IKMHITM 20

࣪ ִֶָ☾. Chapter 20 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

“It is a good thing.”

At Kamien’s remark, Eve doubted her ears.

“What did you just…?”

“Lady Moretta has lost consciousness. Since the location is the dining room and not her bedroom, and there are no other employees around, it is an appropriate situation to plant a suggestion.”

The way he spoke as if this were an unrepeatable windfall sent a profound sense of alienation through her.

Eve stared intently at Kamien’s outer skin, which was more handsome than any man she had ever seen, as though trying to pierce straight through to the non-human entity lurking inside.

“Does my master wish to treat this woman?”

“No.”

After a moment of deliberation, Eve let out a deep sigh and said.

“She seems to lack common sense anyway. She’ll only come to her senses after tasting something hot.”

Didn’t Andy teach her last time? That poor table manners could result in getting severely burned.

Genevieve’s malice had crossed the line. If the ‘nanny’ had been an ordinary maid, she undoubtedly would have suffered severe burns.

What Genevieve needed was a sharp lesson.

“As the master commands.”

Genevieve was still sitting in the dining room of the Belper Estate.

Acting like she owned the place, Ivenie had come and joined her. Genevieve didn’t bother to refuse.

Perhaps because she hailed from a fallen noble family, Ivenie’s dining etiquette was atrocious. Genevieve pointed out every single one of her mistakes in detail.

“Hick!”

With tears welling in her eyes, Ivenie jumped up from her seat. Genevieve cast a sneering look at Ivenie’s retreating back as she ran off as if fleeing.

Just then, Seryan caught her eye entering the dining room. Even after a long time, his appearance remained elegant and beautiful.

The rumor that he was sick must have been true; the sharpened contours of Seryan’s face made Genevieve’s heart ache.

As he entered the entrance, Seryan saw Ivenie brushing past him. A huge ripple ran through his usually tranquil gray-blue eyes.

His body half-turned, looking as though he might chase right after Ivenie at any second.

“Lord Seryan!”

Growing flustered, Genevieve hurriedly called out to him.

“Please wait a moment. Do please at least greet me…”

She didn’t know when else she would get to see Seryan if not now. Hastily rising from her seat, Genevieve slammed her knee hard against the table and tumbled backward.

The impacted table shook violently. The milk jug sitting on the edge spilled all over Genevieve.

“Aaaaaah!”

Soaked from the upper body down with hot milk, Genevieve lost her mind in panic.

“H-Help me! Lord Seryan…!!”

She stretched out her hand toward Seryan, practically weeping. However, Seryan furrowed his brow as if looking at something filthy and walked right out of the dining room.

“Wait for me, my lady!”

The sound of Seryan’s footsteps chasing after Eve faded away into the distance…

This couldn’t possibly be reality. Utterly dumbfounded, Genevieve passed out on the spot.

· ‥ … “——-my. Milady!”

Being shaken awakened Genevieve. She was being carried, surrounded by maids.

Was everything up until just now a dream?

“Ugh, ha-uugkh!”

It wasn’t a dream! Genevieve’s face was completely damp. Tears streamed down endlessly due to the burning pain raging across her face, arms, and chest.,

“Milady, you must be in so much pain. What are we to do?”

Philia’s flustered face came into view beside her.

“W-What happened to me…?”

“You accidentally tripped while getting up in the dining room. It seems you sustained minor burns as a result.”

So it really hadn’t been a dream. It was true that Lord Seryan had looked at her and turned away.

Genevieve trembled with a distant sense of despair.

“Philia. Am I, am I badly hurt? Will there be scars?”

“Scars? Absolutely not.”

Philia answered with a tearful expression, forcing herself to sound upbeat.

“I washed it right away with ice water, so you’ll be fine. Starting today, I’ll apply compresses for you without a single moment of rest.”

“Philia…”

Genevieve grotesquely twisted her face like a child. Opening her mouth, she sobbed tears and clung to Philia’s arm.

“I want to go home. I want to go back…”

Philia was right. She shouldn’t have come here in the first place.

“I truly cannot understand this.”

Dowager Baroness Roment, Brittany, muttered with a scowl.

She had once severely injured her back in the past. She loved to use that excuse to feign illness and lounge around in bed doing nothing.

With a grown married couple for a son and daughter-in-law, an eldest daughter who had become the mistress of a wealthy household, and a youngest daughter who took care of all the chores, Brittany never needed to lift a finger.

However, recent circumstances had changed.

Because the Roment Barony’s household fortunes slipped further, they married off their youngest daughter, Ivenie. The counterpart was none other than the high-ranking noble House of Arno.

Since she was hopelessly lacking, there was no way she would be made the legal wife, so she figured she’d be rolling around as a concubine.

At least she might send back some money.

Eve had been a useless girl who contributed nothing to the house. If they kept her around any longer, she surely would have scratched her brother’s nerves until he beat her to death.

Yet what was this? Word came that Eve had unexpectedly inherited a grand mansion!

Hearing the news, Hyde grinned and went to Belper Estate. Eola, whose eyes were blinded by greed, and Doris, who was jealous, went along too.

Brittany thought about accompanying them, but decided against it.

The journey to Belper Estate took a full day and more even by carriage. And that was assuming they drove without stopping.

Just thinking about it made her previously injured back ache as if acting up.

Will Eola be alright? She only has two months left until her due date.

Waiting alone at home, that was about the extent of the worries Brittany had.

Hyde, acting like the eldest son, held the household tightly in his grip, and his wife Eola was sharp as well. Not to mention the cleverness of her eldest daughter, Doris.

They were dependable children. They would easily squeeze out a “small token of appreciation” for her maternal family from Eve.

However, a few days later, they returned in a wretched state.

“Good heavens! Why on earth does our son’s face look like this? How did you get hurt?!”

“I fell… from the carriage.”

“You weren’t beaten by someone, were you? And what about Doris? She went with you all!”

“Doris… went to her own home.”

“Why? She said she was going to stay at her maiden home for a week.”

Without answering, Hyde staggered past Brittany. Brittany grabbed Eola, who was following behind him, and asked.

“Dear. Should I tell the servants to unload the luggage from the carriage?”

“Luggage…? There isn’t any. Nothing like that.”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you meet Eve? She should have given you something, at least?”

Eola had nothing to say either. She wore a vacant expression, like someone daydreaming in broad daylight.

“What’s wrong with this child? Eola!”

As a flustered Brittany shook her arm, Eola’s pupils moved slightly.

“This won’t do. Tell me what happened to Eve!”

“The youngest miss is… you mustn’t.”

“Mustn’t, what do you mean? Is she saying she won’t give us anything? Did she even turn our family away at the door?”

“You mustn’t… bother the youngest miss…”

Eola’s face turned pale yellow as she answered. Just as her breathing grew rough, Eola clutched her belly tightly.

“Oh my goodness! Are you alright? Hyde! Come out here right now!!”

Fortunately, Eola did not suffer a miscarriage. She groaned in misery for days like a pregnant woman who had received a sudden, severe shock.

Brittany burned with anxiety, terrified she might lose her first grandchild. But even when the child was born, they wouldn’t even have the money to hire a nanny or tutor.

While nursing Eola, Brittany intermittently asked her about their visit to see Eve, but every time she did, Eola’s condition only worsened.

Someone’s going to die at this rate!

When she finally lost her patience and went to find Hyde, the situation was the same. Her son, who was like a docile lamb in front of Brittany, clamped his mouth shut the moment Eve’s name came up.

He only repeated over and over that they must never visit Belper Estate again.

“I’m asking you what the reason is! What on earth happened over there? Why won’t you tell me?!”

All focus vanished from Hyde’s eyes. He trembled uncontrollably on the spot, cold sweat pouring down him.

Terrified that her son might come to harm as well, Brittany grew frightened.

I’ll have to send a letter to Doris and ask.

However, no matter how many letters she sent, no reply ever came from Doris.

Taxes owed to the royal family continued to pile up, and with no salary to give the servants, she felt the pressure.

To make matters worse, a letter arrived from the temple of the Roment territory. It requested the regular annual donation.

Donation, my foot! When we don’t even have money for ourselves.

With a frown, Brittany crumpled the letter, and her eyes flashed brightly.

Right! Let’s ask the temple for help.

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･