Chapter 30
At that moment, Erika, who had been quietly sneaking away from the room, came to a halt.
‘What do they mean something’s strange?’
Her heart sank in an instant, and a surge of curiosity rooted her to the spot.
One maid questioned something, and another laughed lightly and teased her.
“What’s so strange now?”
“I mean the young lady’s clothes. Don’t you think there are too few?”
“Ah.”
It seemed they had opened her wardrobe.
“Maybe she didn’t bring much on purpose? It would’ve just been extra baggage.”
“But even so, this one looks particularly cheap compared to the others.”
Erika swallowed dryly.
She had a good idea what the maid was talking about.
‘The clothes my mom gave me.’
Sure enough, the conversation inside the room continued.
“What noble lady wears something like this?”
“Still, it looks comfy. Why not? The young lady wears it often. It’s plain, but the fabric is good.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“And dresses can be tailored here anyway. You always find something weird. Just move your hands already.”
“Ugh, you’re always picking on me.”
The maid who had first brought it up pouted and brushed off some dust.
Then, perhaps feeling bored without conversation, she started chatting again.
“By the way, the head maid from the Blanche family who came with the young lady…”
“Yeah?”
“They said she fell from the carriage and died on the way, right?”
“That’s what I heard. Why?”
Erika’s breath thinned.
What the maids knew differed from what she did.
“Forget everything you saw that day. This is not something you should talk about carelessly. Understood?”
That night they spent together—
Sebastian had warned Erika repeatedly to watch her mouth.
He said the matter of the boundary and monsters was a top-secret issue known only to a select few within the royal family and temple, and he asked Erika to keep silent as well.
She had nodded and promised not to tell anyone.
‘So it really is a secret. Even the maids here don’t know anything.’
Erika steadied her breath, vowing to be even more careful going forward.
Meanwhile, the maids’ chatter continued.
“Why hasn’t the Blanche family sent someone new to attend the young lady? If it were me, I’d be worried sick about sending my ten-year-old daughter all the way out here alone. I would’ve sent someone right away.”
“That is kind of strange.”
Erika held her breath and strained to listen.
‘So they do find it strange after all.’
She bit her lower lip and intertwined her fingers.
Her golden eyes trembled with unease.
Her heart beat fast with growing anxiety.
‘They won’t find out because of this, right?’
Her breath shortened, and her mouth went dry.
Truth be told, the maids’ suspicions were valid.
If she truly were the beloved daughter of a marquis, their concern would’ve been natural.
If she were truly Jonathan Blanche’s daughter, the marquis would have dispatched someone immediately upon hearing what happened.
No—he wouldn’t have sent just a single head maid as a chaperone to begin with.
Even if it meant clashing with Sebastian, he would have insisted on sending elite knights from the Blanche estate to ensure Erika’s safety.
But he didn’t.
What cast the most suspicion on Erika wasn’t Erika herself—but the marquis.
And yet, should her identity be discovered, all the blame would fall on her. It was utterly unfair, but there was no one she could complain to.
So Erika sighed alone.
‘Should I leave now?’
Sticking around would only make her more uncomfortable.
Besides, the maids could come out at any moment.
If she ran into them, things would only get more awkward.
She decided it would be better to quietly retreat and return later.
Thump-thump-thump.
Because of the secret she was hiding, Erika’s heart began to pound rapidly with anxiety that they might find her out.
Was it because of that panic?
“…Khh.”
Erika quickly pressed her small lips tightly with both hands.
It felt like a cough might burst out at any moment.
Pressing down harder, she backed away quickly from the room.
‘I have to leave before I’m noticed.’
And so Erika slipped away from the door.
Inside, unaware of her presence, the maids continued chatting.
“What if the marquis doesn’t actually care about the young lady? Like… maybe it’s just a public image thing?”
“You’re always coming up with weird theories.”
“No! Think about it. None of it makes sense otherwise. What’s the point of having all that money? Don’t you always prefer familiar things? I did at that age.”
“Hmm.”
The maid who first voiced suspicion now launched into full conspiracy theory mode.
“What if the marquis hated his daughter because his wife died in childbirth?”
“No way. They say he doted on her.”
“That could just be a rumor. Look at her. She seems oddly used to chores. And her belongings…”
It was starting to sound plausible.
Eventually, even the maid who had only been listening murmured, “That’s true…”
“If that’s the case, it’s so sad. She’s so small and cute.”
“If she’s being cautious around us, that explains her shy behavior.”
“She’s still just a child.”
Though none of their conclusions were solid, the maids began to pity Erika.
“We really should be kinder to her.”
“I wish she’d let us get a little closer.”
Their gossip ended on a genuinely sympathetic note.
It would have been nice if Erika had heard that part.
But she had already left the door.
Sebastian entered Felix’s room after being summoned.
The acrid smell of cigar smoke pricked his nose, but the boy didn’t flinch.
Felix made no move to put it out either.
There was a kind of unspoken agreement between the two.
Sebastian walked through the hazy smoke to the bedside where Felix reclined lazily against the headboard.
As they got closer, their resemblance became more striking.
Rather than father and son, they looked more like slightly older and younger brothers.
Perhaps that was only possible because Felix had such a youthful, handsome face.
Sebastian bowed wordlessly in greeting.
“You called for me.”
“Mm.”
Felix responded with a low hum and a sly curl of his red lips.
Sebastian’s brow twitched slightly at the sight.
‘That’s the face of someone who just discovered something amusing.’
Feeling uneasy, Sebastian quickly scanned Felix.
Papers and cigars were strewn across the bed.
In his free hand, Felix was fiddling with a small card.
Sebastian’s gaze locked onto it.
For something so mundane, Felix’s handling of it seemed unusually awkward and deliberate.
Felix, catching the concern in his son’s eyes, spoke casually.
“Your wife sent this.”
Wife?
Sebastian almost let out a bitter laugh but managed to hold it in.
He took the card and quickly read it.
It was from Erika, though it didn’t contain much text.
Instead…
There were more drawings than words.
That was unusual, if anything.
And the drawings looked strangely familiar.
A warhorse, a fountain, a panorama of the Archliff ducal estate…
Sigh.
It was such an Erika kind of letter.
Sebastian involuntarily let out a soft laugh when—
Felix asked, “What kind of girl is she?”
Sebastian immediately straightened up, his expression hardening.
He didn’t answer right away.
He was trying to figure out why Felix was suddenly asking about this.
Until now, Felix had shown no interest in this engagement.
“It’s your problem. Do whatever you want. Marry her or don’t.”
That had been his attitude.
So why the sudden interest?
Sebastian couldn’t tell what was on his father’s mind.
After a short pause, Sebastian finally spoke.
“She’s kind.”
A safe, neutral answer.
Felix scoffed.
Clearly not the answer he was looking for, he fired back another question without pause.
“Anything else?”
Sebastian’s lips shut tight again.
Felix watched him, intrigued.
What answer would his son give?
He waited silently.
Finally, Sebastian opened his mouth.
“She’s… pretty.”
Felix smirked.
Then, as if he could no longer hold back, he let out a quiet laugh.
The low chuckle made the room’s air subtly vibrate.
Sebastian looked flustered, as if he couldn’t believe he’d actually said that.
