âTell me, Betty. Do you remember what you ate? If you donât remember, you could be at a disadvantage.â
âI only ate apple pie, strawberry milk, caramel pudding, and waffles with syrup.â
Oops, the sparks are flying this way.
I secretly slipped on mentions of Jane, who was not here, to escape the narrowing investigation.
âI remember that the nanny really liked chocolate.â
Christine asked coldly, raising one eyebrow.
âCan you take responsibility for what you said?â
âYes, of course.â
âStop it, Christine. Who cares who ate that chocolate, really?â
âWhat did you eat, Sister? Tell me.â
âThisâŠâŠ this child reallyâŠâŠ.â
Christine interrogated her eldest sister and at the same time rang the bell and called for a servant.
âYes, Miss. Did you find it?â
âBring Jane and Sophie.â
For a moment, I thought about whether I should give credit to Christine rather than Yelena for that enormous charisma, but I changed my mind again.
Even if she reigns as a family tyrant, Christine will be possessed anyway at the age of 18. Therefore, the position of the next head of the County Mceuena was supposed to go to Yelena.
âTo me, Matthew and Yelena seem to be the owners of this clean fork, am I right?â
I responded in the most polite tone possible to the sudden question.
âYes, thatâs right, Lady. Only me and the nanny touched the food on the table.â
âI guess so. When you commoners see something like this, they rush in crazy.â
âWow, you are very wise, Lady. ThatâŠâŠ Genible? Genity?â
âGenius.â
âAh right. You must be a genius.â
Christineâs eyes were scanning my flattery up and down, perhaps wary of it. But her lips couldnât bear the coming âhuhtâ laughter.
Living as a tyrant of the County, she must have heard enough compliments, but when one sees what they like, wouldnât compliments only aggravate their thirst the more they drink them, like salt water?
Just in time, the maid who was supposed to bring Jane hurriedly came up again and reported.
âOh, Miss, Iâve been looking all over the mansion, but I canât find Jane.â
âReally? What about Sophie?â
âSophieâŠâŠ.â
When the maid gestured, the ladyâs maid who had been pale beside her made excuses in gibberish words.
âMiss, Iâm sorry! I was really going to tell Jane about what Miss said, but Mary told me to bring Missâ dress that she leftâŠâŠ.â
âSophie, do I have to listen to you?â
âHup. Iâm sorry, Miss.â
âI have to go down and listen to the piano, so go find Jane. Got it?â
Now Christine had a good idea who was the real culprit who ate her chocolate. Yelena and I were able to leave the room only after being given permission.
âShall we go down?â
On the way to the dining room, Christine continued to complain.
âI knew it. Jane needs to be enlightened on food. Anyway, she chooses only the embarrassing things to show to others.â
âIn my hometown, they say that eating well brings good luck.â
âWhat do you know? Iâm telling you this in advance, but you shouldnât do that with foods at school, okay? Donât embarrass me.â
âAh, no matter how humble I am, it will damage Ladyâs reputation.â
Christine, who had laughed at my special flattery, suddenly had a straight face. I was nervous about what she would say, but soon she opened her sharp eyes and looked at me.
âAre you doing the same to the Duke as you are doing to me now?â
At that moment, I was so shocked that the words âPlease help me!â almost came out of my mouth, but I kept my calm expression and asked back.
âYes? What did I do?â
âYou donât know what that is?â
âYes, sorry. Please teach me.â
âItâs okay to pretend to be naive in front of me, to pretend you donât understand. But the rest is up to you. If it were you, shouldnât you understand enough if I said this much?â
ââŠâŠ.â
âWell, itâs better to be overly crafty than to be stupid. I like you right now. And I donât like just anyone.â
âTha, thank you.â
In any case, following Yelena, it was clearly seen in Christineâs eyes. She will be possessed later, but her temper is enormous, so there was nothing wrong with being seen well right away.
When I came downstairs, I heard a beautiful piano melody from the hallway. We followed the sound of the piano into the room where the Duke and Count were waiting.
Upon entering, a middle-aged man who appeared to be a musician was playing a large piano in the center, and a log fire was burning in a large fireplace on one wall. And among the seven chairs surrounding the piano in a semicircle, the Count and the Duke were sitting in the center.
âFather!â
As soon as she entered the room, Christine, who had returned to being a cheerful and lovely child, fluttering her radiant blonde hair, ran and landed on her fatherâs lap.