Chapter 74

“Of course, there’s no reason for Lady and Lord Tornian to like Liliana.”

“What, what are you talking about now…?”

“Still, no matter how the children feel for Liliana, do they have the right to treat her badly?”

…Wait a minute.

Her kids treated Liliana badly, what the hell is this?

Confused, Mrs. Tornian widened her mouth.

“I know that Tornian and Rondini have been engaged for a long time and have had a steady relationship.”

There was no longer a single piece of warmth left in the seemingly friendly voice.

“So, the two have probably seen over and over again that Lady Londini treats our Liliana like a maid.”

“…Du, Duchess.”

“However, things have changed. Our Liliana is Elliot’s fiancée, and she’s the future Duchess of Valois.”

Anriche resolutely nailed the idea.

“Also, I have no intention of backing down when it comes to my children.”

A cold sweat trickled down Mrs. Tornian’s back.

The Duchess of Valois had a little while ago completely excluded Baron Rondini from the noble society. It was safe to say that the family had completely collapsed when the head and his wife entered prison.

In that situation, the Duchess was asking, will she break the engagement to Rondini, and withdraw her hand from them.

Or, if not…

…Are they going to fall into the bog together?

In that situation, Mrs. Tornian had only one option to choose from.

“…I’m sorry, Duchess of Valois.”

Mrs. Tornian clasped her hands, wet with cold sweat. If she didn’t do that, she was afraid that the back of her hand would tremble.

“I think my children… did something immature.”

Hoo.

In an instant, a distinctive look stood out in the violet eyes.

‘At least you’re a person with sense.’

Mrs. Tornian spoke to her in a quivering voice.

“From now on, this will never happen again. I promise.”

“It’s good because the topic is fast.”

As Anriche nodded her head, her mood lightened.

“And one more piece of advice, I think you should take a closer look at your employees.”

“Em, employee?”

“Yes. The tutor, in particular, is a person who was entrusted with precious children, isn’t it?”

Anriche shook her head as if she was looking at it.

“I also had a lot of headaches with Liliana’s teacher.”

“Ah….”

At that moment, Mrs. Tornian realized one thing.

‘By the way, the teacher who taught Lady Aberyt was Viscountess Ivan, wasn’t it?”

Up until now, she had believed only the words of the Viscountess Ivan. The claim that she was unfairly expelled by the Duchess of Valois.

Though… Is that really true?

Come to think of it, when Anita was particularly whining…

‘…I think it was after Viscountess Ivan came in as a tutor.’

Before that, of course, she was a bit stubborn but she wasn’t arrogant like that.

Mrs. Tornian bit her cheeky lip.

“…Thank you for the advice.”

For the first time, she felt compelled to find out about Viscountess Ivan.

Pushing inside the doubts that had soared to the tip of her neck, Mrs. Tornian lowered her head slightly.

“Oh, and…”

But, Anriche’s words were not over yet.

“This is just my opinion, but I think children from other families should also look into it.”

“If the other children…”

“Viscountess Ivan is not only with the Tornians, but she teaches children of several families.”

Anriche was talking as if she was really worried.

“If you play with friends covered in ink, you often get dirty hands and feet without even knowing it.”

“Hands and feet get dirty…”

“It’s a simple story. Mrs. Tornian, no matter how much, you should put away the ink from the children.”

Her voice quietly subsided.

“If the friends you hang out with are covered in ink, won’t you inevitably get ink on your children, too?”

“…Yes, I understand what you mean.”

Mrs. Tornian nodded her head heavily.

At that time, Anriche smiled brightly at her.

“Well, I think I just talked about something too heavy.”

She then recommends the cake in a soft voice, “The lemon cake in this store is famous for its deliciousness. Would you like to try it?”

“Thank you, Duchess of Valois.”

Her attitude was friendly, as though she was talking with an old friend.

Mrs. Tornian gave a forced smile, cut the cake with a fork, and put it in her mouth. She sadly didn’t feel anything lemony or anything in her mouth.

The cake just melts in her mouth as if chewing on sand.

***

That evening.

Mrs. Tornian, who returned home to the townhouse, immediately called in her children.

“Peter and Anita, both of you come here.”

Mrs. Tornian was in a very bloody atmosphere, unlike usual. Seeing that, Peter and Anita tensed up and looked into each other’s eyes as they talked.

‘Mom, Mom… why was she so mad?’

‘I do not know!’

“What are you doing without coming soon?!”

There was a roaring roar that sounded like frostbite.

Surprised, the Tornian brother and sister walked back to her mother. Mrs. Tornian stared at her children with an ominous gaze.

“What the hell have you done?”

Embarrassed, Anita asked, stammering her words.

“What, what is it?”

“Did you hear with the back of your ear what I’ve been telling you to make your ears scab?”

A sharp roar shook the townhouse.

“How many times have I told you not to cause trouble with the children of the Duchy of Valois!”

…Oops.

The two children stopped and stiffened in their place.

“I heard you bullied Lady Aberyt, is that true?!”

“Ah, that’s…”

What, what to do?

Peter glanced into his sister’s eyes and opened his mouth, hesitatingly. Anita, unable to overcome the heavy air, eventually intervened with a stern voice.

“The, the teacher said it was okay!”

“…Teacher? Are you talking about Viscountess Ivan?”

In an instant, Mrs. Tornian’s eyes went cold.

”And, one more piece of advice, I think you should take a closer look at your employees.”

“Em, employee?”

“I also had a lot of headaches with Liliana’s teacher.”

…Why was she reminded of the conversation she had with the Duchess of Valois.

“So, what did the teacher say to Anita?”

Squeezing her words and asking her daughter, Anita looked her in the eye and carefully opened her mouth.

“Uh, that’s—”

Thus, Mrs. Tornian, who heard all of the circumstances, crumpled her forehead.

‘Oh my God, I thought she was a trustworthy person…’

When a child thought immaturely, it was not enough to not stop it right away, yet she added fuel to it instead!

Biting her lip, she looked down at her daughter with a stern face.

“Apologize to Liliana first.”

“Mo, Mom!”

Anita raised her voice as if she was about to protest. Of course, she quickly lowered her words as she met her mother’s ferocious gaze.

“So, you don’t think you did anything wrong, do you?”

“….”

“Anita.”

After Anita stubbornly shut her lips for a while, she nodded her head with a sullen expression on her face.

“…Yes, I was wrong.”

In fact, Anita herself thought a lot about what happened at this tea time. Seeing her gently apologizing, Mrs. Tornian only sighed.

‘It must have been some really big deal.’

Perhaps because she was raised as the youngest daughter, Anita was very stubborn. She had a personality that never admitted ‘she was wrong’ unless she did something wrong.

For Anita to apologize so meekly…

‘How do we deal with this situation?’

Her head was aching, and Mrs. Tornian closed her eyes without realizing it.

***

A day later.

Anriche received a sincere letter from Mrs. Tornian.

To summarize the contents of the letter, it was roughly as follows:

〈 “It seems that the tutor gave the children inappropriate impulsiveness.

Thank you so much for your valuable advice.

The tutor was fired immediately, and I will faithfully carry out the advice you gave me.” 〉

An evil smile crept over Anriche’s lips as she fiddled with her letter.

At the same time…

Knock, knock.

At the sound of the brief knock, Anriche lifted her head, putting the letter into the drawer.

“Come on in.”

The door opened, and Liliana and Elliot rushed into the room.

“I’m back, mother!”

“I’m home!”

At that, they put their mouths together and shout. Those two children were like chicks, and Anriche felt the tip of her lips pushed upward.

“Did you have a good day, kids?”

“Yes!”

Liliana nodded her head and opened her mouth with twinkling eyes.

“You know, mother. Something really strange happened today.”

“Strange?”

“Yes. Well, Lady and Lord Tornian apologized to me!”

“Oh my, really?”

Anriche’s evil smile grew a little darker.

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