CMESD 04

Chapter 4

A Clumsy Game of Hide-and-Seek

A deep, vivid Preston blue gazed straight at me.

M-my eyes met his!

Oh, sweet merciful heavens.

I hurriedly ducked down into a crouch. Having missed the sight of Liam entirely, Luna let out a bright, cheerful giggle.

“What’s wrong, Mom? Are you playing a game?”

“U-um, it’s… it’s hide-and-seek.”

“Who’s it?”

“W-well…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say your father.

Clutching Luna tightly to my chest, I fought desperately to calm my violently hammering heart.

What should I do? Where on earth do I even start—

“Luna, in front of the Grand Duke, let’s make sure not to call him ‘Uncle’. How about a promise with Mom?”

Naturally, this had to be the first order of business.

“Then what should I call him?”

“…Dad?”

At my words, Luna wrapped her arms stubbornly around my neck with a thoroughly disgruntled look.

“Liam is Uncle!”

Just as I thought.

Holding Luna tightly in my arms, I thought to myself:

…This is going to be quite the uphill battle.

The moment Liam heard Jade’s report, he set off straight for the capital without a moment’s hesitation. The journey, however, had been far from smooth.

Even if it involved the succession of a ducal house, he was still the Admiral commanding the eastern and western naval fronts.

There was no way he could just abandon his post so easily.

Liam had used the Emperor’s long-postponed imperial decree as his pretext. Though “pretext” was putting it lightly, considering he hadn’t even bothered entering the main estate and had simply leaped straight off his horse.

Hah.

Almost the exact moment he dismounted, Liam spotted Isabella Milton.

Holding Luna in her arms, she had been standing by the window before hastily scrambling out of sight the second her eyes met his.

She hadn’t even managed to hide properly; the top of her head was still sticking out right over the edge of the windowframe for all to see.

At the sight of Isabella’s thoroughly clumsy attempt at hiding, a helpless snort escaped Liam’s lips.

“What’s so funny? Did some brilliant solution suddenly pop into your head?”

Jade asked, panting as he finally managed to dismount and stumble over to follow him.

“A brilliant solution?”

“To get Luna back, obviously.”

Surely not.

Jade fixed his gaze on Liam as he continued:

“You don’t just happen to have zero plan whatsoever, do you?”

“Do I need a plan?”

“……With that attitude, it’s no wonder you got dumped by Luna.”

Liam didn’t even bat an eye at the blunt, biting remark. Instead, he immediately resumed walking.

Only then did Jade realize what Liam was plotting, and he let out an exhausted groan.

“Hey—wait! No matter how urgent it is, there’s a proper order to things. Shouldn’t you go pay an audience to His Majesty first?”

“This takes priority.”

“You literally used reporting on the naval front as your excuse to slip away, didn’t you? If you do this, then—well, surely you can’t just—!”

Ignoring Jade entirely, Liam asked over his shoulder:

“Remind me, where is Luna staying right now?”

“I had them prep the house right next door to the Grand Duchy, obviously.”

Having answered on pure reflex, Jade instantly regretted it.

I should’ve told him I’d only reveal it after he visited His Majesty.

Alas, the water was already spilled.

Leaving a grumbling Jade behind, Liam turned on his heel.

Next door. So they weren’t just playing hide-and-seek; they were actually living right there.

Just as Liam made to march straight toward the neighboring house, he paused.

Trailing closely behind him, Jade stopped short as well, completely bewildered.

After critically inspecting his own appearance with a grave expression, Liam let out a sigh and turned his footsteps back toward the grand mansion instead.

“What? Why are we turning back?”

“I need to change my clothes.”

“Suddenly?”

“We haven’t seen each other in a while; I can’t show up looking like a wreck.”

Only then did Jade sweep his gaze up and down Liam’s travel-worn figure. Like a wreck. He wasn’t entirely sure which part of his appearance offended Liam’s sensibilities, but since it was apparently for Luna’s sake, he didn’t feel like arguing.

“Your Grace!”

“Good heavens, Your Grace! How did you arrive without any advance notice?”

As soon as Liam stepped into the foyer, the head butler and the head maid rushed forward to greet him.

“Pleasantries can wait.”

Waving a dismissive hand at them, Liam strode straight toward the grand staircase to the second floor.

Jade offered a sheepish, apologetic smile to the stunned staff before scurrying after Liam. Glancing back at him over his shoulder, Liam asked:

“The house next door has been vacant for a while, so its condition probably isn’t great. Didn’t we have a separate mansion prepared in the 4th District to gift to the Duchess?”

“You expect me to stick the young lady of the Grand Duchy in the 4th District?”

“Then tell them to stay within the main Grand Duchy estate.”

“Ha! Look at this guy. Let me tell you, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been headed to Senton; you’d have been headed straight for Milton instead. That would’ve cost you at least another two days.”

As Liam pulled off his cravat in his long-vacated bedroom, he failed to grasp Jade’s point and arched a single eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“Lady Milton planned to head straight back to her family’s territory the moment the divorce was finalized.”

“Her territory?”

Liam replied while rapidly shedding his jacket and shirt, completely unbothered by having an audience. Jade kindly supplied the missing context for him.

“The Viscount Milton passed away the year before last, so the title and estate naturally reverted to Lady Milton.”

Liam stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face Jade.

“Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“I sent you a dispatch letter, Admiral. You were probably just far too busy with important naval matters to read it.”

Or you read it and forgot. Jade swallowed the trailing sarcastic remark.

Liam frowned at him. He genuinely couldn’t remember either way.

The Viscount Milton was dead.

As far as Liam recalled, the Viscount had been Isabella’s only remaining blood relative. Her maternal uncle, or something along those lines.

Though Liam had plenty of complicated feelings regarding uncles in general, he understood that Isabella and Viscount Milton had shared a rather close bond.

Though he had only found out about it just before signing the marriage contract, of course.

Liam immediately identified the source of the faint discomfort settling in his chest. It was guilt. The lingering guilt of failing to uphold even the barest human decency toward her, contract marriage or not.

“Even so, seeing as a title reverted back to a noblewoman, there must not have been a single capable man left in the Milton family.”

“Ah. There were a few who technically could have inherited it, but they all renounced their claims.”

Renounced their claims? Liam frowned. Walking away from a chance to become a peer of the realm was sheer idiocy.

There weren’t many circumstances where such stupidity was tolerated.

“Her debts must be staggering.”

“Bingo. They say even selling off the entire Viscountcy wouldn’t be enough to cover it, though I didn’t look into the exact numbers.”

Jade covertly watched Liam’s reaction.

He noticed the hands tying the fresh cravat slowing down.

He’s worried. He’s actually worried about her.

Crossing his legs, Jade flashed a sly grin.

Public gossip surrounding Liam was wonderfully colorful.

From a shameless illegitimate child to a cold-blooded monster who had usurped his own niece’s rightful seat.

Granted, over the last few years, the public had taken to praising him as the Empire’s sword and shield, but neither extreme bore any resemblance to the actual Liam that Jade knew.

To Jade, Liam Preston was simply a man who was deeply inept at human relationships. And even then, it wasn’t entirely fair to blame him, considering the heavy toll of a childhood spent largely neglected.

Well, considering he grew up under those conditions without turning out completely twisted, it’s a miracle in itself.

Which was precisely why Jade grumbled constantly yet dropped everything to help whenever it concerned Liam.

Unaware of Jade’s inner musings, Liam swiftly buttoned up a fresh shirt and instructed:

“Look into just how bad the Viscount Milton family’s financial situation is.”

“Why? Are you planning on a remarriage or something?”

“Remarriage?”

“What other reason would you have to suddenly investigate a bankrupt Viscountcy’s finances?”

“It would be delightfully amusing if rumors started circulating that the former Grand Duchess is drowning in mountains of debt.”

At Liam’s dry, sarcastic retort, Jade clicked his tongue. Tsk.

The marriage three years ago, followed by the sudden divorce.

Public attention had been glued to the young couple ever since.

Not only had they fallen in love at first sight at her debutante ball and rushed into marriage, but now, before even three full years had passed, they had broken it off—and if rumors on top of that began spreading that the former Grand Duchess was buried in debt, it was painfully obvious how the House of Preston would be perceived.

“I suppose you’re right. I’ll look into it.”

Jade muttered those words while mentally shaking his head.

He couldn’t help a fresh wave of disappointment when he realized Liam wasn’t showing even a sliver of lingering attachment toward Isabella.

So it’s not going to be that easy, huh.

Jade had briefly entertained the notion of pushing for a reconciliation if Liam showed any sign of lingering fondness for the marriage, but he quickly forced down his disappointment.

Though he hadn’t said it aloud to Liam, the custody issue was a hundred times more complex than the marriage or divorce itself. Especially since the child herself had formally designated her primary custodian.

The simplest, cleanest way to resolve this mess was, naturally, for Liam to remarry the person the child had chosen.

Well, since the man himself claims he doesn’t care…

Just as Jade figured nothing more could be done, Liam’s low murmur drifted to his ears.

“She did a far better job than I had any right to expect, so offering that level of compensation is only fair.”

“A better job? In what sense?”

“Lady Milton, obviously.”

“Wait, wait—hold on. How on earth do you even know Lady Milton did a good job?”

“You’re the one who kept loudly updating me on every single detail, Jade.”

Jade stared blankly at the man walking ahead of him. The man who had completely forgotten his own divorce date, the bear of a man who didn’t even keep track of his own birthday—he remembered that?

Hurrying to catch up with Liam as he strode out of the bedchambers, a sudden thought struck Jade.

With this setup… if played right, a reconciliation might actually be entirely possible?