Volume 7 - CH 12

Penny, who had been staring at the ground for quite some time, raised her head, as if she had made up her mind.

“Only to you, My Lady.”

Penny’s gaze, fixed on me, was as determined as someone who had reached a decision after much thought.

“For the rest of my life, until I am rendered useless and this neck falls off…… I will only be loyal to you, My Lady.”

I felt as if Penny’s oath was delivered to my soul through my skin.

As if she knew she was going to become’my’ person, rather than Selina’s.

The person who has remained with me the longest.

Penny, as fate would have it, recognized me.

Did she realize I was a different person than Selina, or just that Selina had changed?

It was no longer important.

It’s because I am Selina that I stand in front of Penny anyway.

“……Even if I use you?”

“Yes.”

Penny’s response was quick and without hesitation.

“It’s okay to die while being exploited by the lady and then abandoned in a field by myself.”

“…… I’m not going to do that.”

The further she goes, the more extreme her declarations become.

Her blank stare weighed on me, so I turned around and greeted the others.

“Goodbye, little Parsley.”

Parsley, who couldn’t take her gaze away from me for a second, clung shyly to Penny’s legs.

“Hing!”

The kids who had been trying to stay still exclaimed, “Woah!” and jumped up and down as I turned around.

“Goodbye, angel!”

I could hear Parsley’s scream from behind me.

“We can now return to the Count’s castle.”

I eagerly climbed into the carriage.

But William paused before shutting the door, as if he had something to say to me.

“Uhm, My Lady……”

“Huh?”

What’s the problem, Husky?

I turned to face him and asked him a question.

William said with a slightly flushed face, as if he was embarrassed to say such a thing.

“Me too…… you can use me as much as you want. Please use me, My Lady.”

Again, I had the impression that there was a tail flapping furiously behind him.

I liked the way he acted cute and pitifully for the first time in a long time, so I gave him the bright smile he liked.

“Okay. If I need anything, I’ll be sure to ask.”

“……”

Like a visionary, William looked at me in ecstasy.

“So, shall we proceed?”

“Y-yes!”

He came to his senses and rode the carriage slowly.

⇺⇺⇺⇼⇻⇻⇻

The count castle was draped in a black flag.

The news of the martyrdom of the Head Priest spread throughout the West.

It was exactly as Franz had predicted.

Cedric, Shannon, and Camilla went to the temple to express their grief.

“Adrian will pay his respects with the White Eagle Knights.”

Camilla was clearly trying to keep me from running into her son.

‘I appreciate it.’

Camilla secretly folded her arms with me before entering the funeral home.

“All right, let’s go in.”

Shannon once looked at her mother with strange and unpleasant eyes, as if she were witnessing a pigeon pooping.

‘What’s the matter with her?’

It was exactly as I had predicted.

The funeral was attended by all of the West’s aristocrats.

The noble ladies greeted each other by saying things like ‘This is so sad’ and ‘I pray for the Head Priest’.

Jenna Grandson waved secretly because she wanted to pretend to know who I was with a friendly face, but I winked that it wasn’t the right place.

I observed how Camilla was treated by the ladies.

‘How come no one welcomes her?’

Camilla once ruled Western society with a haughty image befitting a queen.

When the scandal broke that he had abused his stepdaughter and attempted to poison Cedric, everyone seemed to cut her off.

Furthermore, what happened to Emma had to have spread.

Camilla appeared to be embarrassed, but she raised her head straight to avoid making it obvious in public.

It was back then.

A voice that was neither too loud nor too low rang in the funeral hall.

“Why is everyone treating the Countess like she’s invisible?”

A remark that isn’t even as bad as it gets stuck like the claws of a cat.

Of course, the person who would say such a thing…… It was Cedric.

From the look at his widened eyes, he seemed genuinely puzzled.