“Shh! Are you out of your mind? You’ll get us all into trouble. Lower your voice.”
“Ahem! Well, no, I know because I have a niece too, and she sometimes uses tricks like this when things aren’t going her way.”
“But Miss Gianna said that’s not the case this time.”
“That’s just because she’s too kind. Miss Gianna said the same thing even when Miss Idel hit her last time.”
Somehow, the story had morphed into Idel hitting Gianna, making the atmosphere even more ominous.
“And to be honest, even Miss Idel’s usual behavior has always been so…”
“…Yeah, it has been a bit like that. Even if she’s really sick…”
One of the servants momentarily lowered his voice and glanced towards the door.
Noting that the door was tightly shut without a hint of a breeze getting through, they shrugged slightly and whispered quietly.
“Who said she could wander around while being punished?”
Isn’t this all her fault?
Starting with the servant’s short sneer at those words, a subtle atmosphere flowed through the hallway.
It was a result of the ongoing commotion, Idel’s carefully managed misdeeds, and Melisa’s words.
If Idel had seen this herself, she would have welcomed it with open arms. At that moment, a sound of heavy breathing came from the stairwell.
Feeling the presence, the servants nudged each other with their elbows.
“Hey.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Amidst the now silent servants, an elderly man hurried his steps, as if he had been summoned.
It was the ducal family’s personal physician, Aiman, who had rushed in at the sudden call.
“Phew, phew! Alright, is this the right room?”
“Yes, Dr. Aiman. The duke and duchess have been waiting for a long time. You can go right in.”
“Understood. How serious is Miss Idel’s condition?”
“…I might have misjudged due to my ignorance, but it doesn’t seem too severe. It looks like she was out for a while.”
“Really? The duke kept urging me, so I thought it was a serious problem, but this is strange.”
The servants bowed their heads a little deeper at Aiman’s puzzled look.
Aiman, who didn’t notice the subtle change in tone, simply straightened his clothes and went into the room.
Behind the now-firmly shut door, the servants exchanged looks with each other.
Then they spoke in a kindly tone to the tense Diane.
“Hey, Diane.”
“Hmm?”
“If Miss Idel bothers you again, just let us know anytime. We’ll help you this time.”
The expressions of the colleagues saying this were markedly different from the grumbling they had shown earlier, causing Diane to unknowingly hold her breath and look away.
The head maid, Melisa, and now even her colleagues.
‘…Should I quit?’
Feeling the ominous atmosphere spreading around her, Diane pressed her hand against her chest.
Her heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it might burst at any moment.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
It was the next morning before Idel, who had dropped a bombshell on the entire ducal household, from the servants to the Duke and Duchess, finally opened her eyes.
The ceiling was familiar yet unfamiliar.
After moving her hands for a moment, Idel realized her body had recovered as if it had never been ill and let out a long sigh.
The chaos of the previous day flashed through her groggy mind.
She remembered being pulled into an embrace after hearing Melisa’s command.
‘…Did everything go wrong?’
She was unsure of the outcome due to the myriad of complications involved.
The risk she had to bear from Gianna’s intervention was troubling from the start.
Idel had caused a scene in front of everyone by cursing Gianna and crying uncontrollably, but that alone wasn’t enough to ease her anxiety. Why?
‘Because I collapsed suddenly!’
Idel buried her face in her hands and kicked her legs back and forth.
Remembering the Clementine family members’ expressions when she collapsed made her vision go dark.
A young child, who had failed to escape the Clementine residence due to being unable to adapt to the new environment, collapsed in tears of frustration and sorrow.
‘Summing it up like this makes it even more depressing.’
But still, she was just a child. No matter how badly children behaved, seeing a child cry so miserably in front of you would naturally soften one’s heart.
Idel buried her face in the pillow and prayed fervently.
‘Please, I hope the people’s attitude does not change. No, I’ll somehow manage my image… At least, I hope they didn’t say something like “Oh, it turns out she’s a kind and sensitive child” in front of Melisa after I collapsed!’
The thought of Melisa, in her soured mood, cursing her even more sent shivers down her spine. Just as she was about to hastily get up, the door creaked open.
Caught off guard by the unexpected timing, Idel was unable to move, her eyes meeting those of the visitor as she was halfway up from the bed.
“…You’re awake.”
‘Vincent Clementine.’
Idel silently called the visitor’s name in her mind.
Just like in the bushes before and now, why did he always appear at such unexpected moments?
Idel slowly sat up on the bed as Vincent steadily approached her.
She slightly lifted her downcast eyes to observe his expression.
He was someone who usually hid his emotions well, so reading him wasn’t easy, but he didn’t seem drastically different from usual.
Vincent approached the bedside, sat down on a chair for examinations, and asked Idel,
“How are you feeling?”
“…I’m fine.”
“Fever.”
Instead of answering, Idel shook her head. Silence fell between them once again.
In the suffocating silence, Idel and Vincent were lost in their own thoughts.
Idel was observing whether Vincent Clemantine’s attitude had remained the same, while Vincent…
‘So what’s the matter?’
‘The fever is quite high. But…’
Vincent Clemantine was recalling the diagnosis Aiman had given the previous day regarding Idel’s collapse.
To summarize, Doctor Aiman said that the reason Idel fainted was due to “psychological stress.”
‘Considering all the symptoms, it doesn’t seem like she has a cold or any particular illness. But for her to suddenly develop a fever and collapse like this can only be explained by the overwhelming psychological pressure she has been under.’
‘…Pressure, huh.’
‘Since the young lady is still quite young, and considering the various disturbances she has recently caused… her mental instability may have manifested as an actual physical illness. I think it would be best to observe her a little longer.’
Remembering Aiman’s words, Vincent gazed intently at Idel with a troubled expression.
Despite her claim of being fine, the child still lacked color in her face and seemed unstable in some way.
Especially the way she kept glancing at him, as if watching his reaction.
“…Ha.”
Without realizing it, Vincent let out a sigh and briefly clenched his fist.
Aiman’s diagnosis and Melisa’s words were weighing heavily on Vincent’s mind.
No matter how innocent the child was, he simply could not bring himself to love her.
He had no confidence in doing so.
‘But leaving the child who collapsed from the pressure in this state also…’
Unable to decide how to approach Idel, Vincent did not utter a single word to her.
‘I didn’t even come here expecting her to be awake.’
Meanwhile, Idel had been intently observing every one of Vincent’s actions, and after detecting a sense of guilt from him, she noticed something new.
‘What? Could it be that the Duke is also the same type of person as Gianna?’
Idel’s eyes trembled with this unexpected realization.
“No, despite being a melodramatic novel character, I thought he was somewhat rational, but I thought it was because of the Duchess.”
Even when he searched his memory again, the Duke’s eyes and manner were undeniably cold.
‘It seems she is just poorly educated.’
‘Idel, stop being so spoiled and stand up properly.’
Anyone can see that this is a typical father in a melodramatic novel who tells you, “I’ll give you money, so don’t expect any love from me.”
Ignoring the throbbing in her head, Idel recalled another fact she had overlooked.
‘The Duke died at Idel’s birthday party.’
Setting aside the birthday party itself, how could Idel kill someone as strong as the Duke?
‘The answer is obvious.’
Despite going through a series of events in the original story, the Duke ultimately opened his heart to Idel.
The moment she realized this, and the moment she detected a glimpse of emotion from the Duke, she felt as if she had been splashed with cold water, regaining her senses.
There was nothing good about them growing closer.
‘The sooner the Duke opens his heart to me, the more opportunities Melisa will have to use me.’
That meant saving the Duke would become even more difficult.
With a changed mindset, Idel suddenly spoke to Vincent.
“Do you dislike me, Duke?”
“What?”
“I don’t like you either.”
