Chapter 39
“I brought the water.”
“Thank you.”
“I brought juice for the young master as well, so please have some.”
“Wow!”
After gulping down the water, Rowena wiped her lips with the back of her hand.
“Oh, right. Melissa.”
Only after quenching her thirst did a face belatedly come to mind, and Rowena lowered her voice. While Damian drank his juice, the quick-witted Melissa bent down and brought her ear to Rowena’s mouth. Rowena whispered quickly.
“The woman who was tied to the chair. What happened to her?”
“Ah.”
She couldn’t very well say that her tongue had been cut out and she’d been thrown onto the docks. Melissa smiled awkwardly and gave a suitable answer.
“It seems she was simply sent back. After they made her sign a pledge that she would never do the same thing again.”
“I see……”
Recalling that terrified face, Rowena let her shoulders, which had risen without her realizing it, drop at Melissa’s answer. Carol Bertimer was, in a sense, the root cause of the situation she now found herself in. She was someone Rowena hated and resented, but she had never wished for her to be crippled or killed. With her innate disposition, steeling her heart was difficult.
Rowena, relieved, regained her smile.
“Oh, right. What about the teacher?”
“She’ll come up tomorrow.”
“I see. And His Highness?”
“According to Lady Bianca, he has business today and won’t be coming in. She also said that if you wish, you may sleep in the bedroom with the young master. Since he’s busy with work, he may not come in until the day after tomorrow.”
That meant that for that time, it would be all right for her to stay close to Damian. Rowena’s face brightened, and she kissed her son on both cheeks in turn.
“I told you, that tickles!”
Damian burst into laughter and returned the kisses. Seeing the affectionate mother and son, Melissa withdrew. Excited at having rare time with her son, Rowena asked Damian in a lively voice,
“Is there anywhere you want to go? It’s late today, so I’ll take you tomorrow.”
Her face had become rather well known, but if she disguised herself and took a hired carriage, it should be all right. She wanted to reward Damian, who had come to the capital for the first time filled with curiosity and expectation.
“Hmm……”
After pondering the given opportunity for a moment, Damian suddenly answered,
“The park we went to today!”
“What? We already went there. What about somewhere else? There are lots of fun places. Toy shops, candy shops, and there are places for children at the department store……”
“Those sound nice too, but this time I want to go to the park, Mother.”
“Why? Because of the ducks?”
“No.”
Damian shook his head and smiled brightly.
“We might get to see that mister one more time!”
At that dangerous moment, the large hand that had embraced him without hesitation had lodged itself deep in his heart. Grandpa Jeremy was a man too, of course, and had treated him well, but what Damian had felt from that mister was a little different.
Deep in Damian’s heart, the secret wish he had harbored for a father surfaced. Perhaps a father was someone like that mister. He felt that if he saw him once more, he might understand the reason for the strange throbbing he had felt.
However, the next day, though they went to the park at the same time and sat on the same bench as the day before, no matter how long they waited, the person they were waiting for did not come.
“Maybe he’s at the hospital? You said his arm was injured.”
Rowena comforted Damian, who had climbed into the carriage looking glum.
“Do you think so……?”
“If he was bitten deeply… that could be the case. I’ll look into it too.”
“Okay……”
At gentle Melissa’s words, Damian nodded, stuck out his lips, and turned toward the carriage window. Rowena, watching the back of her son’s head, did not feel at ease either. The “mister” Damian spoke of was also the lifesaver who had saved her son. She felt she would only be able to ease even a little of the weight on her heart if she met him in person and thanked him.
“Melissa. Could you perhaps tell Mr. Zenok as well?”
“Ah. Of course. I’ll tell him.”
Melissa smiled and changed the subject to the newspaper published that morning.
“By the way, did you read this article? They’re opening the royal hunting grounds starting tomorrow. To the citizens, for one week.”
“Hunting grounds?”
As if he had never been dispirited at all, Damian pricked up his ears and turned around.
“Yes. Hunting grounds. It’s a very, very wide forest. It’s not far from here.”
“There’s a place like that?”
Rowena also went along with the changed topic. As the heavy air became a little lighter, Melissa answered with satisfaction.
“Yes. I didn’t know either, but they say it’s full of deer and rabbits.”
“Mother! I want to go. Please?”
Damian, who had quickly changed his interest, sparkled with excitement.
“I’ll take you if you behave. If you eat well, don’t throw tantrums at the nannies, and listen to what you’re told.”
“Yes! I’m confident I can do well!”
“Then shall we start with sitting properly in your seat?”
Damian nodded vigorously and corrected his posture. Melissa and Rowena exchanged smiles, content with the peace that had returned.
Then, all of a sudden, the carriage stopped at an intersection, and from another carriage a little ahead, a noblewoman alighted and approached. Then she had the servant following her knock on the carriage window.
“Miss Philone!”
“Countess Rachel……?”
Rowena froze, not having imagined she would be recognized while wearing a wig and riding in a hired carriage. Only after Melissa hid Damian behind her did Rowena slowly open the carriage door.
“It is you, just as I thought. I thought I saw you as we passed just now. I have an extraordinarily sharp eye, you see.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Were you on your way back from somewhere? You didn’t even come to my salon this morning. I had something important to discuss. Oh my, you’re wearing a wig too?”
“Well…… I felt a bit stifled today, so I wanted to take a short walk. I went to the park. And I wore the wig just for a change of mood.”
“I see…… Well, there are days like that.”
It was an ordinary enough conversation, but the countess’s eyes keenly searched the inside of the carriage. While Rowena, tense all over, was thinking about how to bring the conversation to an end, a sneeze interrupted them. The countess opened her eyes wide and asked at once,
“Is there someone else in there?”
“Ah. That was…… That was me coughing.”
“Nonsense. It sounded like a child’s cough. Do you think I wouldn’t know, when I’ve given birth to four children?”
At Melissa’s answer, the countess narrowed her eyes, and her gaze caught sight of a small foot that had been carefully hidden.
“Oh my. A little gentleman?”
At the same time, chills ran down Rowena’s spine. Countess Rachel had treated her well and was a kind person, but when it came to Damian, the matter was different.
No one, aside from a very select few, could know of the existence of the son whose own father, Killian, did not even know about.
“His Highness’s!”
Melissa, who had been unable to move under the constricting air, improvised.
“He is a nephew from a distant relative on His Highness’s maternal side. He is a young noble from a foreign country, and he doesn’t know our language well and is very shy.”
“Oh my. Is that so? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
At the maid’s words, the countess tilted her head and turned her gaze to Rowena.
“Yes. He only arrived yesterday, and he’ll be returning soon after staying just a few days. He is terribly shy with strangers……”
“I see……”
Something seemed suspicious, but she could hardly force herself to see the face of the duke’s distant relative. Smacking her lips regretfully, the countess shifted her interest.
“In any case, can you spare a moment?”
“So suddenly?”
It was truly like a bolt from the blue. This was precious time with her son, worth more than gold. When Rowena’s complexion darkened, the countess said emphatically,
“It’s an important matter. You’ll regret it if you don’t hear it.”
Her subtle tone somehow gave off pressure, as if Rowena absolutely had to listen. If she got on the countess’s bad side, it might become troublesome later. Sighing inwardly, Rowena turned her head to Melissa.
“I’ll go to the salon for a little while. Please look after the young master.”
“You’re going alone? Although she’s off duty today, perhaps you should call Joanne……”
“It’s not as though I’m going far, and it’s a salon I’ve gone to often. I don’t feel right calling someone who’s resting, either.”
Gently refusing, Rowena got out of the carriage and transferred to the countess’s carriage.
* * *
Contrary to her expectation that there would be other noblewomen with whom the countess socialized, there was no one at the Rachel townhouse. In the spacious drawing room where there were usually always two or three guests, she sat facing the countess alone. As soon as the maid brought in tea, the countess asked bluntly,
“Do you realize that you are in a very great crisis right now, Miss Philone?”
“……
Pardon?”
“Seeing how calm you are, it seems you truly don’t know. I wondered if you might. As expected.”
Clicking her tongue softly at that innocent face, the countess moistened her throat with tea.
“I told you before, didn’t I? That my older sister is a lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty the Queen.”
Rowena nodded. Though the age of absolute monarchy had passed, a Council of Nobles had been established, and the queen’s authority was not what it once had been, the significance of the crown in this country was still more important and weighty than anything else.
As one example, unlike maids who handled menial chores, the status of a lady-in-waiting who served close to the queen, keeping her company in conversation and attending to small matters, was also quite high. Even though the pay was not high, it was an honor and glory for a family, enough that people competed to apply. The countess had also gone around boasting endlessly that her own elder sister held that position, so there was no way Rowena would not know.
After clearing her throat for a moment, the countess continued with a grave expression.
“This is confidential information my sister secretly sent me by telegram, but yesterday, Her Majesty invited the young lady of the Marquis Taldon family to the royal castle. Not through the front gate, but through the back.”
For words spoken as solemnly as if she were reading out a death sentence, the contents were ordinary. As silence fell and Rowena only blinked, the countess let out a sigh.