CH 52

The middle-aged woman holding Erzen trembled restlessly. Originally, neither the child nor herself should have been here at this time. The child was supposed to sit face to face with the teacher and study, not running around the corridor.

‘I can’t even tell why he is doing this for nothing…….’

Discontentment towards Erzen built up in the woman’s mind. Erzen was quite stubborn, unlike his small and delicate appearance. After some time, the child would still run outside looking for his mother.

‘After I go back today, I’ll have to fix his habit.’

As a nanny, the woman was patient with the children’s unexpected behavior. However, she never thought of sparing Erzen enough to risk her own life.

Anyway, his father didn’t care, and he wasn’t a child who was living with his mother. So the closest to him is she. Even if she scolds him, no one will know. Knowing that there was no one to directly protect the child, the nanny planned to raise the Young Master as an underdog.

“Lord, even if I told him no to, the Young Master does as he pleases…….”

Even so, she needs to have a backer to fix Erzen’s habit or do anything. The nanny wrapped the child with her arms and gave strength to her hand, but after making eye contact with Ezekiel, she felt like lying flat on the ground while throwing the child away. She isn’t afraid of the child, but the Duke in front of her.

Ezekiel had little interest in the nanny. He deliberately turned his head away from Erzen. He didn’t want to see his face. No, actually, he was reluctant to look at the child’s blue eyes.

“……Okay, you can go now.”

Ezekiel chose to avoid him unlike his desire to look at the child. When Herace came to the castle, it was not difficult to see the child, but strangely as the days went by, it was difficult to see the child’s face. The nanny, who was sticking to the floor of the hallway with a stiff posture, rose up and pulled the child as soon as his order fell.

“Let’s go, Young Master. Come on……”

The little body was easily dragged away. Ezekiel frowned at her rough movements, but soon turned away.

“Young Master!”

As soon as Ezekiel turned his back, the woman raised her voice. At the same time, there was a tapping sound of a light body, and he could feel a movement behind his back. When Ezekiel turned back, he found a small hand holding the corner of his pants tightly. His body hardened on its own without him realizing it.

“Father?”

It was a small question as if it couldn’t be heard if not listened properly. But the child’s voice was clearly embedded in Ezekiel’s ears. Ezekiel clenched his teeth and managed to catch the distant mind.

“Are you my father?”

The child asked again. His voice trembled as if he were scared, but his stubbornness as if he wouldn’t move until he heard the answer was revealed through his brackish hands.

“I’m sorry, Master. I’ll take him away. Come here now, Young Master!”

“I don’t wanna!”

The frightened nanny ripped the child off. The child said he would not go, and while he was being held down, he burst into tears.

“So please be nice to him. Don’t make him cry…….”

At that moment, his wife’s voice resonated in Ezekiel’s ears. Ezekiel turned around and took the child away from the nanny.

“Okay, back off.”

“What?”

“I told you to stay away.”

The nanny blinked at the sudden change in attitude of the owner. Faced with his hideous stare, she withdrew as if she were running away. As the woman left far away, Ezekiel bent one knee and made eye contact with the child.

His blue eyes full of tears were similar to his wife, but if he looked closely, the tails of the eyes were a little higher. Ezekiel was shocked to realize that the feeling he was feeling was guilt while wiping the child’s wet eyes.

‘Why….’

He was angry when he saw the sleeping child, but his heart ached when he saw the child crying.

Embarrassed by the bewildered emotion, he tried to lift himself up from the child. However, when he realised that the child was staring into his eyes, he couldn’t move as if his whole body was tied to a strong chain. Ezekiel had a lot of things going on in his mind. But he opened his mouth with difficulty.

“……Yes.”

Erzen’s face brightened. At the child’s smile, Ezekiel felt a little lighter on one side of his mind. He relaxed the expression on his face and faced the child. However, the child, who was smiling beautifully, frowned as if he had thought of something in a short moment, and instantly stared at him with a hateful face.

“Lie!”

Erzen’s mirror-like eyes reflected his emotions. Although he was a child who could easily be overpowered with one hand, Ezekiel felt endless helplessness looking at Erzen’s eyes. He felt like he was faced with an opponent with whom he couldn’t win. Erzen shouted at him in a panic.

“Why is my father bothering my mom? Marcel didn’t do that!”

“…….”

“So you’re not my father!”

***

“Ah……”

Charlotte hid herself in the corner at the end of the hallway and fell asleep. There was an indisputable anxiety on her face, which was so tight that her hands turned white.

‘I thought he wasn’t interested in him.’

At the end of the hallway beyond the wall, the man was holding the child tightly for some reason. It was a man and a child who looked nothing alike. But Charlotte felt that they were more similar than Miguel and the man.

‘This way, Miguel, my son, will lose his seat. Then I’ll….’

Ezekiel didn’t hug Miguel like that. Even if he did hug him several times, he showed an expression as if I wanted to throw him away, and didn’t look a bit affectionate. There was a clear distinction between falsehood and truth. No matter how good he was at acting, he couldn’t hide all his feelings.

“This is a matter of course. I’m, uh, a mother. Yeah. I’m Miguel’s mother, so I’m doing this to protect Miguel’s place. Everyone does that, to protect their child…….”

Charlotte, who was chewing her nails in anxiety, began to touch the fourth ring on her left finger. A large jewel fluttered as if it were alive and moving according to the angle.

***

“Why isn’t Ezekiel coming?”

“…….”

“…then, Erzen, what about the child? How is he?”

Herace asked, clasping the arm of the maid who was arranging the table. The maid, who was carrying the plate to the tray, flinched at the sudden contact of Herace and looked puzzled. However, her lips, which were tightly closed, did not move at all because she was firmly ordered not to move them at all.

“…….”

“You wouldn’t talk to me. I know you’ve been ordered. But……”

It’s already been four days since Ezekiel came last. Herace was worried that he would stop coming to her forever like this. He was a tough guy to be with, but he was the only window from where she could learn about Erzen.…. Having heard nothing about her son for four days, Herace almost turned crazy with anxiety.

“Give me a short answer. Please, please…… Helen, please…….”

Helen’s face darkened as Herace shivered and called her name. She clasped her lips shut as if she was worried about something. Albeit that, she dropped her head on Herace’s face and whispered in a small voice.

“I don’t know the details either. But the Master doesn’t come out of the room often these days. And Young Master Erzen…….”

“What about Erzen?”

“……I heard he’s doing well without any major problems.”

“Ah……”

As if a boulder were removed from her shoulders, Herace relaxed and removed the strength in her hands. Helen moved her free arm busily and glanced sympathetically at Herace. Herace, who had been absent-minded for a while, suddenly came to her senses and held the maid’s hand again.

“Does he cry? Does he look for me? Does he look sick?”

The words that were faster than before were full of worries. Helen looked embarrassedly at Herace, who clung to her hand as if she was her only salvation.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t had many chances to see Young Master Erzen, so far……. Rather, Madam, I think I should get going. If I delay it any longer, I’ll be suspected.”

The table was soon cleaned up. Herace thought about hanging on one more time, but knowing what the maid said was true, she quit and let go of Helen’s hand. In this situation, this answer would have been a big relief. If he held onto her more and someone told Ezekiel this, she would definitely be severely punished and lose her life.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

Herace hid her disappointment and gave Helen a forced smile. Helen turned nervously and dragged the trolley toward the door. Herace couldn’t hold back her tears and lowered her head as the maid moved away with clattering sounds.

“Madam.”

It was when the tears dripped down and wet the tablecloth. Helen called to Herace with a face that she couldn’t stand it and came back to her. While looking anxiously at the door, she spoke in a small voice so that only Herace could hear her.

“I don’t see the Young Master often, but I’ll tell you when I see him.”

Herace opened her eyes wide and looked at Helen. The maid looked determined when asked why she took this risk.

“…… Anna asked me to look after the Lady and her child before she left.”

“She already left?”

Knock, knock.

A knock on the door blocked Helen’s mouth that was trying to explain something. Helen walked swiftly toward the door with a bluish face. Soon the door opened, and an old butler appeared at first glance through the gap. He glanced inside and looked down at Helen with a stiff face.

“You are late. I’m sure I have said that you shouldn’t talk about anything recklessly.”

“I’m sorry. I spilled water while I was cleaning the table…….”

Helen’s frightened voice seemed to be heard along with the butler’s angry voice, and the door snapped shut. Herace was left alone in the room again.

“Anna……”

Anna was full of Erzen’s thoughts and couldn’t even worry about herself properly. It must have been hard to endure the 50 hits of the whip. Tears burst out when she thought of the face that was worried, let alone hate her, even after such an incident.

Herace rubbed her face to the point of pain and stood up with a sudden movement. Thanks to the random push, the chair went back and made a loud noise, but she didn’t care and opened the door to the glass greenhouse.

She was suffocated to think that she had not done anything or had the chance to do anything. It’s been a while since she decided to do something, but she had always been stuck in this place.

As she walked fast with her teeth clenched, the fountain soon appeared with the sound of water flowing. Herace sat down in front of the fountain, looked at the flowing water, and put one hand in it.

When the cold water touched her hand, the frustration went away a little. However, the glass greenhouse, which was blocked all around, was also like a prison. So Herace gasped her chest with her hand without realizing it.

Knock, knock.

Herace, surprised by the unusual noise, stood up looking ahead. Then beyond the glass wall, she saw a small child with the same hair color as the man who locked her here.