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Freya Hayworth.
Commonly known as Madam Hayworth.
Who is she?
The only wife of the late previous Marquess of Hayworth, and the undisputed current power behind the Hayworth family, being the mother-in-law of the formidable Duke Seymour Somerset.
‘And the person who raised Seymour Somerset.’
The previous Marquess of Hayworth was congenitally frail.
Thanks to that, he had only one child after much difficulty — a single daughter named Rose.
Fortunately, instead of good health, he had an excellent friend.
That friend was Graham, the son of the Duke of Somerset.
“Graham, you said you have two sons, right? Send just one to Hayworth. If he marries our Rose and inherits the family, it would be good for both your house and mine, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s an excellent suggestion, Hayworth. The eldest, Quentin, has to be the heir, so I’ll send the second one. Please take good care of our boy.”
And so, thanks to this sudden agreement between the two fathers, there was a boy who was abruptly sent to the Hayworth family.
That boy was Seymour Graham.
The very person who would later become the live-in son-in-law of the Hayworth family, inherit the Duke of Somerset title due to an unexpected accident, and become Seymour Hayworth Somerset.
He was born of Graham’s blood, yet he was Hayworth to the bone.
He was raised by the Marquess and Marchioness of Hayworth, and he loved Rose Hayworth — the daughter of Hayworth — more than anyone else.
‘That’s why, even when he became a complete wreck of a person after his wife’s death, he still yielded to Madam Hayworth.’
To Seymour, Madam Hayworth was his mother-in-law, his mother, and the only person who shared the pain of loss with him.
And now, that very Madam Hayworth was a sponsor of Townsend.
Moreover, they were going to meet her today!
‘If things go well, meeting Seymour might not be that difficult after all!’
This is a jackpot!
The moment this thought occurred to her, Rowena couldn’t help but jump up right there.
She had realized she was reincarnated into a book, and the orphanage where she was living happened to be sponsored by the villain’s mother-in-law!
‘I really am lucky!’
Yes, there’s no rule saying a person must die.
Come to think of it, Rowena had always been lucky.
While the other children searched the grass all day long, Rowena would find four-leaf clovers after only poking around a little.
When everyone sneaked into the kitchen to steal cookies together, only Rowena never got caught.
‘Come to think of it, even having memories from my previous life is a stroke of luck.’
Of course, if we’re talking about luck, whether being born as an orphan extra in a book and then receiving a terminal diagnosis counts as good luck is something that should be debated first…
‘Eh, that’s not important right now!’
It would be ridiculous to nitpick over such minor details — even pawnshops don’t do that.
The important thing now is that a way to meet Seymour has finally appeared.
Until now, meeting him had seemed completely out of reach, but with Madam Hayworth in the picture, it no longer feels entirely impossible.
‘Of course… just because I can meet Madam Hayworth doesn’t guarantee I’ll definitely meet Seymour.’
Still, having any path of approach is huge.
It’s the difference between wandering around looking for an apple tree sapling just to eat an apple, and simply going to a fruit shop.
‘A tremendously huge difference.’
Obviously, going to a fruit shop and buying an apple is far easier than searching for an apple tree sapling!
However, there was one problem.
It’s great that the fruit shop exists. Great, but…
“I hope Madam Hayworth is in a good mood today.”
“She got really angry last time too, right? What was it about again?”
“Miller got caught wiping his nose on his sleeve.”
“Doesn’t she seem to get scarier as the days go by? Madam Hayworth, I mean.”
“Please let us get through today safely…”
Yes. That was exactly the problem.
‘The personality of Madam Hayworth is no joke.’
Madam Hayworth was an extreme perfectionist.
‘I absolutely cannot stand to see anyone behave inadequately in front of me.’
That was the phrase she always kept on her lips.
Put nicely, it was perfectionism; put harshly, it was eccentricity.
Thanks to that, Madam Hayworth’s name had gradually become a source of growing terror among the children of Townsend.
It was only natural that any child scolded by Madam Hayworth would be punished upon returning to Townsend that day.
‘I heard that until a few years ago, she wasn’t this sharp-edged.’
Apparently, losing all her family had a huge impact.
Her husband died of illness, and not long after, even the daughter she cherished like a treasure died in an unexpected accident.
And the son-in-law she had raised like her own son had lost his mind because of it.
In truth, if one were to speak bluntly, it was more astonishing that the now-aged Madam Hayworth had managed to stay sane this long.
But because of that, it had also become true that Rowena had no opening to approach her.
Unlike other noble ladies who would sit with the children, chat, and share snacks, Madam Hayworth always limited herself to formal greetings and then sent the children away.
‘What should I do?’
She had been so excited at the thought that she could meet Seymour through Madam Hayworth.
At this rate, it didn’t seem like she would even get a chance to talk with the Madam.
“Sigh…”
When Rowena let out a worried sigh, Jenny, the girl next to her, poked her cheek.
“What’s wrong, Rowena? Are you nervous? We’re just going to greet her and sing a few songs anyway. Relax!”
No. That’s exactly the problem, Jenny.
If there’s no chance to talk with Madam Hayworth, what’s the point of even meeting her!
Contrary to Jenny’s attempt to comfort her, Rowena’s expression only grew darker.
‘There’s almost nothing about Madam Hayworth in the original work either.’
If there were something she knew, she could at least try bringing it up.
Or if she had even a little more time, she could have come up with another plan!
But cruelly, the carriage had already stopped in front of the magnificent mansion.
“Alright, we’ve arrived, so everyone line up and get off in order! The director said that anyone who makes a mistake in front of Madam today will be locked in solitary, so be extra careful!”
At the supervising teacher’s voice, the children visibly flinched.
And Rowena was among them.
‘Solitary…’
Being locked in solitary was considered the most terrifying punishment among the children of Townsend.
A cramped room with no space to even step properly, where the sounds of rats scurrying could be heard vividly through the ceiling and floorboards!
Anyone who had been confined there for even a few hours would feel their legs go weak at the mere mention of the word “solitary” afterward.
‘If I mess this up even a little, I might end up achieving nothing and just get locked in solitary, right?’
Just thinking about it made her face crumple, but there was nothing she could do.
Rowena steeled herself inwardly and stepped down from the carriage.
Each step she took following the supervising teacher toward meeting Madam Hayworth was filled with solemn determination.
‘That’s right.’
This is no time to be picky about whether the stew is cold or hot.
If it comes to it, I’ll even do a forward roll in front of Madam Hayworth!
‘If forward roll doesn’t work, then a backward roll!’
If backward roll doesn’t work, then a side roll!!
Anyway, I’ll do every trick and performance I possibly can to create an opportunity to talk with Madam Hayworth…
“Oh my, are these the children Madam is sponsoring?”
“Madam said she would have guests for tea time — so she meant the children!”
“As expected, Madam is truly an example to us all.”
……Huh?
Rowena unconsciously widened the eyes she had been holding so solemnly.
This was not the usual drawing room where they met Madam Hayworth.
It was a beautifully decorated garden. And over there, seated around a tea table, were elderly noblewomen.
In other words,
‘The noble ladies are in the middle of their tea time.’
So why were we brought here?
‘Could it be…?’
While Rowena was quietly puzzled, Madam Hayworth, seated at the head of the table, silently set down her teacup and spoke.
“I thought it might be a little dull with only older ladies gathered, so I timed it with the children’s arrival. If you don’t mind, how about joining the children for some refreshments?”
“Oh my, of course we’d love that.”
“Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I last saw my granddaughter.”
“Ho ho, thanks to Madam, we’ll get to hear children’s voices after so long.”
“Come now, everyone, come and sit here. Henry, bring chairs for the children.”
“Yes, Madam.”
At Madam Hayworth’s command, the servants moved in perfect unison to prepare seats for the children.
To summarize,
‘I’ve been invited to Madam’s tea time?’
A flush of color instantly returned to Rowena’s stunned face.
She had naturally assumed that today would be the same — just greetings and then leaving.
‘This means I’ll naturally have the chance to talk with Madam!’
What a stroke of incredible luck!
