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Chapter 6
“She’s my child.”
Eleanor quickly cut in.
Until now, she had never explicitly told anyone what her relationship to the baby was.
Even when Sophie had asked, Eleanor had only vaguely avoided the question and let people imagine whatever they wanted.
But this was no time for that.
Because instinctively, she understood exactly what Matthias intended to do with the child.
He’s definitely planning to use the baby as a hostage to find Charlotte.
Whether through humane means… or threats.
There were endless ways he could use the baby.
And Eleanor did not believe for a second that any of them would be safe for her niece.
What was even worse was that if Charlotte never responded, Matthias might eventually resort to extreme measures.
Just like the cruel mastermind he had been in the original story.
“She’s my daughter. I gave birth to her myself.”
From the very moment she had fled the Count’s estate with her niece, Eleanor had resolved to protect this child and raise her safely.
And one day, she would reunite her with Charlotte.
Because being abandoned by one’s birth mother…
Once in her previous life had already been enough.
Eleanor stood her ground.
“Someone like Your Grace should be more than capable of deducing why a woman as renowned as I was during my Academy years is now living alone in a small village raising a child.”
“Is that so? Because the information I heard was quite different.”
“Not all information is accurate. Frankly, I find this misunderstanding offensive, Your Grace.”
“Haha… Is that so? Then tell me—this child you haven’t even named yet is supposedly yours?”
Matthias smiled brightly.
Apparently, he had overheard every word of her conversation with Sophie.
Caught off guard, Eleanor bit the inside of her cheek.
“I suppose that’s possible,” he said lightly. “Perhaps, just as the innkeeper suggested, you’re waiting for the father to name the child.”
“……”
“Or… are you waiting for the mother?”
“Your Grace…!”
“Waaahhh!”
Without realizing it, Eleanor had raised her voice—and startled, the baby began to cry.
“Waaahhh! Waaahhh!”
“Ah—sorry, sorry…”
Eleanor hurriedly tried to soothe her.
But the baby’s crying wouldn’t stop.
Matthias’s lips curled into a sinister smirk.
“You seem busy, so I’ll take my leave for now.”
Eleanor glared at him.
“I plan to stay here for a while,” he added. “Since we’ll be seeing each other often, I do hope we get along… darling.”
Laughing mockingly, Matthias turned and left without hesitation.
* * *
The baby cried for a long time before finally calming down after Eleanor spent nearly an hour soothing her.
Holding the sleeping child in her arms, Eleanor paced anxiously around the room.
“What do I do?”
Of all people to be discovered by… it had to be Matthias, the mastermind.
His obsession was terrifying.
Even more than the male lead, Matthias had been obsessed with Charlotte.
That was why, in the end, even kind and gentle Charlotte had refused to see him.
“Should I ask the Magic Tower for help again…?”
After considering it, Eleanor shook her head.
No matter how close she was to the Magic Tower, she couldn’t abuse their goodwill forever.
If she asked for more help now, they would absolutely demand a price.
For example… a lifelong contract with the Tower.
Eleanor had always loved research by nature.
The Magic Tower had generously compensated her inventions and had been an ideal business partner.
But that didn’t mean she wanted to spend her entire life bound to one place.
She wanted to protect her niece…
But not to the point of sacrificing her whole life.
“Besides, even if I run somewhere else, there’s no guarantee the mastermind won’t find me again.”
She had thought she’d been perfectly careful.
And yet Matthias had found this village in only two months.
That was the power of his information guild.
Next time, he might find her even faster.
No—
He almost certainly would.
More importantly, although he was acting gentlemanly for now, if the baby slipped from his grasp, there was every chance he’d simply abduct her next time.
If she’s kidnapped, I have no way to get her back.
This wasn’t about money.
Eleanor was merely the baby’s aunt.
If even the child’s grandparents and parents weren’t looking for her, what power would an aunt have demanding the child’s return?
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head forcefully.
“Charlotte isn’t like my mother. I trust the heroine.”
Charlotte would never truly abandon her child.
“I need to think wisely.”
She had to find a solution that would protect both herself and the baby.
* * *
Fortunately for Eleanor, Matthias didn’t seem to intend to act immediately.
After their encounter at dawn, he did not return to her room.
Was he giving her time to think?
While Eleanor appreciated the reprieve, she still hadn’t reached any decision.
“Haa…”
As darkness fell outside the window, Eleanor sighed.
“Just stalling like this won’t solve anything…”
There was no way Matthias, the Grand Duke and hidden mastermind, had come alone to this remote countryside.
He undoubtedly had guards hidden in the shadows.
How long will the Grand Duke remain patient?
She was anxious.
It felt as though he might burst through the door at any moment and forcibly take the baby.
If she left the child alone even briefly, she feared the baby would simply vanish.
Scrape.
Eleanor dragged a chair beside the crib and sat down.
The baby was sleeping quietly.
“You’re crying less than usual today.”
Are you giving me time to think, too?
Normally, the baby cried constantly.
Since Eleanor had absolutely no childcare knowledge, she rarely understood why.
Unlike modern society, which had endless parenting resources, this world didn’t even have proper childcare books.
So Eleanor relied heavily on Sophie’s help.
And on a day like today, when she was trapped in her room hiding from the Grand Duke, having the baby stay quiet was a blessing.
“I hope your mother comes back soon.”
Resting her head against the crib, Eleanor murmured softly.
“You need to meet your mother soon… and the Grand Duke, at the very least, would pretend to listen if Charlotte told him to.”
Come to think of it…
Surely the Crown Prince wouldn’t just sit still either.
Was he, like the Grand Duke, searching for Charlotte somewhere?
In the original story, there had been no major conflict because the male lead had been the Crown Prince.
The Grand Duke, his only real rival, had been defeated by him, and Alexis—the Holy Knight—had never been in a position to challenge the Crown Prince.
And yet, somehow…
Charlotte had chosen the weakest option: the Holy Knight.
It was hard to imagine the other two powerful men would quietly accept defeat.
“Maybe your father will change someday.”
Chuckling at her own joke, Eleanor gently poked the baby’s cheek.
That was when she noticed something strange.
“……Little one?”
Eleanor abruptly sat upright.
She touched the baby’s cheek again.
It was burning hot.
She quickly checked her forehead.
The same.
Her tiny arms, her body—
Everywhere radiated heat.
Even accounting for a baby’s naturally warmer body temperature, this was dangerously high.
“S-Sophie!”
Panicked, Eleanor scooped the baby up and rushed out the door.
Thundering noisily down the stairs, she shouted,
“Sophie! Help!”
“What happened?”
Sophie emerged from the kitchen, still holding a ladle.
“The baby has a fever!”
“What?!”
“She’s burning up! She’s never had a fever this bad before…!”
“Let me see.”
Sophie quickly set down the ladle and rushed over.
The moment she touched the baby’s forehead, her face turned pale.
“She’s burning like fire! When did this start?”
“I-I don’t know! She seemed perfectly fine four hours ago when I fed her…!”
“Wait—let me check.”
Matthias suddenly appeared from nowhere—
And without warning, he snatched the baby straight out of Eleanor’s arms.
