“Of course, it breaks my heart that I have no choice but to say this.”

Durias was calmly saying something that was not even in his heart.

He had a way of gently soothing his opponent, then blurting out sharp words at a crucial moment. That deft speech skills made me speechless.

I heard that he was in charge of foreign relations. I guess he wasn’t playing around.

As I stared at Durias in amazement, Cade pressed a hand to my cheek.

“What?”

“Close your mouth.”

“…Was it open?”

You mean I was watching Durias with my mouth open? That hurt my pride. To think that I was looking at, not anyone else but Durias, like this.

I kept my mouth shut and examined the faces of the Loisars one by one. In the meantime, I noticed Asher, the only one with a serious expression on his face.

Very suspicious. He must have known something.

Indeed, no matter how secretively he proceeded with the work, Gray couldn’t have done it all by himself. Of course, there must have been someone who helped him.

Perhaps it was Asher who had been the middleman in contacting the Artban family.

While I was looking at Asher with suspicions, Cade raised his right arm and leaned it against the table, resting his chin on the back of his hand.

He checked to see where I was looking at and smiled.

“I guess some are not fools.”

“Shouldn’t it be normal to understand at this point?”

“You worked hard for that.” 

Cade nodded his head then Durias stopped talking.

“That’s the gist of it. You’ve heard everything, so you must understand now, Gray.” 

“Right.”

“So what do you say?”

“I’m afraid I’d say we don’t know.” 

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The more I hear about it, the more I think I should take the child.”

Gray stared at me and said so, making me flinch because his golden eyes were very dry. I felt a sense of rejection by the gaze that looked at me as if looking at an object.

“So you’re saying the Artban family did this on their own?” 

“Yes. It has nothing to do with us.”

“Gray.”

In an instant, Cade’s mood changed and a cold aura was creeping up around him.

“What do you think you’re doing?” 

Gray frowned in displeasure. He seemed a little annoyed by the flow of this conversation.

“You seem to have no manners nor courtesy towards me for putting up with the Lord’s rude attitude while listening to these trivial and unpleasant things.”

“I don’t think I need to be polite to you.”

“What?”

At Cade’s reply, Gray seemed at a loss for words, his golden eyes narrowed in disbelief. 

“This is ridiculous. There is no need for further conversation. Give me the child, Cade.” 

“It’s regrettable but I have no intention of sending my daughter away.”

“A bird must live like a bird.”

Gray laughed bitterly. He looked me up and down and then sharply tilted his head.

“That child is just a stranger here and no amount of mimicry will make her fit with the Black Mambas.”

“……Not true.”

I snapped back in a choked voice and Gray’s expression turned icy cold. 

“It would be good to fix that tone. If you go East, you will no longer be a lady of the Head Family.”

“I am not going. I will live with Daddy!”

What do you think will happen to me if I go East? There was no guarantee that I would be safe. 

Gray only scoffed at my declaration.

“We don’t need a child’s opinion for an adult’s business. Make up your mind, Cade. If I can’t take the child this time, I’m going to put you on trial.”

Gray let out a low, tired sigh.

“Let’s avoid bothering each other. I don’t know why you’re doing this because of just one child.”

I clenched my fists.

Gray had been treating me like an object since the beginning. I wondered why he’d come all the way to the South himself and from what I’ve seen of Gray so far, he’s not enough of a great man to personally pick up a child of the Clan.

He didn’t bring Isabel to meet me out of pity for the loss of her child. He would have brought her as a ‘tool’ to shake my heart.

Cade, who had been listening to Gray’s words, burst into laughter.

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I said I had no intention of sending my daughter away. I want you to be polite to an heir of the Astropel family.”

“…Ha!”

Gray looked like his pride had been wounded. 

Even if Clan Astropel was the head of the South, it was an excessive demand to ask them to be polite even to their successors. Besides, even though I had the surname Astrophel, I was definitely a bird.

It was impossible for me to take over as the next Head after Cade. 

The Astrophel family was definitely a family made up of Black Mambas, but Cade who is well aware of that still calls me his Heir.

Even I looked at him while surprised inside. 

“Cade. Stop being stubborn. From what I’ve seen, that kid doesn’t even seem to be able to fly. What do you plan on doing with that?”

“That’s not something you’re qualified to tell me.” 

“…What does that mean?”

“It means we should stop this charade and start being honest.”

Cade laughed as if it were funny but his red eyes flashed.

Feeling a visceral threat, Gray drew in a breath.

“Why do you think I am wasting my precious time dealing with you?”

I had the illusion that his relaxed questioning tone was coming up through my body.

Red eyes bore into Gray’s, watching him intently, as if waiting for a moment of vulnerability. 

“Didn’t you hear what my subordinate just said? If you want to return safely, just answer the truth.”

“……I only told the truth.”

“I see you must have coordinated with each other. You must have thought that both had to at least escape safely no matter what before thinking about what to do next. Ella was all about denying the truth, and so are you.”

Gray’s eyes changed when Ella’s name appeared. It seemed that he sensed something was wrong. Before he knew it, Cade’s pheromone spread like it was eating away at his surroundings.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

I swept my arm down, not noticing that his pheromones were moving, Gray threw his body back and took a defensive posture.

“I think like this. Neither Clan Miat nor Clan Artban can afford to provoke the South.”

“……”

“But if someone helps, things may change.”

“……Do you mean to say that someone is me now.” 

“I heard that the heir of the Loisars is being held hostage by Clan Artban.”

“……!”

The Loisars flinched.

It must have been a secret that he had been hidden for very long seeing how everyone else had embarrassed and confused faces.

Cade clicked his tongue.

“You must have kept it a secret. Being deprived of an heir is a big blow to the family and you would like to get it back somehow.”

“……No way.”

Asher murmured with a shocked face.

Gray’s eyes furrowed at Asher’s reaction and an uneasy atmosphere formed among the Loisar Clan.

It must have been something only Gray and Asher knew about. To be precise, only Gray knew everything, and Asher was just faithful to what he was told.

“This is unbelievable.” 

Baon shook his head. It seems that Gray was reckless beyond expectations.

It was a matter of course that important family matters required the consent of the elders. Yet here he was, acting on his own initiative, doing something that could very well be the end of the whole Clan.

The old elder, who had been actively defending Clan Loisar until now, covered his face in despair.

“It can’t be like this. How could this……!”

Asher was looking at Gray with a look of betrayal on his face.

Cade laughed.

“You’d better not lie to me from now on if you don’t want to be hanged at the entrance of my manor.” 

“……”

“Then shall I ask another thing?”

Cade opened his mouth.

“Why Clan Artban wants Irene?”

“……I do not know. I was only told to bring the child to them if I wanted my Heir back.”

“Did you tell them?”

“…What do you mean I told them?”

“Is it your habit to ask knowingly? I hate to say the same thing twice.”

Cade said with irritation and Gray shook his head.

“The Head of Artban Clan doesn’t know yet.”

“By the way, you just said you didn’t know why.” 

Gray’s expression hardened and a look of regret passed by.

I realized that what they were talking about was the truth about my pheromones.

Gray knew I had two types of pheromones and Cade deliberately spoke vaguely, glancing at him to confirm the facts.

I heard that Clan Loisar was famous for their intelligence, so he must know all of this.

But one question remained. 

Why didn’t Gray tell Clan Artban?