Chapter 018: The Reason He is Hated
“It has truly been such a difficult time, Madam.”
Because his complexion looked so poor, Roanne stood up personally and brewed a cup of tea for the butler.
“Drink some of this. It will give you some energy.”
“As expected, only Madam looks out for me.”
Gosh, what flattery. Even so, Roanne swallowed a laugh of disbelief. Was this not the same butler who had been so high and mighty when he first kicked her out to the annex? But now, he had become someone already addicted to the dinners here at the East Annex. Naturally, his spirit had been taken down a notch.
“Has something happened in the meantime?”
At Roanne’s words, the corners of the butler’s mouth drooped.
“Don’t even get me started. I have worked truly without a single moment of rest.”
Come to think of it, he really did look like he had lost weight.
“To think they would overwork this old body so much.”
“Who did it? The Countess?”
Roanne asked. The butler shook his head vigorously.
“Lord Alexis.”
“Pardon?”
Roanne was startled by the unexpected answer.
“Wait, does that man also manage the household affairs of the Count’s mansion?”
Even though it was a short time, what happened to the man who barely showed his face in the main building?
“What are you talking about? If that were the case, I wouldn’t be this bewildered!”
The butler shouted with a surge of indignation.
“A person who usually had zero interest in anything suddenly called me, saying I seemed to have too much time on my hands, and told me he would give me work!”
It was true. The day after Alexis had finished his dinner at the East Annex, he summoned the butler. The agony of the butler, who had been summoned without knowing why, began from that moment.
Alexis called the butler and made him do tasks that even a servant should have handled. He could have pushed the work onto a servant using his authority as a butler, but since it was a task directly commanded by Alexis’s rare summons, there was no way to escape it.
This was blatant harassment. However, the butler couldn’t question Alexis. His great mistake had been getting caught secretly visiting the East Annex.
“It is lucky he had a schedule and went out today; otherwise, I would still be suffering even now.”
After hearing all of the butler’s grievances, Roanne clicked her tongue inwardly. That man, it turns out he’s quite petty.
“Well, it’s a relief that you have some time today at least. I’ve made some broth, and later I’m going to make chicken noodles with it. You should eat dinner before you go.”
“Oh, chicken noodles!”
The eyes of the butler, who had been slumped in his chair, sparkled. Actually, noodles were a commoner’s food. Someone of the butler’s status was in a position to enjoy quite high-end cuisine.
However, the food Roanne made was special. It was stimulating and warm food that one never tired of, no matter how much they ate. The kind of taste that made you want to eat it again the moment you turned away.
And that was natural. After all, did Roanne not have experience working part-time in restaurants, especially in taverns? At any rate, her skill in making snacks to go with drinks was perfectly applicable even in this strange world.
First of all, did not Leah, the butler, and even Alexis devour her food? Roanne, wanting to eat chive pancakes, kneaded flour to recreate them as best as she could here. As she kneaded the flour with finely chopped herbs and vegetables grown directly in the yard, the butler hovered around her and spoke.
“Is there… anything I can help with?”
No matter the circumstances, seeing Roanne, who was technically Alexis’s wife, making food made the butler ask out of a slight sense of embarrassment. Roanne replied indifferently.
“Help me with the dishes later before you go.”
“Of course!”
If it meant being treated to a delicious meal, a bit of dishwashing was nothing. The butler answered quickly with a smirk.
“By the way, I have something I’m curious about.”
Roanne asked.
“Ask me anything.”
The butler, now in a good mood, spoke pleasantly.
“Just when did Alexis become so twisted?”
At Roanne’s sudden question, the butler’s face stiffened.
“I mean, look at it.”
Roanne continued.
“Being born into such a good family with such a beautiful face, what on earth is he dissatisfied with that he wanders like that? Besides, the Countess……”
Roanne never referred to her as ‘mother’.
“She seems to be on bad terms with her son.”
“Mmm……”
The butler groaned with an expression that suggested it was difficult to say. Roanne turned her head and looked at him. It seemed he knew more than Leah did.
“You’re staying for dinner, right?”
“Ah, of course. Of course, Madam.”
At Roanne’s words, the butler hurried to nod. Then Roanne grinned.
“Then you’d better speak up.”
“How could you!”
The butler made a face of despair. But soon, he ended up throwing up the white flag. How many dinners had he accepted from Roanne until now; how could he hide this?
Besides, come to think of it, Roanne was still clearly Alexis’s wife. What was wrong with her knowing the facts? Left with no choice, the butler opened his mouth.
“It’s a bit… complicated.”
Roanne nodded as if to say he should tell her everything.
“The young master wasn’t like that from the beginning. Above all, I’ve heard that when he was young, he was a quiet and brilliant child who was very lovable.”
Roanne felt she could somehow understand. Judging by his current appearance, if it were Alexis as a child, he probably would have been as lovable as an angel.
“Then why on earth does the Countess…”
Hate her own son? A child who would have been that lovable? As Roanne looked at the butler with questioning eyes, the butler opened his mouth in resignation.
“I don’t know all the details either, but according to what I heard from someone who worked at the mansion a long time ago……”
The circumstances were as follows. The Countess of Glister had an incredibly beautiful older sister. Her beauty was so famous that even the King and Queen took interest. It was a terrifying beauty that captured the attention of everyone, regardless of gender, wherever she passed.
And the family raised such a beautiful daughter with extreme care. There was no attention left to spill over to the younger sister, the current Countess of Glister. In fact, it was that older sister who was originally engaged to the Count of Glister.
The Count of Glister cherished his fiancée terribly. Why wouldn’t he? The kingdom’s greatest beauty was to become his wife.
However, a plague broke out at the time. It was a terrifying plague that caused a bloodbath even in the royal palace, and neither noble nor commoner could avoid it.
Unfortunately, it even struck the older sister. In an instant, without a chance to do anything, she passed away. The despair of the Count of Glister at the time was beyond words.
But for the sake of the family’s friendly relations, the current Countess of Glister had to marry him soon after. For a long time, the Count of Glister did not look at his wife. Of course, it wasn’t that he was cold on purpose. He simply had no way to manage the grief and longing that had not yet vanished. But perhaps that humiliation at the time could never be washed away?
The Countess of Glister felt a deeper attachment to her first son, Francis, than to her cold husband. And slowly, she established her place as the mistress of the Count’s house. There were likely times when she thought living like this wasn’t bad.
However, it is said that she was nearly on the verge of fainting when she saw the second son she gave birth to shortly after.
The baby with silver hair and bluish-purple eyes looked exactly like her older sister.
“Oh my goodness.”
Having heard the whole story, Roanne could not hide her shock. So the origin of that incredible beauty came from his aunt?
“But that’s not Alexis’s fault.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The butler let out a deep sigh.
“But does the human heart always follow logic? Besides, the Countess was originally someone with severe neuroticism. Since such a person had been crushed under the shadow of her older sister for so long, some kind of darkness must have formed in her heart.”
“It’s not that I don’t understand it at all, but still……”
Roanne muttered. Even so, could one hate their own child, born directly from their own womb, that much?
‘Then Alexis’s rebellious attitude isn’t completely incomprehensible either.’
Roanne thought.
‘After all, he is being discriminated against by his own biological mother for such a ridiculous reason.’
It’s complicated, so complicated. It would have been better if he were the son of a concubine. To have his biological mother as the villain. This is something where you can’t even do anything about the ties of blood.
Roanne shook her head and flattened the kneaded flour.
“Then his older brother should have looked out for him. There’s no need for the relationship between brothers to be bad as well.”
Roanne continued. At that, the butler inhaled sharply.
“How did you know that……”
