Oriana

In the small city, Neera, ruled by Viscount Raymond, there were three minor noble families that held quite the sway.

One of these three was the Hayes family, Helen's parental family.

Before Viscount Raymond came to the city twenty years ago, all three families were more or less similar in strength and status, but then Viscount Raymond took the Hayes family's third young lady—Helen—as his fifth wife and the Hayes family's status soared. Also, thanks to Raymond's support, they started becoming stronger.

Seeing this, the other two families also tried to marry off their young daughters to him. For a decade, Raymond ignored them, but seven years ago—after Lukas failed his awakening ceremony—he married the daughter of the Killian family.

'He must have stopped supporting the Hayes family and started supporting the Killian family,' Lukas thought, sighing inwardly.

'If the original Lukas hadn't failed the awakening ceremony, this probably wouldn't have happened.'

He glanced at Oriana, who stood there with her fists clenched tight and a pale face.

Just one look at her and he knew she was worried, afraid even. How could she not be when she knew Issac was coming for her?

If not for the fact Issac knew Lukas' condition and was worried something might happen to him if he didn't let Oriana go and take care of him when her badge rang in response to the servant-summoning bell's summons, which would have implicated him—because no matter how useless, Lukas was still Raymond's son—he wouldn't have let her return.

Still, even though she managed to avoid him this time, Issac could easily find another opportunity.

As Oriana's mind whirled with thoughts and she realized it would be almost impossible to avoid him forever, her face turned pale and she started trembling in despair.

Just then, she heard Lukas' voice. "Oriana, come here."

She raised her head and saw him sitting on the bed, his hand stretched out toward her.

Oriana took a deep breath, hiding her worries, and walked toward him before grabbing his hand while curiously looking at him.

Lukas exerted some force and pulled her toward him, making her sit on the bed beside him.

Thankfully, the meal earlier was quite nutritious and he regained quite a bit of his strength, even though he still felt weak. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pull her like this.

Still holding her hand, he looked into her eyes and said, "No need to worry. Just stay with me and you'll be safe. Once I recover, I'll make sure he stops troubling you."

Oriana stared back into his eyes. Then her lips curled up in a vibrant smile. "Thank you, Young Lord."

Even as she said this, Lukas noticed concern still present deep in her eyes. He furrowed his brows slightly in thought and quickly guessed why this was so.

"You don't need to prepare my meals until we solve your problem. I'll be eating with the family," he said.

Just as he expected, when Oriana heard the first part, she visibly relaxed, but when she heard the latter part, she became worried and said, "But Young Lord…"

"It's alright. It has been quite some time since I ate with them," Lukas interrupted her with a smile.

Though he knew his presence might not be appreciated, he was eager to meet Raymond's other wives, who, in his memories, weren't any less beautiful and charming than his mother.

His eyes glowed when he thought about them but he quickly shook his head and suppressed any and all lecherous thoughts.

Then, he lay back on the bed, closed his eyes and said, "Massage my head for a while, Oriana. Also, remember to wake me up when it's time for dinner, alright?"

"Yes, Young Lord." Oriana obediently nodded and shifted on the bed. Placing his head on her soft lap, she slowly started to massage him.

Mm~

Lukas let out a comfortable moan when he felt her soft fingers massage his temple.

Feeling the pain in his head slowly diminish, he let himself fall asleep.

…

"...Young… Lord~ Wake up~"

Some time later, he heard Oriana's gentle voice and slowly woke up.

Yawn~

Opening his eyes, he spread his hands and stretched while yawning. He then felt his head was still lying on Oriana's soft and warm lap and looked up, meeting Oriana's motherly gaze.

"Did you sleep well, Young Lord?" she smiled.

He returned the smile and nodded, "Yes. I slept very well." Then he shifted his body and turned his face toward her belly, taking a deep breath. "And thanks to your comfortable lap pillow, I have completely recovered."

Oriana's eyes widened in shock when she saw him greedily inhale her scent and she instinctively wanted to push his face away, but stopped herself. Then, she heard his next words and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"Y-Young Lord, what are you—" she muttered, her hands hovering over Lukas' shoulders.

Lukas nuzzled his face in her belly, took another deep and long breath before looking up into her eyes and asking, "Oriana, how many years has it been since Uncle Ryan passed away?"

"Huh?" Oriana was taken aback by his sudden and out-of-context question, but then she recalled how he nuzzled his face into her belly and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes.

However, when she looked at him and saw his clear eyes, she calmed down a little and answered,"It's been ten years, Young Lord."

Lukas, having noticed the panic in her eyes, sighed inwardly and just nodded before saying, "You must've had a hard time raising little Ellie alone."

Oriana smiled and shook her head. "Though it's been hard without him, it was alright, mainly thanks to Mistress's support."

Lukas nodded and slowly pushed himself up. "Alright. I'm going to freshen up. Then please accompany me to the dining hall."

"Yes, Young Lord." Oriana nodded, and helped him to the bathroom.

She wanted to help him bathe and he was tempted to allow her, but since he hadn't recovered enough to do anything, he decided not to torment himself and told her he had recovered enough to walk and bathe by himself.

When Lukas returned after a while, his lower body covered by a white towel, she helped him dress up and then they left the room.

'It's time to meet my new family, huh. I hope they don't disappoint me too much. I would hate to...'