🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 18
Today, Hayden wasn’t feeling well.
From the morning, something was off. He refused his baby food, and although he didn’t have a fever, he looked tired. What’s going on?
“Still, cheese is tasty, right?”
“Dyeh! Teh!”
I slipped cheese into Hayden’s mouth as he reached out to me.
After finishing the cheese, he started fussing again.
“Eeeehhhh.”
In the end, I picked Hayden up. He buried his face in my shoulder and groaned softly. The moment I tried to put him down, he cried—so I had no choice but to keep holding him.
After a long struggle with Hayden, it took an hour to finally get him to sleep. I patted his back as he dozed off with his head on my shoulder.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here.”
My wrists felt like they were about to break. But what else could I do? There were days like this.
As I held him, his breathing finally began to even out. The strength in his grip loosened. His tiny fingers clutching my collar relaxed. His breathing became soft and steady.
He was finally asleep.
Moving a sleeping baby was more delicate than defusing a bomb. I felt cold sweat on my back.
“Haa…”
I took a deep breath and stood up. Seeing Hayden’s peaceful sleeping face softened my heart. Rubbing my numb arm, I tiptoed toward the door—
Then it swung open abruptly.
“Duchess! So you were here!”
It was Chloe.
Chloe smiled brightly.
What the hell.
For a moment, a curse almost slipped out.
“Damn it.”
I turned my head to check on Hayden. He was stirring. My heart stopped.
His eyelids trembled slightly.
No. No, please.
“Chloe, be quiet—”
“I brought it! I finally got it! It’s the Veloche family infant supplement! It’s popular among nobles, and I barely managed to get it through an acquaintance! It’s great for restoring energy! I heard the child is sick, right? Things like this should be given quickly to be effective. It’s best to give it now.”
Chloe shook a glass bottle. It was a luxurious bottle with a gold label. She started walking toward the bed.
I quickly blocked her.
“Hayden is sleeping right now, Chloe. He can take that later. Please…”
This… friend, not now.
“Hayden!”
“Chloe!”
My voice sharpened before I could stop it.
But it was already too late.
“Waaahhh!”
Hayden woke up.
The hour it took me to put him to sleep vanished in three seconds.
His body stiffened and he began flailing his arms and legs. His face turned bright red. Waking up so abruptly while already not feeling well made him even more upset.
“Waaaahhh!”
Chloe stepped back in surprise.
“Oh my. Why is he crying like this?”
“Get out.”
“Pardon?”
“Get out. Right now!”
My voice shook.
Chloe still didn’t understand what she had done wrong.
“I brought this for Hayden with so much effort…”
“I know it’s good. I know it was hard to get. I appreciate it.”
I clenched my teeth.
“But the child was sleeping. Just leave!”
If she kept talking, I would say things I couldn’t take back.
Eventually, Chloe placed the bottle on the table and left.
I picked up the crying Hayden.
“I’m sorry, Hayden. Shh, let’s go back to sleep.”
I sincerely wished Chloe would just disappear. I closed my eyes tightly.
Chloe, who had been kicked out of Hayden’s room, wandered the hallway. She puffed out her cheeks and sighed.
Why did no one understand her good intentions?
Looking out the window, she noticed carriages arriving.
“Is there a meeting today?”
Now that she thought about it, her mother had also said she would visit the ducal house today.
Chloe’s eyes sparkled. She could attend that gathering too.
She was the heir of a vassal family after all.
In the south, the Duchess would normally attend such meetings. But Roana…
Chloe glanced toward Roana’s room. She already looked overwhelmed just taking care of one child, Hayden.
“Tsk. What would she have done without me?”
If she couldn’t even fulfill her duties as Duchess, what was she even doing?
Chloe decided she would attend the meeting in Roana’s place as her aide.
It wasn’t unusual for a duchess’s aide to attend on her behalf.
It was, after all, for Roana—and for the Beireiden family.
“What a good friend I am, Cheres. You should be grateful to me.”
Chloe hummed cheerfully.
Today’s meeting was about how much military support each faction would provide ahead of the war, how supplies would be distributed, and which coastal defense sectors each house would take responsibility for. It was an important meeting, with all southern nobles gathered.
And in that room sat Chloe.
Cheres froze at the sight of her.
“Cheres! You said there was a meeting, right? I’m here to attend in Roana’s place.”
Silence fell over the room.
The nobles had been expecting tension-filled negotiations, but instead Chloe had barged in.
Soon, all the southern nobles would arrive.
They stared at her curiously.
Cheres closed his eyes tightly and reopened them.
Borgus looked around nervously, about to drag Chloe out—
“Chloe.”
A low, firm voice cut in.
It was Countess Malate.
She had just arrived.
“Do you understand what kind of place this is? Leave immediately.”
Her voice was calm, but sharp.
Chloe opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Countess Malate sighed and apologized to Cheres. Seeing her expression, Cheres couldn’t say anything.
Everything Chloe had done was later reported to me by Lady Eurein.
Now there was finally a legitimate reason—to remove Chloe.
Cheres came upstairs around sunset after the meeting. His face was drawn with exhaustion. But when he saw me, his expression softened slightly.
I turned away from the window.
“Cheres. Let’s talk.”
We went into the sunroom. I waited until he sat down comfortably before speaking.
“Can we send Chloe away?”
Cheres let out a long sigh. The man who used to smile at me was gone.
“The biggest problem is that Chloe genuinely believes she’s doing the right thing.”
There was no way to fix her behavior.
If there were malice, it would be easier—you could simply hate it. But Chloe truly believed she was right.
She thought she was acting for Cheres, for the Beireiden family.
It was all goodwill and affection. If we simply expelled her, Countess Malate would be displeased. So—
“…Is there a way?”
I nodded.
“Can you trust me and leave it to me? I’ll resolve this in a way that’s best for everyone. But I’ll need your cooperation.”
Cheres replied seriously,
“Of course. Whatever it is, I’ll help. Even if I have to drink poison, I will.”
“That won’t be necessary, Cheres.”
I smiled faintly, like someone who had learned a lot in a short time.
“And I should apologize.”
“Apologize?”
He tilted his head.
“We’re all victims here, aren’t we?”
“…About letting Chloe be brought in without interference.”
“Oh.”
That was worth apologizing for.
“Then, if I remove Chloe in a very gentle and peaceful way… will people’s opinion of me change?”
At my words, Cheres answered without hesitation.
“It will absolutely change.”
It seemed Chloe had left a deep impression on everyone.
