Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

The tea time I thought would end faster only ended after the sun went down.

Tired of the constant chatter without them getting tired, I put my tea down and left the drawing room.

“Escal, let’s go back.”

“… Yes.”

Escal, who was sitting in the corner of the living room, approached with his shoulders drooping.

“What were you doing?”

“I was just there.”

“Did you make a lot of friends?”

Escal hesitated for a moment, then nodded briefly.

It won’t be easy to make friends from the first day.

I grabbed Escal’s hand and headed towards the carriage. The child in the carriage looked out of window with a melancholy look.

“Are not you hungry?”

“It’s okay.”

“How was your day?”

“Uh… It was fun.”

I don’t think it was that much fun.

Had he been tormented by mischievous children because of my absence?

Concerned, I moved to the side of Escal and asked.

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I repeated the same question several times with a different feeling than usual, but the only answer that came back was that nothing happened.

Were you shocked to see the talent show?

Maybe it was stimulated by his peers drawing pictures, reading poems and piano.

‘It would be nice if it was a positive stimulus.’

I returned to the mansion, comforting the depressed Escal.

“I’m here, Mary.”

“Are you here? How about it? Did you have fun?”

“No need to say. I’m so tired.”

I shook my head and sighed.

“You suffered. Did you make any friends?”

“… I will go in.”

“Oh, yes. Escal also suffered.”

Escal, who refused to answer, bowed and turned around. The footsteps into the room seemed heavy.

“What happened?”

“No. I’ll go in and get some rest.”

“Yes.”

I headed to the room to avoid Mary’s questioning.

When the door opened, Helios, who was sitting on the bed, got up.

“Did you have a good trip?”

“Helios? What brings you here? at this hour.”

“I came early to see you.”

I sat down in front of the dressing table, glaring at his smirk.

The ornaments that were hung upside down in order not to get looked down by the ladies were like a gem.

As I was struggling with a hairpin that didn’t come off easily, Helios asked, pulling the pin out with a delicate touch.

“How was the meeting?”

“How is it? It was as promised.”

“What were you determined to do?”

I turned towards him and vented my anger.

“No, why do noble wives like to talk about other people so much?”

“That’s the way it is.”

“It’s true, why are they talking about breaking pottery while fighting with a married couple in someone else’s house?”

Helios chuckled.

“Whose story is that?”

“Countess Tilburn. You’re dumbfounded, too, right?”

“She is always interested in other people’s business. Didn’t anyone bother you?”

Helios pretended to loosen the hook of the necklace and secretly stroked the nape of my neck.

I slapped the back of his hand.

“There’s no one to bother me. I don’t know if she tried to bother me.”

“Who is that?”

“… Duchess Eaton.”

At my words, Helios’s forehead narrowed slightly.

“Did you talk to her?”

“She spoke first. I dealt with it to see if there was anything to dig up, but I couldn’t even talk about the incident.”

“Well done. You just have to stay still.”

“I still wanted to help…”

“Just being by my side is enough.”

Helios whispered as he pulled the laces of my dress.

I pushed him away with the palm of my hand to avoid doing something stupid again, and then I removed the earring.

He looked at my face through the mirror and opened his mouth.

“How about Escal?”

Asking about Escal’s well-being is a huge step forward.

“I think he was a little shocked, but… We’ll talk about it in a few days.”

“There are so many tall kids, I don’t know if he will be okay.”

“Are you worried?”

“It’s not that. I’m just saying it’s like that.”

Helios bluntly faltered in his answer.

I rolled my eyes.

“My Majesty the Empress said that Escal looked just like you.”

“… Is that so?”

“Don’t you think so? Your hair color, your features except for the eye color, he looks exactly like you.”

“Honestly, my face looks a little better.”

Look at this guy talking.

I shook my head and got up from my chair.

After walking around all day, my swollen legs hurt and I moved to the bed, and he sat down next to me and started rubbing my legs.

“Don’t overdo it. You’re having a hard time….”

“Just stay here. it’s okay.”

Helios gently rubbed my leg, not paying attention to my suggestion.

The smile on the side of his face had disappeared.

“Are things not going well?”

“My wife is quick-witted.”

Helios nodded bitterly.

“There is too little evidence than I expected. No witness.”

“What about the soldiers then? Don’t they open their mouths?”

“I interrogated them, but I guess they were just brokers.”

“If they are brokers….”

“Their duty was to take them to a designated place. Then, later, someone took the children.”

“Then, if you check the surroundings, maybe there will be a clue?”

“I did an inquiry, but no one knew. Seeing that the place and time are different every time, I think they are very thorough.”

“What the hell did they do that for?”

“I don’t know either.”

Helios took his hand off my leg and shook his head.

“What happens if the specific charges are not revealed?”

“He will only be punished for admitting to receiving bribes.”

If you call it bribery, you can get over it if you just vomit the money you received.

The punishment is too light for what he did with Baron Rockefeller.

Helios looked at my dark expression and spoke with difficulty.

“Actually… I have one clue.”

“What?”

“Thread.”

“The thread?”

“There was a black thread on the spot where Baron Rockefeller was attacked.”

“Aren’t black threads common?”

“I thought so too, so I entrusted the investigation, but they said it was Glatsan yarn.”

“Is it Glatsan yarn?”

As Helios said, glatsan yarn is a rare thread in the Empire.

The preference for glatsan yarn was low because the yarn was coarse and thick, and the price was quite high.

However, because it is thick and tough and difficult to tear with a knife, it was sometimes used as a fabric for uniforms or knights’ clothes.

“Wouldn’t you find something if you search the fabric store?”

“Well. So I asked them to investigate if there was any place that had glatsan yarn.”

I’m sure Helios was thinking about it, too.

I smiled brightly and encouraged him.

“I am sure you will find it.”

“ If you say so, I think it will really be.”

He put his mouth lightly on my cheek and took it off.

… I’m too used to skinship, so it’s a big deal.

As he lowered his gaze and rubbed my flushed cheeks, Helios spoke again.

“Oh, and I have something to discuss with you.”

****

“Thank you for coming all the way here.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to get some air from your nose after a long time.”

Countess Tilburn smiled and waved her hand.

Grand Duchess Crawford raised and lowered her eyebrows.

“Yes, what brought you here?”

You have a quick temper.

I pulled out a quilt with a stern expression on my face.

“Actually, because of the Dillua Academy, I have something I want to ask the two of you.”

“Dillua Academy?”

“The place where Baron Rockefeller did something terrible?”

“Yes.”

I slowly started explaining.

“As you two know, the academy was shut down when Baron Rockefeller’s crimes were discovered, but the students who attended were still staying in the dormitories.”

“I see.”

“But recently, Baron Rockefeller died, making it impossible to run the academy.”

“You can’t send your children to where that happened.”

Grand Duchess Crawford said with a look of discomfort.

I opened my mouth carefully.

“Your Majesty the Grand Duchess is right, but the problem is that if the academy disappears, there are not a few children who have nowhere to go.”

“Hmm. I heard that there is a tuition fee there?”

“Yes. It was 20 gold a year.”

Baron Rockefeller’s purpose was to recruit children, so tuition was fairly cheap.

“So what are you talking about?”

“I would like the Grand Duchess to take over the Academy.”

“Taking over the Academy?”

Looking at the thick wrinkles on the Grand Gongbi’s forehead, I asked lightly.

“I will pay the money needed to run the academy. Grand Duchess, please lend me only your name.”

“I can’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Dillua Academy, to be blunt, is a place that is nothing short of the wealth of the empire, so it should be shut down in principle.”

Countess Tilburn nodded.

“But when the academy is closed, the children who used to go there have nowhere to go. Also, commoners will be deprived of educational opportunities.”

“Grand Duchess, please make it a place where children can safely walk around.”