~Chapter 30~
I walked across the long hallway, lost in thought.
‘First… it seems like Mathilde is being bullied just like in the original story.’
Mathilde.
She was just a minor character mentioned briefly in the original.
More precisely, in Cecilia’s memory—
“She was one of the few maids who treated me kindly, but one day, she suddenly disappeared.”
And the reason was obvious.
‘Mrs. Howard.’
From the beginning, Mrs. Howard planned to use Mathilde once and throw her away.
That’s why she hired her in the first place.
She took advantage of the fact that Mathilde was an orphan with nowhere to go.
Mathilde, who knew nothing, approached Cecilia kindly—
and Mrs. Howard used that as an excuse to bully her.
Then she used Mathilde, whose self-esteem had been completely broken, for various schemes.
In the end, Mathilde was used and then quietly dismissed.
‘If Mrs. Howard tries to harm me directly, she’ll do it through Mathilde.’
With her personality, she would never take the risk herself of targeting the “possible real daughter.”
That’s why I planned to bring Mathilde to my side from the start.
But since I’m not officially confirmed as the “real daughter” yet,
I stayed quiet to avoid drawing attention.
‘But I didn’t expect her to move like this behind the scenes!’
Sigh.
I let out a deep breath.
I wanted to help Mathilde right away,
but that would only make the bullying more subtle and worse.
And right now, I’m only a “possible” daughter.
That means I don’t have real influence yet.
‘I need to wait for the right moment.’
Whether it’s Mathilde or Cecilia—
if I want to truly improve their situation…
‘The best way is to completely remove Mrs. Howard.’
Just as my eyes hardened with determination—
“Huh?”
My eyes widened.
Someone was standing in front of my bedroom.
That person was—
“D-Duchess?”
Startled, I quickly walked toward her.
At the same time, the Duchess’s expression darkened like a cloudy sky.
…She must not like how I addressed her.
‘But calling her “Mother” right now would be strange too.’
The parentage test hasn’t even happened yet.
Pretending not to notice her expression, I spoke.
“Is there something you need?”
“I just… wanted to see if you were doing well.”
The Duchess gave an awkward smile.
“I also wanted to talk with you alone.”
“……”
What?
A chill ran down my spine.
Until now, she always preferred everyone being together.
So why suddenly talk alone?
“May I come in?”
“Of course. Please come in.”
We sat facing each other.
But the Duchess only moved her lips, unable to speak for a long time.
‘What is she trying to say…?’
I had a bad feeling.
As I carefully watched her—
she finally made up her mind and spoke firmly.
“Tell me… did Mrs. Howard do something wrong to you?”
“…What?”
“I feel like… you are uncomfortable around her.”
After hesitating, she continued with a sigh.
“I heard that you served Cecilia at the baron’s estate in Transie.”
“……”
It felt like I swallowed a block of ice.
The Duchess looked straight at me.
“I heard you threw dirty water on Mrs. Howard. Is that true?”
Damn it.
I bit my lip tightly.
At that same time—
Elias couldn’t hide his troubled expression.
‘About Nanny… is it really okay to leave things like this?’
Maybe he was worrying too much.
But still—
‘Lately, she’s been bothering me.’
Her disrespectful attitude toward Cecilia.
And the way Milena seemed uncomfortable around her.
Everything felt wrong.
‘Just in case… I should ask Milena myself.’
Elias stood up.
He was about to knock on Milena’s door—
“Huh?”
He suddenly pulled his hand back.
Someone was already there.
It was his mother.
‘Mother… came to see Milena? Why?’
What are they talking about?
He knew he shouldn’t do this.
But…
Swallowing nervously, Elias leaned closer to the door.
I explained as calmly as I could.
“I never threw dirty water.”
Of course, I did.
But it was never proven.
‘Wow… blaming me like this is so natural for them.’
What if I really wasn’t the culprit?
“…I see.”
The Duchess nodded.
But she still didn’t seem to believe me.
It was obvious—
she just chose to overlook it because I might be her real daughter.
‘It’s no use. She’s already been convinced by Mrs. Howard.’
I looked at her helplessly.
Honestly, I understood.
The Duchess relied a lot on Mrs. Howard.
And from what I could tell,
Mrs. Howard had spoken very cleverly.
Even I might have been convinced.
“Mrs. Howard is a very good person. She was very worried about you too.”
The Duchess held my hand gently.
“For my sake, if there is any misunderstanding, please clear it up.”
“……”
I was about to speak—
but chose silence instead.
No matter what I said,
it would only sound like I was accusing Mrs. Howard.
‘So this is how Cecilia always felt.’
I clenched my fists on my lap.
How hard must it have been for her?
Even now, I felt suffocated.
“Anyway, if something troubles you, make sure to tell me.”
“Yes, Duchess.”
I forced a smile.
The Duchess left the room looking relieved.
Click.
The door closed.
Left alone, my smile disappeared.
“Ha…”
I let out a long sigh and ran my hand through my hair.
‘I really got hit this time.’
I thought she would stay quiet because she had something to hide.
But I was wrong.
Mrs. Howard was more shameless than I expected.
Then—
“Um… Milena?”
Someone suddenly called me carefully.
Huh? This voice…
I turned around—
and saw someone unexpected.
“Young Duke?”
Why is he here now?
Today is seriously exhausting…
“……”
Elias hesitated for a long time after calling me.
As if he didn’t know how to start speaking.
