Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

“Why the Duke? Did you two have a fight?”

Mary asked with a surprised face. I shook my head furiously.

No way. It’s a problem because he’s so annoying that I’d rather have a fight.

After I said I was leaving, Helios’ obsession grew stronger.

When he wasn’t working, he stuck to me and wouldn’t leave, and even while I was doing my work in the office, he ran to me and watched what I was doing.

It was quite uncomfortable and annoying, but I couldn’t tell him not to do it because I was the one who fueled his anxiety.

I sided with Escal at every moment of choice, so Helios may not believe me.

No matter how much I say I love him, it will be difficult to shake off his anxiety.

I’ll definitely side with Escal when the crucial moment comes.

But I wish there was a way to convey my true feelings.

“Oh, I got it! Is it because of a present for the Duke?”

“Present? What present?”

“Did you forget? It’s Duke’s birthday soon.”

“Helios birthday?”

Mary poured out an excited voice, as if how could she forget it.

“Oh my gosh! no madam! No matter how many years you haven’t seen each other, how can you forget the Duke’s birthday?”

“Huh? uh…”

“In the past, you had been tormenting me for three months about what kind of gift you should give the Duke!”

I see.

“I guess my memory is bad these days. It keeps blinking.”

“Ah… Well, yes, you could.”

Mary, who had been spitting in excitement, suddenly calmed down.

At first glance, it seemed that the gloomy mood had passed, but I couldn’t be sure that it was an instant.

“Anyway, so what are you going to prepare as a present?”

“Well, what would be good?”

I was deep in thought.

Even so, there were a lot of things I felt sorry for and thankful for, so I wanted to do something for him.

I couldn’t think of what to do for Helios so he will like it.

I don’t think there’s much meaning to being able to buy with money because he’s a person who lacks nothing…

“Shall I embroider?”

“Do you know how to embroider?”

Mary asked with a questionable face.

“Yes.”

I nodded confidently.

“I wish he had embroidery on his pockets. Please prepare.”

“Yes.”

****

After my mother abandoned me and left the house, it was my grandmother who raised me, who was left alone.

My grandmother, who had run a fabric shop when she was young, started embroidering as a pastime when she got older.

I used to follow my grandmother to embroider, and at first, even my grandmother, who was scolding me for throwing away expensive threads, had to admit that I was so good at it.

“Huh, it’s very complicated.”

I should have asked for the design.

I shrugged at the crooked lines drawn on the palm-sized pocket.

It will be fine if I cover it with thread. After all, the heart is more important to a gift like this.

He threaded the needle, rationalizing that Helios would like it even if the shape was a little ugly.

It’s been a while since I’ve done sewing, so my hand movements weren’t the same as before.

After clenching my tingling hand once, and then picking up the needle again, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

Escal peeked out from behind the door.

“Can I come in?”

“Yes. Come on in.”

Escal opened the door and rushed to me with a pleasant consent.

As usual, [Introduction to Swordsmanship] was held in the child’s hand.

Escal put the book down on the table and looked into my hand.

“What is it?”

“It’s called embroidery, and it’s actually painting.”

“Are you drawing with yarn?”

“Yeah, isn’t the leaf pattern on Escal’s clothes too? It was all painted with a thread.”

“Wow.”

The child looked down at the leaves painted on his sleeve and raised his head twinkly.

“What are you going to paint?”

“A black panther.”

“A black panther?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because of his dark hair and dark eyes, whenever I saw Helios, I thought of the Black Panther.

A black panther that is ferocious before taming, but infinitely gentle after taming.

In comparison, Escal is still like a cat.

I smiled as I messed up Escal’s hair.

Escal, who was looking at the design with curious eyes, blinked round eyes and asked.

“Who is this for?”

“The Duke.”

“Ah…”

It seems that he thought I was going to give it to him, but there was a bit of regret in the brief groan.

If I make a gifts for Helios, I’ll have to make one for Escal as well.

He showed a sign of disappointment, so I quickly added.

“Next month is the Duke’s birthday.”

“The Duke’s birthday?”

“Yes.”

“So until then, it’s a secret from the Duke, understand?”

Escal nodded eagerly as if he understood. Then he took a book and sat down on the sofa a short distance away.

“Can I read a book here? I will be quiet.”

“Sure, it would be better if Escal was by my side.”

“Hehe.”

Escal smiled innocently at my words.

Well, maybe a chick would be better than a cat for Escal.

As I started sewing with a smile, Escal read the book seriously.

He hasn’t mastered writing perfectly yet, but he is a child reading a book on his own.

In the quiet room, only the occasional sound of the pages turning could be heard.

I was concentrating on sewing, thinking that he was reading hard, but when I suddenly looked up, Escal was dozing off with an open book.

“Escal?”

It would be uncomfortable to sleep like that.

I put down the cloth and quietly approached Escal and held the child up.

He’s gained quite a bit of weight lately, but it’s still lighter than children his age, so I could hold it without difficulty.

“Uhm….”

As I laid her on the bed, Escal babbled and tossed his body.

“You look good.”

I wish I could sleep like this.

I put a blanket on the sleeping child and turned around, when I heard a knock.

I silenced the sound of footsteps in fear that the child would wake up and opened the door.

“Madam.”

“Shh.”

I asked Mary to be quiet and standing in front of the door and left the room.

“What’s up?”

“A man named Baron Rockefeller has come.”

“Baron Rockefeller?”

Why did he come here?

Helios hasn’t told him yet that he won’t send Escal to the academy.

“What should I do?”

Mary looked into my eyes and asked.

Apparently, he came to visit when Helios was away.

It’s wrong anyway, but there’s no need to drag it out.

“Guide me to the drawing room.”

*****

After visiting Dillua Academy with Helios, I asked Merlin to gather information about Baron Rockefeller.

Not much information was found.

He was born as the eldest son of a humble Baron, he made a lot of money in an unknown way, and paid bribes to those in power to become the dean of the Dillua Academy.

I wondered how he made the money, but Merlin said he didn’t know anything about it.

It’s definitely not in a legal way.

If you want to deal with such a person, you’ll have to prepare well on this side as well.

I changed into my new dress and adorned it with the expensive accessories that Helios gave me.

People who think money is the best are subservient to rich people.

I deliberately took my time and slowly prepared and headed for the drawing room.

Step step. The sound of my feet rolling on the floor could be heard from outside the hallway, dissatisfied with the long wait.

As I entered the drawing room, the Baron saw me and stood up slowly.

“I came to see Your Excellency.”

Why is it me not the Helios that he spit out without a formal greeting?

I also responded without losing to the first words that showed how ridiculously he looked at me.

“The Duke is out. I didn’t know you would come so suddenly without an appointment. Sit down.”

I sat first, and the Baron reluctantly sat down.

Mary, who was staring at the door, asked quietly.

“Would you like some refreshments?”

“No, it won’t take long, so you don’t have to. Get out for a while.”

“Yes.”

As soon as Mary left, I got to the point.

“The Duke will be back late in the evening for an important appointment, so tell me what’s going on and I’ll tell him.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

The Baron said, trying to hide his displeasure.

“I have come to inform you of Escal’s admission date. First Tuesday of next month….”

“I decided to cancel it.”

“Cancel?”

The Baron’s eyes turned wild in an instant.

“Cancel, what do you mean?”

Fluffy stood up at the menacing tone, but calmly answered.

“No matter how much I think about it, Escal is too young for the academy.”

“Age doesn’t matter. I promise that I will do my best so that there is no difficulty in adapting.”

“Even if the Baron takes care of him, you can’t just chase Escal all day, can’t you? I should spend most of my time with my children, but honestly, I don’t feel at ease.”

“Is it because of that day’s accident?”

The Baron asked bluntly.