Chapter 53: CHP 53

Swoosh­

I looked out of the window for a long time until the glass turned foggy due to the pouring rain.

Because of the Mediterranean climate the rain continued to pour for several days, so the mansion felt heavy and stuffy.

Duke Seymour recently left because something unexpected happened in his land that was situated in the eastern territories, it was something unusual.

Rosad also delayed his return to the capital, because a wave of monsters appeared out of nowhere, while he was tracking the whereabouts of the barbarians Chief.

'I read about this part in the novel.

The cause of the sudden monster wave is a rift in the Eastern Barrier, from where many poisonous monsters came out, so it made the monsters colony that resided there, ran as far as they could in fear.

So now Rosad is defending the land from the invading monsters and Duke Seymour is busy, constantly using the gate to teleport between the capital and his land, to take care of the chaos there.

In the novel the rift in the barrier and the monsters emerging from it, was an opportunity for Mia Vinoche, who possessed divine powers, to shine by playing an active part in the monsters subjugation.

But in my opinion it is too dangerous to go there. Why would something like that happen anyway? It seems like such a dangerous set up, only to make the heroine stand out.'

"Haaa"

'I can't figure it out...Why did I start reading an unfinished novel, of all novels?"(⁠┛⁠◉⁠Д⁠◉⁠)⁠┛⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

While I pressed my fingers to my temples, I looked down at the beautiful flower garden and decided to stop worrying about everything and headed out to Armand.

After I got off the carriage, I made my escort stand on guard in front of the door and pulled out my key. It was a key that only the core members involved in the business had.

I opened the small door that was located at the back of the store and waved the bellpull, then Armand's manager quickly appeared.

There were two rooms in the basement, one had the teleportation circle that was connected to Blancia, and the other was my laboratory and office.

"How is the situation with Naria? Are they ruined?"

I took down my robe and asked slyly.

"The manager of Naria believed the fake recipe was real, without suspecting anything. There are rumors that they bought expensive medicinal herbs so that they can make the ionic drink."

I laughed at them inwardly.

'No matter how much they will infuse the medicinal herbs, they won't be able to make the real ionic drink.

Money, time and manpower, they will lose everything while they will go through all kinds of trials and errors because of the fake recipe.

This is retribution, a the reason why people should be more kind-hearted.😈

But our sales have gone down a lot too. Because the rain kept pouring continuously for the past few days... Haaa, it feels like there is a hole in the sky, and it affected our sales graph that just a few days ago was kicking through the roof but now has a sharp curve going down.

What should I do? It seems like the bad weather will continue. The weather...'

A sudden thought just came to my mind.

"Manager, let's make a menu called ~Tea of the Day~"

"Tea of the Day?"

I started to explain the details to my confused manager.

"We are going to introduce to our customers a new and special tea that will fit with the cold weather and with the atmosphere of the day, so that they will think about our store every time the weather changes abruptly."

"Aha, I see."(⁠٥⁠↼⁠_⁠↼⁠)

"I heard that the set menu is favored by the busy mages and bureaucrats who don't want to bother thinking about what to choose.

The ~Tea of the Day~ will have a similar effect with our regular customers who are tired of the same traditional menu but are still too lazy so they choose the same thing."

'~ Tea of the Day~ will also help us to finish up all our tea stock. The popular tea leaves preferred by our customers are expensive, even though their quality is not that good.

So the ~Tea of the Day~ will make it easier for us to sell the less popular tea leaves. But I still have to use fresh and high-quality tea leaves first so that our customers will be happy to take on a risk.'

The manager wrote down every word with sanctity without missing a single one.

At first the manager had doubts about me, because I looked young and always came wearing a black robe, that made me look dubious.

But gradually he began to support me, he even looked up at me like I was a god of business, probably because of the amazing sales we had because of my ideas.

"Oh! Today you must brew tea leaves that have a strong aroma so that it can permeate the entire shop so that our customers will be drawn by it, this is a priority today."

Because of the humid and cold weather these days, the scent will feel stronger because the diffusion speed will be slower. The rainy days are indeed better for savoring warm tea.

A good scent has a nerve-stabilizing effect on people. I want to make the people who enter the shop after walking through the cold rain feel calm, warm and relaxed.

New menus and events are important, but in the end, the catering industry is still a regular business, so it is important to make a good impression on our customers to make them want to come again.

That is why I always pay a lot of attention to the atmosphere and cleanliness of the shop, even though the labor cost is high.

"I will follow the instructions."

"How is the autumn menu going?"

"It's almost finished."

The manager then handed me a piece of paper.

"What is this?"

"The phrases we were thinking of using for the next season menu's poster and banner."

I looked at the paper and clicked my tongue inwardly.

'These phrases are too honest?

The people here have no skills whatsoever to mislead the customers.

They could have at least added a moderate exaggeration, but they are so naive and complacent...Haaa😮‍💨

Well, it may be that in my previous life the people were too competitive.'┐⁠(⁠ ⁠˘⁠_⁠˘⁠)⁠┌

"Give me a quill."

"Yes."

I dipped the tip in the red ink, edited the phrases and then got up from my seat.

"Madam, Is this true?"

"What do you think? There is no way they can verify the authenticity. Isn't it enough if our customers are happy?"

"... I see... So they don't have a way to check if it's real."ಠ⁠_⁠ʖ⁠ಠ

I ignored the manager's stare that was filled with suspicion as if he was looking at a thug, and got up from my seat.

I went up the basement stairs and passed through the back door of the shop, walking to the carriage. My next stop was a large toy store located in the Yones District, to buy Enrique a gift.

'I can't believe that it's his birthday.'

I was thrilled when I heard that Enrique's birthday was coming. If I hadn't threatened a maid that works in Enrique's annex, I wouldn't have known and would have skipped it without giving him a gift.

Because Enrique's nanny, Carol, made me feel unsettling I decided to interrogate one of the maids who had worked in his annex house for a long time, to find some information about the happenings there.

After I told her some information, that I knew, about her family's circumstances, the maid started to tremble and quickly told me everything, she probably thought that I would harm them otherwise.

"Enrique doesn't look good these days. Is he sick?"

At my question, the maid bowed her head with a pale face.

"It's probably because he is receiving a lot of private tutoring."

"But it is not like the amount of his studies doubled all of a sudden."

"Ah! Then...I think it's because he doesn't eat a lot around this time of the year."

"Why?"

"Madame Carol said that the Young Master was born prematurely and had many complications so he may still suffer some after-effects because of that. In fact, after this period, Young Master gets better quickly, every year."

'What nonsense...It is ridiculous to believe that such nonsense is real.'

"So, Enrique is in a bad condition around this time every year?"

"Yes. Princess Deborah."

'He was always nervous in front of me but he suddenly fell asleep during our lesson, could it be that he has insomnia but he looked really stressed about something and from what I gathered he has no appetite, from my knowledge these are symptoms similar to depression.'

"No way?!Could it be?"

A shocking thought flashed through my head, and I frowned.

'Normally, children are happy and looking forward to their birthdays, but Enrique is stressed during this time, every year, that means that he has negative thoughts about his birthday...'

Then a small fragment of Deborah's memory flashed to my mind.

...

It was Enrique's birthday, and Deborah was looking at her younger brother, who had an expressionless face rather than looking happy because he received a lot of expensive gifts from his direct family and other relatives.

Deborah secretly hated Enrique, saying that he was too lofty for a child. That was also the year in which Enrique, who was still young, entered 2 clubs because of his extraordinary talent.

Because Deborah suffered from a strong sense of inferiority due to her lack of mana sensitivity, glared at Enrique.

Amid all the agitation, Deborah slid out in the garden, because she did not like her relatives. Also at the same time Enrique also disappeared in the middle of the meal.

"Blergh!"

Enrique who came out from the party, was throwing up, on the grass, with a very pained face.

"Young Master. You will make everyone worry because you came out like that in the middle of the meal? Duke Seymour will be very disappointed in you if you disappear all of a sudden after he went to all the trouble to prepare such a big party for you."

...

I suddenly realized why I felt so unsettling when I saw how the nanny interacted with Enrique. I have had that uneasy feeling since that day.

...

"Young Master, from now on, you are not allowed to go out until you have finished all your homework."

Madame Carol, threatened Enrique, in a soft yet cold tone.

She already knew that he could not finish all his homework because Enrique's teachers were hired according to her taste so all followed only her instructions.

The famous tutor Duke Seymour presumably invited especially for Enrique was also one of Madame's Carol lies from the beginning, so that it would be easier to control Enrique.

"This is all for your own good, Young Master."

She always said that.

"..."

Enrique stared at the heavy rain that was violently tapping against the window, with a frightened face and dropped the quill he was holding.

It was probably because he was absent-minded but he couldn't concentrate on his homework. Enrique fluttered his clothes, that clung to him, several times, it was too hot and humid.

He really hated that his birthday was approaching. So he kept having nightmares every night. He knew that it would be over soon, but right now he felt like he was suffocating just like in his nightmare and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Ever since your mother passed away, Duke Seymour has dugget himself in work, because the pain was too strong. So it's only natural that he will be in a bad mood when he sees you, Young Master, after all you remind him of her passing."

Because of that Enrique felt that his mother passing away was because of him. Even more so now that her death anniversary was approaching.

'I'm suffocating.'

Enrique, laid his head down on his desk shivering, then cast his gaze on the tapestry on the floor, for a long time, which depicted a viper brandishing its sharp teeth ready to attack.

'Who did you say troubled me? Don't say things like that without knowing what is really going on. Be careful with your words.'

He, suddenly, remembered the moment his sister snapped coldly at his nanny.

Some might say that she behaved like a viper, but in that moment, to him she felt like a warrior.

Enrique bit his lips so tightly that he started to bleed, got up from his seat and walked outside.

He feared that if he stayed there much longer without doing anything to get out, he would go crazy.

"Young Master, where are you going?"

As he struggled to run towards the entrance of the separate building, but the nanny hurried after him and snatched his arm. Enrique could only look at her with a pale and frightened face.

"Where do you think you are going in this rain? And I know that you didn't finish all your homework."

"Today is the day I'm meeting with my sister. I must go!"

"Don't be ridiculous to think that Princess Deborah is going to meet you on such a bad day?

Now, let's go. You are going to catch a cold before your birthday! Do you want to worry everyone?"

Nanny Carol, pulled his arm roughly but

Enrique struggled to free itself from her grip because it felt similar to the snakes that tied his legs every night in his nightmare. But he felt that all his strength left his body.

But he still didn't give up and opened his mouth with difficulty.

"I am not being ridiculous. I am going to study. Sister accepted me as her disciple, we made a promise to meet every week."

Because he forced himself with all his might to talk, his lips were trembling and he panted heavily.

Madame Carol's face twisted in furry, when she saw that the usually obedient child talked back to her.

She thought that he was going to the library to read books, but in fact, he was meeting with Princess Deborah all this time.

'You have been hiding like a rat, haven't you? How dare you!'

Madame Carol, gritted her teeth because the child she cherished and cared for didn't want to do her bidding anymore.

It felt even more unfair when she remembered Princess Deborah's red eyes, shining like those of an awl looking at his prey.

'Deborah Seymour, that ruffian must have negatively influenced my perfect Young Master.'

"Young Master. You must come to your senses!"

Madame Carol shook Enrique's small shoulders roughly.

"I understand that you feel tired because you have a lot of homework these days and you want to play with Princess Deborah. But do you really think that she is going to play with you."

When she saw that Enrique shook his head approvingly, her eyes became fierce.

"Then, don't tell me... Young Master, do you really believe that Princess Deborah cares about you? You know that is ridiculous, right?"

Madame Carol laughed at him.

"Your mother had to sacrifice her life for you to be born. So how could Princess Deborah, her daughter, care about you?"

When Enrique heard her words his eyes filled with tears, which then poured down continuously .

"No one in this house thinks or worries about you and your future as much as I do, Young Master Enrique. You know that."

Then Madame Carol bent her knees to make eye contact with him and whispered in his ear, kindly.

"I want you to be more admired and more successful than anyone else."

Enrique's silver eyes widened.

"Your mother's death anniversary is approaching, so the Lord will be sad. If you don't want him to hate you, you have to be more courteous and study harder... Arghhh!!!"

Enrique couldn't help but stare, in shock , when his sister appeared, suddenly, like a ghost, and pulled Madame Carol by the head, without hesitation.

"S-sister?!"ʕ⁠'⁠•⁠ ⁠ᴥ⁠•̥⁠'⁠ʔ

"Didn't I warn you clearly then? To be careful with your words!"

Said Princess Deborah, coldly.

"Ackk!!!"😫

"Does everyone think that this Princess words are just for show?!"

Madame Carol's hair, that was pulled back roughly, got messed up in an instant.

But Princess Deborah, who was the one holding her hair, got more furious when she looked at her so her red eyes, glistened more fiercely while she grinded her teeth.

"The more I think about it, the angrier I get! This crazy woman is just spitting out things from her rotten mouth just as she pleases!"

"P-princess, what kind of ungraceful act... Ahhh!!!"

"What the hell do you think you are doing? How dare you say such cruel things to my little brother?"

"Please, let go of me!"

"There is not a child in this world as lovely as Enrique!"

Enrique blinked his eyes, shocked by his furious sister's words.

'She said lovely.'

The rain stopped pouring, gradually, but for some reason, his vision was getting blurry, like he was in the middle of a heavy rain.

...

The reason I had that unsettling feeling about the nanny and had to threaten a servant to find evidence, was because of Enrique's words.

'I was late and disappointed you.

Disappointment?!

Usually children worry about being scolded when they do something wrong, they don't worry about disappointing others.

He is a mature child who puts other people's feelings before his.

"Mom, I'm sorry don't be sad. I won't let you down anymore."

That was how I behaved in my previous life.

Maybe because Enrique's mature behavior overlapped with my own, that may be the reason why my first thought was that something was wrong with his nanny, I saw in him the same wounds I had.

"If Do-hee gives in to her sister, Mom will be very happy."

My previous parents often said that they would be disappointed if I didn't behave nicely. Looking back, now, I think that I wasn't able to be honest with my own feelings because I was caring too much about how my parents felt.

Actually, I didn't really want to give in, I wanted a new toy too. But since I gave in too much for others, my self-esteem decreased and I became more and more frustrated on the inside.

It really isn't good to force a child to give up his desires like that, but in most cases it wasn't considered a bad thing.

There are many people who make use of people's kindness and empathy towards others, to manipulate them as they want.

It is called gaslighting, and this nanny named Carol was one of the most vicious among them.

She was, subtly, controlling Enrique by guilt tripping into believing that he was responsible for his mother's death and that Dukes Seymour hates him because of that. She used that to make Enrique behave like she wanted to.

It was probably because the nanny was constantly reminding him that the Duchess death anniversary is approaching, that Enrique got sick every year around this time.

She is a two faced person, she pretends to be the only one who cares about him when she is in fact the one who wounded his young heart. She gives me goosebumps.'

"Ahhh!"

It didn't matter that that vicious psycho screamed her lungs out, I still pulled her hair more violently. I couldn't endure the anger that was boiling inside me.

"P-princess, please, calm down'"

The maids from the separate building wanted to stop me, and ran towards us, but with one look from me, they remained petrified.

No one was brave enough to really touch me, so I pulled a handful of the nanny's hair, threw it on the floor and then, carefully, took Enrique's small hand.

"Let's go Enrique. We have class today."

Enrique, looked up at me with his tearful eyes, startled, and tried to wiggle his small hand out.

"This nanny here, don't let me put my eyes on her ever again. If I see even a corner of her skirt, I will hold all of you accountable."

"Y-es, P-princess."

I left that chaos behind and I brought Enrique, carefully holding his hand, to my building where my living quarters were.

"Young Master Enrique?!"

The servants stared at me as if I abducted him.

"He will stay with me for the time being."

Since Duke Seymour wasn't currently here, I intended to make Enrique stay with me until he returned.

"I-I will prepare clothes for the Young Master."

While the startled servants were taking care of Enrique, who got soaked in the rain, I asked to be brought cake and hot tea.

After a while, Enrique came out with a dry and soft face but he behaved awkwardly. I narrowed my eyes as I watched Enrique.

"Enrique."

"Yes?"

"Why are you suddenly so shy? Last time you even drooled while you sleept peacefully next to me. We have become much closer."

"Ugh!"😣

"I am just joking. Come, sit here."

After he sat down I quickly gave him a fork to eat, so that he wouldn't run away again.

"This is one of the most popular desserts these days, it is from a shop called Armand."

Enrique looked at me with a sulky face.

"Thank you for the food."

Enrique, who never forgot to always politely express his thanks, started nibbling on the whipped cream.

The sweet cream probably suited his taste, because the movement of his hand gradually became quicker.

But when I tapped on the only large strawberry with my fork, Enrique's pupils shook.

'It seems like he wants to eat it.'

It was hard to get fresh strawberries, because their season passed, so fresh strawberries are not common in autumn as it is in spring.

'Of course, nobles could eat them at any time they wanted. But unlike Deborah, who got everything she wanted, Enrique did not actively express what he liked.

He must have eaten only what was given to him.'😥

I picked up the strawberry to tease him a little.

"Say ah."

"Ah?"

I quickly put the strawberry in his mouth, while he looked at me with his big eyes widened, in shock. But he still

chewed it with his chubby cheeks that turned red.

I was happy and relieved that he accepted the strawberry so I decided to go further.

"Enrique, do you like chess? Or card games?"

There are a few things that can make an awkward atmosphere go away quickly, and a card game is one of them.

Enrique took a sip of the orange juice and opened his mouth.

"Chess."

That is why Enrique and I were sitting, now, opposite each other with a chessboard between us. At first, because he is younger, I thought that I should go easy on him, but I soon changed my mind.

'Why is he so good?

I noticed, during our lessons, that Enrique is extraordinarily skilled at math but it seems that he excels in other fields too.'

"Checkmate."

While I was lost in thoughts, Enrique's pawn reached the final row, approached my king and won.

"It seems that our Enrique won."

Enrique's big eyes, curved a little. He didn't openly jump around to show his happiness, because he was conscious of his teacher, but he rejoiced by covering his mouth with his hand to suppress a giggle.

"You are amazing. I will take you as my chess teacher."

"You didn't go easy on me because I'm your disciple, right?"

"Of course not. I will definitely win the next round."

Because I challenged Enrique, the chess prodigy, and miserably lost three games, I decided to redeem myself by playing a card flipping game.

'I give up. I couldn"t win even a single game because he has such a good memory.'

As a last resort, I decided to take out the Jenga game. Enrique, who carefully pulled out a piece with his chubby hand, grabbed his head, when the Jenga tower crumbled down.

"This is too difficult!"

"Ohh, so it's difficult?"

"Don't make fun of me!"

"But you are so cool!"

"Liar!"

I tousled Enrique's silver hair, who glared coldly at the Jenga pieces that had fallen to the floor.

"Do you want to play again?"

Enrique swayed back and forth and then nodded in agreement.

"Yes, let's play again."

"Alright. You can start."

We played Jenga until dinner time, but Enrique didn't seem to have an appetite because he barely ate anything.

After dinner, when it started to get dark outside, Enrique looked out the window at the darkened flower garden, with a pale face.

"Enrique."

"Yes?"

"You do know that I am the strongest and scariest person in this house, right?"

"..."

"Because you have a teacher that is strong and good at fighting, the disciple doesn't have to worry about anything. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Enrique didn't say anything, he only pressed his lips tightly.

'I sounded funny, like an old man again.'

"My disciple. Do you want to play chess again?"

"..."

But for some reason, he didn't seem inclined to play. If he wanted to, his silver eyes would sparkle like that of a cat when he saw a snack.

"Then, do you want to read a book together?"

Enrique, gave a small nod in approval, so we entered my study, which gave off a cozy atmosphere because of the warm-colored lighting sphere.

Enrique took a close look at the bookshelf which had many romance novels, but I quickly pulled out a poetry book from the top shelf.

"This is the collection of poems that mother read in the past. She liked literature and poetry a lot."

"..."

Enrique's big eyes shook when he heard my words.

"I will read it to you. Sit down."

"Really?"

"Yes "

Enrique sat down on the sofa and then looked up at me with a shy expression. His cute face looked red because of the warm color lighting.

"Ahem."

I sat next to Enrique, cleared my throat and started reciting. Enrique listened, very concentrated just like during our lessons.

However, by the time I read a bit more than half of the poems, he had fallen asleep with his head, leaning against my shoulder.

'He fell asleep.'

I sat there, for a while, listening to the sound of the rain, which was similar to wood burning in the chimney, lost in thoughts. While Enrique slept against me, like a log.

......................