NIYTR 33

Chapter 33

Signet Ring

“Uncle! Edel’s here! E! D! E! L! is! back!”

Edelweiss had always closed the distance herself, no matter how far apart they stood.

“Uncle, I think the peach tart you make is the tastiest. And this is a secret from Aunt, but… I like you just a little bit more than her!”

She always reached out her hands to be held, nestled her cheek on his shoulder, and drifted off to sleep like the world was safe.

A child starved for affection, always glancing around in fear of being hated.

Edelweiss, who trusted and leaned on him—she broke down all his walls.

She wasn’t just a stranger without blood ties.

Please hide me, Uncle. Aunt is angry. If she comes, tell her I’m not here!

Since that day long ago, when she came running to him looking for a hiding place, he had wanted—no, needed—to protect her.

To hide her forever, no matter the cost.

That was why he had signed the legal adoption papers.

Why he had agreed to give her the name of Oberlin.

When she returned after so long—so composed, holding out a gift for his wife—he had feared she might have felt unwelcome, or guilty for intruding.

But he had always wanted to say just one thing.

Edel…

‘You’re back?

You found your way home so well. I’m proud of you.

I’ve always been waiting for you to come back.’

“……I’ll try. I’ll be an even better girl.”

So—whatever dream you’re caught in,

Please don’t cry such sorrowful tears.

“I don’t need you to be a good girl, Edel. You don’t need to try so hard or tiptoe around for love.

I’ve loved you for a very, very long time.”

“…Edel, are you coming to?” The Marquis of Blossomweaver looked gently at Edelweiss as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Should I call Violet?”

“Don’t go…”

“…What?”

“Stay with me. Please… I don’t want to be alone…”

The very first words she said upon waking were heartbreakingly natural.

As she clutched at his sleeve, her sorrow pouring out, he responded slowly and firmly.

“I won’t go. Even if you tell me to leave, I won’t. I’ll be right here. I’ll never leave you alone.”

Cesare Oberlin Blossomweaver didn’t know how to fully console her.

Even a parent raising a child continues to learn—no matter how much time passes.

“…Uncle, I’m full. I don’t want any more.”

“Edel, just a bit more, okay? Just one last spoonful. You haven’t eaten properly in three days—if you want to get better, you need to eat well.”

The moment she woke, Edelweiss was met with the Marquis’ dedicated care.

He had brought red pumpkin soup from the kitchen himself and was feeding it to her by hand.

“…Then can’t I eat it on my own…?”

“Shh. Say ‘ah.’”

Even when she tried to take the spoon herself out of embarrassment, he firmly guided it to her lips.

He didn’t tire of coaxing and comforting her despite her resistance.

Though her appetite hadn’t returned yet, she couldn’t bring herself to reject his kindness.

“That’s it, good girl. Well done.”

His hand gently wiped the corners of her lips with a handkerchief—careful and warm.

To think she’d hear “well done” for eating… at her age.

She’d never even heard that when she was small. The words made her feel like she was floating.

Knock knock—

“Edelweiss, Cesare. May I come in?”

It was the Marchioness of Blossomweaver.

She entered, placing a hand on Edelweiss’s forehead.

“Your fever’s dropped quite a bit.”

Her voice was cool, but the affection in it was unmistakable.

“Aunt… what’s that in your hand…?”

A letter. The seal bore the emblem of House Stern.

“It’s a summons to attend the noon vassal council.”

“…Why?”

“Though I’ve severed ties with Mateo, House Blossomweaver is still officially under House Stern’s vassalage. I have a right to attend and vote. I haven’t gone until now, but…”

“….”

“This time, Mateo sent a formal demand that I be present.”

Edelweiss took the document from her and read its contents.

“…‘To admit Lady Rosemary Benel, daughter of Viscount Benel, as the adopted daughter of Marchioness Iris Stern and register her as a noble lady of House Stern’…?”

She hadn’t read it wrong. Both Rosemary’s and her late mother’s names were clearly written.

“Violet, your brother really has lost his mind, hasn’t he? He’s trying to make her your mother’s daughter? Make her a proper noble lady with that cheap trick?!”

“Don’t call him my brother. I don’t want to be associated with that man.”

“The council only needs a majority to approve the adoption. That’s why he needs you there—to meet the quorum!”

The Marquis, now fuming, set down the soup bowl with a clatter.

‘He must think he needs to “compensate” Rosemary, now that she’s become a cripple.’

But how could he suggest something so outrageous?

To make her mother—the one who had suffered so much because of Rosemary—into her adoptive mother?

And to do it when she was no longer alive and couldn’t voice her opposition.

How dare he.

Just as a wave of fury surged within her, the Marchioness of Blossomweaver removed the signet ring from the index finger of her right hand.

Then, without hesitation, she slid it onto Edelweiss’s finger.

“…Aunt?”

“Edelweiss, I want you to attend in my place. I have no desire to witness such pathetic schemes with my own eyes.

Dodging imperial law to bring in an illegitimate child—how cunning.”

To hand over the signet ring was no small matter.

It meant attending the meeting as her official representative, with the authority and weight of the Marquisate of Blossomweaver.

Edelweiss had not yet formally undergone the heir succession ceremony.

And no one had truly expected her to.

But this was a clear signal—to make her presence known as the rightful successor before any formalities.

A head of house would not hand over a signet ring lightly.

Because every word and action taken while wearing it would carry the full weight of the House of Blossomweaver.

‘The responsibility is heavy… but so is the influence and recognition. I won’t be seen as just another noble lady anymore.’

Though it seemed to be handed over with ease, the decision had clearly not come easily.

She had only just recovered, but the skies were now clear, the rain had stopped, and her body felt much lighter.

“Thank you… Aunt.”

As Edelweiss pushed aside the blanket and began to rise from the bed, the Marquis urgently intervened.

“Edel, you only just woke up! Absolutely not. Last time I let you go out, you collapsed again.

I’ll go instead. I swear I won’t let that Duke get his way—”

The Marchioness grabbed his wrist.

“Cesare.”

“…”

“Edelweiss is Iris’s daughter. Whether or not Rosemary Benel becomes her adoptive sister—that’s something Edelweiss should hear directly.”

“…You’re saying I need to know when to step back?”

“Yes.”

“How could you say that to me?”

Edelweiss, caught in the rising tension, couldn’t bring herself to interrupt—only watched silently.

“When are you going to stop shielding her like a child? She’s not a little girl anymore. She’ll be of age soon. I don’t get why you’re so angry and desperate to stop her.”

“That’s not why I’m upset.”

“Then what is it?”

A shadow of sorrow passed through Cesare’s eyes.

“You still don’t see Edelweiss as my daughter… do you.

To you, I’m just the uncle. Someone with no right to speak or interfere. That’s why.”

Leaving only those words behind, he stepped out of the room.

“Uncle!”

Edelweiss called out in a rush, but he was gone before she could stop him.

The Marchioness simply clicked her tongue in mild irritation.

“Ts, getting sulky like a child at his age—some things never change.”

“…Aunt, are you sure it’s alright for me to go?”

“I’ll handle Cesare. Don’t worry. If Iris’s daughter doesn’t go, who will?”

“…Yes.”

Edelweiss pulled the bell cord to summon someone to help her bathe her sweat-soaked body.

“…By the way, why are you still calling him ‘Uncle’?

If you’d just said ‘Father,’ Cesare wouldn’t have reacted like that.”

“It’s just… habit. It feels awkward to change all of a sudden.”

“Even so, try to make the effort. I’ve told you again and again—you are now Edelweiss Oberlin Blossomweaver.”

“…I know.”

“I’m sure you’ll come to it on your own in time, but I just hope it’s not too late.

Cesare may not show it, but he’s the type to hold things in for a long time.”

Edelweiss nodded quietly.

And finally, for the first time, she began to mouth the word that had always felt so foreign—

Father.