Published: August 15, 2025
"――Nice to meet you. I am your mother."
The first time I heard Lady Laura’s voice, those were the words she spoke.
I was just about two years old, barely able to say any words myself, but I understood what people said. Still, I didn’t understand the meaning of her words.
A mother, as I knew it, was the woman who gave birth to you and raised you—the closest woman to you. This blonde woman was not that person.
I must have looked quite bewildered. Lady Laura clearly took offense and lowered her voice.
"……That is only natural. If you are Alfred’s child and the legitimate son of the Granado Family, then you are the child of me, his wife."
I didn’t know what to do.
I looked back at the person behind me. There stood the woman I recognized as my mother, with skin and hair the same color as mine. When I was confused or troubled, she was the one I would ask, and she usually solved things.
"Mother."
As usual, I called her that, and my mother’s expression changed indescribably—somewhere between sadness and anger. She looked like her stomach hurt terribly.
Lady Laura’s expression shifted dramatically. Deep wrinkles formed quickly around her beautiful eyes. Then, without opening the folding fan in her hand, she struck downward.
――Smack! The sharp sound rang out, and my mother staggered. Lady Laura had hit her. I flinched at this sudden violence between adults.
The fan struck my mother’s cheek again, but she didn’t move. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth as she silently endured it. Lady Laura glared at her disdainfully, as if looking at something filthy.
"You filthy whore! You still let yourself be called ‘mother’?"
"…I’m sorry."
"A beloved concubine must never conceive children no matter how often she is called to the bedchamber. If she does conceive, she must either take poison to abort it or leave quickly with her child and retreat to a convent. This is an ancient rule passed down in the noble world. Even though you are a lowly foreigner, you could not have been ignorant of this!"
"…Yes."
My mother nodded obediently once, then shook her head.
"But that’s an old law… under current law, even concubine-born children can be heirs. Besides, Alfred loves me—"
She was struck again before she could finish. She fell silent once more. Lady Laura had no intention of letting her speak. Warning her not to move her lips again, she spoke intimidatingly.
"If you understand, then leave."
Lady Laura said haughtily.
"Leave that child here at the Duke’s mansion. I, Cyrus, will take full responsibility for raising him properly as a worthy legitimate son of the Granado Family."
"――But this child—"
Ryuu-Ryuu tried to speak, but the fan whistled through the air and struck her cheek again.
"But this child, just this child—"
She was hit again. Being struck repeatedly on the cheek by a wooden fan, a woman’s face would soon swell up. Blood dripped from my mother’s battered face, splattered by the fan and flew toward me.
My mother was being torn apart right before my eyes. Still, I didn’t know what to do.
――Stop. Don’t hit mother anymore.
I didn’t know those words yet.
Eventually, the fan's ribs broke, and the feathers fell to the ground with a rustle. Perhaps Lady Laura realized she had gone too far. She hesitated for a moment and stopped.
Ryuu-Ryuu lifted her face, blood dripping from her chin. Though her fists hung down, she stared up fiercely.
"This child is mine. This child was born from the love between Alfred and me. I don’t care about the ducal title; give it to your foolish husband. Just leave us alone."
Lady Laura gasped. Perhaps she was taken aback by these harsh words, the first of their kind she’d ever heard from a noble lady, or maybe she was intimidated by those green eyes called bewitching. Their gazes locked for a while—then it was Lady Laura who turned away.
"Very well. If that’s the case, so be it. But don’t make yourself an eyesore—I expect you to stay out of my sight as much as possible."