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Chapter 08
However, Roana was different from them.
Unbelievably, Cheres found himself forced to accept the opinions of others to some extent—while looking at Roana smiling brightly in front of him.
“I don’t even know who should be thanking whom. I’m really glad you agreed to take care of Hayden. I can finally feel at ease for a while. And I have one more request.”
“Just say anything.”
Roana said with her fists clenched tightly, her sincerity overflowing. Becoming someone useful to Bereiden was something truly welcome for her.
Her small heart was pounding with anticipation.
On the other hand, Cheres struggled to get the words out. This was truly shameless of him.
“…I’d like you, as the Duchess, to meet the Countess of Yotley.”
“The Countess of Yotley?”
“Yes. She is the one who recommended the nanny to us, forged her credentials, and helped her embezzle funds behind the scenes.”
Roana swallowed hard.
She knew about the Countess of Yotley. In the original story, she had driven out the head maid and butler and taken control of the estate. Using her position, she had oppressed Hayden and slowly ruined the household.
And she had purchased a large mansion and villa with the stolen money. She even set up businesses under her sons’ names.
‘Wait. The nanny was connected to all of that?’
Roana took a deep breath. She had tried to stay as uninvolved with the original plot as possible, but it seemed she had already failed.
She had cut off one of the early villains of the story and saved Hayden from that influence.
‘Is this really okay?’
Roana’s sense of justice might have gone too far. She was honestly a bit nervous.
‘Even if it’s fine now… what about six months from now? Who’s going to take care of Hayden then?’
She bit her lip slightly.
‘This estate will end up crawling with traitorous rats.’
The loyal ones would either leave or die. And what would remain were only schemers. Even Cheres… would die. No one knew how Roana’s interference would affect Hayden in the future.
“What’s with that expression? Do you know something about the Countess of Yotley? Or… do you have some kind of connection?”
Suspicion flickered across Cheres’s face.
Roana never thought she had earned his unconditional trust. Not with everything Hezest had done.
And right now Cheres didn’t know, but Roana let out a quiet breath inwardly.
‘Hezest really are people who deserve to die.’
But that would be revealed in time. For now, she needed to get through the immediate crisis.
Roana answered calmly, with sincerity.
“No. I just thought she was a very bad person. If you trusted the Countess of Yotley enough to bring in a nanny through her recommendation, then you must have trusted her a great deal.”
Cheres stared at her, momentarily speechless. He hadn’t expected her to say something like that.
“….”
“I feel sorry that you were betrayed. You and Hayden didn’t deserve something like that. How can someone repay trust in such a way…?”
Roana clicked her tongue, looking genuinely upset.
And she meant it. The roots of betrayal ran deeper than she thought. In the original story, the nanny probably had never been dismissed, which allowed the Countess of Yotley to seize control of the estate.
The nanny must have abused and neglected Hayden in much the same way throughout his childhood. That explained why Hayden grew up distrusting everything and viewing the world with suspicion.
‘So upbringing really is everything. Wait… is this my fault or not?’
While Roana was lost in thought, Cheres was thinking something slightly different.
‘She feels sorry.’
Cheres had never thought of it that way. He had only blamed himself for being deceived. Just because his brother and father trusted those people didn’t mean they would remain loyal to him.
To them, Cheres was still just an ignorant young lord—that was all.
He had believed he was doing his best, so he had also reflected on his shortcomings. But Roana simply said she felt sorry.
None of Lady Yurein, Bogus, or Oliver’s words had been comforting—but Roana’s words were.
Perhaps it was because of her expression, or because she was a third party with no ties to Bereiden.
“…Thank you for saying that.”
Cheres spoke his honest feelings with a strange expression.
“…They must have had a very hard time. People like that would have betrayed you no matter how well you treated them. You couldn’t have given them what they wanted.”
Roana looked genuinely sympathetic.
Who exactly was she?
“I’ll be really happy if I can be of help to you, Cheres.”
“I’ll do my best for Hayden.”
Instead of saying things like “trust me” or “I’m right,” Roana simply said she would do her best.
Strangely, that made her more trustworthy.
Was Roana always this cautious a person?
Cheres was left even more confused.
From that evening on, Hayden became my responsibility.
Well, I had volunteered for it.
“Mam-ma!”
That kid really does think I’m food. Standing upright in his wooden crib, he waved his arms at me with a bright smile. Two rice-grain-sized bottom teeth and two tiny top teeth peeked out adorably.
“Alright, alright, let’s eat.”
I had asked a maid to help recreate a baby food recipe I remembered from my nephew. After a year old, babies usually start transitioning to regular food, but Hayden had been raised on that weird flour-sugar mush all this time, so he needed a gradual adjustment.
My sister-in-law and brother were terrible people, but my nephew was cute.
Since I raised him myself, he listened well. I didn’t miss anything else from that world—but I did miss my nephew a little.
Especially looking at this little one.
Some babies were sensitive to texture, so you had to progress the food stages slowly. That flour soup he had been eating was basically like water.
“Ddol-mang, ahh.”
Hayden opened his mouth like a baby bird, following me. I spooned the food into his tiny mouth. It was porridge made of beef, carrots, broccoli, and rice.
At least I recognized all the ingredients here.
“Ah!”
He grabbed the crib rail tightly with his little hands, eyes sparkling.
“Do you like it?”
“Nyanya! Mam-ma!”
Holding onto the rail with maple-leaf-shaped hands, he wiggled his tiny legs and pressed closer to me. Looks like he likes it. Worth the effort.
“Good boy, Hayden. One more bite?”
“Mm!”
This adorable little thing. Eat up.
I’ll make you more.
Babies really are harmless and cute.
Anyone who hurts a baby is basically a psychopath. How could they? Hayden finished the entire bowl.
I gently rubbed his now round belly and wiped the food from his face. Touching his soft baby cheeks made my heart melt.
Ah… so squishy.
