Chapter 64

Chapter 64

“Is there any reason why…Daniel and other people in this mansion shouldn’t know?”

Sylvia’s eyes trembled unsteadily at her whisper. Her slender body was trembling. She looked pitifully small because she was clearly different from Azela, who had recently gained strength and solidness in her body.

“Ho, how…?”

She looked at Azela with a surprised look.

Azela, who looked at the sad Sylvia with a pitiful gaze, reached out and touched the thin cheeks. The roughness of her palms felt a little different from before. She then drew a pretty smile on the shriveled skin that was clearly felt on her palm.

“Did I tell you…?”

Sylvia’s swaying eyes were filled with her strong face. Azela, who looked at the reflection of herself in her eyes, continued her words in a seductive voice, like the devil.

“In this mansion… You have nothing.”

Azela drew a bright smile.

* * *

“Did you do the poison, too?”

“….”

Sitting in front of her dressing table, Azela asked, combing her wet hair.

Lina, who was standing behind her, could only wiggle her fingers, not answering her Madam’s questions. Although it was her job to comb her Madam’s hair before she went to sleep, Azela refused.

“…How many times do I have to ask the same question to get an answer?”

“I, I—”

“If this is difficult to answer, I will ask another question.”

Saying so, she put down the comb she had been combing her hair with and turned her body. Seeing her legs crossed, Lina showed a tense look on her face. Sweat dripped from the girl’s forehead.

Azela asked as her wet hair ran through her hair.

“Did you try to harm me at Sylvia’s instigation?”

“That’s, that’s not true.”

“You didn’t mean to hurt me…? There’s poison in it.”

“That, that…”

“Was it planned for you to become my handmaid?”

Lina, with her tears welling up, shook her head strongly at her question. Hearing the girl’s answer, Azela lowered her gaze. Weird. Perhaps, it was because the food she ate in the evening was not digested properly.

“I’m, I’m sorry. Madam. I really didn’t mean to… I didn’t even know about that scented candle.”

The tears that had been welling up in the corners of her eyes were finally flowing down Lina’s cheeks. She hastily knelt down on the floor and put her hands together before beginning to beg Azela. The girl’s orange hair fluttered with the wind from the open window.

“It, it really is. Miss Sylvia says that many young girls use it… She, she said that if I give it to Madam, you will like it… Sh-she said, it was an apology for the bad deeds she had done… It, it was really good intentions…… !”

“Are you saying you believed it with good intentions and used that poison on me?”

“I-I wouldn’t have done it if I had known it would have bad consequences!”

“….”

Azela looked at Lina, who was crying on her knees in front of her, with an expressionless face. Her orange hair fluttered, though she wasn’t Irene… She resembled Irene, however, the girl who was begging for her life in front of her wasn’t Irene.

She took a deep breath in the cool breeze.

“…Don’t come into my bedroom from today, Lina.”

“Ma, Madam.”

“I’m not going to kick you out of this mansion because it makes me feel comfortable.”

“….”

“In the future, whether you are bullied by Sylvia or despised by her other maids, I will not be involved.”

“It was because I didn’t want to die. If-if I don’t, Miss Sylvia…”

“Right. You must have been threatened.”

Azela lifted her body up from the dressing table chair. Then, she passed Lina and laid herself on the bed. Maybe, it was because of the cold wind blowing, her body felt cold. Azela covered the blanket and turned away from Lina.

She didn’t want to see the girl. She hated seeing the girl crying.

“But, in other words, you didn’t believe me in the end, Lina.”

“That, that…”

“I don’t want to hear any more stories.”

She interrupted Lina. Azela decided not to make anything precious to her in this mansion. Yes, she decided to do that. So she didn’t create anything precious. Lina was not a precious person to her… Azela frowned.

“There was a child who looked like you.”

“….”

Strangely, her voice trembled. Azela turned her back and took the blanket in her hand.

“You may have known, but she was the most precious child to me… That’s why you’ve stepped on me even more, Lina.”

“…Ma, Madam.”

“You’d better thank the child who looked just like you.”

Her hand gripping the blanket was trembling. She couldn’t understand why her hands were shaking or why she had bit her lower lip.

Azela swallowed a gulp and continued.

“If you hadn’t been like that child… I would have killed you.”

“….”

“No, there would be no way I would have saved you in the first place.”

“Madam, one more chance…”

“Now, really get out of my bedroom, Lina.”

At the end of Azela’s resolute voice, there was no more sound. Lina froze in place for a while, then stood up and left her bedroom.

A cold wind blew through the open window.

* * *

“Pregnant?”

Daniel’s startled voice resounded in the mansion. Sylvia bowed her head at the voice, and the doctor quietly nodded his head. He looked at her, lying on the bed with a puzzled face. He looked unconvinced.

Sylvia gave an anxious look at Daniel’s reaction and put her hands around her stomach.

The doctor, who took turns looking at the two of them, coughed and spoke.

“It is very early, and the baby is weak and very unstable. Besides, um…”

The doctor glanced at Sylvia and paused for a moment. He seemed to be having a hard time finding a title to refer to her.

“The mother’s nutritional condition was also poor…”

As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Daniel jumped and walked closer to Sylvia, who was lying on the bed. He then carefully placed his hand on her stomach, which had not yet swelled. Even though he felt nothing, Daniel’s expression looked thrilled.

“…When did you know?”

“…It hasn’t been long.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“….”

Sylvia clenched her lips at Daniel’s question. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Daniel was startled as she was trying to hold back her tears and hurriedly hugged her warmly into his arms.

“I was wrong, don’t cry. It’s okay.”

“….”

“Don’t cry, crying is not good for our baby.”

He turned his head, gently brushing Sylvia’s hair in his arms, and turned to look at Todd’s family doctor.

“Can you give her some good medicine? In a way that will not affect the baby in her womb.”

“Of, of course. Even though it is an early stage, the morning sickness seems to be very severe, so I will prepare a medicine that will alleviate her morning sickness a little.”

Daniel nodded with satisfaction. His gentle gaze didn’t seem to fall from Sylvia’s stomach. It was a sweet gaze as if honey was dripping from it.

“I have dreamed of having a complete family since childhood.”

“Daniel.”

“Sylvia, you made my dream come true.”

Danielle placed one hand on Sylvia’s stomach and leaned his torso, touching his lips briefly against her forehead. Sylvia’s voice trembled at his attitude, and she opened her lips, which she had clenched firmly.

“…Do you want to have a child?”

“Of course. It’s our child.”

Despite his soft voice, Sylvia still looked anxious. She held Daniel’s hand tightly that rested on her stomach. Her palms were drenched in sweat.

“…But, this child will not be happy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“A child born to a noble mistress cannot be happy. This child is the son of Count Todd, but the child cannot be officially named in the Todd family. Everyone will ignore and despise the child. In that case, it is better not to be born in the first place…”

“Sylvia.”

Daniel, who had heard her anxious words, cut her off with a terrifying voice. Sylvia stared at him with trembling eyes as he called her. The warmth from a little while ago had disappeared, leaving only a hard face.

“No one in this mansion will ignore you and this child.”

“…Daniel.”

“No one can ignore or despise my child, not just in this mansion.”

“However, if Madam has a child, the heir to this family will be her child, and my child will eventually live a life ignored by everyone.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

He cut her words once more firmly. And, with a look to comfort her, he gently stroked Sylvia’s rough cheek.

“My child… will be the only heir of this family.”

Daniel reached out his hands and hugged her warmly before rubbing her back. However, despite the reliable voice and warm touch, Sylvia’s expression was still uneasy, and her hands were trembling.