Chapter 6

Huh. Huh. Yes, that one.

“I apologize. It’s all my fault.”

At the same time, a slight sense of humiliation ran over his face.

I am satisfied when I see it.

“Good.”

“…Was this the end?”

“Yes, it’s over.”

“You have been very quiet lately.”

I shrugged.

“I also have a lot of sins so far.”

Rupert swept his face down.

“What the hell are you doing all of a sudden…”

“Well, it’s a gesture of reconciliation to have a beautiful and happy social life with each other in the future.”

Rupert, who couldn’t even hear my words, fell in thought.

“In the end, if it wasn’t the affair and it wasn’t about taking the money out, what was your intention?”

‘Ugh, this man. He still has doubts.’

“I don’t have any intention.”

I smiled as harmless as possible, but Rupert’s reaction was cynical.

“You don’t have any intention? From the first night, you looked at my face, threw contempt, and cursed my background as an illegitimate child all the time. And you’ve said you don’t have any intention?”

At that word, I looked down for a moment.

“……”

I am well aware of what I have done so far.

Considering that, it was natural that Rupert’s hostile attitude was not easily resolved.

“I can’t really understand. You behave like a gentle sheep now. Did you get any instructions from your father’s family?”

“Not at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just said, let’s have a beautiful and happy social life.”

Anyway, I got an apology, and I gently added.

“It means that neither investing nor admitting wrongdoing to the employee did not mean that I was hoping for a special benefit.”

I looked straight at Rupert.

I couldn’t take it quietly because of my personality, so I beat him all the time, but I really don’t want to be hostile to him.

I spit out honestly.

“I just want to get to know you a little from now on.”

His handsome eyebrows frowned at once.

“You want to be close? You’re telling a really ridiculous lie.”

It was a sharp and firm rejection.

“Well, I can’t hear the honest answer when I ask you.”

Rupert spits out much colder than before.

“You can leave now.”

It was obvious rejection and cold words.

As his reaction was this, I had no choice but to nod my head gloomy in the end.

“Okay, take a rest.”

I turned my back and left the office.

* * *

In the end, my relationship with Rupert was still scattered.

Still, thanks to the discovery of the dragon’s tomb, I was about to pay off all my debts and earned all the money several times my amount.

Now the biggest problem was this.

Avoiding the fate of my daughter and me being murdered.

‘This is the most difficult thing.’

My credibility in Rupert’s eyes is very low, but the enmity between us is the best, and our relationship is the worst.

‘It’s a little sad.’

As the days went by, negative thoughts grew faster and faster.

My mood got even more chaotic when I recalled the scene where the bodies of me and my young daughter who were murdered in the novel were found in the room of the mansion.

“Uh… mother, do you have any concerns?”

“Ah.”

When I heard a very cute voice, I woke up from my mind.

I was having tea time in the garden with my daughter now.

I put down my unbrewed glass and saw a five-year-old little lady sitting across from me.

This child’s name is Leah Ainel.

She inherited Rupert’s red eyes with the same golden hair as mine.

She was a lovely child like a porcelain doll.

After marrying, she was the daughter of Rupert and me from a compulsory marital relationship.

I responded gently as possible.

“It doesn’t happen, Leah.”

Leah laughed a little as if she was relieved by my words.

“Then that’s fortunate, mother.”

Even at a young age, just five years old, Leah was very aware of me, her mother.

The reason was obvious.

This is because neither I nor Rupert were interested in this child until now.

We were a bad couple, and we didn’t even have enough humanity to give affection to a child.

Because of that, Leah was left to the nanny all the time and grew up in indifference.

When I discovered and realized the memories of my past life, I almost wanted to hit her in the past.

To such a young, lovely, and cute child!?

I guess I’ve been crazy all the while, really.

‘Neglect is definitely child abuse.’

Fortunately, the current Noel was a commonsense person. It was late, but even now, I was thinking of taking care of her.

‘Can I get close to Leah? Isn’t it late?’

I had a slight worry about that, but she laughed lightly.

“What’s the fun thing these days?”

Leah responded carefully.

“Um… study.”

Um, really?

In response to the unexpected answer, I looked straight at Leah. Are you 5 years old who like to study?

Leah was blinking her stretched eyes as if it were anxious. I immediately noticed her thoughts.

‘It’s a lie.’

A heartless mother and an indifferent father.

Perhaps because she grew up in such a family, Leah was thirsty for her parents’ petty interests. Looks like she so wanted to be praised, until she had to lie.

“Leah, it’s okay to be honest.”

I added it as gently as possible.

“What do you like the most?”

At my words, Leah lightened a little.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Leah still hesitated to me, too.

I asked a little bit more.

“It’s really okay. Now, can you tell me what Leah likes?”

Then Leah’s expression softly brightened.

“…Well, then, I like drawing pictures!”

I clapped my hands. The reaction of the child was cute.

“Wow, a picture? Can you show your mom what you drew?”

When I responded, Leah, who was excited at once, ran. The child immediately brought the picture she drew.

“This is a picture of me, my mother, and my father.”

In the picture, I was laughing.

When I saw it, I frowned.

I was a bad mother, but she draws me smiling like this.

While looking at the paintings carefully, I realized a strange thing.

“Huh, Leah?”

At first, I asked carefully as much as possible.

“….Can mom ask why dad doesn’t have a face?”

Only Rupert’s face was painted black in the picture.

Leah looked at me again and replied with a bleak response.

“Oh, my father is always busy, so I can’t remember his face very well…”

“……”

It was an unexpected answer.

Come to think of it, did Rupert and Leah ever spend time together?

There was no such scene even if I look back on my memory.

‘This bad guy.’

Obviously, I wasn’t a good mother either, but he wasn’t too interested in Leah.

As my expression hardened by itself, Leah looked at me again.

“Mother, are you angry?”

Did you think I was angry because you didn’t know your Dad’s face?

“No way.”

I hugged the restless child tightly.

“I’m sorry, Leah. In the meantime, mom didn’t care at all.”

The future of such a cute little child is to be killed by her father. It is terrible.

Leah looked confused at my sudden behavior.

“Oh, mother?”

“Mom.”

“Yeah?”

I laughed brightly.

“Call me mom.”

“But my mother-“

“Mom.”

To my stubbornness, Leah opened her mouth, dyeing her round cheeks rosy.

“Oh, mom… hahaha….”

I was shocked to see the child’s face.

It’s so cute!

‘My daughter is really the best.’

How can Rupert not spend time with this child? No, the past me too!

I hugged Leah once again.

In fact, I wanted to give my child a kiss while hugging her, but I endured it.

‘Because I have the face of the Marquis’ wife.’

Kissing should be done when I’m alone with Leah, right?

“Ma, Madam, I’ll brew the tea.”

At that time, a white-faced maid raised a teapot. I can guess the reason why she was so scared of me.

‘Looks like you heard my notoriety.’

It was clear that she was a new maid.

You must have been frightened to hear the rumors of the ‘Marchioness Mad Dog’.

I replied with a voice as low as possible.

“Yes, please.”