Chapter 6
Ken and Nick.
Diana’s two sons, and the boys who would one day lead House Whitdrian.
Ken, the elder brother, looked exactly like Diana, while Nick, the younger, possessed features that resembled the Duke’s, only softened by gentler lines.
When Diana died, Ken was only thirteen, and Nick just eleven.
Neither of them cried at the funeral.
Because they were young lords of the Duchy, they endured the entire funeral without shedding a tear despite their age.
The Duke was an adult, so perhaps that was understandable.
As for me, I simply couldn’t cry.
But how could children that young remain so composed?
Watching the two young masters bear the entire funeral with unwavering resolve only made everyone else cry even harder.
People repeatedly lamented how pitiful the children left behind were.
I felt the same.
It broke my heart that children who still needed their mother’s warmth had to experience her death so young.
Unlike the Duke, who treated me as nothing more than a wife in name…
I wanted to become someone the boys could lean on emotionally.
After all, one of the biggest reasons Diana had entrusted her family to me was because of them.
The first day I met them as their stepmother, I steadied my trembling heart and held out my hand.
“Ken, Nick… I hope we’ll get along from now on.”
Neither boy took my hand.
Nick glanced nervously at Ken, while Ken tilted his head defiantly and glared at me.
After what felt like a long silence, Ken grabbed Nick by the arm.
The two of them stormed back into their room, slamming the door behind them.
My hand remained suspended awkwardly in the air.
Standing beside me, the Duke quietly spoke.
“…Allow me to apologize in their place.”
“It’s alright.”
“I expected they wouldn’t accept me so easily.”
I lowered my hand and smiled reassuringly.
He looked at me before saying,
“I’ll try talking to them.”
“Please don’t force yourself.”
“They simply need time.”
Back then…
I truly believed that if I kept trying, I could grow close to them.
In fact, I made every effort to do exactly that.
Just like when I had been “Aunt Kasia.”
Just like the days when we had shared nothing but warm memories together.
I believed that if I sincerely devoted myself to our relationship, opening their hearts wouldn’t be difficult.
After all…
They were simply children who still needed a mother’s love.
But…
I was wrong.
During the early days of my marriage, I was constantly overwhelmed by the responsibilities of becoming the Duchess.
There were countless nights when I stayed awake for days dealing with endless work.
That night was no different.
After working late into the evening, I stepped into the garden for a brief walk to clear my head.
As I passed through the corridor…
A loud voice suddenly echoed from Ken’s room.
“How could Father do something like this?!”
It was Ken’s voice, burning with anger.
I stopped walking and turned toward the room.
I knew I shouldn’t look.
I knew it.
Yet before I realized it…
I was already peering through the slightly opened door.
Inside…
The Duke sat on the bed while Ken stood before him, trembling with rage.
Nick sat in a corner, quietly crying.
The room was filled with suffocating tension.
Ken shouted,
“I’m so disappointed in you, Father!”
“How could you bring another woman into this house so easily?”
“Ken.”
“I told you.”
“I did it for your sake.”
“For our sake?”
“Don’t make me laugh!”
“Do you even know what people are saying about our family?”
“Ken…”
The Duke let out a weary sigh.
I knew exactly why.
We had agreed to keep the truth about our contractual marriage hidden from the children.
Both of us knew that explaining it while they were overwhelmed with grief and anger would accomplish nothing.
If they couldn’t accept the truth anyway…
Perhaps it was better for them to direct their anger somewhere.
Even then…
The Duke still tried to protect me.
“It was I who brought your stepmother into this house.”
“If you wish to blame someone…”
“Blame me.”
“I believe the two of you need a mother.”
“I don’t want one!”
“Who asked for that?”
“I just hate seeing someone who’s not our real mother sitting in her place!”
Ken’s voice trembled with emotion.
The Duke raised his voice sternly.
“Ken!”
“Watch your manners!”
“Send that woman away!”
“If you really did it for us…”
“Then send her away again!”
“That place belongs to our mother…”
Ken finally broke down.
Tears streamed down his face as he cried.
The moment Ken began sobbing…
Nick’s crying grew louder as well.
The Duke let out another long, exhausted sigh.
That was as much as I heard.
I couldn’t remain there any longer.
I ran.
I fled toward the garden as though escaping.
My heart hurt as though it had been sliced open by a blade.
Even after reaching the garden…
I collapsed into a corner, struggling to breathe as uneven gasps escaped my lips.
That was the day I finally understood.
The sweet little Ken and Nick who had once adored me…
Were gone forever.
Strangely enough…
I hadn’t cried when Diana died.
Yet this realization brought tears I couldn’t stop.
Only the Duke and I knew the truth behind Diana’s death…
The truth behind this marriage…
From the boys’ perspective…
I was nothing more than the wicked woman who had stolen their mother’s place.
Exactly as society claimed.
I sat alone in the corner of the garden…
Wiping away tears that refused to stop falling.
After that day…
I changed my way of thinking.
I decided I would no longer try to grow close to the boys.
I realized that I was no longer their aunt.
To them…
I was closer to an enemy.
They needed someone to direct their anger toward.
Whether it was the Duke or me…
We both had to bear that burden equally.
Of course…
There were many clashes afterward.
Ken tried every method imaginable to drive me out of the estate.
When the Duke steadfastly refused…
Ken even attempted to run away from home.
In the end…
The matter was resolved by sending Ken to serve in the Imperial Knights.
After Ken left…
House Whitdrian gradually became peaceful again.
The maids finally accepted me as the true Duchess.
The rumors surrounding me in high society slowly began to fade.
The retainers who had fiercely opposed my marriage gradually lost their voices.
At least in the eyes of the outside world…
I had become a perfect Duchess in Diana’s place.
Nick, the younger son, never openly rebelled or opposed me the way Ken had while I gradually established my place in the household.
He was…
An incredibly timid child.
His heart was gentle.
The slightest thing would bring tears to his round eyes.
To this day, I still found it miraculous that he had managed not to cry during Diana’s funeral.
He loved reading.
He enjoyed quietly losing himself in thought.
He was the kind of child whose heart was impossible to read.
That was the Nick I knew.
Even so…
To him, I remained nothing more than his “stepmother.”
He never truly grew close to me.
He was always impeccably polite.
But he never called me anything except “Stepmother.”
It wasn’t hatred.
It felt more like discomfort.
Once upon a time…
He had smiled brightly while calling me “Aunt Kasia.”
But accepting me as his mother…
Was something he simply couldn’t adapt to.
Besides…
Nick was going through adolescence.
Even children become awkward around their own parents during those years.
How much more difficult must it have been for him with a stepmother?
Whenever he returned from the Academy…
He would politely bow to me before quietly heading to his room.
I often wished he would feel a little more at ease around me.
Still…
I understood him.
So I never tried to force my way into his life.
I wasn’t Diana.
I was Kasia.
I could never become his mother.
That much was obvious.
I always maintained a respectful distance from Nick.
It was my way of considering his feelings.
Ah…
Though after Ken left…
Whenever I baked the cakes that I used to make back when I was still “Aunt Kasia…”
Nick always ate them without fail.
For that…
I was truly grateful.
Time passed quickly.
Before I realized it…
Seven years had flown by.
Seven years later.
The detached banquet hall of the Ducal estate was opened for the first time in years.
Servants carrying cleaning supplies entered one after another.
The building was normally reserved for banquets…
But it hadn’t been used for several years.
Neither the Duke nor the Duchess cared much for hosting lavish parties.
Besides…
Ken’s coming-of-age birthday banquet, which should have been held two years earlier, had never taken place.
The servants encouraged one another enthusiastically.
“Since the eldest young master’s coming-of-age banquet never happened…”
“Let’s pour everything we have into the second young master’s celebration!”
They dusted every surface.
Threw open the curtains.
Scrubbed the floors with soaking wet mops.
They cleaned every window.
Opened the storage rooms.
Checked that the kitchens were functioning perfectly.
Several days later…
A magnificent banquet hall, sparkling without a speck of dust, finally revealed itself.
Standing in its center…
I, Kasia, looked around the hall as I prepared for Nick’s coming-of-age birthday banquet.
The hem of the luxurious dress I had long since grown accustomed to wearing swayed softly as my footsteps echoed through the empty hall.
“So tomorrow is finally the banquet.”
“Everything is being prepared as instructed, I trust?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“We remembered every instruction you previously gave us.”
The steward replied while holding a long checklist prepared for Nick’s banquet.
“Guests from every corner of society will be attending, so we’ve prepared a wide variety of dishes just as you requested.”
“Caviar canapés and salads will be served as appetizers at every table.”
“Stews and similar dishes will be arranged buffet-style.”
“Our chefs will remain available throughout the event to prepare premium dishes upon request.”
“It will be the grandest banquet we’ve ever hosted.”
“Excellent.”
“Most importantly…”
“There will be many guests around Nick’s age.”
“Make sure plenty of desserts and snacks popular with young people are prepared as well.”
I added a few more instructions.
After so many years…
Preparing a banquet of this scale was no longer difficult.
Any shortcomings stood out to me immediately.
“Oh, and prepare a wider variety of coffee and tea.”
“Our guests have very particular tastes.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
“Good.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
After dismissing the steward with a wave…
I left the banquet hall.
The warm sunlight greeted me as I stepped outside.
I raised a hand to shield my eyes.
“…It’s already been seven years.”
Seven years since Diana left.
Seven years since I became part of House Whitdrian.
It hardly felt real.
Nick had already reached adulthood.
And House Whitdrian was preparing his coming-of-age banquet.
It was a strange feeling.
Every year had passed so quickly…
Yet I had never imagined seven years would disappear in the blink of an eye.
…
Had I been a good Duchess?
The thought crossed my mind.
But I quickly smiled to myself.
I had done everything I could.
That alone was enough.
In any case…
The time I had promised Diana was finally drawing to an end.
There had been regrets.
There had been painful moments.
But one thing was certain.
I had endured those seven years well.
The brilliant sunlight filtered gently between my fingers.
Beyond it…
The sky was perfectly clear.
…
It was almost time for me to leave.
