KMKS 38

chapter 38

The next day, from early morning, Sarah was busy moving about together with Aiden.

After a quick breakfast, they had to head into the bustling town to get new clothes tailored for Ken so that he could have something proper to wear right away.

[Can you come with us?]

Fortunately, Ken nodded at Sarah’s suggestion. Perhaps because he’d managed to get some proper sleep for the first time in a while, the shadows beneath his eyes looked a little lighter.

Of course, there was no way all his accumulated fatigue could vanish after just one night.

Even inside the carriage, he might have closed his eyes for a while, but Ken seemed determined not to show the slightest weakness in front of Aiden and Sarah.

Watching him, Aiden shifted his gaze toward the window. Sarah noticed faint veins bulging across the back of Ken’s hand, but she kept silent.

Her head was already crowded with other thoughts.

It was only Aiden’s speculation, but it was clear enough—

“He said he ran away.”

There were only two orphanages in this area. The Callis Orphanage, and the Talua Orphanage where Sarah herself had once stayed.

She wasn’t sure about Callis, but the environment at Talua was far from good.

Tiny rooms, barely enough for one person, would be crammed with two or three children.

Sarah herself had sometimes been given a room alone—thanks to the other children not wanting to share with her.

While those bitter memories stirred, the carriage passed by a familiar spot.

The fortune-teller’s tent she had once visited for answers was gone.

It seemed the woman had disappeared since that day. Given her notoriety, perhaps she had simply moved her residence to find more customers who believed in fate.

“…Something feels off.”

The carriage came to a stop in front of a dressmaker’s shop. Aiden stepped out first, then Ken, and lastly Sarah.

“Oh my! And who might this be?”

Lady Cordelia suddenly appeared, her face lit with feigned surprise as she looked over the viscount couple and the boy.

Since Ken hadn’t yet been fitted for proper clothing, he was dressed in shabby attire.

“Do you know her, Lady Cordelia?”

Two other noble young ladies stood close by Cordelia, casting sharp glances at Sarah.

“Of course. You could say we shared a special wine together once.”

Cordelia smiled faintly, bringing up the past.

“I received your rejection letter well enough. But really, I was quite hurt. I thought we had gotten along so well. I even managed to procure another fine wine.”

“…Ah, I had my reasons.”

“Reasons? Could it be because of this child?”

Sarah hadn’t meant for Ken to be singled out by her words, and she faltered in embarrassment.

At that moment—

“Madam, please continue your conversation. We’ll go ahead first. Excuse us.”

Aiden, quick-witted as always, spoke up before trouble could brew. His gentle voice left no room for the young ladies to nitpick.

Just this once, Ken didn’t resist Aiden’s guiding hand.

As she watched the two men disappear into the dressmaker’s, Cordelia scratched her cheek.

“Well, I only meant to say it’s fine to bring him along—if it’s not something you must keep hidden, that is.”

“You misunderstand, Lady Cordelia. It’s simply a personal matter, nothing more.”

Sarah didn’t want to twist the young lady’s words into something malicious. She didn’t wish to think Cordelia had deliberately singled out Ken or held some ulterior motive.

After all, Cordelia had been the only noblewoman at social gatherings to approach her kindly of her own accord.

Perhaps that was why—

“Well, that’s a relief. But please do come and grace us with your presence at the tea party, Lady Spencer. Yes?”

Sarah couldn’t bring herself to refuse Cordelia’s hand as she extended yet another invitation.

Even after Sarah had indirectly explained she had personal circumstances, Cordelia was asking again.

That could only mean she truly wished for Sarah to attend.

Sarah never imagined that behind that insistence was the disregard of someone who had no interest in her “circumstances” at all.

A few steps away, Cordelia suddenly turned back.

Lady Sarah Spencer was tucking the tea party invitation into her coat.

Cordelia’s pride twisted at the sight.

“She’s already refused you multiple times, yet you’re still so gracious, Lady Cordelia. You’re really an angel.”

“Yes, if it were me, I’d have ignored her outright by now. Why bother inviting her again?”

The two noblewomen beside her tried to lift her spirits.

“Do you really think so?”

Cordelia’s shoulders lifted slightly as she smiled radiantly.

Though her pride had been wounded, to the others she appeared like a saint.

“Still, don’t be too cold. She does seem pitiable, that viscountess.”

Cordelia swallowed the sneer rising in her throat.

Sarah Spencer.

Rumor had it she was the daughter of a poor baron’s family, and even an orphanage girl.

So what if she had been adopted by an earl’s household? It was whispered that her adoptive parents had fled right after her marriage.

And yet she dared reject her invitation?

Who does she think she is?

Most people begged and fawned just to receive an invitation from Cordelia.

To be refused—it was intolerable.

Not to mention how, for a fleeting moment, even Leo’s gaze had strayed toward that woman.

Is she aiming to become the Duchess of Winston or something?

This tea party had been carefully prepared to put Sarah in her place.

Last time, Cordelia had pitied her when she’d stood alone, unable to even start a conversation, so she had gone out of her way to act friendly.

But that woman—daring to flirt with someone else’s man when no one was looking?

She needs to be taught a proper lesson.

No one, Cordelia believed, loved Duke Leo Winston as much as she did.

[“Duke Winston, I didn’t expect you to be so rude.”]
[“You told me all that mattered was how I felt!”]

Though she hadn’t loved him for long, she believed she could defy even her towering parents’ opposition.

Hadn’t they always relented to her wishes in the end?

When she wanted a pet bird, they’d bought her one immediately. When she wanted to attend the school of her choice, they’d allowed it.

So Cordelia thought her stubbornness would prevail this time as well.

[“Do you have proof? Proof that he truly loves you?”]

Perhaps her father had supported her until now because there had always been at least some possibility.

Cordelia shook her head violently, refusing to accept it.

[“Does that look like the gaze of a man in love?”]

All of this frustration was Duke Winston’s fault.

They had kissed—yet her father said it wasn’t the gaze of a man in love?

Then what more proof did he need?

She couldn’t fathom her father’s reasoning. More than ever, she wished to be free from his authority.

“Imagine—a viscountess looking like that.”

“And dragging a boy like him around.”

Though Cordelia’s mind was unsettled, the mocking laughter of the young ladies beside her soothed her.

Their ridicule made the difference in status between Sarah and herself crystal clear.

Fitting Ken for clothes went smoothly, thanks to Aiden’s foresight while Sarah was being delayed by Cordelia.

“I’m not sure if he actually likes them, though.”

Aiden gave a wry little smile. To Sarah, even that seemed like an endearing complaint.

Ken quietly chose fabrics, then disappeared behind the curtain with the tailor to be measured.

“Oh, earlier—what exactly did Lady Cordelia say to you?”

Seated on the sofa, Aiden patted the seat beside him and asked. Clearly, the exchange had been on his mind as well.

“She seemed disappointed that I refused her tea party invitation.”

“Was there a particular reason for your refusal?”

He blinked with genuine curiosity. Sarah felt troubled; it wasn’t something she could easily put into words.

“That day, when I saw you chatting with her from afar, I felt reassured. Even seeing you laugh in your tipsiness.”

How could Sarah, who couldn’t even fully accept that the man before her wasn’t her real husband, possibly go to a tea party and laugh so easily?

If he hadn’t taken her hand, she never would have even been able to attend such an event.

And if she hadn’t gone to that gathering, Cordelia never would have invited her afterward.

So yes, Sarah needed to start preparing herself—to distance again from a life that was never truly hers.

…That was why I intended to decline.

But now, the invitation Cordelia had forced on her was tucked inside her coat.

What could she say to Aiden?

“Still, I’m sure you had your reasons. Even I found her comment earlier rather inappropriate.”

Searching for a suitable explanation, Sarah brushed the back of her hand.

When she had said she had her own reasons, Cordelia had pointedly asked—

[“Because of this child?”]

She had singled out Ken.

That must have unsettled Aiden as well. Afraid the boy might be hurt, he had quickly taken him away before things went further.

He really was a warm person. And around him—she realized—she didn’t need to force an answer.

Not in front of this man, who now lived inside her husband’s body.

After the fitting was complete, Ken bowed silently and went straight upstairs upon returning to the viscount’s manor.

Sarah’s eyes lingered on his back.

She had managed to bring him into a safe home, away from danger outside. But she hadn’t yet earned his trust.

Sarah knew well that trust couldn’t be rushed. Getting closer too quickly would only push him further away.

“Ken will need time to adjust.”

Aiden’s gentle voice led her to the sofa. Soon, warm teacups were placed before them.

“By the way, madam—are you familiar with the Talua Orphanage?”

The words made Sarah’s heart plummet.

Though enough time had passed, that place still lingered like a nightmare.

Aside from the fact it gave her a roof over her head, there were hardly any good memories there.

…Though not as bad as for that boy.

Her memory of his face had grown faint, but she could never forget the boy who had once reached out to her when she was in danger.

The teacup trembled slightly in Sarah’s hand.

Come to think of it, this man resembles him.

The way he couldn’t just pass by, the way he always reached out a hand to her—it was so very much like that boy.