.”
…What on earth should I do with this little noble?
“The Duke often leaves the estate for inspections, so he’s away from home a lot. I once asked a maid to sing me a lullaby and stay with me at night.”
His expression suddenly darkened.
“But at some point, that maid crossed the line—as if she were really my mother.”
Crossed the line how? No, never mind, I didn’t want to hear the rest. It was bound to get unpleasant.
“So she got fired. I heard she entered the Duke’s bedroom at night, saying she wanted to tell him my stories.”
“…You must’ve been disappointed.”
“So, since you made a mistake too, I thought maybe you could take on the job of finding me a mother.”
“Alright, I’ll find one.”
“…Really?”
The boy’s eyes widened at my immediate answer. Then, as if holding back a smile, his cheeks twitched slightly.
“I can find candidates that fit your requirements, even prepare meetings. But getting them close or convincing the Duke—that part’s out of my hands. I want that to be clear.”
The boy suddenly jumped up and walked right over to me.
“Thank you so much, ma’am!”
His small arms wrapped around my neck. I gently patted his back with one hand.
A little higher body temperature than mine.
A small frame that felt different from how it looked.
‘A lonely child.’
That was my first thought as I held him in my arms.
Since it was basically a job request, I even drafted a proper contract.
And today, I finally learned the boy’s full name.
Lublion Artenbach.
It suited him perfectly—playful, yet dignified.
As I watched him carefully eating the cake Anna had bought, trying not to spill a single crumb, a strange feeling welled up inside me.
It was the same color of loneliness I had felt after my mother passed away.
[Schmidt, you got cream on your dress again.]
I used to get cream on my clothes all the time because I couldn’t resist sweets.
[That’s a penalty, Schmidt.]
I used to dodge my mother’s hand as she tried to dab cream on my nose.
White, warm, and large hands.
[Kya-ha-ha!]
[Got you, my cute little one.]
Whenever I failed to dodge, she’d tickle me until I burst into laughter. My mother would smile so brightly—brighter than sunlight itself.
[Mom loves Schmidt the most.]
[I love you the most too, Mom.]
[More than your dad?]
[Yup! But don’t tell Dad, okay?]
Her voice still echoed vividly in my ears.
Lying on the grass together, staring up at the sky—it felt like just yesterday.
But then, my pillar, my everything, my mother, collapsed suddenly from unexplained cardiac arrest.
There hadn’t even been time to say goodbye.
‘Back then, Father wasn’t in his right mind either.’
After losing the woman he loved, he drowned himself in alcohol and medicine.
As a child, all I could do was cry into my mother’s portrait or search for traces of her at Black Swan.
Black Swan was a precious place to me—it held my mother’s desk, my mother’s favorite paintings.
My father, the only family I had left, had grown up feeding on the poison called loneliness.
Even after losing everything—our fortune to gambling and scams—I couldn’t let him go.
Because I was afraid.
Afraid of being truly alone.
Afraid of being left behind.
‘Enough of the memories.’
I forced my sinking thoughts back up. Moving my stiff facial muscles, I stood and approached the sofa.
“Alright, let’s hear what kind of person you’re looking for.”
I wiped the cream off the corner of Lublion’s mouth with a tissue and unfolded the contract.
He mumbled around a mouthful of cake, then swallowed and replied.
Though his requests were absurd, they weren’t completely unreasonable. I carefully shortlisted candidates who met his conditions.
After telling him to wait a bit, I went to the storage room to grab a noble directory and clippings about wealthy families.
When I came back, he was leaning against the sofa’s backrest with his eyes closed.
For a moment, I thought he was sick, but then I heard soft breathing. He’d fallen asleep.
I quietly set down the papers, then found the cleanest blanket I could and spread it out on the sofa.
Gently, I pushed his small body to lie down properly. His expression immediately relaxed.
Anna came in to give me the list of tomorrow’s appointments.
I raised a finger to my lips.
“Let’s talk outside.”
Five minutes away from the harbor, out at sea—
There was a boat belonging to Ascal Modesto Artenbach.
Inside, he pulled the gag off a captured con artist’s mouth.
“P-please… I’ve committed a terrible sin! Spare my life, please!”
The man trembled violently, drenched in fear.
“I didn’t think anyone would actually borrow money from the bank! It’s true!”
Ascal just stared at him silently. His mere gaze carried immense pressure.
When Ascal adjusted his gloves, the con artist screamed.
“Hiiik! Please—!”
The man’s entire body shook as he slammed his forehead against the floor. Thud, thud—the sound mixed with blood smearing across the deck.
“Quiet.”
That one word froze the man solid. He didn’t dare make another sound, forehead still pressed to the floor.
“Your Grace, we found it.”
A man in a black suit approached, holding a large wooden box. Inside were neatly stacked gold bars and bundles of Tiga bills.
“The list of investors?”
“It’s inside the box.”
Ascal unfolded the crudely made list. It was astonishing how many people had fallen for such an obvious scam.
He stepped forward, grabbed the con artist by the hair, and whispered coldly in his ear.
“Anyone who touches what’s mine… never leaves unharmed.”
“D-Duke, please, s-spare me!”
Ascal removed his gloves, stained faintly with blood, and handed them to the man in the black suit. Then, calmly, he put on a new pair. His movements were so practiced it was chilling.
“Tie him to the barrel and throw him in.”
“How full should it be?”
Without even looking, Ascal answered flatly,
“To the brim. If he’s lucky, he’ll survive.”
After finishing his work for the day, Ascal returned to the mansion. Lublion, eyes bright and full of excitement, ran up to him.
“Your Grace, do you have a moment?”
“Why.”
“I have something serious to talk about.”
“Wash up first.”
As Ascal strode down the hallway, Lublion hurried after him with small steps.
“Do you remember the lady from this morning?”
“…”
“What did you think of her first impression? Honestly, she’s not exactly pretty, but I want to know what you thought.”
“Talk after I wash.”
“You could at least answer before that!”
Ascal stopped abruptly. Lublion’s forehead bumped into his waist.
“The lady—you mean the one with the pink hair?”
Experience had taught him that it was better to end these conversations quickly before the boy clung any further.
“Yes. What do you think? Be honest.”
Ascal recalled the small woman whose emotions were written all over her face.
“You want me to be honest?”
“Yes!”
He let out a deep sigh.
“She’s not my type.”
Lublion’s face fell with disappointment. He grabbed Ascal’s hand desperately.
“Then what should I do? How can I make her your type?”
Ascal gently smoothed the boy’s messy hair.
“Stop that game—the ‘find me a mother’ game.”
“It’s not a game. I’m working hard for what I want.”
Lublion clenched his fists and stood straight, looking up at him with determined eyes.
“So please take me seriously, Your Grace.”
Ascal lowered himself to the boy’s eye level and asked softly, almost kindly,
“You asked how that woman could become my type?”
“Yes!”
“She’ll need to grow up a bit more.”
“What do you mean? What needs to grow?”
“That’s a secret.”
Lublion frowned deeply at the cryptic answer. It only made him look more pitiful—and adorable.
He watched Ascal’s back disappear down the hall and muttered to himself with new resolve,
“I’ll ask her tomorrow.”
