Chapter 862

Chapter 862: Tragic News

Thinking about how she was the one who had insisted on staying in this remote place during the later stages of her pregnancy, the Baroness felt guilt overwhelm her now that such a tragedy had taken place.

Thus ever since she had woken up after giving birth, she had not moved from her place and neither did she let the kneeling maids stand up until she could hear any news about her missing child.

It was only when the sun was about to set did the three guards she had sent out finally returned to the mansion.

Bearing bad news, they bowed before the Madame, explaining that they caught no sight of the maid in question.

The place this mansion was built was surrounded by trees and greenery and was far from the neighboring houses that belonged to commoners, many miles away from here.

The mansion wasn’t too big but had a serene atmosphere around it which was the reason for the Baroness’ arrival here.

There weren’t too many servants here as well so only a limited number of people were aware of this tragic news.

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The guards who had been sent out had mentioned that the maid had disappeared too abruptly from this place.

Even if she ran away with the child, she could not have gone too far without any help or means of transportation.

If she was on foot with a child while also dragging along her luggage then the guards who had set out on horseback would have caught up to her by now.

These findings made them suspect whether this really was a crime of passion committed in the heat of the moment or it could have been a premeditated incident that had been put into action after careful planning.

Not many knew of the Baroness’ arrival at this mansion and among the servants living here beforehand, all of them were loyal to the Baron’s family.

This included the maid who had escaped with the newborn child, making them wonder if bigger things were at play here.

Obviously, the Baroness also had such thoughts in her mind but this was not the time to play the blame game.

She needed to think of a way to calm her husband and his family once she returned home.

For that, she would have to ensure that her story of the incident coincided with the version in the mouths of all of the servants here.

Since there were only a few maids and her nanny along with the three guards, it would not be too difficult to keep their mouths shut by paying them a hefty sum.

It was due to their negligence that she had undergone such a traumatic incident so the servants agreed to whatever she asked them to do without hesitation.

Their Master was a good man but he too could be scary at times so they would do anything to keep their lives intact which would be lost undoubtedly if he heard about the truth.

Therefore, the Baroness only had to offer them a good sum to buy their silence as they too had ulterior motives for going along with her plans.

Once everyone was on board, the Baroness gave out her instructions, commanding everyone to be cautious and not make any mistakes.

Following her orders, one of the guards rushed out that very night and stopped only when he reached the main house of the Baron which was far from where the Baroness was recuperating right now.

Reaching that place, he heard that the Baron was away from home and would not be back for another day or two.

Yet he entered the household and revealed the exact words he was instructed to parrot before the rest of the Master’s family.

The news of their Baroness giving birth due to an emergency and also the tragic revelation of the baby being a still-born came as a shock to them.

The guard explained that this afternoon, the Baroness had felt strong pains and went into labor unexpectedly, following which she gave birth to her child.

However, the child wasn’t breathing upon inspection and this was when they discovered that she had given birth to a still-born child.

The Madame had been unconscious ever since she had given birth and was not yet aware of what had taken place.

The guard stated that he had been instructed by the nanny to inform the Master’s family right away.

In the Master’s family, the Baron’s mother and his younger sister were the ones who received this news.

The mother was very old and it was not feasible for her to travel and the younger sister was a young maiden who had not yet come of age so it was even more inappropriate to send her out at this part of the night.

The Baron had one younger brother who was studying in the academy and thus wasn’t at home right now just like the Baron who had gone away on a business trip.

Therefore, the old Madame of the family could only send one of the maids who happened to be close to the Baroness along with the guard who had come to inform them.

That very night, the guard and the new maid rushed back to where the Baroness was after receiving more instructions from the Old Madame on what needed to be done.

The old lady also sent someone to fetch her elder son who was on a business trip, urging him to return when he receives this news.

Meanwhile, the Baroness was sobbing uncontrollably as her firstborn child was taken away from her and all she could do was declare her dead right away.

Her mother-in-law had objected when she had first married into this family so thinking about the insults she would have to face if the truth was exposed, she could only suppress the guilt that accompanied her maternal instincts and continue with the facade she had come up with.

The next morning when the guard and maid arrived, they saw a feeble-looking lady waiting for them in her room.

The guard had kept his lips sealed along the way and left as soon as he led the maid into the Baroness’ room.

No one knew what the Madame had said to her but the maid was soon willing to participate in their act as well.

When the Baron finally reached the mansion after hearing the tragic news, he found his wife looking depressed and weak after just a few days of being away from each other.

The child growing in her womb was also gone, taking along with it his dream of becoming a father.

He later learned from the nanny and the new maid that the old Madame had instructed that the child should be buried in the garden behind the mansion.

Keeping the dead child until the father returned would be unacceptable and cruel for the grieving mother.

This was the reasoning behind this instruction that the old lady had given to the maid.

She felt that her daughter-in-law would be cursing herself for what happened and thus had instructed the new maid to watch over the funeral arrangements herself.

With the unexpected help they received from the old lady, it became easier for them to conceal the child’s disappearance.

They were able to distort their perspective, making them believe that the child had died instead and was buried behind the mansion.

When the Baron later arrived at the garden where a tiny grave had been dug and covered up with mud, he mourned the death of his firstborn child, apparently a daughter who he never got the chance of holding in his arms.

Everything had happened while he was away on a business trip so his guilt and regret for leaving his wife during this period were greater than ever.

However, he could not change the past so he decided to make up for his mistakes by taking good care of his fragile wife.

Since it would be inconvenient for his wife to travel right away, the couple remained in this place for the next few weeks.

They could return only after his wife could recuperate from the injuries she obtained during childbirth and in the meantime, they could try to recover from the pain of losing their child.

To accomplish this task, the Baron had set aside all of his duties to look after his wife, making sure that she wasn’t too stressed or depressed about what had taken place.

His mother had told him that she must be in a fragile state of mind and needed all of the care that he could give.

Thus he stayed by her side all day and left her only when she fell asleep at night.

During the nights, he would step outside and head straight to the garden behind this mansion where his child was laid to rest.

The guards had seen him walking around at night despite having stayed by his wife’s side all day.

They could tell that the man was experiencing overwhelming grief at what had taken place which intensified their guilt for having lied to him.

However, when they recalled the Baroness’ warnings, they did not dare confess their sins before the pitiful yet powerful man.

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Thus they turned a blind eye towards the Baron who visited his daughter’s grave each night and stayed there until sunrise.

Unaware that he was being perceived as a pitiful existence, the Baron continued with this schedule.

What he did not know was that all the nights he had spent trying to ask for forgiveness from the child he never got the chance to see, he was speaking to the body of a piglet who had been killed and buried in that spot to make the grave look more believable.