Chapter – 35
Daisy
As usual, it felt incredibly satisfying to make up lies and badmouth others. Daisy, who had been suppressing her personality while living in the Viterne Marquisate, had been having a very hard time.
In the Marquisate, there were many eyes watching her, so she couldn’t fully reveal her true personality. Jessica, in particular, who pressured her with cold stares to bring evidence, was the biggest source of stress for Daisy.
‘How annoying.’
Although Jessica did nothing but silently watch, Daisy, burdened by many sins, felt immense pressure even from that alone. There was also Anna, who lurked around her, waiting for her to make a mistake.
Among them, Daisy, who had been constantly watching her words, lost track of time when she met Marianne, who agreed with everything she said. Daisy and Marianne, who had been chatting for a long time, didn’t even notice the commotion outside.
“Young Lady!”
Marianne raised her eyes sharply at the nanny who burst through the door, but she shot up from her seat upon seeing the small child who followed her in.
“Who let him in here!”
Startled by Marianne’s shriek, the child flinched. The nanny who had entered with him approached Marianne and tried to calm her down.
“Young Lady.”
Marianne’s nanny leaned close and whispered something in her ear. Daisy, who had confirmed the child’s face, was seized by a strange feeling faster than Marianne’s expression brightened in an instant.
The child who had just entered looked exactly like Marianne.
‘No way…….’
Although Daisy had been badmouthing Jessica to her heart’s content, she had been filled with inner anxiety. Only now did her expression relax. Marianne’s panic upon the child’s entry, a child who resembled her perfectly.
‘I heard the Baron’s family only had one daughter.’
So, for a child to suddenly appear like this… the answer was obvious.
‘They’re no different from anyone else, these nobles.’
Daisy’s pride instantly swelled. Even that aloof Marianne had skeletons in her closet. Then what about Jessica?
‘I just need to find a weakness.’
Then she wouldn’t be able to ignore or mistreat her like before. Thinking this, Daisy suppressed a laugh inside. First, she needed to confirm this child’s circumstances.
“Well then, I’ll be going now, Young Lady.”
“Alright, you go ahead. Next time, bring me better news. Like, say, the Empire’s First Jewel and that woman from the Viterne family were together or something.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
With a bright smile, Daisy left the drawing room. As soon as she was gone, Marianne yelled at her nanny.
“What is the meaning of this! Why did you bring that child here!”
“Young Lady, think about it carefully. That child is a boy. If we handle it well, the debt you are supposed to inherit could be transferred to him.”
“…… Is that so?”
At the nanny’s whispers, Marianne’s expression softened. A girl wouldn’t fetch a proper price even if sold off, but a boy had inheritance rights.
The thought of being freed from the debt weighing on her shoulders made Marianne’s eyes shine. The foolish mistake of her youth was now turning into a stroke of luck.
The shabbily dressed child listening to their conversation with an anxious expression bit his lip. No one paid any attention to him.
That child, Arvil, looked around. The woman who had taken him from the backstreets, promising to take him to his mother, was now whispering for a long time to a woman in a pretty dress.
It was then that Arvil realized. The woman in the dress was undoubtedly a blood relative, but Arvil, who had survived the backstreets, knew that blood relatives could be crueler than strangers.
Just look at the girl who used to be next to him—wasn’t she sold off to the backstreets by her own father?
‘So this is why they brought me here.’
Although only eight years old, Arvil was a child who could clearly discern right from wrong. From the words ‘debt’ and ‘boy,’ he guessed what they intended to do to him.
‘I have to run away.’
That was the only way to survive. If things went wrong, Arvil thought he might face a fate worse than what he had endured in the backstreets.
Arvil slowly began stepping backward, then slipped out the door Daisy had left open. Running toward the back door he had noted upon entering, Arvil had barely stepped outside when he heard the footsteps of servants shouting and chasing after him from behind.
‘Where do I go?’
As he looked around frantically, his arm was suddenly pulled with a whoosh. Dragged into a gap between alleys, Arvil struggled against the hand covering his mouth.
“Be still.”
As he thrashed even more at the voice of the man holding him, Arvil turned his head at a soft “Shh” sound from beside him. Next to him, the woman he had seen earlier in the drawing room was looking at him with a smile.
“We got lucky.”
Daisy was in a genuinely good mood. It seemed she could finally hold her head high in front of Jessica. Imagining herself as a maid serving by Jessica’s side, Daisy’s mind was already in a field of flowers.
“Why did you run away?”
Alberto, who had caught the child at her request, asked the boy. The child hesitated, unable to continue his words.
“You won’t have to go back there. Depending on what you do.”
At Daisy’s veiled threat, Alberto’s eyes turned cold. Daisy, looking at Arvil, didn’t notice that gaze, but Arvil saw Alberto’s icy expression clearly.
Once he decided who he needed to impress, he spoke to Alberto.
“They said they’d help me find my mother, but the situation seems different from what I heard.”
At the faltering voice, Alberto sympathized with Arvil. Judging by his appearance, similar to children living in the Empire’s backstreets, he seemed like a child who had entered the noble district filled with the dream of finding his mother.
But the place he was brought to was the Ruisel Baronetcy, famous even among the Empire’s noble houses for being poor.
‘Wait, mother?’
There was no one in the Ruisel Baronetcy that a child of that age could call ‘mother.’ Except for the Baronet’s daughter, Marianne Ruisel.
Realizing the truth, Alberto understood that things were unfolding in a more interesting way than expected. Noticing that the child pretending to be pitiful had unwavering eyes, Alberto asked him:
“What’s your name?”
“Arvil.”
“I am Alberto Merhen, a knight of the Viterne Marquisate. Will you come with me?”
“Can you protect me?”
“At the Viterne Marquisate, there is no one who does not know a knight’s duty.”
“…… I’ll go.”
Arvil firmly grabbed Alberto’s hand. Daisy also nodded with a bright smile, feeling relieved. Holding Arvil’s hand, Alberto returned to the Marquisate with Daisy.
When he had left the Marquisate, he never dreamed he would face such a situation. To encounter the Marquis’s young lady so closely.
Jessica elegantly lifted her teacup. She noticed the varying expressions on Daisy, Alberto, and Arvil standing before her, but did not speak.
The reason she had summoned them all upon their return to the Marquisate was because of Alter’s report.
“She has returned with a child.”
“A child?”
“Yes.”
When Jessica asked for Daisy, Anna replied that she had gone out, so Jessica summoned Alter again.
When Jessica asked what kind of person the attendant assigned to Daisy was, Alter reported that he had gone to the annex where the knights stayed and found the three there.
Without hesitation, Alter reported this, and Jessica ordered him to bring them all. And now, this situation.
The three people standing in the middle of the drawing room each faced Jessica with their own expectations.
“Daisy.”
“Yes! Young Lady!”
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Today, I went to the Ruisel Baronetcy to find evidence……”
As Daisy continued speaking, Jessica sorted through her thoughts. She already knew the fact that Marianne Ruisel had given birth to a child.
She had considered looking for the child, but since she could keep Marianne in check sufficiently without that process, she hadn’t actively sought him out. Even if Marianne had sinned, the child was innocent.
‘But she tried to transfer the debt to the child?’
She was truly a despicable person. As Jessica showed signs of discomfort, Daisy excitedly added:
“Isn’t it just incredible, Young Lady? An illegitimate child!”
Ignoring Daisy, who casually mentioned ‘illegitimate child’ in the child’s presence, Jessica spoke to Arvil.
“Your name is Arvil?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Startled by Jessica’s sudden address, Arvil soon calmly answered her question. Impressed inwardly by the child’s composure, Jessica thought he seemed to have already weathered the storms of the world, able to hide his true feelings like the children of noble houses.
Seeing the resentment, sorrow, and desire for revenge hidden deep in his eyes, Jessica opened her fan.
She didn’t need to ask who the revenge was directed at—she could guess. Things were turning out to be quite interesting. If handled well, the matter might be resolved without her needing to step in directly.
What Jessica wanted was to prevent Marianne Ruisel from entering this Marquisate by causing interference.
‘And with revenge included.’
She couldn’t just let it go. Even if it was something that hadn’t happened yet, Jessica could not forget the fact that Marianne had insulted her father, the Viterne Marquis. She was determined to ensure that no one from the Ruisel Baronetcy could show their face in noble society.
‘Daisy is just a bonus.’
The corner of her mouth hidden behind the fan curled up slightly.
“What do you think?”
“About what—.”
“Are you certain the Baronet’s young lady is your mother?”
