50. Stepmother and Illegitimate Child (2)

“What good would it do to tell Barbarossa that the father of the child the woman he’s seeing is carrying might not actually be him?”

Lady Maude gave a hollow laugh.

“Do you think that child, who dated women so much because of his inferiority complex about being illegitimate, would respond to a woman claiming to be pregnant with his child by demanding she identify the real father?”

He’s a man who met women due to emotional deprivation, but for that very reason, couldn’t make his own child illegitimate.

“No. Once such a thing happened, Barbarossa was the type who would force himself to take responsibility, if only for his pride. And I didn’t like that.”

“……As you said yourself, you did enough, and while it’s sad that Barbarossa grew up yearning for motherly love, that doesn’t seem to be your fault.”

“Rather than giving up the path of knighthood to become the father of a child who ‘might or might not be his,’ he needed a new shock. I thought it would be better if it gave him a reason to fixate on the path of knighthood.”

So Lady Maude offered Barbarossa a path.

‘The stepmother you’re uncomfortable with actually hates you to death and hopes you won’t become a knight. Therefore, you should rightfully become a knight, if only to ruin what your stepmother wants.’

This was the truth behind the question of ‘why the promising knight trainee Barbarossa voluntarily left the knight order just before his induction.’

“I’d like to ask how you would have handled it if Sir Donau had caused the same problem…… but Sir Donau wouldn’t cause such problems. He’s not an illegitimate child, so he doesn’t carry hell in his heart.”

It was selfish motherhood. Or, as she repeatedly stated, it might have been a decision Lady Maude could make because she didn’t consider Barbarossa her child.

Patronage relationship. It was an accurate expression.

But Lady Maude, as a patron, made the choice that would most benefit Barbarossa’s future without emotion, and things didn’t flow as she had planned. As a result, Barbarossa went berserk.

When the woman who had decided to marry him flipped like a pancake and said, “Sorry, this was actually ordered by your stepmother. Did you really think my words of love were genuine?” he became disillusioned with the world and threw everything away. It was a ridiculous situation where someone willingly played the villain, but no one benefited.

“Then, was it because you were merely his patron that you abandoned him when the possibility of him becoming a knight completely disappeared?”

“……”

This is why I didn’t want to get involved with Barbarossa.

How complicated would the narrative be between a lady who suppressed her feelings to raise an illegitimate child admirably and that illegitimate child who grew up twisted under such a lady?

Is that a problem that can be solved by just listening for a moment?

‘I don’t even have a psychological counseling license.’

“When a fully grown adult man whines, ‘The way I grew up is all my parents’ fault,’ at that age it’s no longer the parents’ fault but his own.”

“But that child…!”

“He’s the same age as Sir Lucion, what do you mean ‘child’?”

Lady Maude had asked me from the beginning.

〈Could you love your husband’s illegitimate child, my lady?〉

Stepmother and illegitimate child. Illegitimate child and stepmother.

‘A relationship that can neither grow closer nor more distant under the name of family.’

The flaws they remind each other of whenever they see each other’s faces.

“Such problems are really like this. Meanwhile, Sir Percival probably doesn’t care at all. The actual perpetrator remains calm while the victims don’t know what to do.”

Honorable knight my as$. That title should be stripped and given to Lady Maude.

She’s the one who made an extreme choice after repeated self-discipline.

‘Call in the knight order that’s running in circles and ask them. Those gentlemen can’t even match half of Lady Maude.’

“You pretend not to care, but you’re still secretly checking how Barbarossa is living, aren’t you?”

I took Lady Maude’s silence as affirmation.

“I’ve paid all the debts Barbarossa has accumulated in the back alleys.”

“What?”

“I was originally planning to tighten the noose a bit with those debt documents. But it seems I’m taking the long way around when there’s a simpler method.”

Having heard everything I needed to hear, I rose from my seat.

“I’ll have a talk with that prodigal son myself, so why don’t you stop worrying about your son and spend time on other concerns?”

* * *

Darius in his office expressionlessly took out a small mirror from his chest.

This was from the Inkheart’s treasure vault, one of a pair, with him and Anette each having one.

Unlike ordinary mirrors, it didn’t reflect the person in front of it. What this mirror showed was the screen of the other connected mirror.

That mirror, which had been used effectively when dealing with Lady Ygret, had not demonstrated its ability since then.

The mirror was only reflecting Darius’s face, like an ordinary mirror.

“Could she have forgotten?”

That she had given one of the mirrors to Darius.

As long as they had these mirrors, they could see each other’s faces through them even when apart.

If Anette still remembered that. But Anette had never looked into the mirror again after that day.

In contrast, Darius fiddled with the mirror every day. Waiting for Anette to respond someday.

“Why?”

It was Anette who had first requested marriage.

Saying, ‘Please marry me. I really need you, Grand Duke.’ But then…

〈Me? I don’t mind. If it’s for the Grand Duke’s honor, my own honor can be shattered many times over. It’s not Darius Inkheart’s honor, after all.〉

He thought Anette always handled things alone without giving him a chance to help because of her proactive personality.

Or perhaps because doing things together was still awkward.

Anette wasn’t simply unaccustomed to relying on someone.

Whether it was a maid, Daniel, or Tax Officer Nicola who had returned to the castle, Anette knew how to ask when she needed someone’s abilities.

〈Grand Duke, you do well on your own. So I don’t think it’s necessary for us to attend the morning assembly as a couple.〉

But why, just him.

Why was she keeping a subtle distance from only him?

While being his wife.

Darius rose from his seat and stepped out of his office. He felt like he needed to see Anette right away to ease this stifling feeling even a little.

* * *

After sending Lady Maude away, I was heading to the training ground.

‘Gasp, it’s Darius.’

Why was the lord, whose main job should keep him in his office at this hour, crossing paths with me? With so many mouths to feed in this castle, he should be working day and night. How heavy is the burden of being the head of the household!

I looked around nervously.

Darius also seemed to scan the surroundings briefly as if he had spotted me on his way, but fortunately there was no chance of meeting him again as I had already hidden myself without realizing it.

‘If we meet, won’t he bring up the portrait again?’

I can’t exactly tell him now that I don’t want items that would be difficult to dispose of when we divorce.

One, two, three…… After counting to ten as if this were some major event, I carefully headed back toward the training ground.

The diligent knight commander, Sir Lucion, was always at the training ground.

“Remember that list we made separately before?”

“List?”

Come on, catch my drift.

“You know, the list we made while moving the gold coins.”

Why would you talk about personnel evaluation records where others might hear?

“Please give me that. But the side with people who couldn’t move them, not those who did.”

“What?”

Sir Lucion looked at me as if saying, ‘Those who moved Grand Duke Inkheart’s magical gold coins are the ones with the right character, aren’t they?’

Well, I didn’t know I’d be using that list this way either.

* * *

“I suppose you still want to continue serving at Castle Inkheart?”

Sir Ramin’s name was first on the list of those who couldn’t resist temptation when faced with mountains of gold coins.

I regretfully caressed Sir Ramin’s name.

‘As a knight, he has military power and some education. He’d be perfect as a deputy commander for the new mercenary group I’m creating.’

The “unsuitable” list Sir Lucion had handed over was transformed into a recruitment candidate list for the mercenary group I was planning to form.

‘Let’s make money together, people who are crazy about money.’

There’s no such thing as useless information in this world. It’s just that I hadn’t found a way to use it yet.

I had gathered everything I needed, including a hood to conceal my identity. I had also confirmed my appointment with Sylphid. Now I just needed to leave.

“……”

My hesitant footsteps turned toward the exhibition hall.

The exhibits became increasingly sparse as they approached the recent past, reflecting how Inkheart once shone brilliantly but had declined.

“Why is this painting covered with cloth?”

“It’s the portrait of the first Grand Duke of Inkheart, but the painting has deteriorated because it’s so old. It’s covered to preserve it for future restoration.”

Nodding at the maid’s explanation, I slowly walked around the exhibition hall.

The previous Grand Duke of Inkheart, who reportedly died after years of frailty and illness, didn’t look so weak in his portrait. Next to him stood my mother-in-law, whom I had never seen in person, appearing young beside the previous Grand Duke Inkheart.

Next to the portraits painted in pairs so they wouldn’t be lonely, Darius’s portrait hung last.

“The current Grand Duke Inkheart, Darius Inkheart.”

A face still young to be the successor of such a great history gazed steadily forward.

“Oh my, did our Grand Duke not want to be alone?”

The painter had done such a good job that even though it was just a painting, Darius’s feelings at the time of the portrait were palpable.

Determination and solitude.

“Still, wait a little longer. They say happiness comes to those who wait.”

The owner of this adjacent space was already determined.

Evangeline. Would Darius be happy if you stood beside him?