Chapter 13
“You, you’re the Duchess of Frantor?”
Eva seemed to have assumed that the Helena Eskel from the rumors wouldn’t be here.
Even if she were, Eva probably hadn’t thought the woman chatting warmly with Jeremy was Helena.
In that case, did she speak so recklessly without even knowing who she was?
It was even more absurd.
“Did you not hear what I just said?”
Helena neither got angry nor sounded sarcastic.
She simply approached with her usual indifferent expression.
Even so, Eva seemed cornered, unable to respond.
“Why is my name coming out of your mouth?”
Without waiting for her answer, Helena briefly glanced at the state of the Countess of Enphirem.
No one was stepping up to help her.
Because that made it all the more entertaining.
A mistress overstepping her bounds, and the sorrowful figure of the Countess because of her—
this was exactly what everyone had been hoping for.
After all, it wasn’t their own problem.
“Ah, are you perhaps the Countess of Enphirem?”
Helena understood all too well how terrible it was to become a scapegoat of rumors.
She had lived her whole life like that, so how could she not?
Up close, the Countess’s face looked even more sorrowful than Helena had imagined.
She felt pity for the woman who had to swallow her pride to protect her family and her merchant guild.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I’m Helena… Eskel.”
She introduced herself as Eskel instead of Frantor.
She couldn’t allow Frantor to be dragged into any sort of conflict.
This messy fight had to start and end solely as an Eskel affair. She didn’t want to burden Caligo or the children with this.
“Of course, I know who you are. It’s an honor to meet you, Duchess,” the Countess of Enphirem greeted cautiously.
“I’m well aware of the Countess, too. I heard of your merchant guild’s remarkable reputation when I was in the West,” Helena replied.
Though now the Countess was being consumed by scandals, her merchant guild was still one that couldn’t be ignored.
After praising her and steering the conversation forward, Helena turned her gaze directly to Eva.
“But you, you have no idea who I am.”
“……”
“And who exactly are you to be so casual with my name?”
Pfft.
Someone let out a laugh.
The Countess was a well-known figure in high society.
On the other hand, Eva had been a nobody, unable to even step into society until just recently.
“…I, I am…”
Eva hesitated, unable to respond immediately, stammering with a pale face.
“I asked you. Who are you? From which family, that you dare insult me so freely?”
“I… I am from the Enphirem family…”
As everyone knew, a mistress had no official title or position.
A mistress was just a mistress—someone who could be discarded the moment her relationship with a nobleman soured.
“The Enphirem family, you say? Countess, is there someone from your family I don’t know about? The Enphirem family is so renowned that I find it hard to believe there’s anyone unfamiliar to me.”
“I’ll answer that for you, Duchess,” the Countess replied in a polite but resolute tone.
“She is… my husband’s mistress.”
“Is that so?”
Eva’s face turned red with humiliation.
“I don’t know you, and clearly, you don’t know me either. Yet you speak so recklessly about me—it’s truly astonishing.”
This was a formal social gathering.
Eva had been so consumed with slandering the Countess that she seemed to forget where she was.
A place where wealth, power, and reputation were all on the line.
“I’d rather not see you again in the future.”
“Duchess!”
It was as good as being exiled from the social scene.
Eva, seemingly not too foolish to miss the implication, cried out in frustration.
“Please, grant me punishment!”
“And how can you say that so carelessly? Do you even know what kind of punishment I might deliver?”
Helena asked with a faint smile, and Eva, trembling, clamped her mouth shut.
“I hope such incidents don’t happen again. Well then, until next time, Countess.”
With that brief farewell, Helena left the gathering.
The Countess of Enphirem followed her and spoke.
“Thank you so much, Duchess.”
“For what?”
“For helping me.”
“Helping you?” She replied indifferently.
“I wasn’t helping you.”
It was only natural to defend oneself when being insulted.
Something Helena had failed to do until recently.
“I stepped up to reclaim my honor, not to assist you. I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”
Helena didn’t want the name Eskel, which she had worked so hard to restore, to be tarnished again.
So she kept her demeanor aloof.
“Whether it was your intention or not…”
But the Countess of Enphirem was more persistent than Helena had anticipated.
Perhaps she had seen through her intentions to help her.
“I want to repay your kindness. It’s my conscience as the head of a merchant guild.”
“…”
“I may forget an insult within days, but I never forget a kindness. Not for a lifetime.”
It became clear why she had become the leader of her guild.
Helena was impressed by the Countess’s spirit.
Meeting strong people always seemed to stir something within her, like a drum beating against her timid heart, urging her to act.
As she smiled at the Countess’s words, a good idea suddenly came to her.
“Is that so? Personally, I prefer fairness to kindness.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever thought about making a deal with me?”
And with that, Helena found the solution to a problem that had been troubling her for days.
—
The problem was that more workers than expected had volunteered to make the clothes.
The news that they could earn money while helping those in need had brought a flood of volunteers.
The sheer volume of cotton and clothing they could produce had far surpassed what Frantor could handle alone.
Helena needed a sales network to distribute and sell the surplus.
Though she had connections with a merchant guild she knew from the West, their reputation wasn’t strong enough to handle such an enormous volume of cotton and clothing.
Just when she had been debating whether to ask Caligo for help, an unexpected solution presented itself.
The Countess gladly accepted Helena’s proposal.
In fact, the deal wasn’t disadvantageous to the Countess either.
“Now we’ll be able to pay the workers even more,” Helena said with satisfaction.
Feeling cheerful, she looked around to find Jeremy.
“Jeremy?”
But waiting for her was Joshua.
“If you’re looking for Jeremy, he’s with Father,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I told him to be.”
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“Yes.”
His tone was polite and formal at first glance, but his sharp eyes betrayed his true feelings.
“I want to warn you,” he said.
“All right, let’s hear it,” she replied with a faint smile.
“What is it you want to warn me about?”
“I won’t say anything about how you act with Father. After all, even if you approach him with ulterior motives, he’ll see right through you.”
However—
“If you harm Jeremy, I won’t let it slide.”
“Oh, so that’s what you wanted to warn me about?”
Even as Joshua openly expressed his hostility, Helena remained unruffled, her reaction so calm it was almost indifferent.
Seeing her like this, Joshua clenched his small fists tightly.
He had to protect Jeremy.
This woman had grown frighteningly close to him in a short time.
Jeremy already considered her his mother, even if he denied it. The way he looked up at her, the way he acted—it all told the story.
Because it had been the same back then, too.
Melissa.
From the moment they first met, the twins had called Melissa their mother and followed her.
They had given her their innocent hearts and trust.
But all they received in return was betrayal.
Joshua bit his lip as memories of the past flooded back.
‘Joshua! I don’t want to live in the same house as that woman! Waaah, she’s probably looking for me even now! She’ll yell at me again! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear any of it!’
Melissa’s constant verbal abuse and mockery.
Having seen the true nature of the woman he once believed to be his mother, Jeremy had hidden in the wardrobe, crying his heart out.
Never again. Never would he allow such a thing to happen again.
He would prevent it with his own hands.
“That’s right,” Joshua said.
“You think I approached Jeremy with bad intentions?” Helena asked.
“Don’t you?” he snapped, clearly thinking she was being obstinate.
“If not, then how did you get so close to him so quickly? And didn’t you approach the Countess of Enphirem on purpose today?”
“Joshua,” Helena said in a steady voice, “I’m asking because I truly feel sorry for you…”
“…What?”
“Have you ever considered that you might be seeing the world through a warped perspective?”
“I have. But look at the situation,” Joshua retorted.
“How can I not be wary when the daughter of Count Eskel is near my brother?”
“Oh, that makes sense. Fair enough,” Helena admitted with a nod.
“If I were you, I’d feel uneasy too.”
“Jeremy may not realize it, but I do,” he said coldly.
“I know that because of Count Eskel, my father is dead.”
“…I see,” Helena said, her smile tinged with sadness.
“I know what my father did.”
“…”
“But still… I swear, I have no ulterior motives toward you, Jeremy, or His Grace.”
She didn’t even have the time to scheme.
What could she possibly achieve with just one year?
Forcing a smile that wouldn’t come, Helena said,
“It’s the truth.”
“How can I believe that?”
“It’s true.”
“Do you have proof?”
“If I do, will you believe me?”
“What is it?” Joshua asked, his tone still sharp.
Helena faintly smiled and said,
“The fact that I know you’re lying about attending the academy.”
“…”
His lips parted in surprise, revealing that her guess had hit the mark.
Despite all his efforts to act meticulously, moments like this showed he was still just a child.
“How… how did you know that?” Joshua asked.
