I Became The Mother Of the Male Lead Who Lives With An Adulterous Man

 

Carl’s wrinkled face hardened.

“What do you mean, you did it in hopes of making the atmosphere worse?”

“Marsha isn’t the only employee whose been taking advantage of the residence. I was hoping this would make them all look back and think twice about what they’ve done.”

As Rachel said, most of the employees of the Elrosa manor were problematic. The proof was that no one ever filed a complaint against Marsha during her long stint of skipping work to go to her meetings.

Although the circumstances and actions were different, everyone had similar thoughts, such as, ‘Count Theodore doesn’t care about the mansion anyway. Countess Rachel is a good person, but she is not very bright. Let’s just pretend to work decently so we can stay in this house.’

The only one working hard was Carl, because Theodore was a very ‘special person’ to him. Even so, the other employees had only been saying what he wanted to hear.

The first thing she’d done was punish Marsha, the nanny. Of all the other misdeeds committed in the residence, she judged the action of neglecting her son as the worst.

By sending Marsha out in a slightly excessive way, she hoped that the other employees would come to their senses. She hoped that if there were any stolen items, they would be returned and that people would not neglect their duties anymore.

…Well, not all of the employees would be so naive.

Carl sighed and bowed his head.

“It’s ……my fault for not watching the employees properly. Forgive me.”

“I’ve been letting you do my job, Carl. I’m sorry, and I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“I’ll let the employees know about Marsha’s misbehavior and tell them to work hard.”

“Yes, please.”

The conversation ended.

Carl’s plan to scare Rachel had failed. Instead, she reprimanded him, pointing out both his and the other employees’ faults.

Carl’s eyes narrowed as he left the room.

‘The Countess seems different from usual these days. We need to be more careful.’

But, it was too late.

After Marsha was fired, Rachel canceled all her plans and had dinner with Graham.

Graham was thrilled.

“Is it really okay for me and Mom to have dinner together today?”

“Didn’t you want to eat together with Mom?”

“Yeah! I like my mom the best in the world!”

“Let’s eat with your mom every day from now on. How about that?”

“Okay! I’m excited!”

He jumped up and down and ran in circles around Rachel’s chair to show how excited he was.

“I played in the garden alone today! Did I do well?”

“Really? Weren’t you bored playing alone?”

“Not at all! I made this for mom!”

As if he had been waiting, Graham brought over a cup that had been left on the corner of the table and handed it to Rachel. In the cup several flowers were floating.

“You know…… that tea mom drinks every day? That’s it!”

Flower tea!

This little guy had recognized Rachel’s hobby of drinking flower tea alone on lazy afternoons.

Rachel accepted Graham’s cup and gulped it down.

“Wow. This is so much better and prettier than mom’s usual tea.”

“Ehehe.”

“Can mommy keep this?”

“Sure! It’s a gift for mom.”

A happy smile spread across little Graham’s face.

It was so beautiful, she went into a daze.

In the novel, Graham was described as being the most handsome man in the world. She realized it wasn’t an exaggeration. He was only four years old, but he was already dazzlingly handsome.

Graham, sitting on a chair and about to start eating, suddenly became upset.

“Oh, Mom. I spilled it…”

It looked like a piece of grilled beef had been dropped.

“Oops. I’m sorry, but you can’t pick it up. It’s dirty. I’ll have someone bring you a new one, but just wait a minute. Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be a good boy and wait.”

She laughed at his cute response.

That’s right. No matter how hungry you are, you shouldn’t pick up dirty meat and eat it.

If you pick it up and eat it, thinking it’s a waste, you’re bound to get sick.

As soon as she was born, Rachel became Theodore’s partner for an arranged marriage. It was when Theodore was four years old, the same age Graham was now.

Theodore, a helpless romantic, was pessimistic and frustrated with the situation when he came of age.

‘It’s terrible having to go through an arranged marriage when there is no love!’

The young Jane, who appeared just as wedding preparations were beginning, became the perfect refuge for Theodore. Perhaps because their love was forbidden, he became even more fired up.

‘What a harsh fate. A love that is opposed by social status, age, and even parents! It’s a terrible thing, but I will overcome it with the power of love!’

…That was Theodore’s thought process.

It was truly amusing.

If he’s going to write a tragic novel, he should write it alone. Why drag poor Rachel into this mess?

Rachel cut the meat with passion, as if fueling her hostility toward Theodore.

Graham may or may not have been aware of his mother’s feelings, but he chattered throughout the meal.

“I picked up a stick earlier and pretended to be a knight in a book, it was fun.”

“Graham was a knight, that’s really cool. You can protect your mom later too.”

“Sure! I’ll definitely protect you, Mom. If you see a bad guy, tell me. I won’t forgive anyone who tries to hurt my mom.”

Then Graham straightened his back and his eyes shone, like he was really a knight.

‘My husband doesn’t even pretend to protect me, but I can count on my son.’

Rachel smiled, pleased.

“Well, thank you. I’m going to be sad when Graham gets a girlfriend.”

“I’m not getting a girlfriend.”

“Really?”

That won’t work. Dolorosa would be sad.

“You’ll change your mind later when you become an adult.”

“No, I do not want that! My mom is the only one for me!”

Graham got down from the chair, rushed over, and hugged Rachel’s waist tightly.

“Yes, yes” she said, stroking the child’s head.

The shy and introverted child only followed his mother from a young age. Since his nanny, Marsha, was like that, it was no surprise.

Thanks to this, Rachel’s death must have been a severe trauma for Graham.

It was a pity.

She wanted to leave right away to find Dolorosa, because Rachel knew she would be a sweet and wonderful friend for this shy little boy.

But there were still a lot of things she needed to take care of first, such as the divorce and her lack of money.

For now, Rachel had to be Graham’s only friend.

‘Just wait a little while, Graham. Your mom laid out the bait for your future father-in-law today.’

She hoped that Cian would quickly tail Theodore. He’d come back to thank her for helping find proof of the affair, and she’d use it to get a divorce. Then Graham and Dolorosa could meet.

Just thinking about it made her feel excited.

 

* * *

 

Today, Carl asked the same question.

“What’s on your schedule today?”

“I’m going to read a book in the study today again. The novel I started reading yesterday is really interesting. The title is [I Became the Mother of the Male Lead who Lives with an Adulterous Man], and it is the story of a young countess who divorced her husband, meets a handsome duke and falls in love with him.”

“Hmm.”

Carl cleared his throat and said, “I’m not interested in such novels, no need to continue.”

Rachel rolled her eyes and stopped talking.

“Oh, my. You don’t like stories like this. Sorry.”

“No. I understand that you will be spending all day in your study today. An invoice from the guild has also arrived. Would you like to look at it?”

A letter from the guild!

Has he already found evidence of the affair?

Nervously, she unfolded the letter and read it.

 

[Charges for the request.

Round-trip travel fee to the mansion: 20 gold

Standby cost: 13 gold

Advance fee: 5 gold

We are looking for the items you requested. For the honor of the guild, we will make sure to send it to you by the specified date.

Alias, Guild Chief Informant]

 

Unfortunately, it didn’t say what she hoped.

She was disappointed that things weren’t getting done as quickly as expected, but there was nothing she could do.

The fact that they didn’t send an army seemed to confirm that Rachel’s story wasn’t completely false, so that was a good thing.

‘I asked him to help me, but I can’t even guess what solid evidence of infidelity there could be. There are no cameras or phones here.’

Cian is a smart person, she had no choice but to trust him.

Rachel handed the paper back to Carl.

“Pay the invoice. Anything else?”

“I received word that Madame Berengella is scheduled to arrive at the mansion today.”

“So that’s today. Okay. Get ready to welcome the guest.”

Berengella Elrosa. Theodore’s mother and Rachel’s mother-in-law.

Fortunately, Berengella’s gift would be ready in time for her arrival.

She couldn’t wait to see the look on the stern woman’s face when she saw the evidence of her son’s tax evasion and concealment of assets.

 

“Ledger, ledger, ledger… That’s right.”

She looked through the dusty bookshelf and selected the ledgers she needed and slipped other books into their place or rearranged them so it wouldn’t be obvious where she’d taken them out.

For the past few days, Rachel had been ducking in and out of the study under the guise of reading a novel, searching for papers related to management and finances for the manor.

Theodore, who neglects the mansion, had left papers with important information scattered throughout the study.

“I expected this, but it’s really a mess.”

The ledgers were organized to report to the imperial palace or pay taxes.

The County of Elrosa, managed by Theodore, had a lot of farmland and a mild climate, so there were always good harvests. Nevertheless, after the death of Theodore’s father, the former Count, finances were always tight.

‘After Theodore inherited the title, he began to give Jane whatever she wanted.’

At first, he wrote it off as going to a ‘poor relief fund’. Apparently, he did it because Jane was a commoner. She knew that if Jane heard this, it would hurt her pride.

After some time, their income began to decrease. Part of the money was given to Jane, and only the remaining amount was recorded as family income.

As income decreased, taxes naturally decreased.

Rachel snorted.

“My child went to work as a mercenary because he didn’t have money to buy food, and then became a murderer. Anyway, the more I think about it, the more I think he’s really a terrible bastard.”

As he got older, Graham realized what Theodore had done. The child did not trust or love anyone and lost his sense of humanity. For such a child, being a mercenary and killing people was a piece of cake. He had no hesitation in killing, and did not have any sympathy.

Poor Graham.

After roughly organizing the documents, she opened the novel she was reading and sat down.

About the time she finished reading two chapters, she heard a knock on the door outside the study.

“Ma’am, Lady Berengella Elrosa has arrived.”

The time had finally come.

“Okay, I’m leaving now. Carl, please call Theo.”

Okay, let’s go give my mother-in-law a present.