Chapter 23

– Chapter 23 –

To lighten the mood, Erin opened her mouth.

“It looks like the flower petals fell in love with Aiden’s face. It’d be a shame to brush it

off.”

Erin said such things shamelessly, without any change to the color of her face.

In fact, she was also being sincere.

Aiden reacted to Erin’s words and his expression softened slightly. He smiled faintly as he looked at Erin.

“…I agree. Since it looks good on him, just leave it alone.”

Isabella tried to respond with a calm smile.

Thanks to that, the cold atmosphere improved slightly.

But the Duchess naturally took a step back from Aiden.

She was worried Aiden might react like he did a while ago.

The Duchess was pretending not to be surprised and seemed calm, but Erin had seen it.

Her fingertips were shaking.

Erin looked around and picked up a sprig of flowers that had fallen under a tree, placing it on Aiden’s ear.

“As expected, it looks great on you!”

Aiden also put a flower in Erin’s hair.

Aiden’s face brightened when he saw Erin with the flower.

“It looks great on both of you.”

Isabella said. She took another step back and looked at the two of them.

Aiden, who was sensitive to her touch, was not afraid to touch Erin.

Instead, he had reached out to Erin first.

Looking down at her hands, Isabella’s face seemed lonely.

Erin, who had been playing with Aiden and the flowers, looked at the Duchess.

With a grin on her lips, she approached the Duchess.

“Mother.”

“…?”

There was a flower in Erin’s hand.

The Duchess stayed still, not expecting anything

Erin placed a flower ring she had just made into the Duchess’ hands.

“I’ll put some flowers in Mother’s hair too.”

“Yes?”

This time, Isabella was flustered in a different way.

It was her first time meeting someone like

Erin.

No one else had ever acted so brazenly towards her.

Of course, Aiden had never done anything like this before either.

It was unfamiliar enough to be shocking to her.

… It was so touching and made her happy.

Isabella, who had been agonizing for a while, leaned down.

Eren quickly placed a pretty flower in her hair.

“So pretty!”

Erin sincerely admired her.

The Duchess was so beautiful.

The thing on her head looked like a polished jewel made with a craftsman’s delicate touch, and not like a flower Erin had just picked up

“If we look now, Mother and Aiden look really similar.”

Erin stared at both of them and said, unexpectedly.

The Duchess and Aiden glanced at each other awkwardly.

“Is that so?”

“Yes! I guess Aiden is beautiful, just like his mother.”

Hearing Erin’s naive words, a smile escaped the Duchess’ lips.

Aiden’s face flushed slightly red in embarrassment.

With a smile on her face, Isabella carefully reached out her hand to touch the flower on her head.

“Thank you.”

“Hehe. Should I bring more?”

“No. This much is enough.”

Isabella responded, still touching the flower on her head, cherishing it.

Erin nodded, saying that she understood. She turned around and gathered all the flowers that had fallen onto the ground.

“Can we make flower tea with this?”

“Of course. Do you want to drink it as tea?”

“I’ll ask them to make it for memories sake.

Then, every time I drink it, I can remember today.”

Erin said with a bright smile.

“…That’s a good idea.”

“Then, I’ll drink it too.”

Aiden spoke in a small voice.

Erin smiled brightly and nodded eagerly.

She felt relieved.

If Aiden said that, it meant this would be a fond memory for him now too.

Then, he can open his heart to the Duchess a bit more.

Not the memory of avoiding the Duchess’s touch, but the memory of viewing flowers.

Erin was pleased.

Fortunately, it looked like the situation ended well…

Erin was afraid that the situation would end improperly with the strange atmosphere, but in the end, the three of them even drank flower tea together.

The flowers she had picked from the backyard had to be dried before steeping, so they enjoyed a drink made with another flower, which tasted pretty good.

In truth, most of the conversation that occurred was either between Erin and the Duchess or between Erin and Aiden.

But the Duchess and Aiden would occasionally speak with each other.

However, Erin could tell.

Since the previous incident when they touched, they were purposefully being careful to avoid touching again.

They looked just as awkward as before.

But, they still walked side by side and, although it ended quickly, still held a conversation.

This much is already a great improvement.

These things were difficult to imagine in the past.

Erin nodded her head secretly.

There was still hope that they could slowly grow closer, just like this.

After enjoying the tea and conversing, Aiden was informed his tutor had arrived, so he left first. The Duchess and Erin were left alone.

“Erin.”

“Yes?”

Erin, acting clueless, asked with wide eyes.

Looking at Erin, the Duchess’s eyes were shaking.

She was hesitating to ask something.

Her lips, which had been parting slightly over and over, slowly opened.

“I had a great time today. Next time… let’s spend our time together again.”

“Yes!”

Erin immediately shouted with a happy face.

Actually, Erin knew.

She knew that the Duchess originally wanted to say something else.

But she wasn’t able to finish her sentence and swallowed her words.

However, Erin purposefully didn’t directly ask the Duchess what she was curious about.

She wanted the details of Whitney’s wrongdoings to be revealed without any excuses. To do so, the Duchess would have to find out on her own. Not by listening to what Erin had to say, but by finding out what had already happened.

If Erin looked closely, she had no choice but to recognize the Duchess’ interest in Aiden.

That’s how Erin got to understand her too.

It might take some time, but she thought that this was the surest way.

This way, the misunderstanding between the Duchess and Aiden could be resolved, and the distance between the two would naturally become smaller.

There was a flower in Isabella’s jewelry box.

The flower petals had been kept for a while without withering; it was the flower Erin had placed in her hair.

The jewelry box held only that flower. As if only that flower was the most precious thing.

She smiled, carefully touching the flower so the petals wouldn’t crumble, but erased her expression as soon as Helena entered the room.

That day, Isabella had laughed in front of Aiden and Erin, and the day had gone smoothly after

But that didn’t mean she hadn’t noticed Aiden’s actions.

At that time, Isabella had watched Aiden with a smile on her face.

She stared at him as long as she could without pressuring him, being sure to not be persistent with shifting eyes.

But at the same time, she watched him carefully so as not to miss even a small move.

Isabella had slowly looked back when she was watching Aiden today.

Aiden was uncomfortable with her.

But after Erin came, Aiden’s mood had somehow lightened.

Sometimes, when Aiden made eye contact with Isabella, he smiled slightly.

And so, she gained some courage.

She thought it would be alright if she got a little closer to him.

But when she had reached out to grab the petals that were stuck in Aiden’s hair, he instinctively avoided her hand.

As if just the tiniest bit of contact was horrible.

Her face slowly hardened.

She looked down at her hands.

She vividly remembered Aiden’s body shaking and stiffening as soon as her hand touched his head.

Come to think of it, she couldn’t remember the last time shed touched Aiden.

There must have been times when she’d patted his head, stroked his back, or just held his hand, right…

There was none.

How long had it been like that?

Thinking back, it had already been a long time.

Ever since she’d left Aiden in Whitney’s care, he no longer acted like a child.

He was always polite and distant towards her and Logan.

The change made her feel lonely, but at that time, she’d assumed it was because of his succession lessons.

But what if that’s not the case, and rather that I’m missing something?

What if something bad had happened to Aiden, and she didn’t know?

Aiden’s behavior on their last walk together was more than just him avoiding her because he didn’t like her.

She could feel an instinctive refusal akin to fear.

Isabella’s eyelids trembled.

She feared that she might have made a mistake that should never have been made.

If that’s the case… then I’ve neglected my child.

If something had really happened to Aiden….

The only one who could have protected Aiden was me, but I didn’t do anything for that child.

“Helena.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“What are the results of the investigation into Whitney that I asked you for before?”

“There’s something that needs some time, so I’m trying to find out more to be completely certain.”

“Is that so…?”

Somehow, she grew nervous.

If Helena needed to look into it more, then something had to be wrong.

She tried to stay calm, but she couldn’t help gripping the armrest even tighter.

Isabella’s voice was shaking.

She put her face in her hands. But no matter how much she wiped her face, nothing changed.

A while later, Isabella received an organized, complete report on Whitney.

– Whitney had increased the length of Aiden’s personal lessons.

– Only Aiden and Whitney are involved in the classes. No one knows the details.

– There are witnesses that say Whitney often interferes with his knight training and other classes.

– There are testimonies from some employees that Aiden fears Whitney, and was powerless against her. However, those testimonies haven’t been confirmed yet.

– But, there is no doubt that there is a problem with Whitney’s personal education and her excessive interference.

Every time she turned over a page, Isabella’s hands were shaking and the paper was getting crumpled.

– To Be Continued –