CH 14

Is it because of his mood? His voice seemed to have softened more than before.

“Why do you insist that I should stay at the Adelhard Mansion?”

“So you were planning on staying at the Venion mansion all along?”

He asked, as if she had lost her mind after being treated like that. Evelia avoided his gaze.

“I was going to get out someday.”

“Do you have a place to go?”

“……”

“Anyway, Lady is my fiancée now. I can’t send Lady anywhere else, so I’m bringing you to the Adelhard mansion.”

“Why do you care so much about me?”

“Anyone would have acted like me if they had seen what Venion did to you.”

Well, someone else might have. But the opponent was Cassis Adelhard.

He was a man who cared nothing except it was Ruth, suddenly came to the Venion Mansion, unannounced, and took his fiancée with him?

It was ridiculous. However, Evelia didn’t bother to ask Cassis.

Like Cassis said, she didn’t want to stay at the Venion Mansion.

It’s the same with not wanting to stay in Adelhard’s mansion, but now I had no choice.

She didn’t have any money yet, and in the current situation, she couldn’t even get a cheap inn room in the capital.

Besides, she didn’t have the confidence to persuade Cassis, who had been strangely stubborn earlier. He said that at least he wasn’t forcing her to marry, so she was able to put her mind at ease.

‘I’ll have no choice but to stay at the Adelhard Mansion until I get a call from Samuel.’

Thinking so, Evelia nodded.

“All right. I will stay at the Adelhard Mansion until things are resolved.”

“Okay.”

After that, there was no conversation between Evelia and Cassis all the way to the Adelhard Mansion.

In the quiet carriage, all I could hear was the sound of the wheels rolling.

Eventually, when the carriage arrived at the Adelhard Mansion and stopped, Cassis got off first and escorted Evelia.

The elderly butler who had come to meet him seemed a bit surprised when he found Evelia, but skillfully bowed his back.

“Welcome, Lady Venion.”

“The young lady is going to stay at the mansion for the time being. Please serve her without any shortage.”

“All right.”

Cassis leaned his head to the head butler and whispered something softly, then nodded at Evelia.

“Good bye, then”

Then he disappeared, saying he had work to do. The butler who had bowed to him approached Evelia and greeted her formally.

“I am Frank Othello, Adelhard’s butler.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I will guide you to your room.”

Evelia followed the butler’s lead to the guest room. It was obviously a guest room, a much larger and well-furnished room than the one she had been using in Venion mansion.

Even before Evelia could admire the room, the butler spoke up.

“The doctor will come soon.”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

Evelia responded reflexively, but the butler didn’t back down.

“This is the master’s order.”

“Ah….”

This time, Evelia had no choice but to fold and receive it.

‘I think he’ll get angry again if I don’t see it for some reason.’

I still don’t know why Cassis did it, but I thought it might be so for some reason.

“Then please wait a moment.”

With that, the butler left the room.

But Evelia was not at ease. She was restless, as if she were in a place she shouldn’t be.

Sitting in a chair and getting up several times. A knock was heard.

“Come in.”

The person who opened the door and entered was a middle-aged man with gray hair.

“Hello, Lady Venion. I am Rondo, the personal physician of Duke Adelhard. I was thinking of sending a female disciple, but I decided to come myself. Would you mind if I take a look?”

Evelia nodded happily. She had no reason to not do it.

“Yes.”

“Then excuse me for a moment.”

Rondo frowned as soon as he saw Evelia’s bruised arm.

“It must be very painful.”

Making a face as if he had been injured himself, he applied ointment to Evelia’s arm and bandaged it.

Then he treated the torn lip. Unlike his reaction to the arm, Rondo said nothing when he saw her swollen cheek and lip.

He just clenched his teeth as if holding back his anger.

“Are there any other places you are uncomfortable with?”

“No, no.”

“If anything goes wrong, please call me anytime.”

Rondo left the room with a smile.

Left alone, Evelia thought again.

‘What should I do next?’

In essence, she was going to break up the engagement with Cassis, save up money, and leave Count Venion’s estate. To do so, she came to meet Samuel.

But to be honest, I wasn’t sure.

It’s been less than two weeks since she came to this world.

She knew her unfortunate future because this was a novel, but that was all she knew. She didn’t know what this world was like yet.

Prices, regions, and lifestyles. Perhaps even more so than the original Evelia, which grew like a flower in a greenhouse.

It’s a dangerous world for a young woman to live alone, but can she live alone without knowing anything?

‘I’ll be lucky if I don’t get robbed.’

Realistically, it was hard to leave right now.

‘Besides, Ruth also bothers me.’

She knew Ruth would find a better mother than her, but would he?

Evelia was honestly skeptical about that. Given Cassis’ personality, it was unlikely that he would marry anyone unless it was Evelia.

‘Because there is also a succession issue.’

If so, Ruth Ruth would be isolated in the mansion in a different way than in the original.

Evelia thought of Ruth, who was smiling lovingly. Although he had a nanny, it was unlikely that Ruth would grow up to be bright and strong in this gloomy mansion.

On the contrary, the older he gets, the more he will realize his situation as an illegitimate child and grow up to be as depressed as the original story.

‘I don’t like that.’

It reminds me of my past. How I grew up as a depressed child after being abandoned by my stepmother and my father.

Being raised by a grandmother without parents is never a bad thing. However, there were some ignorant people who sometimes took advantage of it.

In order not to be looked down by them, Evelia strived to be perfect. She smiles even when there are things she doesn’t like, and she can’t express her feelings properly.

But I kept seeing glimpses of myself in Ruth.

Ruth was my favorite character. Would it be at ease if I left such a child and just walked away.

‘It won’t be.’

In addition, as Cassis said, there is also the issue of Ruth’s fatherhood. Since he promised to let her know who his real father was, Evelia also has an obligation to confirm that Ruth’s curse is safely lifted.

But that’s not the only reason to stay at the Adelhard mansion.

Cassis told her to stay because she didn’t have to get married, but it was nearly impossible.

How can an unmarried woman stay in a mansion where only men and his child live?

It didn’t matter if there was some gossip in the social world, but the problem was Cassis and Ruth.

She wasn’t confident enough to see Cassis’ sudden change of attitude, nor was she confident to say no to Ruth, whose eyes were shining brightly, asking her to become his mother whenever he had a chance.

‘What should I do.’

It was the time when Evelia was wrapping her hair and thinking. She heard a careful knock.

“Yes, come in.”

“Lady Evelia.”

It was Ruth who unexpectedly came inside. The child had been groomed with the help of the nanny to impress Evelia.

He wore a neat robe, and his hair was oiled and swept back neatly. He looked so much like Cassis, Evelia thought.

“Young master, what are you doing?”

“That is…”

Receiving Evelia’s gaze, Ruth twisted his legs.

Evelia calmly waited for his words. There was no reason to be cold to Ruth now that she was here for the time being, whether voluntarily or not.

Finally Ruth shouted resolutely.

“Come with me! Let’s go for a walk!”

Was it because he was so nervous just to say that? Walk?

It was cute, but also sad. Evelia lowered her head and watched Ruth fidgeting with his hands before rising from her seat.

“Okay.”

Ruth’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t expected Evelia to accept it.

“Really?”

“Sure.”

“Really, really, really?”

“Yes.”

Evelia smiled involuntarily and took Ruth’s hand. Ruth stiffened his fingers, unsure of what to do, and then returned the gesture.

“Then shall we go?”

Ruth’s hands were truly warm and soft.