"Is the cheesecake to your liking, Silas?" Esmeralda inquired as she set down her teacup, glancing up at her son. Zeke had already devoured half of his dessert. "I remember they used to be your favorites, so I made sure the chefs prepared plenty of them today...Oh! But that was quite some time ago...Do you still enjoy cheesecakes?"

”Yes I do, don’t worry, I’m sure whatever you give me will be delicious, mother,” Zeke responded with a gentle smile. ‘Me and Silas share the same tastes in food, it seems, that’s convenient at least.’ The thought passed his mind as he glanced at Circe, watching her stack another plate on top of her ongoing pile. “I didn’t know you liked Eclairs that much, my lady.”

“I enjoy desserts in general,” Circe dragged a plate of cupcakes closer to her, eyes sparkling merrily at the mere sight of sweets. “What about you? Until now, I had no idea that you liked cheesecakes.”

Staring at her excited demeanor, Zeke figured out her genuine curiosity. He took a bite out of his dessert and replied. “I do enjoy mild sweets like cheesecakes, but strawberries are also good…I don’t like pure chocolate though.”

Circe tilted her head. “Pure chocolate?”

“I meant chocolate as bars or drinks, I prefer things like chocolate cakes.” Zeke clarified, slicing through his cheesecake with the fork in his hand.

”That’s…you’re quite picky, aren’t you?” Circe chuckled as she took a bite out of a strawberry cupcake, her smile widening as the sweetness melted into her tongue. “That’s good though, just give me all your chocolates, and I’ll eat them for you!”

Hearing her bubbling voice, Zeke couldn’t help but smile. “Of course,” he ate his dessert, finishing his first plate before settling it aside. Taking a sip of tea, he let the clean taste blend in nicely with the sweetness, washing it all down his throat. “If that’s what you want, then I can always let you have them, my lady.”

Esmeralda silently drank her tea, smiling softly at the rosy atmosphere. As she glanced towards her maid, the short-haired brunette could only respond with an awkward smile. “…I feel as if I am holding the two of you back,” she returned her focus to the two young nobles before her. Having successfully garnered their attention, she set her cup down on its plate. “Like a third-wheel watching a blossoming couple lost in their own world.”

The two of them shared a glance before smiling at the marchioness’ jesting comment. As he replied, Zeke shook his head. “No, not at all, mother. If there’s something you’d like to talk to us about then feel free to speak up, we’ve had plenty of dates until now.”

Circe chuckled. “Yes, Marchioness, it’s been a while since you’ve talked to Lord Silas, I’m worried that I might be stealing too much of his attention from you.”

”If that’s the case…” Esmeralda faced Zeke as he raised his cup of tea to his lips. “When do you two plan on getting wed?”

‘Cough!’ Almost dropping his drink, Zeke bent over at the marchioness’ unexpected question. Circe appeared more surprised that he choked on his tea, lightly tapping his back as he straightened himself and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “That…!” He briefly glanced at Circe, but she didn’t look back and instead returned to her cupcakes. ‘How helpful’. “We thought about taking it slow for the time being…maybe once we both turn seventeen or eighteen.”

“But that’s quite a long time,” Esmeralda replied, bewilderment clear in her tone as she brought her hand to her lips. “I thought you two might want to tie the knots as soon as possible.”

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“Marriage is but a ceremony, Marchioness,” Circe spoke up, settling another empty plate onto its pile. “Married or not, we still love each other very dearly, so we simply see no point in rushing it. But besides that…” As she looked away, a timid frown creased her brows. “I am still growing, and I would like to look my best when I’m wearing my wedding gown…Ah, it’s quite a childish reason, isn’t it?”

”No, of course not!” Esmeralda chuckled at her sudden shyness. “But you are right. Since both of you are already engaged, the bonds between the families have been established as planned. The lord told me he will leave all the decisions to you, so please don’t feel pressured by my question earlier, it was simply out of curiosity.”

“Ma’am,” The marchioness’ personal maid leaned in to whisper into her mistress’ ear. “My apologies, but it’s time for your appointment.”

”Oh my, is it time already?” A disappointed look crossed her face. Esmeralda faced the two of them with a soft smile. “I’m sorry you two, but I have prior arrangements to attend to. You can finish your desserts all by yourself and leave once you’re done, okay?”

“Ah, alright,” Zeke nodded in acknowledgement, though surprised that she had to leave all of a sudden. “Have a good day, mother.”

“I hope to have tea with you again sometime, my lady.” Circe gave the marchioness a smile.

Returning their courtesies with her own smile, Esmeralda rose from her chair, carefully lifting her pearlescent dress. “Thank you, I’ll be sure to invite you next time as well, Lady Ruelle.”

As her maid guided her to the entrance, Zeke suddenly got up to his seat, the sudden noise garnering Esmeralda’s attention. He stared at his mother’s surprised expression as he spoke. “Mother, I’ll…visit you more often.”

His brief words sounded awkward, and anyone would have thought he may have faked it for the sake of courtesy. However, Esmeralda did not think so, smiling brightly in genuine joy. “Thank you Silas, I look forward to seeing you again soon.” With that, she left the greenhouse.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Zeke sat back down. “Lilia,” he called the maid calmly, his tone unlike the frantic rush he’d shown before. “Can we be alone for a moment? It won’t take long for us to finish here anyway.”

Lilia instantly replied in earnest. “Yes, of course, my lord! I shall take my leave, Lady Ruelle.”

Before Circe could turn to face her maid, Lilia had already disappeared. “…Is she your maid or something?” She let out a lighthearted chuckle as she grabbed the plate filled with chocolate chip cookies. “Anyway Zeke, what’s up with that earlier? You really acted like her son just now.”

“…I kind of am?” Zeke took one of the cookies from Circe’s plate. “Maybe I just…see my own mother in Esmeralda,” his gaze averted to the plants around them. “Adopted mother, to be exact. I was an orphan.”

“Oh.” Circe gave him a sheepish look, and he laughed.

”Hey, it’s nothing serious, I never even knew my real parents’ faces,” Zeke shrugged nonchalantly. “They just left me at the orphanage when I was a baby…I was lucky that I got adopted. My mother was a great woman…unfortunately, she isn’t here anymore.”

“She raised you alone?” Her question sounded hesitant.

“Yeah, she was a university professor, teaching biochemistry or something…I never really asked,” Despite having his head focused elsewhere, Circe still noticed the downcast on his face. “I wasn’t as bad as Silas, but I never really paid my mother much attention. I didn’t even notice that she was ill for quite a while…until it was too late.” A forlorn smile appeared on his lips. “Maybe…maybe I just saw myself in Silas, and I want to at least do things right this time, you know?”

“…I’m sorry,” Circe locked her fingers together nervously. Chuckling, she continued. “I’m not very good at comforting people, I could barely comfort myself when dad passed.”

“I wasn’t looking for comfort or anything,” Zeke smiled as he faced Circe. “I should be sorry for oversharing, I didn’t ruin the taste of your cookies, did I?”

“Of course not,” Swiftly snatching the cookie from his hand, Circe took a bite out of it. “Besides, you can talk about anything with me, and I’ll do the same with you. We’ve only got each other in this world, right?”

Zeke let out a soft huff, taking a new cookie from the plate. As he spoke, his smile grew wider. “Sure, I guess you’re right.”

.

.

.

With a few hours until dinner, they decided to spend the remainder of their day in the library. Sitting in their spots atop the mezzanine, Zeke summoned all the items he’d gotten from the Alpha Wolf last night. “We got pretty lucky with the drops, even though it’s less than actual dungeon rewards.”

“So two skill books…and the monster core,” Circe took one of the leather-bound books for herself. Glancing at the green orb, she noticed that it had the same color as the patterns on Rokan’s body during its second phase. “Yeah, normally bosses outside of dungeons drop only one skill book, and five percent for the second.”

Zeke lightly tapped Rokan’s core, dismissing it back into his inventory. “Since you went first last time, how about you let me open mine first?” A smirk crept up his lips as he looked at Circe mischievously.

“Oh hoho…” She crossed her arms as she tapped the book’s spine against her shoulder. Returning Zeke’s grin with one of her own, she responded with a challenging nod and spoke in an arrogant voice. “Well then Mister Overlord of Mana, let’s see if you can get anything better than ‘Charm’.”

Despite the smile on his face, Circe could still see a frustrated glint in Zeke’s eyes. “We’ll see about that.”

As he opened the skill book, a golden light erupted from its pages.