“Norfe, please… This is not the time. Now stop drinking…”
“Yes, yes, my noble mother. I’ll do whatever you want, so give me Ophelia Cambridge and Alyssa Avery. Yes?”
Norfe, who now doesn’t even think about hiding his inner heart, touched his lips. There was still an obsession with longing for those who he couldn’t have while he couldn’t solve his desires anymore. The queen exhaled a long breath. None of her son’s unreasonable demands were affordable for her.
Those who are hiding inside the fortress in Cambridge.
They were also legally protected from further royal orders.
“Norfe, please. Don’t ask this of your mother. Don’t you have many other good young ladies? Your mother will arrange your marriage…”
“As expected, my mother also abandoned me. What is so great about what I want… Aren’t they just a bunch of little girls!”
“Norfe…”
A sigh mixed with the queen’s voice. Why are two of her three children in this shape?
“…okay. I’ll do it on my own, so mother, don’t stop me.”
She heard the news that Norfe got kicked out of the place after visiting Cambridge. Her child’s incident seemed to be ample blame for tarnishing the face of the royal family. And the Queen felt sorry for what he had experienced.
She took a deep breath as she glanced at Norfe’s back, leaving his seat like a child when the queen didn’t do as he wished.
She was glad she had Kruno. When she sees Vanessa, Norfe, those kids, she gets upset.
“What is the prince doing?”
“He went hunting.”
“Yes, yes.”
He must have gone hunting with his acquaintances. Hunting was perfect for fostering valor as a king. The queen was relieved.
* * *
“What?”
Ophelia opened her eyes wide. It was because Alyssa made an unbelievable offer at dinner.
“…I want to help with Kendrick’s anniversary dinner myself, mother.”
“Alyssa, that’s… you don’t have to. It’s not easy.”
She felt anxious and uneasy when watching Alyssa working hard on anything. It felt like seeing a wagon running without a control device even though it knows it will break.
Juliana clicked her tongue out of sorrow.
She knew that she had helped make Alyssa that way, and she had nothing to say. She’d rather have Seidrick to give Alyssa strength…
‘What the hell is he thinking…’
She knew he was a very free spirit, but he saw Alyssa while pretending to be the gardener. When she heard it from Ophelia, she was amazed.
Besides, Alyssa really didn’t seem to know.
Ophelia had shaken her head, saying that she should never tell Alyssa. Seidrick said he would reveal himself when the time came. Her second son was on his own, and she doesn’t know why that is.
Juliana swallowed a bitter smile as she looked at Alyssa with her too skinny face.
“…Try it. However, if it is overwhelming, you should quit.”
In the end, this was the only thing Juliana could say. Alyssa’s feelings of debt and guilt for Kendrick weren’t what anyone could do. What the royal family had overwritten on her…
Juliana stares with sad eyes at Alyssa, who is carrying a too heavy load with her petite body.
“Thank you, mother.”
She’s smiling like she’s going to break…
Ophelia moved her lips, and her eyes met her mother and her head bowed. She seemed to hold back what she wanted to say.
Alyssa continued to eat slowly with a brighter complexion as if her mind was lighter. Seeing that, she thought it was a good thing.
Juliana beckoned to the butler.
“Look after the Duchess.”
“Yes, Grand Madam.”
Only she doesn’t know that the employees of the mansion are carefully watching Allysa. Using that point, Juliana was helping her secretly from behind. Please, she hopes Alyssa will endure this challenging time.
* * *
At this time, Alyssa feels that the Cambridge employees are increasingly opening their minds to her.
When reporting a problem between employees, they come to Alyssa, not Juliana.
“Madam, what should I do…”
The childish-looking maid sniffed her nose and rubbed her eyes. Under the maid’s suit, she saw a swollen belly. Probably there are not many months left. It looked like she was thinking about it for a long time before announcing it.
“Did the father of the child know the truth?”
At Alyssa’s question, the maid shook her head.
“No! I never want to inform him. It’s amazing that I am giving birth to such a rotten child… I can’t make him such a father.”
“…The child is in the stomach, so let’s just say nice words, Lira.”
“Sniffle.”
That was it.