Chapter 41
***
lody turned her gaze back to Isaiah, whose face was flushed with agitation, his expression full of confusion.
“Isaiah, there are a few things I want to ask my mother.”
She spoke in a gentle tone, as if soothing her precious friend’s troubled heart.
“They might seem trivial, but to , they are quite serious matters.”
For instance, matters like birthdays.
She didn’t want to make those around her feel uncomfortable every ti her birthday was ntioned.
It might be trivial, but it was important to her.
“I’m not going to see my mother because I’ve forgotten how I’ve lived.”
lody took Isaiah’s hands, gripping them tightly, just as he had done to her monts before.
“I’m going because I’ve decided how I want to live my life.”
lody stood there for a long while, holding Isaiah’s hands.
“Don’t lie!”
He pushed her hands away roughly and yelled. The force of his push caused lody to stumble and fall to the ground.
“…!”
Isaiah was visibly shocked by lody’s fall, as if he had received a great blow.
“Isaiah.”
lody, with Claude’s help, got up and called out to him tenderly. However, it seed her words didn’t reach his heart.
He murmured sothing inaudible, his lips barely moving, then abruptly turned and began to run away.
Soon, his fellow knights caught up to him.
“Wait…!”
lody called out to the knights urgently. She didn’t want Isaiah to be punished in any way.
Just then, Claude spoke in a stern voice.
“The punishnt will be decided by the Duke. Until then, ensure the squire’s safety.”
He emphasized ‘safely,’ to reassure lody.
The knights, though not keen on the idea of their squire being judged by the Duke, had no choice but to comply.
After all, it was true that Isaiah had recklessly taken lody, a child under the Duke’s protection.
“…Isaiah.”
When lody called his na in a sad tone, his lips moved slightly, muttering sothing.
‘Liar.’
That seed to be what he was saying. lody smiled bitterly. In the end, she had lied to him, so his words weren’t entirely wrong.
lody watched with concern as the knights took Isaiah away.
She was glad to have t Isaiah again. But what if this was their final farewell? What would she do then?
“It’ll be okay.”
lody turned her head towards the voice beside her.
Claude was looking down at her, their eyes eting instantly.
“It’s just that his head is hot right now. Once he calms down and reflects on the situation, he’ll surely want to apologize to you, Miss lody.”
“I should be the one to apologize first. I lied. I promised not to co et my mother, but…”
“Even so.”
Claude glanced briefly at lody’s wrist. Red marks were left where she had been held strongly for too long.
Noticing his gaze, lody quickly hid her arms behind her back.
“It didn’t hurt at all!”
“You’re lying.”
At his accusation of lying, lody made a slightly sad face.
“Ah, it did hurt, but it’s okay.”
“If you want, you can co back here later.”
At his suggestion, lody shook her head. Despite the friction with Isaiah, her determination was still firm.
“It’s okay.”
“You’re brave.”
He smiled and admired her, just as he had done in the carriage earlier. He even extended one hand to her in the sa manner.
“Take
with you. It seems I’ve beco necessary.”
Surrounded by the squire in charge of guidance and the knights drawn by the commotion, lody had no choice but to place her hand in Claude’s.
“But, sir.”
As they passed through the long corridor, lody quietly asked him a question.
“How did you know to co?”
“Hmm.”
Claude touched his chin as if pondering sothing.
“Actually, I saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“I saw Isaiah Mullern discover you and quickly run sowhere else.”
Claude had spotted Isaiah about ten minutes earlier while he was idly passing ti in the carriage.
He knew Isaiah well enough to expect him to greet lody right away, but the fact that he ran off sowhere else seed worrying.
Worried, Claude followed lody.
He was concerned about being stopped on the way in, but as soon as he presented his identification at the office, the person waiting there said, ‘Ah, we’ve been expecting you,’ and readily opened the door, allowing him to enter quickly.
“I see.”
lody nodded slightly and soon after said, “Thank you.”
“If you’re that thankful, co visit my room more often. There’s plenty of work waiting for your diligent labor.”
Ah, she’d forgotten. This man didn’t keep anything in his mind except for his sister and his studies.
But having received his help, lody couldn’t bring herself to say she didn’t want to.
“Ah, okay. I’ll co… and help with the work more often.”
“Happily?”
“Of course.”
Claude chuckled a little at lody’s face, which clearly showed she didn’t want to work in his room. Her whole body seed to be saying it.
He then tapped lody’s forehead, which was overshadowed by despair, with his fingertips.
“You’re lying again.”
At his observation, lody’s face turned away in a different direction, as if she wanted to say, ‘I had no other choice but to respond like that.’
Just then, the squire in charge stopped in front of a door.
He pulled out a large key and began to unlock the three locks.
“I’ll wait for you.”
When Claude said that, lody asked if he wasn’t going to co in with her.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“If I et your mother, then I’d have to share my mother’s story as well.”
lody knew sowhat about that… Besides, when it ca to his mother, lody probably knew more than Claude did.
According to the original story, the Duke had kept the truth about the Duchess to himself.
Nevertheless, she decided to respect his discomfort regarding the topic of mothers.
“I’ll be back. I’ll be waiting.”
“Are you going to wait in an uncomfortable posture again?”
“I ca here because I wanted to make you uncomfortable.”
His light jest ended as the door opened with a clank. lody took a deep breath and stared at the half-open door.
The reception room filled with delicately crafted
furniture was visible. However, it didn’t look ordinary.
In the middle, there was a dense lattice, dividing the spacious reception room exactly in half.
On the other side of the lattice stood one person.
Holding the dense lattice with both hands, looking desperately through the slightly opened door.
‘…Mother.’
Unknowingly, lody clenched her fists tightly. Fortunately, there was no hesitation in her steps as she moved forward.
***
“Oh my!”
As soon as her mother saw lody, she cried out in a voice that sounded like she was about to weep.
“You ca, you really ca.”
She desperately reached out her arms through the narrow lattice, as if she wanted to touch lody’s cheek.
lody just gazed at her mother, then followed the squire’s guidance to close the door and take a seat.
Her mother’s eyes drew closer, causing her heart to race a bit, but she wasn’t afraid.
“So? Are those nobles bullying you? You’re not being treated like a slave, are you? Tell !”
Her mother asked that right off the bat. It was an inappropriate question coming from a mother who had treated her daughter like a slave.
lody didn’t respond. But it didn’t seem to matter. Her mother’s monologue continued without pause.
“I have sothing to tell you. You’ll listen, right? You see, I t this priest here.”
“Mother.”
lody didn’t want to hear the continuous talk, so she interrupted her mother.
“No, listen to . He scared , saying if I die like this, I’ll receive a great punishnt. Can you believe it? All night long, he’s been threatening , saying it’s all written in so book full of letters I can’t even read, huh?”
It was then that lody realized.
Her mother must have heard stories about the afterlife. She had never believed in anything like religion, but as death approached, she must have felt the need for sothing to lean on.
‘People facing death suddenly want to atone for their sins. There’s no reason for you to be used by that feeling.’
The Duke’s prediction was right. Her mother had planned to seek forgiveness from lody and die with a clear conscience.
“Don’t apologize.”
“No, what are you saying? Just listen for a mont, I have to tell you…”
“Don’t apologize to . And don’t answer questions I haven’t asked.”
“lody! You!”
Her mother couldn’t contain her temper and shouted loudly. But soon, her face turned pale, and she looked bewildered, begging.
“No, it’s not like that. I have sothing to tell you, but if you say not to, then…”
Her words naturally shifted to blaming lody. Looking back, it had always been like this. She incessantly spoke as if all the misfortune was brought by others.
When in reality, it was all scraped together by her mother’s own hands.
“So just listen quietly for a mont, alright? I told you I have sothing to say…”
lody abruptly stood up from her seat. Her mother, taken aback, quickly closed her mouth.
“I’ve already told you.”
She glared at her mother, imitating ‘Claude’s devilish expression’.
“Don’t apologize to . And don’t answer questions I haven’t asked. I won’t spend ti on anything else.”
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