Chapter 18

Chapter 18

“Thank you.”

The Count spoke as he took the porridge Marie handed and ate it.

“Yes?”

“I heard from the butler that you were always here.”

“Ah… because the young master was so worried.”

The reasons weren’t all, but Marie said that because she herself couldn’t figure her feelings yet right now.

“Still…”

“If you know now, then cut down on your work. You’ve been cutting back on work before because you can’t see the young master growing up properly, and now you’re doing this again.”

“Yes, there is no end to it.”

Having confirmed that he had eaten all of the porridge, she handed over the medicine that the physician provided.

“It’s bitter.”

‘Does he always have such a childlike side?’

Marie thought it was a little funny and bit her mouth firmly. ‘You can’t laugh in front of a patient.’

“Just laugh. Don’t mind me.”

“These days, I’m not a good judge for the count.”

She laughed freely when Brielle was a baby, but after he became a child, she was the one who had to keep the courtesy in front of the Count.

“That’s right… I dislike that.”

“…”

Marie was lost a moment, not knowing what to say.

“Be comfortable. Aren’t we in the same family? Was I the only one thinking so?”

He was the first to express this directly. She thought that the relationship between Count and Brielle and herself was a little close, though she thought it would be for only a moment. Or it might be just her illusion.

‘No. He was thinking the same as well.’

Marie felt like her tears would fall at any moment, so she quickly turned her head to the side.

‘If I knew it would be like this, I’d be less insulting to the Count while reading this novel.’

She pretty much cursed the Count role.

So do the fans of the main characters, and one of them was her.

But now she knew. If anyone harmed Brielle at this moment, he wouldn’t change that way anymore.

‘I even know to some extent what will happen in the future.’

It was impulsive to say this. Though the one who tried to kill Brielle, perhaps has a high probability of having a grudge against Kentrail.

“Count… By any chance, does someone have a grudge on you?”

“Grudge?”

“Yes…”

As he looked puzzled, Marie added a quick comment.

“For example, an official who was banished by the Count, a subordinate who threw a resignation letter one day, or one of the employees…”

“Is my image like that usually?”

Marie glanced at him in a sudden, cold atmosphere eloped between the two.

“No…not that… Maybe…”

“It’s all right”

‘It doesn’t seem like an objective answer…’

Marie couldn’t answer that, and she thought she’d have to ask the secretary later.

“Really.”

Kentrail emphasized again that she might not believe it.

‘A strong negative is positive.’

After eating all the porridge and medicine, Marie said she would go out and exit the room. She went to tell Brielle about the Count’s condition. Kentrail, who watched her back as she leaves her room, stares at the window and sinks into his thoughts.

‘A grudge.’

Although he responded that way to her, in fact, a lot of people had a grudge against him. However, those were the grudges that took place after he became the chancellor. When his brother was in an accident, most of the people didn’t know him.

‘If so, does it mean it’s a grudge against my brother?’

Though his brother was a person with a good reputation, unlike himself.

‘Rather, perhaps it was the resentment towards my parents who got caught in the corruption case.’ His thoughts moved to his parents.

‘But… they weren’t such a person.’

Suddenly goosebumps rose from the tip of his head.

‘No way…’

It seemed that the case between his brother and his parents was completely unrelated. He opened his eyes in a hurry and started looking for a piece of paper to write a letter on.

‘Right Now…’

He hurriedly wrote the letter to Derek and thought about possible clues that could be there.

***

“Uncle!”

When Brielle heard that Kentrail’s condition had improved, he ran to visit him right away.

“Are you okay? It doesn’t hurt anymore?”

“Yes…”

Kentrail stroked his nephew’s head, looking at Brielle as he hung on the bed.

“Did you worry a lot?”

“Of course!”

“You didn’t know how much he insisted on sleeping next to the Count last night.”

At the words Marie added, the Count’s mouth slipped up.

“Now that the fever has gone down, I’ll be able to shake it off by tomorrow.”

“Shake it off?”

Brielle didn’t seem to understand Kentrail’s words. He tilted his head curiously.

“I would get better.”

“Ah~ Hehe.”

The child was happy after hearing that his uncle was going to get better and pulled something out from his pocket.

“Uncle, I’ll give you this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s my favorite chocolate.”

“Chocolate?”

Kentrail took the chocolate from his nephew with his right hand and put it in his mouth.

“Yes, Marie said that uncle doesn’t like taking medicine. This is sweet, so you’ll eat well, right?”

Marie nodded, turning her gaze at the young master’s question.

She avoided the Count’s gaze that seemed to confirm if she said so.

***

The king’s birthday came a week after Kentrail recovered from getting sick.

Flowers were arranged as celebrations in the kingdom’s stores, musicians came out every night to orchestrate, and everyone danced to the music regardless of their titles, nobles or commoners.

It is a sight that can only be seen at this time of year.

“Sister should go out and do a song, too.”

After seeing Brielle falling asleep and getting permission from the Count, Marie came out to enjoy the night with Ellie and felt shy from her suggestion. She tried to refrain from going out like this, as it felt like someone was watching her, but Marie thought it would be better to come with Ellie, who was about to go out alone.

She didn’t like to go to clubs, but she didn’t hate dancing, so Marie was all right to folk dancing like this.

As she watched people’s movements closely, when the popular song came out, she dragged Ellie and stepped into the circle. Her skirt fluttered lightly along with the movements. As the music accelerated in rhythm,laughters began to bloom more and more.

Ellie was also swaying her body with excitement. Since she was a child, she danced to Marie’s humming, so it was like a fish that met water.

Again, the tune changed, and more people stepped into the dance circle.

“Huh?”

Marie turned her head towards a gaze. Eujes, who she hasn’t seen in a long time, was there with a number of people. He waved his hand as he found Marie.

“Teacher.”

Today, when Brielle was taking classes from Eujes, oddly enough, there was something for her to do. So, it had been a month since Marie saw him.

“I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I know, right?”

The two smiled and stood next to each other. It was Ellie, Marie, and Eujes in that order.

“Did you not have a party?”

“As you can see, they’re all couples here, but I’m the only one single.”

Looking in the direction he was pointing, only the couples holding hands side by side were dancing on the other side. Fortunately, there were many family members, like Marie, here as well.

“Sister, who is this?”

Ellie asked, while looking at the person talking to Marie.

She looked at him, frowning, wondering where she saw him before, but nothing came to her mind. It should be so because when the young master would be in class, Ellie was always in her room or went out to play, so she rarely encountered the tutor.

“Young Master’s teacher.”

“Ah!”

Only then could she remember that he was the person the Young Master had asked her secretly about.

Ellie looked up close to him.

“Hi, little lady.”

“Hello.”

As Ellie danced naturally and greeted him, he exclaimed a laugh. Her score for him was added from the reaction.

Two more songs went by, and they pulled away from the dancing crowd.

“What would you like to drink?”

They were all thirsty, so they followed Eujes’ suggestion of resting and finding something to drink. The three sat in the open-roof cafe and ordered their drinks.

“I want orange juice!”

“Why don’t we have a drink as well?”

At Euges’ suggestion, Marie recently drank at a time, so her drinking increased, so she said yes.

‘It was the Count who was next to me when I first came here and when I had my first drink. Is he working late again today?’

He promised to cut back on work, but it was impossible to do it at once.

Even when she came to the festival, it was funny that her mind was focused only on the Count. Marie caught a glimpse of the cool droplets that were around the beer glass.

“Cheers.”

Following Euges’ words, they shouted while raising the cups they were holding. Then Ellie, who was next to Maie, grabbed her cup of juice and interrupted them.

“Cheers!”

Among them, the most excited person was Ellie.

It’s been a long time since she had a date with her sister and such a nice gentleman.

The child glanced at Marie, and Eujes side by side laughed slyly. It was a laugh that a child of her age, supposedly did not think about.

‘Even though the Count is cooler, he’s someone beyond reach.’

Ellie left her place for a while, claiming that she was going to the bathroom. Based on the love story she heard from the local elder sisters, she had a plan of somehow giving them some time alone. However, contrary to Ellie’s wishes, Marie’s nerves were tense since she was anxious about the child who went to the bathroom alone.

“Well, you have a lively younger sister.”

She heard a voice that diverted her attention. Marie replied to Eujes with her eyes looking towards the direction where Ellie had disappeared.

“That’s right. Unlike me, she’s a kid full of life and energy.”

At first glance, he could see how much Marie loved her younger sister. Love was oozing from her voice.

“Do you have a younger sibling?”

“No, I’m an only child. So, I’m just envious when I see a good sibling relationship like this.”

As she said that, she was still looking at a boy standing on the side of the road.

“Looking at how you are with the young master, I think you would get along with him too…”

“That’s right. No matter if I failed on the management test, I wouldn’t have accepted becoming a tutor if I didn’t like the child. Of course, he’s particularly cute.”

Marie giggled when she thought of the young master who sometimes grumbled and said, ‘No, you can’t do that to Eujes, Marie.’

At first, she wondered what Brielle meant, but it seemed that the tutor misunderstood that Marie liked him.

Though, it’s really just a misunderstanding.

The two people laughed, facing one another until Ellie returned. Then went on separate ways in the dark of the night.