Chapter 105. Chartreu, Part III

"It would be. At the debut party, I was worried because she didn't have anyone to deal with her first dance. When Marquis Anais stepped up, I was very grateful, but now that has gone. He hasn't shown any interest so far. Why is he doing this? He used to be someone who wasn't interested in her even if she was dying."

Simone frowned as she looked down at the letter containing an earnest request.

"I don't understand because I don't have a child, but is this the pull of blood? I'm afraid I can't let him see her forever, even though he is an uncle."

"Does he remember Julietta when she was a child?"

"Well, I'm afraid he noticed something. And even if he hasn't noticed, what if Julietta comes back to her place after the season, or if he comes all the way to Tilia to meet his niece?"

Nor would her brother have expected this. If so, he wouldn't have used Julietta as a substitute.

"Vera, can I trust my brother?"

Vera hesitated for a moment, then replied firmly, "You know better even if I don't answer. His Excellency will make a scapegoat of you if everything is found out."

"I should have listened to you when you stopped me."

"You were persuaded by the tears of Miss Iris."

At Vera's words, Simone's expression sank. "No, Vera. I'm not that generous. Of course, it's true when she asked me to do something in tears, I became weak for a while. But that doesn't mean I traded my life for her tears. I know she or I don't have much affection for each other. In the past, there were times when I thought for a moment, 'Iris really believed in me and relied on me, but what if that poor kid knew it wasn't me, would she love me sincerely if I did her a favor?' But I quickly realized that it was an impossible feeling for us to have."Vera began to placate Simone who seemed to have become more emotional. "The Marquis of Anais weighs upon my mind, but now that she has had a successful debut party, I can say that there's very little to be found out. The Duke must have been worried if she would make a mistake at her debut party, or he was afraid something might happen."

To Vera's delight, Simone became angry when she threw the letter she was holding onto the table.

"He is a bad human being. He has been like that since he was a kid. He's always been selfish and cold-blooded. When I lost my husband and was kicked out of the mansion of Marquis Raban, he was a human being who told me not to think of coming back, let alone reaching out first."

"You'd rather have gone to Chewert mansion, which was passed down by your mother."

They could not pass on the family estate to a daughter who had another person's last name through marriage. Thus, there was a small estate in the noble family that could be separated by dowry for generations.

The dowry of the previous Duke's wife, the small estate in the north, was the one she had received when she was married, and likewise, the inheritance would be given to her daughter if she had one. Simone shook her head, thinking of a small estate in the north, which announced its existence with a tax that came in every year.

"If the new Marquis had paid a widow's pension to me as promised... I was too anxious to rely on a single income from that little estate for life."

Simone picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip and put it back down. The position of aristocratic women without successors was uneasy. That was why her brother risked this nonsense for Regina.

"When His Excellency promised you a dowry on the condition that you take care of the princess, you should have married again."

"I regret it now. But I was nervous then. What if I was married again but I can't have a child again? What if I get kicked out again? I thought I'd rather take care of Regina and put my future on her, because I had you and Gibson to take responsibility for."

Vera was surprised at the thoughts of Simone, and stopped acting without noticing. Simone was also a woman who had rarely said a single warm word to Gibson and Vera, who had been in her service her whole life. In Vera's heart, she always stirred the idea that she was also a member of the family of Kiellini. She thought her mistress's blood was cold blue, but she didn't know Simone was thinking about her.

She felt that Simone had changed a lot these days, but her mistress seemed genuinely hurt by the actions of the princess she had met the day before she had left Tilia Territory.

"I knew she was cold-hearted, because she looked like my brother. So I was not disappointed about this, but I rather afraid. I'd like to think the reason why she was so selfish was that we have curried favor with her since she's sick, but... I think if something happened, the child would abandon me without mercy."

Vera nodded unconsciously. She even thought it was fortunate that the bean pods that had been covering her eyes seemed to have been removed. "You're right. I've been worried about this ever since you started taking care of her."

At Vera's words, Simone looked at her. "Did the Marquis recognize his daughter? Is that why he keeps sending letters like this?"

"I don't know. But Ma'am, I think you need to decide what you're going to do when something happens."

Simone looked at Vera's calm brown eyes for a long time and nodded. Then she took out the letter and wrote down a reply to the Marquis in elegant handwriting.

"I'll have to meet my brother before I make my final decision. Maybe I misunderstood."

Simone put the finely folded letter in an envelope, took the seal and held it out to Vera.

"Give it to the butler. It's a letter to Marquis Anais, asking him to visit the mansion of the Duke in four days. And get ready to leave for Tilia right away."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be ready right away. What about tomorrow's meeting for my lady? Should I send them a reply saying she can't go?"

Vera asked about Julietta because she was worried about attending a tea party for women her age for the first time since her debut party.

Simone thought for a moment and answered Vera, "No. I will be on my way to Tilia alone, so you take care of Julietta. I'm going to have to hire a private maid, but I'll be careful to find the right one…"

"Why don't you ask the hostess of the theater? Don't you think she'll find someone we can trust, since she seems to have a wide connection with nobles?"

Simone nodded at Vera's suggestion. After meeting with her brother, she also had to meet with Maribel, according to her thinking. 'What does that smart woman think about the absence of the Duke of Kiellini?'

"Vera, make an arrangement with Maribel that I will stop by the day after tomorrow on my way up from Tilia. And what's going on for the transferring of the title of the dressing shop to Julietta?"

"His Excellency said he'll take care of it after he comes up," Vera replied with a slight irritation at what she had asked the financial manager the day after her debut party.

"If he comes up and takes care of it, he'll do it only when it's over safely. He is unwilling to let anything get out of his control as he is hiding everything, stepping back."

Simone stood up angrily. "Vera, go get the transfer papers. While I am down there, I'll have him take care of them himself."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll get the documents first and get them ready."

Simone murmured as she looked at the back of Vera who was running in a hurry, unlike her usual calm manner, "Julietta is such a strange child. She is really, really weird."

Vera, who had rarely expressed her feelings became more eloquent when she talked about Julietta. So was Gibson. He didn't show much emotion, but he seemed to care a lot about Julietta's work.

"But I'm the one who cares about the title transfer of the girl's dressing shop, right? I can't believe I am going to take it with me." Simone shook her head with a laugh. "What a strange child she is!"

-----