Chapter 16: Volume 2 - CH 7

“Now, what did you just say?”

Camilla, who had gracefully lifted the teacup, sprung to her feet with a clang.

Clang! Her hand was fairly harsh when she dropped the tea cup down.

“Did you just assume I’d neglected Selina?”

Camilla trembled, as though she couldn’t believe she’d been asked this.

“I spent my entire youth raising her… but this is all I get.”

Tears welled up in her big eyes in an instant.

“If only raising my dead husband’s child made me hear this…… I should have left before her father dried up. Sob…sob… “

When Camilla couldn’t say anything else, Emma, who was standing next to her, chimed in.

“What do you mean discrimination? It doesn’t make sense, Commander. Do you have any idea how much Lady Selina means to our Madam?”

“Sob, sob… Enough. You don’t need to say anything else ”

“I was there as a living witness, right next to Madam and Lady Selina, and I saw everything.”

Camilla’s tears were brushed away by Emma, who brought out her handkerchief.

Camilla, on the other hand, felt agitated and slapped Emma’s hand and spoke angrily.

“What good are all the witnesses? To a man who has no faith in me!”

“……”

“When Selina arrives tomorrow, be sure to ask her! You’re not going to believe a word I say anyway!”

“……”

“Do you think I’m clueless that you don’t want me to marry your brother? I knew you despised me from the start! Sob…”

Cedric turned away, embarrassed by Camilla’s shrill cry.

He simply questioned cautiously if she had done something that would disappoint Selina.

“Commander, Madam has always treated Lady Selina like her own daughter, like if she were her own daughter.”

Cedric was addressed by Emma, who had a kind expression on her face.

“Although Madam is not her biological mother, I know better than anyone that Madam did her best. Even more so than Lady Shanon……”

“Get out! Get out now!”

Camilla threw a teacup to the ground.

Emma bolted out the study, as if she were fleeing.

There are only two of them remaining. Camilla cried for a long time, and Cedric waited for her to finish sobbing by staring out the window.

Camilla, bored of her opponent’s disinterest, was the first to raise the white flag.

“Such a stone like man.”

(T/N: 목석 같은 사람 a man who like a stone, used to describe a person who rarely, almost never, show her/his feelings.)

“…….”

“A woman is crying in front of you, but you don’t even want to soothe her.”

Cedric then switched his gaze to Camila and opened his mouth with an uninterested expression.

“Is this something to make a fuss about?”

“Make a fuss you said!?”

“I just… asked once. Because you’re the parent of that child, and my niece has a worried expression on her face!”

Cedric’s voice sank, as if he was irritated.

“When my brother died, I declared my decision to adopt Selina.”

Camilla shifted her attention away from him, her face solemn, as if she already knew what he was going to say.

“You! You were the one who opposed it so vehemently, claiming that the child should never be adopted because one of her parents is still alive and well! You were the one who opposed it!”

Her side face was struck by resentful hostile eyes.

“At the time, you were so against……!”

Cedric inhaled deeply to calm his heightened emotions.

“Don’t you think I have the right to ask you that much? Even if she isn’t my daughter, she is still my bloodline!”

“Everything would have been solved if you had married me, Cedric.”

“Stop talking about crazy things!”

Cedric, who ultimately got up from his seat, sneered at Camilla and poked his finger at her.

“Who wants to marry a girl like you? Who? What kind of man in the world!”

Camilla remained unfazed by his angry words.

“I’m not like my brother, who is obsessed with money and power to the point of selling his honor. Then, excuse me.”

Bang! Camilla bit her lower lip as she stared at Cedric’s back as he opened the study door as if he’d smash it.

It was the first time he had asked her a question like that.

He had to have met Selina at some point.

‘What was she talking about, that stupid bitch?’

There were numerous bad events.

Cedric began to watch her after learning that the Countdom had been vacant for a long time.

The servants’ eyes were pretty stinging.

Furthermore.

‘How dare she threaten me when she is only a knight’s daughter?’

Emma.

Emma was clearly a threat, talking about witnesses and flirting in front of her.

Emma paid Camilla almost daily visits and made an appeal because of Penny, who was dressed in a maid’s outfit and freely wandering the Countdom.

Even if Penny were a commoner with no backup, she couldn’t send Selina’s maid out because she is Selina’s only maid.

No, that’s something possible to do, but…… she was trying to save herself for fear of suspicion after doing such a thing in front of Cedric’s nose.

Penny was also the one who got Cedric’s permission to work as a maid.

‘It irritates me. This and that’s also…’

Camilla rubbed her temples in response to a sudden headache.

She had no doubt that she would one day seduce Cedric and convince him to marry her.

She did this because she wanted to bestow the Crawford surname on her son Adrian.

‘My ex-husband refused, but if it’s Cedric…’

Because they’re in the same squad, Cedric will never disregard him, White Eagle Knights Order.

Remarriage with Cedric, however, was not easy no matter how many times she tried.

Cedric was the most conservative man in the empire.

He was apprehensive about marrying his brother’s wife.

Cedric also seemed unpleasant and nasty to Camilla, who had been proposing marriage for a long time.

Camilla’s heart went cold in response to Cedric’s humiliation.

* * * * *

“What did you say your name was?”

“My-my name is…Penny, My Lord.”

Penny, who had been summoned by Cedric, shook like an ash tree.

“I called you at this particular time to inquire about Selina.”

Camilla and Emma shivering in denial, but Cedric couldn’t forget Selina’s gaze when she said the monastery was more comfortable than her own house

How could that poor environment be more comfortable than home?

Furthermore, her statement that she was frightened of stuttering again because Camilla was at home hinted at abuse.

Cedric closed his eyes and rested his forehead on his hand as he breathed deeply.

‘It’s not possible.’

Because of his principal job as the Knights Order Commander and to preserve the territory, Cedric could not get attached to Countdom.

Camilla and Selina, on the other hand, spent ten years in this Countdom together.

But Selina had been abused for so long? Is this the reason she’s been stuttering for so long?

It was unbelievable. He didn’t even want to believe it.

‘I truly hope this isn’t the case.’

May Camilla be a wonderful mom, as she is so sure that she did be.

In a heartfelt prayer, Cedric summoned Penny.

“Just in case.”

He struggled to open his mouth.

“Is Camilla…?”

“Achoo!”

Penny, who had a harsh cough, coughed on her handkerchief as if she were a lung disease patient.

“S-Sorry…”

Cedric scowled and glanced at her purple lips like a sick person.

“If you catch a cold, let the others know that you’re sick.”

“But that’s okay. I don’t have a cold.”

“Then do you have a miscellaneous disease? Since before, I believe you’ve been coughing a lot.”

Penny wiped her nose and continued.

“Well, the annex is so cold at night. The temperature had plummeted to the point where it was perfect for freezing to death… Only at night do I cough.”

To some extent, what Penny said was correct.

Furthermore.

“And if you ever have a chance to encounter your uncle, pretend to have a cold.”

Penny arrived with a blue dye on her lips as soon as Cedric summoned her.

“It’s not just me, but Lady Selina was like that too.”

Cedric looked to be completely perplexed.

“We coughed as if we were competing every night, so there were many days when we couldn’t sleep until dawn.”

Cedric, perplexed, cast an unintentional glance at William Spencer, who stood next to him.

He was also listening, his brows furrowed, as though he was puzzled as to why.

“How come you and Selina are both so cold?”

“That’s… that’s because no one brings firewood.”

“Huh.”

Cedric was taken aback and licked his lips as if it were second nature to him.

“That is the servant who is too indolent to do their job?”

“All of them.”

“… All of them?

“Yes. All of them.”

Camilla has been a good mother to Cedric so far, taking care of Selina, who is not her biological daughter.

If this is the case, he’s perplexed as to why Camilla was unaware that no one provides firewood to Selina every night.

“When you get to the castle, they will act as though they are bringing it to us… But, My Lord, there was a moment when I slept hugging Lady Selina because I was scared she’d freeze to death because you’re not around.”

“When it’s so cold outside, why does Selina insist on staying in the annex?”

Penny violently shook her head.

“Lady Selina never expressed a desire to remain at the annex. She doesn’t like it at all.”

Despite Cedric’s repeated recommendations, Selina stated that she did not want to leave the annex.

“Cedric, leave her alone. I suppose she prefers the annex since it is cool and quiet. Selina, as you may be aware, is a hothead.”

There was also a moment when he asked her directly if it was true. Selina would nod her head at that point.

Cedric felt like he was lost in a maze.

“In Madam’s company, Lady Selina could never reveal the reason.”

“Why didn’t you come to me and tell me the truth?”

“Because, My Lord, you’ve never been in the Countdom for more than three days in a month.”

Cedric will do another inspection of the territory tomorrow.

He was going to be gone for a week.

“What on earth is the butler up to?”

He’d tell Cedric right away if something like this happened.

He had a foolish thought as he tightened his fist.

‘The butler… is the one Camilla brought.’

* * * * *

“Lady Selina requires an escort, Commander.”

Cedric shook his other hand after sending Penny and stroking his head with his hand.

“What exactly do you mean? An escort for a child who never leaves the house?”

“However, Lady Selina may be in peril not outside, but within the Countdom.”

Cedric finally opened his eyes and returned his gaze to William.

“That maid stated Madam had been treating Lady Selina harshly.”

“She is, of course. She is even stricter with her biological daughter.”

Camilla was a conservative nobleman who was born and reared in the capital. As a result, she was well-known for her demeanor and manners in society.

Shannon was once booted out of a dinner because her elbow touched the table, and Cedric witnessed her crying.

“Seline will not know humility if she does not educated thoroughly.”

As the eldest daughter, Selina’s words and actions replace the Crawford family’s name in society.

On that point, Cedric agreed with Camilla.

Because she was from the capital, there were some things he wouldn’t understand, but Cedric had no doubts about Camilla’s personality as the Duke’s second daughter.

Do something or abuse the child…

“Not only does she smack the Lady till she passes out, but she also locks her in the annex closet all day.”

“… What?”

Cedric was startled, almost leaping from his seat.

He looked more surprised than when he was attacked from behind.

“Is that true?”

“I’ve only heard of it, but there’s no clear evidence.”

“……”

“So, I’ll bring that evidence.”

William’s eyes shined more than ever.

“Please assign me as Lady Selina’s escort, Commander.”