Episode 52
As I got closer, the sound grew louder.
Realizing that the thumping sound was someone being hit, I dashed towards the direction of the noise as if possessed.
‘No way, no way!’
With a heart hoping desperately that it wasn’t what I was thinking, I ran at full speed despite my breathlessness.
However, when I reached the end of the alley on the left, something that I absolutely hoped would not happen was unfolding.
“Ian!”
I called out to Ian, who was lying on the ground and being rudely kicked by some guy.
The guy, who seemed completely absorbed in hitting someone, didn’t notice me approaching until I was close enough to kick him.
“What are you doing? Why are you hitting Ian?”
After forcefully pushing the guy away, I shielded Ian.
However, unlike Ian, who was smaller than me by at least a head, the guy, who was almost as tall and big as me, only took a slight step back and didn’t back down.
“Ian, are you okay? What on earth…”
I brushed off the dirt from Ian’s clothes due to the kicking and asked if he was hurt anywhere.
But there was no response.
“Let’s get up, Ian. Huh? We need to make sure you’re not hurt.”
Ian refused my attempt to help him up and hunched over even more.
“Ian?”
While continuing to check Ian’s body, I suddenly noticed a book nestled in the child’s arms.
‘Is he trying to protect the book?’
It seemed like that guy had tried to snatch the book Ian had chosen and resorted to violence.
As I tried to figure out the situation and continued to try to help Ian up, something swiftly passed by from the side.
Realizing that the guy who hit Ian was attempting to flee, I immediately grabbed the guy by the collar.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Oh, let go! Let go!”
For a moment, the guy staggered under the force of my grip.
Considering that this kid already had strength and was stubbornly rebellious, it wasn’t a trivial matter.
But with the determination not to let him go here, I clenched my fist with all my might.
“Who are you? Who do you think you are to do such a wicked thing? Huh?”
Seeing Ian crouched on the ground and glaring at me with resentful eyes regarding the wrongdoer, anger surged within me.
“Oh, what’s it to you! This dirty kid didn’t listen to me, so I just gave him a lesson. What’s it to you?”
“What?”
Seeing him casually spew out such offensive words, I couldn’t help but burst into bitter laughter.
“What did you just say? Dirty? You’re calling him dirty?!”
“What’s it to you to call a dirty kid dirty! Oh, mom! Mom!”
Apparently judging it was difficult to break free from my grip, the guy suddenly started calling for his mom.
A voice of a woman calling from the direction I came from was heard.
“Eddie!”
“Mom, I’m here!”
Responding to the call of the boy named Eddie, his voice grew louder.
“Eddie!”
Calling out his name repeatedly, the woman hurriedly ran towards us from that direction.
“Eddie! What is this? Who are you, holding our child? Let go! Don’t… gasp!”
Seeing her son held by me, Eddie’s mom screamed in anger, but then hesitated.
“Oh, Lady Anaïs?”
She recognized me.
Without responding to her words, I simply stared at the two of them with cold eyes.
“W-Why are you here, Lady? Um, what happened here exactly?”
The woman’s gaze shifted back and forth between me and Ian, who still lay motionless on the ground.
“As you can see, I witnessed that boy hitting my younger brother.”
“Our Eddie? Th-That’s impossible! And a younger brother? Lady Anaïs doesn’t have a younger brother… Ah, Blighton…”
Despite seeing the situation clearly, the woman pretended not to know.
Furthermore, upon recognizing Ian, she frowned deeply.
“Um, could you please let go of him first? He’s in pain…”
I looked at the selfish woman, whose only concern was for her own child’s well-being, with a cold gaze and released my grip.
Then, I immediately embraced Ian and helped him up.
Fortunately, this time Ian leaned on me, releasing some of the tension in his body.
“Look at him. If he didn’t hit, then what?”
“Eddie would never hit anyone, especially not your brother. Maybe you saw it wrong? Right, Eddie? You’re not like that, right? You were trying to help a friend?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I was helping.”
Seeing the absurdity of the woman and her son, who were spewing such unbelievable nonsense, I felt incredibly bewildered and incredulous.
“And Lady, or rather, Duchess, I have to inform you that this child is known for his bad behavior at the academy. Isn’t that right, Eddie?”
“Yeah, it’s Blighton.”
Despite knowing full well that I had become the mistress of the Blighton family, the woman continued to prattle on about nonsense.
“I am Marian MacKellan, and this child is Edward MacKellan, the sole heir of our MacKellan family. Although we are a viscount family, we also have fertile land in the south and are a respectable family. Lady, oh, the Duchess probably still has a lot to learn about Blighton, so if you could spare me some time, I would be happy to explain slowly…”
“Enough.”
“Yes?”
“I said I don’t want to hear it.”
I felt nauseous at the thought of being pestered with unasked-for information.
Unable to tolerate any more of her nonsense, I bluntly interrupted the woman.
“But I…”
“Are you ignoring my words when I say I don’t want to hear it?”
“It’s not that, I just…”
I stared fiercely at the woman and the child, who continued to spout untruths, and then turned to Ian, who was still bowing deeply.
“Ian, speak up. That boy hit you, didn’t he?”
“…”
Whether from enduring considerable torment or for some other reason, Ian couldn’t speak easily.
“Ian, lift your head and look at me.”
Even when urged to look at me, Ian still couldn’t lift his head.
“See, if our child had hit him, he’d be clenching his teeth like that?”
As the woman mocked again, I glared at her.
Upon seeing my glare, the woman closed her mouth, taking a deep breath.
“Ian, just look at me once. Please?”
I waited patiently for Ian.
After a moment, Ian’s head slowly lifted, as if he might not do so at all.
But even that was only for a brief moment. He glanced behind me, seemed startled, then quickly bowed his head again.
Laughter echoed from behind me.
It was clear that when Ian lifted his head, he exchanged a glance with the boy named Eddie.
I couldn’t give up like this.
I spoke to Ian again.
“Ian, as long as I’m here, no one can harm you. So lift your head and look. Okay?”
I constantly conveyed to him that he could trust me, that I would protect him.
Whether it was getting through to him or not, Ian looked up at me again.
This time, I slightly turned my body to block Ian’s view of the boy and gently held his cheeks as I said, “Did that boy hit you? Did he?”
“…”
Ian’s mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something, then closed again.
“Ian, you have to be brave. If you’re brave, I’ll take care of everything. Trust me.”
I whispered softly into Ian’s ear, a voice only he could hear.
“Um… he did.”
“What, what do you mean? He hit you?”
“Are you really asking for trouble?”
The woman and the boy became excited, jumping up and down.
Regardless of what they did, it didn’t matter to me.
Ian had shown courage, and now it was time to reward that courage.
“I will formally report to the academy.”
“What?”
The woman looked puzzled as she glanced at me.
“I will submit a statement to the academy stating that Edward MacKellan assaulted Ian Blighton and demand punishment. Let’s go, Ian.”
I grabbed Ian’s hand and lifted my foot to leave.
“D-Duchess!”
But I couldn’t move a step due to the desperate woman holding me back.
“We can’t just leave it like this. There’s no evidence that our child hit him. The academy will never accept it!”
As if I didn’t know anything, the woman stared at me for a long time before nudging me.
