“By luggage, did you mean Damian?”

“…….”

“No matter how I look at it, he’s undoubtedly the duke’s child.”

The luggage was an excuse indeed, but Rowena’s face turned pale at the subject of the son she had deliberately not mentioned.

“To be honest, I was a little-…no, I was really surprised.”

Gently closing and opening her eyes at his following words, Rowena glared at him with determined eyes.

“My child… You didn’t lay a hand on Damian, did you?”

The hostility he didn’t anticipate had stunned him, so he kept his mouth shut for a few moments.

Five years ago, she was just a pretty doll, nothing more, nothing less. She was merely an ornament that could do nothing more than smile…

It was a relationship that was bound to end from the beginning. It was out of sheer pity that he secretly slipped some money into her bag on the day that this woman was abandoned in front of people.

So when he learned that the woman in front of him had secretly given birth to a son and raised him, he could not believe his ears. The woman who had been just a pure and beautiful little kitten had turned into a wild cat with exposed claws, ready to attack whatever gets near her child.

Genok admired the look in her eyes, which seemed like she was about to pounce and scratch his face.

“Answer me.”

Rowena spoke as she sensed the silence that lingered.

“Where is my child?”

“I’ve invited the young master separately.”

“I have to see him for myself.”

“Miss Philone, you must calm down.”

Genok calmly spoke. At that moment, she felt the tension and heat suffocating her.

“I’m just trying to help you. If the Duke sees him…”

“…….”

“It’s going to be out of hand. Isn’t it?”

Goosebumps rose all over her body at the quiet question, and her heart fluttered.

Rowena clenched her fists tightly. Killian Devonshire was a man whose emotions didn’t change much, but once he got angry, there was no limit to how far he would go.

Genok stopped talking and turned to Rowena, whose mouth was quivering, and continued as if trying to soothe her.

“That’s why I took the young master with me separately. He has an extremely skilled nanny with him, so don’t worry.”

“…How can I believe this?”

Rowena asked in a calmer tone than before.

The man in front of her was the only person who had looked at her, the mistress, in a non-judgmental manner. Unlike the other man who looked at her with eyes she didn’t understand, he was kind and polite all the time.

But in the end, he was still one of the duke’s men. Genok seemed to read her expression of uneasiness and quietly called out to her.

“Miss Philone.”

“…….”

“I give you my word; I will never harm the child. And the Duke won’t be able to do that either.”

His serious and calm voice reassured her. Rowena’s shoulders, which had been rising and falling with her grave look, slowly regained their stability.

“It’s just that for me to fully protect the young master, I need some distance. At least until the duke naturally accepts and acknowledges the existence of his biological son…”

Rowena remembered the cold eyes staring at the door Damian had closed.

It was a threatening look as if he would turn the doorknob at any moment and pull the child out of hiding.

That was the most apparent reason why she had accepted the almost threatening proposal to go back to him. If she were alone, she would have run away, even if it meant throwing herself out the window.

“I will try to let you meet him on the train for a while. The boy will be riding in the same second-class compartment as me.”

Rowena, who had been silent for a while, slowly lifted her head.

“I understand; I’ll believe you.”

Only then did Genok smile and lead her to the carriage.

Taking his hand, she stepped into the carriage. Rowena looked back at the factory where she had worked for the last few years.

****