Chapter 28

Welcoming the family (6)

That ‘first child’ was the same age as me.

I didn’t say anything to Marilyn’s calm words because Aaron was two years younger than me, and he said he was the only son.

As expected, my wit functioned.

“My child, who I gave birth to on the same day, left me as soon as she came to the world.”

Marilyn smiled a little, but she also seemed to have difficulty speaking.

“…First… I’m telling you… I still can’t get over it.”

Leslie and I didn’t know what to say to comfort her, so we just fiddled with our teacups.

I never imagined Marilyn, who was always calm and passionate about her work, would look like that.

A face that looked miserable and lived with so much sadness…

Even though it was a perfect job for someone else, I felt like my heart was strangely breaking down.

As there was a slight silence between us, Marilyn forced herself to look bright and changed the subject.

“Then why don’t you try on your training suit?”

When Marilyn waved the bell, the assistant brought about five training suits.

“I’m nervous because it was my first time making training suits.”

For the first time, I saw that training suits could be artistic.

“The material may be uncomfortable. Please give me feedback after trying it on.”

“Feedback… I can just try it on roughly.”

“What do you mean, roughly? If it’s not perfect, we can’t get it out of this dressing room.”

It was great craftsmanship.

She was the owner of the capital’s best clothing place.

I had tried on all five training suits, and they were all much more comfortable than my old one.

“It’s so comfortable. I don’t think it needs to be fixed.”

“Really? Then let’s get a few more similar ones.”

It was when Leslie was clapping loudly.

Suddenly, the door of the dressing room burst open.

“Marilyn, the blue dress I told you about last time… Oh, my.”

A middle-aged woman with black hair suddenly came in and saw me and hardened.

Her pupils shook aimlessly, unable to hide her embarrassment.

‘What, I’ve never seen you before. Why do you look like that?’

I was a celebrity in the capital anyway, so it was highly likely that she recognized me.

The illegitimate daughter of the Marquis Abedes, the daughter of the noisy Caitlyn, the insensitive nut who continued to curse and torment Ian…

‘…Well, that could be the look.’

There was a possibility that she was a fan of Ian. Then I could understand why she was surprised to see me with Leslie.

“Oh, Lanella. As I said before, I always get guests on a pre-booking basis…”

When Marilyn spoke with a frown, a woman named Lanella immediately accepted.

“Oh, right. I didn’t make a reservation. I’ll be back next time! Sorry!”

It was a pretty quick exit for a sudden appearance.

Marilyn sat down again and clicked her tongue as if she was dumbfounded.

“She’s not the kind of person who’s going to go so smoothly… That’s strange.”

“Why was she so rude? Isn’t this a reservation system?”

When Leslie tilted her head and asked, Marilyn replied calmly.

“Oh, my old friend. We grew up together at the nursery.”

“Ah…”

“The public hospital even accepted my daughter when I gave birth. I was out of my mind because of the chaos, and I had a hard time.”

“Oh, you were a hospital worker?”

“I was a doctor’s assistant, for a moment…not now. It wasn’t long before I quit, left for another place, and recently returned to the capital. I think it was quite successful.”

“Oh, really? Somehow I thought she was an unfamiliar face.”

“I also bought a house at 21 Brivers Road. I didn’t give you any details, but I succeeded in investing something.”

That street was one of the most luxurious residential areas in the capital.

Marilyn slowly continued.

“I always felt sorry for her. Not long after I received my dead child, I quit my job and left for the South.”

The south was blocked by rugged mountains, making it difficult to exchange with the capital city.

“I was so sad that I might have left a trauma in the hospital.”

I felt a little strange because of the fact that I and her child were born at the same time.

She said Caitlyn and her were in labor and had a daughter at the same time… I wondered when she looked at me if I reminded her of her dead daughter.

Maybe that was why she was so upset about Caitlyn’s indifference toward me.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything, but Marilyn smiled a little and changed the subject.

“I’d like to hear about Miss Annabelle, not this boring story. Now that we’ve met like this, I want to hear from you about the opera. What did the prince say that day?”

Leslie also looked at me with her eyes glistening with interest.

“The story of you guys as lovers going out was the funniest part of the story. Go ahead and tell me.”

Lovers…a couple…

‘We have to keep this atmosphere alive.’

I thought as I watched Marilyn struggle with a bright expression on her face.

The reference to Robert was her consideration to somehow get away from the gloomy topic.

It was true that Marilyn and Leslie decorated me with all their heart and soul just because I was his partner.

So I just wanted to tell them an interesting story…

‘But I’m not confident to talk about it.’

I was never going to see him again, and nothing happened since I returned home without much trouble after talking to the rich Marquis of Abedes.

“Uh… Well, he said it was pretty.”

I managed to answer, but both of them looked dissatisfied with that word.

But I couldn’t help it. There was no provocative story, so I had to stop it by turning it into a more provocative story.

“Nothing really happened and…Marquis Abedes called me…”

“Ah.”

Leslie frowned and put down the teacup.

“I heard from Braden.  Did the Marquis of Abedes and his sons pretend to know you?”

They were also a good couple. It happened last night, but it seemed that Braden had already told Leslie everything.

“Yes.  He said he was sorry for being cold all the time, and said that we should get along well from now on because we are family.”

“Oh my gosh.”

Leslie shook her head and muttered.

“It’s really transparent.  After pretending not to know you for twenty-two years, but now that you’re partnering with Prince Robert, you’re family to them?”

I thought so too, but it was time to hide my intentions from everyone.

“But…”

As Leslie rolled her eyes, Marilyn sighed to help.

“I know the heart. Oscar and I wanted to have a normal family.”

She looked at me with warm eyes and continued.

“After having our first child like that, Oscar kept regretting going to a poor public hospital because he didn’t have the money. So he started obsessing over money like crazy.”

“Ah, yes.”

Leslie nodded her head.

Somehow, the old story of Marilyn continued again.

At the time, she said that although Marilyn was great at her skills, she didn’t have the money to be independent from her existing dressing room.

Eventually, Oscar became incredibly successful in his business, and he opened up a very luxurious store for Marilyn.

And as soon as Marilyn’s dressing room opened, she established herself as one of the capital’s most famous clothing stores.

“Because I lived so crazily about money… I couldn’t take care of Aaron’s childhood properly. Until he was twelve, I couldn’t remember seeing anything but his sleeping face at night.”

Marilyn spoke her words with her eyes wet with remorse.

She said, “I didn’t even make it to his first swordsmanship contest… When he told me that he would join the Knights Templar from Duke of Wade, I couldn’t even stop him.”

Aaron said he was defeated by Ian in his first swordsmanship contest when he was 12 years old, and entered the Wade Knights the next day.

“That’s when I found out I’m not a good parent to my second child.”

As she smiled sadly, she added.

“It was all because I can hand over a lot of money… Ah, I ended up telling this depressing story again.”

“Oh, no.”

I quickly shook my head.

“Thank you for understanding me.”

“In that sense…”

Marilyn said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“When is that dinner, Miss Annabelle?”

“In three days.”

“Then, have you decided what to wear?”

“What? Oh, not yet…but with so many training suits…”

I was talking about training clothes because I thought it was a bit funny to go to the Marquis for dinner.

But from my words, Leslie banged the table.

“Come on, Marilyn. We know what to do.”

“Yes.”

Marilyn nodded her head resolutely.

“Let’s make a dress for going out for a light dinner, but insanely pretty.”

Thanks to them, three days later, I went to dinner at the marquis’ house in the evening, again in a very beautiful dress.

~*~

The story of Annabelle Nadit’s invitation to the Marquis of Abedes also spread throughout the capital’s social circles.

The stories surrounding them were so provocative and interesting that everyone was busy talking behind the scenes.

“Oh, you mean tonight? Ah, why is everyone gathering at the Marquis of Abedes?”

Among them, there was one who was very interested in Annabelle’s dinner.

“It must be a time to finally solve the problems with the family members who have been longing for so long.”

The High Priest chuckled and held up a quill.

“I’ll have to send you a gift to make it a real family monumental meal.”

He began to write letters about paternity tests.