Chapter 40
“Mother, I will explain everything. Please speak with me alone.”
“Enough.”
The matriarch coldly interrupted him.
“I don’t want to hear your excuses right now. Regardless, you’ve been hiding such a serious matter from me, haven’t you?”
“Mother—”
“Rather, it’s better to ask the person involved directly. Elinor, was it?”
“Yes, Grandmother.”
Elinor tensed.
Though she was advanced in age, having once served as the commander of the royal knights, her presence still carried a formidable dignity.
Even an old tiger is still a tiger.
The person controlling the room’s atmosphere asked:
“Speak for yourself. You told the staff you were Tedian’s tutor, correct? Were you truly here in the Hilliard duchy as a tutor?”
Elinor swallowed dryly.
Should she reveal the truth now, or continue the lie?
Lying isn’t a good choice.
In the original story, the matriarch was portrayed as a person of unwavering principle.
If she even suspected that someone was hiding the truth or trying to deceive her, she would immediately act.
The duke doesn’t know that I am aware of the corruption of the territory by the magi.
It was a highly confidential matter that the Hilliard duchy was rotting from its borders.
If she realized that an outsider knew about this, she would treat them as a spy and eliminate them immediately.
So for now, it would be best to tell the truth, just as she had approached the duke when they first met.
She would also include the detail that the duke was looking for Charlotte because he liked her.
“No, Grandmother.”
Elinor made her decision and spoke.
“While I am currently assisting the young master with his studies, I did not come to the Hilliard duchy as a tutor.”
“Then, did you truly give birth to my son?”
“No, that is not the case either.”
The matriarch frowned.
“Are you trying to play a riddle with me? Tedian calls you his sister-in-law, and everyone in the castle assumes the child is Matias’s illegitimate son—I already know this, you know.”
“I apologize for not correcting the young master’s misunderstanding earlier. But to speak only the truth, this child is not the Duke’s, nor am I the Duke’s woman.”
“What?”
“My name is Elinor Winston, Grandmother.”
Elinor stood, bowed her knees, and respectfully greeted the matriarch.
The matriarch was slightly surprised.
“Winston? The family of the former Deputy Minister of Finance under Emperor Julius?”
“Yes, that was my great-grandfather.”
“You are a Winston girl?”
“Yes. And I have a younger sister who has yet to marry. This child is my sister’s son.”
Until now, Elinor had insisted that this child was hers.
But in front of the matriarch, she suddenly revealed the truth, and Matias looked at her with a surprised expression.
“From now on, I will tell everything truthfully, without hiding anything from the beginning.”
She began recounting her past to the matriarch.
How she discovered an abandoned baby upon returning home from the academy.
How her parents tried to kill the child to avoid disgrace from her sister.
How she fled to a remote village to save the child and encountered the Duke.
And how a fire broke out where she had been staying, leading her to the Hilliard duchy.
“What….”
After hearing Elinor’s story in full, the matriarch looked rather troubled.
Her gaze shifted to the child in Elinor’s arms.
Elinor calmly said:
“The rumor that this child was illegitimate arose because the young master mistakenly thought I was the Duke’s woman. I had been staying somewhere other than the main residence, and according to the young master, that place was previously used as a secret meeting spot.”
“I see where you mean.”
“I never imagined things would escalate this much… I sincerely apologize for causing concern in various ways.”
Elinor bowed deeply.
A brief silence fell.
While everyone was watching, the matriarch called Elinor over.
“Come closer.”
Elinor rose and approached the matriarch.
The matriarch looked at her as if requesting the child.
Elinor hesitated for a moment but then handed the child over.
The sharp gaze of someone who once wielded a sword scanned the child from head to toe.
Elinor watched nervously.
At that moment, the child, sucking on its fist, let out a gleeful laugh.
“Kyah, kyah!”
It seemed excited to meet a new person, waving its tiny hands enthusiastically.
There was no sign of fear at all.
For a brief moment, a gentle smile appeared on the matriarch’s lips.
She lightly patted the child’s chubby hands and said:
“You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”
Oddly, hearing those words made Elinor’s stomach flutter.
The moments of worry that the child might get hurt.
The past days when she blamed herself as a selfish aunt acting out of desire.
It was as if warm water was filling the wounds that had been gnawing at her heart.
Biting her lip from the inexplicable emotion, Elinor received the child back as the matriarch spoke:
“I now need to speak with my son. You should return to your room with the child for now.”
Elinor bowed and left the room unsteadily.
Matias watched her leave with a worried expression.
Left alone with Matias, the matriarch clicked her tongue.
“What a sudden turn of events.”
All her life, she had worried about her firstborn falling for some strange woman, but she never imagined such circumstances were hidden beneath it.
Leaning back in her chair, exhausted, the matriarch asked:
“Is what she said true?”
“I didn’t know that the Winston Count and Countess tried to kill the child, but everything else is true.”
“Phew.”
The matriarch’s gaze softened.
How could someone attempt to kill an innocent child at birth? She pitied the child who faced death immediately and admired Elinor for her efforts to save the child.
Of course, separate from that, it was frustrating that Elinor hadn’t corrected the rumor of illegitimacy.
“But what’s this about you liking that woman? You didn’t… develop feelings for a woman carrying another man’s child?”
Under the matriarch’s sharp reprimand, Matias waved his hands.
“Not at all. Elinor merely misunderstood; I have no interest in Charlotte at all.”
“Then why are you looking for Charlotte Winston?”
“She can purify corrupted soil tainted by the magi.”
The matriarch’s hands trembled slightly as she gripped the armrests.
“That’s true?”
“She once purified soil that had been corrupted using holy water she had personally made. I invited her to the duchy, but she suddenly disappeared, and the plan failed.”
“She must have fled after discovering her pregnancy.”
She let out a sigh.
“With the child here, it will be easier to lure Winston out. That’s why they were staying inside the castle. They are both searching for the same person.”
“That’s correct.”
“Still, you… If a rumor spreads about a hidden woman and an illegitimate child, shouldn’t you have corrected it first? Don’t you realize it tarnishes your reputation as Duke? You’re usually so sharp, why are you not doing the right thing now…”
The matriarch’s words faltered as she glanced at Matias suspiciously.
“Could it be…?”
“Yes?”
“…Never mind. It’s nothing.”
She shook her head.
It probably wasn’t true.
But once the thought took root, it didn’t leave the matriarch’s mind easily.
