Because he come back

"They seem to be having fun..."

Erin had joined the other group. She wanted to comment subtly, but she couldn't hide the wide smile on her face.

She was already trying hard not to laugh.

"You're happy about this," those olive green eyes were so similar to her own. They saw the eager girls around them as cute children, a source of amusement.

"Of course I am. His happiness is mine, after all."

The women smiled cautiously.

"I wish I had that confidence, you know, my little birds fly from the nest and never come back."

"Yes, what's the secret?"

Erin looked around. Several eyes on her. Most of them were her children.

"Love," with a shrug she silenced everyone. "But not the love you imagine or are used to."

They held their breath. Even Ema put down her sweets to listen. Erin's words seemed to vibrate more than the sound of the waltz.

"Love truly. Without restrictions or second thoughts. Wish with the purest sincerity and be sure to accept the result." They waited.

But nothing came beyond that. Some swallowed hard. ... Her olive green eyes seemed to admit defeat. She asked: "What if this doesn't work?"

Erin looked at her. A kind of fairy who was almost a demi-goddess. An angel, perhaps. No family. Just power and decency.

'Even she has problems with love, doesn't she? Or rather, is she still looking for it?...'

"Then repeat the process. Wisdom is born from this. Trial and error. But always question if you are loving the right person..."

"And are you?" direct, sharp and insolent.

Erin didn't need to answer her little disciple. But she still smiled. A smile of a thousand mistakes. "I never said I was," they silenced their thoughts. "Don't try to understand me. There is a limit, a wall, that prevents total understanding between us. Didn't you see their 'conversation' earlier?"

Even when they spoke of her partner, her eyes never left Nero's. She almost smiled at the sight of his smile.

"I never said I loved. I don't love," she stopped. She contemplated her words. They were real.

"I am that love. Without him I am nothing. Do you want a partner like mine? Then learn this. Don't wish to love someone, wish to be one with that someone. To the point that an eternity by his side is short. To the point that an hour away from him is an eternity."

Erin didn't look at them. She just approached the drinks table and changed direction. Her smile widened. Even when he was in charge of her, even when hatred bubbled up.

It was love that she felt.

Walking past the table, she went to the desserts.

The girls couldn't understand the extent of that advice.

But everyone there, immature or not, saw the glow of divinity in his eyes and the wisdom of the angels in his words.

Almost all of them...

Meanwhile, two of them felt uncomfortable. Frozen in place.

'Love... Should I be listening to this?...'

'Ah! I want a boyfriend.'

...

..

.

"Would you do me the honor of this dance?..."

"Cut the bullshit. I wanted him here to ask me, not you."

The taciturn old man laughed in a jovial tone. They both watched the ballroom become increasingly cheerful with several friends forming pairs instead of couples.

"And here is the true face of these meetings. A bunch of children."

He smiled at his lady's mocking tone. In his eyes, she was also just a child. Even though the weight of the title of duchess and a few decades weighed on her shoulders.

"Oh! Is that a gray hair I see here?... You should take better care of yourself, my lady..."

She smiled without paying attention to his jokes.

"If there really is a gray thread between them, then perhaps I should punish the two at your side. They are the ones in charge of my appearance," the beautiful woman waved her glass in the direction of her companions.

Under the angry gaze of the two beauties, the man apologized with a wave.

"Okay. Okay. Don't be like that, you know it was just that moment. I even heard some compliments about you."

She didn't look away, but the old man smiled, feeling a flame light up beside him.

"I don't want to talk about it. How about you join me for drinks," she stepped away from the balcony, the corner of her lips raised. "That is, if this old body can handle anything other than water."

The old man laughed happily. Watching his children grow up had become his honor. Sometimes he was even surprised by them.

"Who would have thought that you would be so good at jokes? You still have a long way to go before you can catch up with me...", his smile and beard fell, his soft speech became direct and severe. "... and you will have to be born again before you escape those old eyes."

Spreading his cloak wide enough, he stood guard, blocking the young women's backs. The women remained silent, not missing a single moment of the scene.

When two figures appeared, their daggers extended.

It happened in an instant.

The man disappeared, the figures fell.

With their own daggers stuck in their chests, the young duchess could only call that sight pathetic.

Whoever was attacking that place was an unscrupulous fool.

"Come on. I'll drink while I kill some of them. Just so I can get this bad taste out of my mouth."

"Yes, my lady."