“Ah. That’s Lady Chesworth.”
“Lady Chesworth?”
“Che…!”
They quickly learned who the noble with the name starting with “Che” was, which they couldn’t hear earlier due to the interruption.
Since they had mostly seen the eldest daughter Margaret Chesworth in the newspaper, it was their first time seeing the face of the second daughter.
“Yes. It’s Lady Elisha Chesworth, the second daughter of the Chesworth family.”
“She’s famous in social circles, but Lady Margaret Chesworth appears more often in newspaper articles, so it’s understandable if you didn’t know,” the priest added, seemingly eager to show off his knowledge.
“I see.”
“Then they must be meeting for business, right?” Kevin asked, trying hard. It was a question asked hoping for a negative answer. But the priest narrowed his eyes and smiled faintly.
“While we do business with the Chesworth family, that’s not necessarily the case here.”
“…Pardon?”
“The rumors about marriage might be true after all.”
“What?”
Dylan asked, startled. The priest, finding Dylan’s reaction quite amusing, wrinkled his nose and hinted at what was happening behind the scenes.
“Sometimes, distinguished individuals use the temple as a secret meeting place.”
“…By secret meetings, do you mean…what I think you mean?”
“That’s right.”
Unaware that he had just dropped a bombshell, the priest nodded emphatically.
“Is that allowed in the temple?”
“They make… substantial donations.”
Seeming uncomfortable at the mention of donations, the priest excused himself, saying he had somewhere to be.
By then, the Duke and Elisha Chesworth had already disappeared.
“At this point, there’s no way this could be a misunderstanding, right?”
“…Be quiet.”
The two of them stood there alone for a long while.
****
Everyone left on time today, and she finished work punctually. With light steps, Carol did some grocery shopping for the evening and headed straight home.
Thinking about tomorrow’s appointment, Carol clenched both fists with determination.
‘I need to manage my condition well this time.’
Tomorrow was the day she would meet Benjamin along with Noah.
She was still cautious as her cough hadn’t completely subsided.
‘It seems the cough is lasting longer than when I was in the North.’
Before moving from the North, she had been fine even in worse cold.
‘I might struggle to readjust to the cold if I go back to the North.’
Carol sniffled as she arrived home.
Before entering, a neighboring lady urgently stopped her.
“Just a moment, Teacher!”
“…Good evening.”
It was clear she had been waiting to talk to Carol.
“Good evening.”
While Carol wasn’t on bad terms with her neighbors, they weren’t particularly close either.
Carol drew a line to avoid revealing she was a beastman, and no neighbor tried to get closer beyond that line.
Therefore, it was a bit surprising for Carol when a neighbor approached her.
“Is something the matter?”
Carol asked awkwardly.
This neighbor was relatively friendly, as her granddaughter attended the tutoring center. Carol wondered if it might be related to that.
“No, I didn’t stop you for my sake.”
“Pardon? Then why…?”
As only Bianca and Carol knew about closing the center, nothing else came to mind.
“I’m worried if something happened to you, Teacher.”
“What? To me?”
The neighbor expressed concern, holding her chin with one hand.
“I didn’t see clearly, but it seems an unfamiliar carriage has been frequently coming and going in front of your house.”
“Ah…”
“Is it because of Mr. Bain? I heard he went to prison for something. And his son isn’t coming to the center either?”
“That was resolved a while ago. Didn’t you see the official notice I sent out?”
“I did see it, but…”
As Mr. Bain was the only one wealthy enough to use a private carriage for the center, it was understandable to worry.
“It’s been resolved well, so you don’t need to worry. The carriage coming to my house has nothing to do with Mr. Bain.”
“I feel relieved hearing you say that, Teacher.”
“Thank you. Have a good weekend then.”
However, contrary to her words, the neighbor showed no intention of leaving.
“Then what’s that carriage about?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m just curious.”
“…That’s a personal matter.”
When Carol awkwardly smiled and refused to answer, the neighbor’s gaze changed ominously.
“There’s only one reason a noble’s carriage would be coming and going…”
The neighbor asked while gauging Carol’s reaction.
“…”
“Am I right?”
Carol realized what the neighbor wanted to ask.
There was no particular need to hide it.
“I’ll be careful. I’m sorry if it caused any disturbance.”
And surely the neighbor had approached knowing that Carol was meeting with a noble.
But bringing it up like this probably meant she was uncomfortable with something.
Confirming her suspicion was correct, the neighbor clapped her hands as if it was perfect timing.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then why…?”
“Actually, I had more to say.”
“More to say?”
Is there more to discuss?
Just as Carol tilted her head, unable to guess what it could be, the neighbor spoke in an excited voice as if it was a great opportunity.
“I know a friend’s son. Would you be interested in meeting him?”
“Pardon?”
Didn’t she just say there was someone she was seeing?
She was sure she had just said that.
But the neighbor continued as if she understood perfectly.
“It’s nice to meet a noble, sure. But for a commoner, you’d only ever be a concubine at best. Even if it’s a noble of the lowest rank.”
Carol was speechless at the rude remark.
“…..”
“My words might sound rude, but I’m saying this because it’s pitiful to see you throwing yourself in like a moth to a flame.”
“Ah, I see.”
“He’s a commoner, but he earns quite well. Though he’s a bit older.”
“…Thank you for the suggestion, but I’m not interested at the moment.”
“You’ll miss all the good opportunities that way.”
“…”
Just as the neighbor was about to add another comment, seeing Carol’s uncomfortable expression, Kevin and Dylan, who had just arrived home, naturally joined the conversation.
“Excuse us for interrupting your conversation.”
Carol’s expression brightened as she saw her brothers, who had been held up by the neighbor.
“My brothers are here!”
The neighbor stepped aside from the doorway and offered an evening greeting.
“Oh, good evening.”
Carol quickly seized the opportunity to wrap up the current situation.
“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”
As if she had no intention of hearing a response today, the neighbor withdrew obediently.
“Don’t decide right away, think about it, Teacher!”
However, she seemed unwilling to take back her suggestion for an introduction, adding a final comment.
After watching the neighbor return to her house, the three of them fell into a brief silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Kevin was the first to come to his senses.
As Kevin opened the door and entered the house, Dylan and Carol, who had been standing dazed, followed him inside.
“Sis, you’re home early today.”
“Yes. It’s my turn for dinner duty, isn’t it?”
Kevin’s body shook noticeably at Carol’s reply. Dylan, approaching Carol as she put her bag down on a chair, asked urgently,
“Weren’t you supposed to meet the… Duke originally?”
“Didn’t I tell you a few days ago that the appointment was canceled because something came up? So I thought I was on dinner duty today?”
Carol said, shaking the grocery bag.
“Ah, yes. But what happened? Did he have something more important than meeting you?”
At this obvious question, Kevin elbowed Dylan in the stomach. Watching Dylan clutch his stomach, Kevin mouthed words to restrain him.
‘Hey.’
‘What?’
But Dylan responded just as stubbornly.
“I didn’t ask that far.”
“Is he really busy with work?”
Carol, who was putting on an apron in the kitchen, countered Dylan’s persistent questioning,
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about that?”
“…”
“Just because.”
“Don’t tell me you two…?”
As Carol trailed off, both of them unnecessarily swallowed dry saliva.
Was the question too obvious?
“Hmm?”
Kevin asked back on behalf of the frozen Dylan.
“Did you hear everything I was talking about with the neighbor lady earlier?”
They felt unnecessarily guilty even though Carol had no way of knowing.
“It’s not that…”
“We did hear it.”
Kevin stepped in to answer, trying to prevent Dylan from going overboard. Carol looked back and forth between the two, then awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.
“I thought something was strange. So you’re concerned because you heard that conversation earlier?”
It was an uncomfortable topic since she didn’t often discuss romantic matters with her brothers.
“Yeah.”
“From which part did you hear?”
“…From the concubine part.”
Of all places to start hearing from. It gave her a throbbing headache.
