Chapter 72
Enrique’s suspicion grew even more.
“Are you sure about the identity of that person? And, are the children really Mia’s bloodline?”
Jacqueline nodded seriously, her face composed.
“Of course. They resemble my young self in hair color and eye color.”
Then there was no longer any denying it.
His late brother, unlike them, had had pale blue hair.
Such a hair color could only be inherited through bloodline.
Jacqueline calmly continued speaking.
“As you know, it’s possible to dye hair dark or intense colors, but light colors are difficult to achieve.”
“That’s certainly true, but…”
“And the maid who brought the children is of very good character. She’s definitely not someone who would scheme any harm.”
Jacqueline, known for being straightforward in matters of reward and punishment, was someone who rarely gave compliments with words.
For her to give such high praise was a rare and surprising thing.
But what caught Enrique’s attention more than anything was a single word.
“Mother, did you say ‘maid’ just now?”
Could it be? Enrique tightened his lips.
Jacqueline, lifting her tea cup, widened her eyes slightly.
She nodded and asked again.
“Yes, why?”
“Then, the children… did you say ‘children’?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Could it be?
However, everything that had been scattered in Enrique’s mind began to fit together.
Without realizing it, Jacqueline carefully began to speak, as though making a difficult request.
“I want to take care of those poor children. If you allow me, I want to care for them until they come of age. Enrique, what do you think?”
But Enrique wasn’t listening to Jacqueline’s words anymore.
No. He had heard her, but her words had already fallen down the priority list in his mind.
It wasn’t really a difficult thing to do.
‘But I need to confirm it first.’
Enrique gripped his cup even tighter.
Because of that, the tea in the cup began to ripple, and perhaps because of it, Enrique briefly felt someone’s face flash across the surface of the tea.
As he took a deep breath, his chest tightened, pulling at his shirt.
He barely swallowed a sigh that was about to escape, and then he spoke.
“First, I need to meet them myself.”
“Of course.”
Jacqueline tilted her head at her son’s response but nodded in agreement.
“Shall I call the children now?”
Enrique shook his head.
“No. First, I’ll call the maid to my office and meet with her.”
Why was he choosing to meet Eugenia first and not the children?
Jacqueline didn’t quite understand but could only nod in response.
“Do as you wish.”
“Well, I’ll get up then.”
“You must be tired, I’m sorry to call you out of the blue. I was just in a hurry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Alright. And Enrique, think carefully about the children… no matter what.”
Enrique quietly nodded before leaving Jacqueline’s room.
“Phew…”
She let out a long breath she had been holding in.
Touching her forehead, she briefly closed her eyes.
As always, it was hard to understand Enrique’s thoughts.
“But today, it seems like it’s even more difficult than usual…”
Eugenia hung up the clean sheet the illegitimate child had stained in the laundry.
Exactly 30 minutes later, the little boy came back, inspecting the wet sheet as if he were an inspector, nodding in approval.
“Hmmm, it’s not noticeable.”
“Right?”
“Good job.”
The little boy snorted and declared the job done with a proud face before disappearing.
“Now, I can move on to the next task.”
She had to finish quickly to meet Joshua and Selmia on time.
‘I need to ask if he met the Duke, what kind of person he is, and how the atmosphere was.’
Eugenia hurriedly sat down to start on another load of laundry.
But at that moment, the head maid, Leia, came to the laundry room.
“Eugenia.”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
At the call, Eugenia wiped her hands, which were wet from the apron, and stood up.
“What is it?”
“Come with me for a moment.”
“Yes, of course.”
Eugenia nodded and whispered to her colleague Jenny that she’d be back soon.
Jenny and the other maids whispered.
“Is she going to see the nobleman again?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
Eugenia was often called away by Jacqueline and left like this.
‘I heard the herb tea I made was much appreciated,’ she thought as she quickly walked after Leia.
The other maids nodded in agreement.
‘Eugenia really handles herbs well.’
When the head maid had called her to help with the laundry that day, it had been a cover for delivering dried tea leaves in Jacqueline’s clothes to alleviate the pain of arthritis.
Jacqueline had liked it so much that she began calling Eugenia for tea recommendations.
‘She’s helped with herbal teas for the madam’s arthritis and other ailments,’ Eugenia reflected.
“Is the Duke meeting with her today?”
She couldn’t help but wonder.
Leia glanced back to check if Eugenia was following. When she saw she wasn’t, she raised her voice slightly.
“What are you doing? Come on, hurry up!”
“Ah, yes! I’m coming!”
Eugenia hurriedly caught up and followed Leia.
‘Well, I don’t know. I’ll find out when I meet him.’
“Master, it’s Leia. I’ve brought the child you requested.”
There was no sound from inside, but Leia opened the door quietly, indicating she had been given prior instructions.
But she didn’t enter immediately. Instead, she held the door open and motioned for Eugenia to go in.
“Go on in.”
“Me? Alone?”
Leia slowly nodded.
“Yes. The master asked for you to go in alone.”
Eugenia swallowed nervously.
Looking through the crack of the door, she could only see a few pieces of furniture.
“Go on, or you’ll keep the master waiting.”
When Leia urged her, Eugenia hesitantly nodded, biting her lower lip before stepping inside.
The sound of the door closing behind her seemed loud in the quiet space.
Eugenia stepped cautiously forward, moving like a rabbit trying to avoid a predator.
The room inside was eerily quiet, different from the hallway. It felt almost like a vacuum.
She couldn’t bring herself to look around. She kept her eyes on the floor, slowly walking, stopping when she saw the luxurious carpet.
She hesitated, then slowly raised her head. There, at the window, stood a man with his back to her, looking outside.
‘It’s him.’
She hadn’t been able to see his face, as he had his back turned.
As she was about to lower her head again, her gaze accidentally fell on his hand.
‘Black gloves?’
Her mind immediately recalled a man who never took off his gloves, as though they were part of him.
‘No, it can’t be. He left in the opposite direction last time…’
Just then, he began to turn toward her.
Eugenia hurriedly looked down again, focusing on her feet.
‘I’ll just greet him first.’
She took a deep breath and then cautiously spoke.
“Pleased to meet you, master.”
“It’s not our first meeting.”
A low, resonating voice.
“I never expected it to be true.”
The owner of that voice, she recognized it.
Her body responded before her mind did.
Eugenia’s breath caught in her throat.
In the meantime, the man—no, the Duke—took slow, deliberate steps toward her.
“Never expected to see you here again.”
The voice came from right above her.
Eugenia’s gaze slowly rose, meeting his face, now directly facing hers.
“My goodness…”
Her voice slipped out in shock.
“Duke Enrique?”
