Chapter 6

Moreover, after assigning a maid to keep Diane under surveillance, they discovered that she had never properly taken care of Hayden.

Most of the time, Hayden had simply been left alone.

Even when she was in the same room as him, Diane busied herself with whatever interested her and paid almost no attention to the child.

The maid who had been watching Diane had said with a complicated expression,

“Young Master must be a remarkably strong child, Mrs. Urein. The fact that he’s survived until now is practically a miracle.”

That statement alone said everything.

But no matter how much they argued with that shameless woman, words alone would never get through to her.

Instead, they intended to confront her with hard numbers.

“Dresses—ten thousand Bek.”

“Jewelry—thirty thousand Bek.”

“Beauty treatments—three thousand Bek.”

Mrs. Urein recited the figures expressionlessly.

“Do you need me to continue before you’ll leave?”

Diane slowly raised her face, her makeup completely ruined by tears.

“And it turns out your work history was stolen from someone else.”

“How long did you think you could deceive House Beredan?”

“M-Mrs. Urein…”

“Go to the Yotley estate and wait there.”

“The judgment regarding both you and House Yotley will be delivered shortly.”

Mrs. Urein’s voice was icy.

House Yotley had not only recommended Diane as Hayden’s nanny…

They had also helped forge her employment records.

During the investigation, they uncovered that House Yotley had been receiving money from suspicious, untraceable sources for quite some time.

Most noble families in the South pledged their loyalty to House Beredan, their liege lord.

And House Beredan, in turn, served the Emperor.

Viewed from nearby, this was a betrayal of House Beredan.

Viewed from farther away…

It was no different from deceiving the Emperor himself.

There was no possibility of treating the matter lightly.

Only then did Diane finally understand the gravity of her situation.

Terrified, she burst into tears.

* * *

Mrs. Urein, Head Steward Oliver, and First Aide Bogus gathered together.

Cheres looked around at them before rubbing his face.

“I’m so ashamed I can barely face any of you.”

At his cold remark, all three lowered their heads.

Though Cheres blamed himself…

His words were also directed toward the people who had failed to uncover Diane’s true nature.

“I apologize, Your Grace. I should have investigated personally.”

“Have all those involved been identified?”

“We’re investigating everyone who accepted even a single coin from House Yotley.”

Bogus spoke with obvious shame.

“My deepest apologies, Your Grace. We’ve also confirmed that the second witness who vouched for the nanny’s identity has disappeared. After providing his testimony, he has never been seen in the South again.”

Mrs. Urein also bowed her head.

But Cheres knew perfectly well.

This wasn’t something he could blame solely on them.

The fault also lay with himself.

He had allowed Hayden to be placed in danger.

Such a mistake could never be repeated.

That was precisely why this meeting had been convened.

“We need a new nanny.”

“But all of you…”

Mrs. Urein had married, but her husband had died young.

She had never raised children herself.

Oliver and Bogus were both married with children of their own.

However, neither had any real experience with childcare.

After being deceived once…

Cheres no longer wished to entrust Hayden to anyone he couldn’t trust completely.

And what about himself?

He didn’t even know the proper way to hold a baby.

While investigating Countess Yotley, they had also searched for replacement candidates.

None seemed suitable.

After what had happened…

It had become impossible to trust just anyone.

Every impressive résumé…

Every respectable background…

Now only made him suspicious.

“I’ll continue searching for new candidates, Your Grace.”

“This time I’ll investigate them myself rather than relying on recommendations.”

Bogus spoke resolutely.

“But I’m still uncomfortable with bringing another outsider into the estate.”

Mrs. Urein’s expression darkened.

The betrayal they had suffered still weighed heavily upon her.

“There’s nothing preventing another incident like this from happening again.”

“Your Grace, perhaps you should consider choosing someone from within the household instead.”

“But who could we trust?”

Bogus replied.

“We have no idea who might be capable of deceiving us again.”

“We must be as cautious as possible.”

“What do you think?”

Cheres asked Oliver.

After hesitating, the head steward finally answered.

“What if you requested the Duchess’s assistance?”

“We could continue searching carefully for the proper nanny over time.”

“Until then…”

“The Duchess could temporarily care for Young Master Hayden.”

“After all, it was Her Grace who first noticed the nanny’s misconduct.”

“But she’s from House Hezest.”

Bogus immediately objected.

“What the aide says is true…”

Oliver nodded.

“Even so, not everyone from House Hezest is the same.”

“Just look at the way Her Grace treats Young Master Hayden.”

Cheres fell silent.

Roana…

Roana…

He remembered Roana effortlessly lifting Hayden into her arms after the baby had become covered in flour soup.

She hadn’t cared in the slightest that food stained her dress.

With practiced ease, she burped him.

Then gently wiped his face clean with a soft handkerchief.

Afterward she smiled mischievously at the child.

“Do I look like food to you?”

“Ma! Ma!”

“Goodness. First, let’s get you some proper baby food. How are you supposed to grow eating something like that?”

Fussy little Hayden had burst into delighted laughter, clearly fond of Roana.

Roana herself had smiled helplessly in return.

She genuinely cared about Hayden.

And Hayden…

Hayden adored her.

Cheres had never once received a smile like that from the little boy.

The child who usually burst into tears whenever he saw Cheres instead hugged Roana tightly, rubbing his drool-covered face against her chin.

Watching that had genuinely shocked him.

Could he think of anyone better than Roana…

At least right now?

“What are the chances that Roana approaches Hayden only to seize an opportunity to harm him?”

“It doesn’t seem to fit her character.”

Oliver answered.

“I’ll keep a close watch.”

Mrs. Urein added.

Cheres also found himself thinking of Roana.

Though she was a daughter of House Hezest…

She wasn’t like the rest of the Hezests.

If she truly were one of them…

She would have tried to kill Hayden rather than care for him.

Besides…

Roana was practically isolated within the estate.

Most of the people of Beredan disliked her simply because she came from House Hezest.

That meant it would be nearly impossible for her to build enough influence to pose any real threat to Hayden.

Having reached that conclusion…

Cheres finally made up his mind.

“For now…”

“I’ll speak with Roana personally.”

At that moment, Mrs. Urein cautiously spoke.

“If you’ve already decided to ask for the Duchess’s help…”

“Perhaps you could entrust her with one more matter as well.”

“What is it?”

“House Yotley.”

“The Count has been dead for quite some time.”

“It would look far better if the Duchess dealt directly with Countess Yotley rather than Your Grace openly moving against her.”

Among noble society, it was an unspoken rule that matters involving noblewomen should be settled by noblewomen.

If Cheres intervened personally…

Even if Countess Yotley were clearly at fault, public opinion might still criticize him.

Countess Yotley had deep roots in southern high society.

People were naturally sympathetic toward widows.

Mrs. Urein pointed out exactly that.

“It would be better to avoid unnecessary criticism.”

“Besides, Countess Yotley has spent many years establishing herself within southern noble society.”

“In contrast…”

She let out a quiet sigh before continuing.

“House Beredan has gone without a mistress of the household for a very long time.”

“During that absence, we’ve effectively been excluded from southern noble society.”

“That’s precisely why we never even heard the rumors surrounding Diane.”

“If we’re not careful…”

“The southern social circles may turn against us.”

“I believe it would be better to have the Duchess influence public opinion on our behalf.”

In other words…

Regardless of the actual facts, House Yotley could exploit public sympathy and sway opinion in its favor.

Cheres ground his teeth.

Mrs. Urein was right.

It was exactly what he himself had been worrying about.