Volume 10 - CH 5

On the morning of Camilla’s departure for the capital, the county castle was busy.

“The sun is hot. Go on in, Selina.”

When Camilla saw my face coming out to see her off, she was startled and pushed my back inside.

“Tsk, why are you walking around without a hat?”

Then she glared at Fiona.

It was as if Camilla was complaining about what Fiona was doing instead of protecting my precious face from the side.

“Don’t get up so early. It would damage your skin.”

“Y-yes.”

Indeed, I was quite sleepy, so I quickly returned to my bedroom.

‘She has two other children but only me coming out to see her off.’

Adrian went to Aina Village with Cedric.

As they were still not coming back, Camilla’s send-off was rather shabby for the Countess.

Before entering the building, I glanced up at Shannon’s bedroom.

‘That one is a problem.’

Normally, she would have been running out of her sleep to see Camilla off.

But Shannon’s unrequited love for her mother has been on the decline little by little since Emma’s death.

From what I heard from Fiona, Shannon got slapped on the cheek by the Countess at the banquet, barged into my bedroom, and asked where I had gone before going back to her room.

Camilla especially likes to scold people in front of the audience, and she seems to have done the same thing this time.

‘Well, she must have lost her temper. She is a human after all.’

How would Shannon react if she knew Camilla wasn’t her biological mother?

‘She might not be surprised at all and had expected it at some point.’

Moreover, Camilla’s favouritism toward Adrian was truly unusual.

I used to think that she only took care of Adrian because he was a son, but it turned out it was because she only loves her child she gave birth to.

This time too, Camilla regretted not being able to see Adrian before her departure. Even though her son didn’t care about his mother.

‘Tsk, tsk. Cause and effect.’

I took my eyes off the perfectly curtained window, and went back to my bedroom.

⇺⇺⇺⇼⇻⇻⇻

Only at the dinner time did Cedric return.

‘He looks 10 years older.’

He looked so tired that I felt sorry to start a conversation that I only concentrated on my meal.

“I can’t believe the Countess has already left. I should have come back a little earlier.”

“…… Are you worried about not being able to see her off?”

Then it meant Cedric acknowledged Camilla as the head of the house.

“Well, as well as that.”

Cedric wiped his lips as if he were choosing his words. For a moment, his forehead was deeply torn.

“The head of the barbarian tribe has changed overnight, and he will only talk to the Countess.”

Just the thought of it made his face look in pain.

“…… Instead of you?”

“Yes, instead of me.”

Cedric let out a long sigh.

“I waited on the horse for three hours, but he didn’t even show me his face.”

What? No, then you could just come back. Why wait there like a dummy for three hours?!

‘Does this person have no pride?’

This man is so proud of himself in useless things and stubborn about something weird.

The more I got to know Cedric, the stranger it was that he came back alive from that rugged battlefield.

‘It wasn’t even a war that he was winning.’

It was a war where he was on the verge of surrender.

Thinking so, I could understand what the Imperial Palace would think of the West.

‘The abandoned land.’

And that’s why the Imperial cut off the support to the West.

No matter how much the Duke of Chester had the influence, no one would support a margrave like the West with a powerful enemy right in front of us.

‘He struggled like that by himself to try to save this place…… Phew.’

Like a fool.

For some reason, I felt very sorry for Cedric.

“It’s a big deal not because the Countess has left. There are more than one or two things to discuss with the barbarians……”

“How come they only want to talk to Mother?”

“Since they want to be treated just like our villagers. Therefore, it is reasonable to have a conversation with the legitimate lord.”

That’s very unique.

The Western people treated Cedric almost as the Lord of the West.

It was because he was the second son of Count Crawford, an honorable knight who fought in the war, and the leader of the White Eagle Knights.

‘How nice it would be if he just got married. Then he will become the head of the household.’

I can see why adults are so fond of marriage.

This was because they wanted to hand over the land and property of the family, which they had accumulated through blood and sweat, to their blood lineage.

“I guess the barbarian leader, who has been changed this time, is not the successor of his predecessor.”

“Yes, they share not a single drop of blood?”

How could that be?

Cedric calmly explained the barbarians when I gave a questioning look.

“They establish a hierarchy only by force, not blood. If one challenges the leader and wins, he will become the new leader.”

It was a perfect system for the name of the barbarians.

But isn’t it a little dangerous?

“Then what if the leader only accepts challengers all day?”

If I were one, I would seduce the strong men and push them to fight first, and challenge head when he is exhausted.