CHAPTER 80…………………….
When I just blinked, unable to grasp what he meant, Lloyd looked at me strangely and asked,
“I’m talking about Aslan’s father.”
“Ah, that— that man!”
That fictional character I didn’t even bother to give a name to.
Only then did I recall that imaginary man in the portrait.
When the Fran mansion was destroyed, the portrait had of course been ruined too, and I’d abandoned it without a thought—completely forgetting it even existed.
It felt like a small ball I’d tossed up had come crashing back down as a giant snowball.
Since Lloyd had just confessed his lie, it seemed only fair that I should confess something too. For a moment, I was tempted to tell him the truth about Aslan’s real identity.
But—
“Seriously, who would believe that a cat turned into a human?”
My truth sounded far more like a lie, so it wasn’t easy to say it out loud.
Lloyd was waiting for my answer, so I had to decide quickly either way.
I forced my lips open and stammered,
“So… um…”
* * *
From the very beginning, Id Mente had been a suspicious figure.
He was the father of the original heroine, Ayla.
He became the new lord of Mente Territory, which used to be under imperial command.
He didn’t act like an ordinary country noble.
At first, I thought he might be one of Mars’s people—until he saved me.
He was too skilled with a sword to be a mere noble.
He found an assassin guild’s token as if it were nothing.
Yet he never appeared in the original story.
At first, I thought it was because he’d died early, leaving Ayla an orphan. But the more I observed him, the more that assumption started to fall apart.
Even if Id had died suddenly, that alone wouldn’t explain why Ayla became an orphan and why her family name changed.
And besides—Id’s mother cared too much for Ayla. She wouldn’t have let the girl suffer just because Id was gone.
That’s when my doubts began.
“What if the one something happened to wasn’t Id—but Ayla?”
I kept thinking about it all the way to the Grand Duke’s castle.
But when I saw Ayla there, dressed as finely as any noble lady and receiving treatment no less than the duke’s own daughter, that theory started to feel off too.
No matter what, the person who intrigued me most was Id himself.
And during a luncheon with the Mente family, my suspicions grew even stronger.
“He’s far too conscious of the Grand Duke.”
It wasn’t the restrained tone of a loyal subordinate—something about it was unnatural.
It was as if there was a secret between them that no one else knew.
I figured that if I looked into the Duke, I’d uncover the truth about Id as well.
So I’d been eagerly anticipating a chance to speak with him directly.
And when Id accompanied him that day, I remember feeling a bit disappointed.
“So Id and the Grand Duke really are separate people…”
But as I watched the Duke more closely, something began to feel off.
“Strange. He’s not quite the same as before.”
Had he always had that build? Maybe the layered clothing hid his physique, but… something wasn’t right.
Then my eyes caught on Id’s hand.
Beneath the white silk gloves, I glimpsed faint bandage marks.
“Whoa, that’s the Grand Duke’s blood! He got hurt saving me—ugh!”
Aslan had said the Grand Duke injured himself rescuing him when he almost fell from a tree.
So, I quietly looked at the Duke’s hands as well.
He too wore gloves, but there was none of that slight stiffness that bandaged hands usually have.
That’s when it hit me.
Id Mente was Lloyd Eckhart.
Once I made that assumption, countless pieces began clicking together like dominoes.
Ayla being treated like nobility in the Grand Duke’s castle.
The secret between Id and Ayla.
All my suspicions about Id made perfect sense if he was actually the Duke in disguise.
“So, he deceived me too.”
If what he’d said about the Duke’s mental illness was true, then maybe I could understand.
Most people would have sympathized with him, given the circumstances.
And yet—why was I now looking down coldly at the man who sat before me, on the verge of tears after being exposed?
“So… Aslan is…”
I couldn’t say anything more.
I’d hidden my identity too, and Lloyd had saved my life.
But the moment I realized Id was Lloyd, I could no longer see him kindly.
Because in the original story, the Grand Duke was the one who goaded Liona into revenge—and ultimately stood by as she died.
I still didn’t know why he did that.
So until I did, I would use this marriage as an opportunity to watch him closely—without revealing my own weaknesses.
I released the tension in my clenched fist and smiled faintly.
“It’s fine. It’s all in the past now.”
“You didn’t run away from the palace because you loved him that much…?”
“Well, doesn’t the Grand Duke have someone he loves too?”
He looked puzzled by my interruption.
“…?”
“I mean Ayla’s mother.”
“Ah.”
That expression—like he’d just remembered—was strange.
Wait, could it be…?
I looked at him expectantly, but his answer completely missed the mark.
“Ayla is adopted.”
“…What?”
“I adopted her from an orphanage when she was four. I never wanted to marry, but I needed an heir.”
Ah, right—now that he said it, a few of his frugal habits came to mind. Definitely not the behavior of someone born into wealth.
It was ironic.
In the original story, Liona had been the Duke’s adopted daughter—yet now, it was Ayla.
“Wait, if Lloyd isn’t her real father, then could the Wolfgang couple be…?”
But then again, they might have adopted her too.
The family tree was so tangled now that I decided to stop thinking about it.
“The original is the original, and reality is reality.”
As long as nothing happened to Aslan, I didn’t care if Ayla was a princess from a faraway land or an orphanage kid.
All that mattered was that she was happy.
What was important, though, was why Lloyd had adopted her so early.
“Forgive me if I’m prying, but was there a particular reason you chose Ayla?”
Lloyd fidgeted a bit before answering.
“…After I became an adult, I began visiting orphanages regularly because I needed an heir.”
He started speaking, but his gaze never lifted from the ground.
“It wasn’t easy to find a child who could endure my mother and the weight of being the heir. For almost four years, I couldn’t decide. But Ayla was different. She was… exceptionally bright. Even as an orphan, I knew my mother would approve of her.
It wasn’t until His Highness scolded me that I realized I was becoming just like her.”
Then his voice filled with self-reproach.
Becoming like his mother—did he mean Priscilla’s abuse?
The way he couldn’t look people in the eye, how easily he flinched—it all overlapped with how Ayla used to be.
“I ended up burdening Ayla. I swore I’d never become like my mother, and yet…”
Even if I resented the Lloyd from the original story for letting Liona die, seeing him like this—so deflated—made my chest tighten.
Despite my suspicion, there were still things I was genuinely grateful to him for.
Putting the original story aside for now, I wanted to comfort the Lloyd I had come to know.
“You’re not like Priscilla. Just look—Ayla adores you. She lights up whenever she talks about you.”
“That’s only because she’s young. I used to think my mother was my whole world too…”
Ah, seriously!
Even when I tried to console him, he brushed it off like it was nothing.
It was almost self-destructive.
Frustrated, I sighed deeply and put my hands on my hips.
Then I offered a thought experiment.
“Your Grace—if you had been Ayla’s age and could spend two weeks away from your mother, how do you think you would have felt?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Most kids wouldn’t want to go back home. But not Ayla. Even though she had fun at our place, she still missed you.”
I remembered it clearly—how Ayla would get quiet even while eating something delicious, wishing she could share it with Lloyd. How she’d stare out the window, waiting eagerly for his carriage to come.
Back then, I hadn’t known she was adopted. But even now, looking back, there hadn’t been a hint of that anxious fear of abandonment.
“You’re a good father. You’re still trying, aren’t you?”
If he brushed that off too, I really would’ve snapped.
But for the first time, Lloyd just looked at me wide-eyed, saying nothing—really looking at me.
“…Do you think Ayla feels the same?”
“It’s not ‘do you think’—she already does.”
I added that as Ayla’s friend’s mother, I could guarantee it.
Lloyd slowly turned his head toward where Ayla was.
“I see…”
He blinked several times, then gave a faint smile.
For the first time, his face looked truly at peace.
That change in expression—it was like watching ice melt in an instant.
He had smiled occasionally as Id Mente, but never like this.
For a fleeting moment, it was hard to believe this was the same man who, in the original story, had driven Liona to her death.
Why had someone who could care for Ayla so deeply, once urged Liona toward revenge?
