“You’re ……, what do you mean?”
Joshua’s smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and Eugenia felt a strong sense of unease.
Eugenia looked at Joshua with shaky eyes.
“Wait a minute.”
The boy jumped up from his seat with a smug look on his face and scurried away.
“Sherry, wait…….”
“Whoa, shoo shoo? Sherri’s sleepy…….”
“Yeah, sorry, wait.”
Joshua soothed his twin sister and pulled something out from under Selmia’s pillow.
“Found it.”
Joshua held it up and walked straight over to Eugenia.
“Give me your hand. Come on.”
She hesitantly opened her hands toward him.
Then Joshua spilled what he’d been holding in his tiny hands all over Eugenia’s palm.
“You can have this. I’ll give it all to you.”
Something hard filled her hand.
Eugenia shook her head, looked down at that, and muttered, “What the hell is this?”
“What the hell is this, Master!”
Eugenia’s eyes fluttered open.
She swallowed dryly and finally managed to speak.
“Where did all this…… come from?”
Joshua must have interpreted her lowered voice as a sign of need because he grinned cheerfully.
“You want them, don’t you?”
What the boy brought back were three pieces of jewelry. One was a brooch, one was a pendant, and the other was a red egg ring.
“Master…….”
Eugenia felt her heart sink.
Unaware of her feelings, Joshua stretched out his chest toward her.
“You can have this when you become our guardian. I’ll give it to you as a reward.”
The boy continued to smirk, as if proud of himself.
“I’ve taken only the finest of my mother’s jewelry. The other servants would be very disappointed if they knew.”
The Marquis and Marquise are dead. So for the twins, the brooch and pendant were as good as their parents’ keepsakes.
“These two things are not for me.”
‘They were like mementos to them.’
In addition, both had lily patterns (⚜) symbolizing the Marquis of Kereiton used as a frame to wrap around the jewelry.
Although it was a common pattern, it was obvious that if it were sold, it would be treated as stolen goods and cause even greater trouble.
‘Joshua is too young to have thought of that,’ she thought, ‘but if he did, the other one would be…….’
Eugenia’s heart sank as she looked at the last item, the ring.
She knew what it was.
‘A fake ring.’
The Marquise had been scammed by a jeweler into buying it.
What looked like a gemstone was actually just tinted glass. But the shape was elegant enough, the color brilliant enough, that she hadn’t gotten rid of it so that Selmia could use it to play with.
‘I can’t tell it’s fake.’
Eugenia closed her eyes tightly.
“What shall I do?
Joshua, apparently reading her hesitation all too easily, added urgently.
“I’m not asking you to be responsible for us for the rest of our lives, I’m just saying…….”
The strength drained from the boy’s voice.
“Just get us out of here and get us as far as the Empire. If you do that, these jewels are all yours.”
His voice begins to change, slowly, to one that sounds like he’s dropping all pride and begging desperately.
Finally, the boy shakes his head once more.
“We can go to the Duchy of Heraith in the Empire of Eisa. The last Duchess is my aunt and grandmother. So I’m asking you to ..take me to the Duchy, Eugenia, please.”
“Aunt,” he said, meaning that the twins were in such bad shape that they had to rely on such a distant relative.
Eugenia bit her lower lip hard.
‘I want to pretend I don’t know.”‘
‘Because I want to live.’
But her adult conscience was nagging at her, making her sick.
Her head kept saying, “What should I do?” but her heart had already made up its mind.
‘These children don’t have to roll on the floor to get their revenge, do they?’
Maybe they eat well, sleep well, grow up well…… and then avenge their parents?
And if they do, they’ll be back in the same league as the original.
“You promised……. to be our protector.”
Joshua’s voice began to tear up.
In that moment, Eugenia felt an indescribable sense of remorse.
‘I must be the one who gave this child false hope.’
She hadn’t meant to do that…….
She didn’t know what to say in response, feeling as if she had unintentionally hurt him.
Eugenia, who had been chewing on her lower lip, spoke up after a long time, as if she had made up her mind.
“Master.”
“…….”
“Put these away.”
Eugenia turned to Joshua and held out the jewelry she’d taken from the boy.
The boy took it as a refusal, but he couldn’t take it anymore and rolled his eyes.
Deciding that he couldn’t hang on any longer, he reached out with trembling hands and grabbed the items Eugenia held out to him again.
He was about to take the last ring when Eugenia refused to hand over the fake jewelry and closed her fist.
“……Eugenia?”
Joshua stared at her, puzzled, and Eugenia rolled her eyes.
“I think this ring will be enough for me.”
“……!”
Joshua’s face, which had been clouded with gloom, suddenly lit up.
Still a child.
Eugenia couldn’t bear to see another glimmer of despair cross the boy’s face.
It was his last conscience as an adult.
‘Even if I sold it, I wouldn’t have anything left…’…….
If she could reassure Joshua by keeping it, she could pretend she didn’t know the jewelry was fake.
‘I’ll just take him as far as the Duke of Hareith, and then find him a new guardian.’
She reminded her, to calm her anxiety, that, unlike Eileen, she would not be completely responsible for the twins.
Though her decision to help made her feel a little lighter, Eugenia straightened her expression.
“But Master, is it a promise?”
She held up her pinky finger, her face stern.
“I’m really only going to take you as far as Duke Hareith, do you understand?”
“……Yes!”
Joshua looked up at her with tear-streaked eyes and hooked his own pinky finger.
* * *
Eugenia wanted to leave the Marquess of Keraton immediately, but Joshua wanted to stop by their room for a moment.
“Let’s write the contract, Eugenia.”
She scratched furiously at the hardened ink with her quill, forcing herself to scribble something down on the paper.
Eugenia, who had been waiting and watching the boy’s behavior, spoke up.
“Master, why me? You had other servants, too.”
“Must there be a reason?”
“Of course.”
Joshua, who had been hesitating to answer, sighed heavily at Eugenia’s firmness and opened his mouth.
“You were the one who hated us the least.”
“You mean …… me?”
Eugenia asked in surprise, and Joshua nodded with a serious face.
“The other maids were openly bullying me and Sherry, but you…….”
Joshua hesitated for a moment before finishing.
“You brought us food every day.”
For that reason alone.
Eugenia felt her heart grow fonder than it needed to be.
“I’m the one who stole Lady Selmia’s things.”
“I know, but anyone who gives you food is a good person…….”
After a few more words, Joshua seemed to have finished writing.
Approaching, he pushed the paper in Eugenia’s direction.
“Read it.”
“Sure.”
She took the paper obediently. She was about to give him a quick reading, but her brow furrowed as she read the contents.
Without taking her eyes off the paper, she asked, her voice trembling.
“Do you really have to write something like this?”
“Eugenia has a habit of taking a bite out of everything, so let’s be clear.”
Joshua said sharply.
‘Oh, he’s such a little brat!’
Eugenia grumbled, rereading the contract that Joshua had written in his crooked handwriting.
Eugenia was to deliver Joshua and Selmia to Duke Hareith of the Eisa Empire, where they would meet their new guardians.
Because she received a jeweled ring from Joshua as compensation, she must pay a penalty of one million gold if she fails to fulfill the contract.
“One million gold…….”
Isn’t this penalty too much for a fake ring?
“It’s a completely unfair contract.”
Eugenia protested in a disgruntled voice.
“Master, I think the penalty part is too high.”
Joshua glared at her and said.
“Why are you worrying about the penalty already, Eugenia, is it because you’re planning to abandon us halfway through?”
“Oh, no, I’m not, I’m signing it, yes, I’m signing it now.”
Eugenia shook her head and scribbled her name at the very end.
Joshua’s lips curled up in satisfaction.
“Good, now I’ll keep this for you. I’ll throw it away when we get to the Duchy of Heraith.”
“Yes, please…….”
Eugenia muttered to herself, but then, as if remembering something, she spoke up.
“Then I have a condition.”
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Gon. Next post will be released on March, 31.
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