CH 7

I lightly stroked the burn scarred area of Kiverin’s hand with my fingertips.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It-it doesn’t hurt.”

How did Kiverin get burns?

I pondered over the contents of the novel and then stopped.

Should I just ask Kivrin directly?

“Can I ask why you get hurt?”

“Be-because I’m a monster, that’s why I got hurt.”

It was a strange answer that could not understand the context of the incident at all.

Still, I comforted Kivrin.

“Young master is not a monster. You’re still getting along with me.”

“Tha-that’s why Lady Cheria is amazing. Maybe Lady Cheria…. Are you like me? I’m a monster, and that’s why you get along well with me…?”

Looking at the innocent eyes of a 10-year-old, I felt a subtle feeling, both in affirmation and in denial.

In the end, I came up with an answer that suitably lived up to Kiverin’s expectations.

“Yeah, well, it could be.”

“As expected, that’s right!”

Then he was more than happy to hear that Kiverin wasn’t a monster.

… Is that really a good thing?

*****

It was a very cloudy day.

Suddenly, the Duchess came in.

The maids also came in, but they were all unfamiliar faces.

“I heard the story. From now on, I will check it myself.”

“…….”

I tilted my head at those words.

This was because all the maids who came this time had a scale tied to one of the bowls embroidered on their clothes.

In the novel, the relationship between the temple and the Duke was complicated until Kiverin became a Duke.

However, it was questionable whether they were close enough to recommend dozens of maids.

No, maybe there are more temple people in the Duke’s house.

Is this really a normal situation?

“Are you going to throw away all the dresses?”

“Yes.”

The maids retreated, and Winter Nectarian gaze shifted toward me.

“The others said they coveted wealth without knowing the fountain, but you’re no different. You don’t even know how to thank us.”

I remembered dresses that had a lot of jewelry and a lot of lace.

The diamonds were useful, but still not appreciative considering that their original purpose was to adorn the dress.

“You can’t wear it by yourself anyway? If she gave it to me just to look, I have nothing to say.”

“What do you mean?”

Then other maids came in.

With loads of new dresses.

She frowned.

“They don’t seem to be in the child’s eyes either, so get rid of them.”

“…….”

Whether the maids panicked or not, Winter kept her mouth shut.

She only spoke a few words to Kiverin and didn’t look at me again until she returned.

And the next morning, Winter came again.

It was packed full of new dresses that were easy for a child to wear on their own, and considered a lot of activity.

These dresses were designed close to a one-piece dress.

“How what is?”

“What?”

“The dress. I’m asking if you can wear it alone?”

Winter looked at me with a bitter face.

I never said I wanted a new dress, so why are you doing this…

Anyway, the dresses I threw away yesterday were a waste, so I gave the reaction Winter was hoping for.

“I think I can wear it by myself. thank you.”

Then Winter’s face straightened a little.

Do you really care about me?

I don’t understand.

“Mother…!”

At the sound of Kiverin’s voice, Winter’s head moved at the same time.

Perhaps surprised by the sudden  attention, Kiverin, who was running in a hurry, fell forward.

“Kiverin!”

Winter’s hand reached out quickly.

But along the way, she clenched her teeth and withdrew her hand.

In the end, I was the only one who raised Kiverin.

“Young master, are you okay?”

“Y-yes…. yes. I’m okay.”

I looked back at Winter.

She bowed her head and couldn’t tell what expression she was making.

But when Kiverin just fell, I could clearly see her face turning white.

Winter turned her back without raising her head.

It’s already late. that I noticed,

Clearly there is something

I ran to Winter and grabbed the hem of her dress.

Winter didn’t let go of my hand.

“You can’t just go. I will make tea.”

“… What?”

“It’s okay to take a break for a while.”

Before Winter could answer, a maid interrupted.

“It is not good to stay here long, Duchess.”

Now employers want to control their owner’s behavior.

It was something that a maid in the Duke family would never do.

Libra embroidery shone softly on the maid’s clothes.

Winter’s eyes rose.

“It’s noisy.”

“But at least one…”

“Never forget that you are here because of Hana.”

It was a voice like ice.

Winter sat down on the sofa when the maid of the temple stopped drying up. She  beckoned to me.

It meant I could bring the tea.

I went to the kitchen with Kiverin to prepare tea.

Kiverin was so excited that his knees didn’t even tingle.

“Is it that good?”

“Yes. Bu-but Lady Cheria is good too.”

I didn’t ask… 

After a while I put the tea down in front of Winter.

She took a sip and frowned.

“It tastes like vomiting.”

I thought you would say that

I showed an innocent smile.

“It was made by a young master. I just bought it.”

Winter’s hand holding the teacup trembled.

“… What is good for the body is bitter tea.”

Readers of the original novel said that  Winter Nectarian is a very typical villain.

In the novel, she is an extra who hates her ugly son, nothing more, nothing less.

But Winter, who was in front of me right now, seemed like someone who wasn’t honest or can’t be honest.

A maids from the temple also meddled.

“Time is running out. Are you okay with negative effects on young master?”

Hmm, that’s fun.

The bad influence.

Winter was Kiverin’s mother.

However, the servants of the temple acted as if they were frustrated because they could not separate her from Kiverin.

Winter drank all of the tea, ignoring the maids who gave them sharp glances, and then stood up.

And looked back at me.

“If you want to survive, come to your senses. Your side is not here.”

First of all, I wanted to trust Kiverin’s judgment, so I said as if the maids of the temple would listen.

“Yes! I will heed your advice, Mother!”

“… What did you say now?”

Winter was surprised and asked a bit late, and the maids frowned.

I even deliberately made a smile.

Then, Kiverin, who was close to me, whispered softly.

“I-if it’s okay with you… Lady Cheria, I will be by your side.”

“Thanks.”

Don’t even be shy.

I stroked Kiverin’s hair.

****

The next morning the front door was opened.

The only person who came in was a maidservant belonging to the temple.

I didn’t panic because I expected something like this to happen, but there was one thing that made me uncomfortable.

“I heard that mother will visit us from now on.”

“Madam is not here today.”

“……”

Her eyes were fixed on Kiverin.

“There is nothing we can do about it, because you have neglected the generosity given to us at the temple.”

“……”

Kiverin was about to say something, but then shut his mouth again.

Yeah, that’s not arrogance, it’s a threat.

Last night, I put aside the information I learned through the original novel, and summarized what I saw and felt in one sentence.

The temple has wrapped Kiverin as a monster and wields the Duke’s to their liking.

It didn’t seem like he liked Winter at all, so he didn’t take the maids of the temple.

“If the young master really cares about the Duchess…”

The maid reached out to Kiverin.

I grabbed her hand before it reached.

“What are you doing now?”

Now that I put away the respectful words, the maid’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh my goodness. Do you think you’ve already become a lady of the Duke family? Do you think it is difficult to be satisfied with the position of the saint’s younger sister?”

She snorted, who simply shook my hand away.

Oh yeah. Of course you knew who I was.

I said, hiding Kiverin behind me.

“It doesn’t look good for you to believe only in the temple and be ignorant.”

“I thought I could do anything with being the saint’s younger sister…!”

“Noisy. You, don’t set it up on a subject that has no divine power.”

Winter’s face wrinkled mercilessly as she repeated the same thing she said was noisy.

Do you know that the sister of a saint doesn’t have divine power?

It really could have been.

In the novel Cheria had a negative reaction to divine power.

Still, the exception was that she was her real sister, but she reacted unkindly in front of other priests.

It was at the level where the temple, the absolute line in the novel, laid the board to be hated.

But I couldn’t feel anything from that temple maid.

She is just an extra character.