Chapter 74

“Nils, I have no idea when that guy will grow up. Yvonne is so obsessed with appearances for no reason... There’s no one I can truly trust and rely on.”

Maybe because it was very early in the morning, he became sentimental.

The hidden inner thoughts flowed out of Hayden’s mouth unconsciously.

Though the person sitting across from him was inappropriate to complain to, he did so anyway.

Iona did not even offer formal comfort for his regrets, and Hayden became a bit sulky.

He tried to look away from the meaningless assumption that perhaps the child he could really trust and rely on was this one.

Hayden summarized the situation with an indifferent voice.

“I’ve kept a tired person with my unnecessary grumbling. It’s alright, you’ve been through a lot; you can go and rest now. You don’t have to come to greet me separately tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Iona answered politely and stood up from her seat.

Hayden, who was staring at Iona, suddenly grabbed her.

“Iona.”

“Yes.”

“The baron… … Didn’t he say something strange to you?”

At Hayden’s hesitant question, Iona instantly recalled a certain memory. However, she put on a puzzled expression and didn’t reveal it.

“If you mean something strange...?”

Hayden, who had been carefully examining Iona’s face, shook his head.

“No, I just asked if he left any clues before he disappeared. If you don’t remember anything, then never mind. You may leave now.”

Though his tone was sassy, Iona chose to remain silent instead of expressing her doubts. Then she turned around and left Hayden’s room.

As soon as the door closed, Hayden let his tired body slump.

Ever since he heard the news that Robert had betrayed him, he had been brooding over many worries.

With him, Robert shared a secret that should not be revealed, and Hayden misunderstood this as the basis for an alliance and provided a lot of support to the other party.

It was because he thought that if he stood behind the other person, he would protect that foundation, even treating the secrets as his own.

‘But I never thought he would stab me in the back like this.’

He thought he was quick at calculations, but he never expected him to be so greedy.

Despite all the support he had provided, Robert wasn’t satisfied and resorted to other schemes. He had a feeling that this would come back to haunt him.

But as soon as the wrongdoing was exposed, he chose to run away. And there was no time for unnecessary talk with Iona.

In that case, he could find out the location of the embezzled funds and quietly get rid of him. It was a simple task.

So there shouldn’t be any problem. Hayden tried to reassure himself that way.

***

For the first time in a while, Iona woke up very late.

The long-awaited sleep was sweet, but the reason she didn’t leave her bedroom until late in the afternoon was because she didn’t want to run into Nils.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve come back, but instead of resting comfortably, I’m avoiding uncomfortable faces.’

Though she had been busy, Iona couldn’t help but think that life at the estate had been somewhat more peaceful.

Despite the fact that Baron Franz was a detestable person, it wasn’t like he had any personal grudges against Iona.

Iona lamented her miserable situation and pulled the blanket up to her chin. As if unable to bear it any longer, Marsha spoke up.

“My lady, it’s good to rest, but how about getting up and sitting for a bit?”

Marsha was cleaning the floor with a mop without paying any attention, even though her lady was sitting right there.

Despite Iona telling her to rest for the day and come out tomorrow, Marsha seemed completely oblivious to it.

Having followed her on the long journey and returning, she was immediately flipping over the accumulated dust.

No matter how diligent she was, Iona couldn’t match Marsha’s energy.

“I told you to go and rest, so why are you cleaning again?”

“I’m the only maid here, who else will do the cleaning?”

Marsha replied as if bewildered.

As soon as Iona thought that the conversation had been completed, Marsha began scolding again.

“That’s why I said you need to use more people. You said you would after you got married, so when are you going to get married?”

Iona felt embarrassed.

It was not like getting married was an easy task that could be done just like that.

However, considering Marsha was working so hard, Iona bit her tongue and remained silent. Instead, she turned away from Marsha and stood up from her seat.

“I should probably go out now.”

“If you go out today, you’ll come back with a marriage proposal, won’t you?”

Iona pretended not to hear and tried to go into her dressing room, but it was a meaningless evasion. Marsha was in charge of cleaning, etiquette, and dressing.

After enduring Marsha’s long lecture, Iona finally managed to finish dressing.

Thanks to that, when she came out and met Nils, she felt quite welcome to his face. It was because Marsha had only then stopped pressuring her to marry.

“What is it?”

Nils frowned openly as he encountered Iona, who was wearing a dress, from head to toe.

For Iona, it was an unexpected reaction. he was the one standing in front of the door, blocking the way, not Iona.

Nils glanced up and down at Iona, who was dressed in an outing outfit, and asked.

“Why did you change into an outing outfit as soon as you came home?”

“Tell me about your business.”

Iona replied coldly.

She thought it was a more gentle response than questioning what he would do if she told him, but Nils turned red with anger all at once.

“This...!”

Iona looked indifferently at Nils, who was clenching his fist as if he were going to hit her at any moment.

Nils objectively resembled Hayden, who was handsome, but due to his naturally hot temper, his impression was rather unfavorable. His habit of furrowing his brow had already created wrinkles between his eyebrows, making him look older than his peers.

‘Am I older? I can’t believe it.’

Even at a glance, her face seemed younger. Though her mental age might be higher, whether in the past or now, that was nothing special. Most of Nils’ peers easily surpassed that standard.

If it hadn’t been for the conversation with Hayden last night, Iona wouldn’t have taken Baron Franz’s remarks so seriously.

‘The Count obviously cared about something that Robert knew.’

If Robert really knew who her birth mother was, and if that was the secret the Count was hesitant to reveal, what would this situation mean?

Who exactly was her mother, Why would the Count have supported Robert for over ten years in exchange for that secret?

Thinking that, Iona asked curiously to Nile.

“Nils, was there a reason why you didn’t want me to call you brother?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m barely holding back my anger just by looking at your face.”

Nils reached out his arm towards Iona, as if trying to push her away.

Iona thought he was going to shove him aside, but Nils stopped at an awkward distance. In his outstretched fist, he held a crumpled letter.

It seemed to be the result of him giving in to his anger just now.

“It seems like you’re out of your mind to crumple up a letter from the imperial family.”

After confirming the imperial seal, Iona took the letter from Nils with a cold glance.

The envelope had already been torn open. It seemed he had checked it first, thinking it contained important news.

Since it had only been a day or two, instead of questioning him about it, Iona checked the contents without a word.

As she expected, the sender was Richard.

Around the time she finished reading the first few lines, Nils asked straightforwardly,

“What does it mean?”

“What?”

“Why would he ask you to accompany him on the day of the imperial ball? Isn’t Richard supposed to attend with Miss Florence as her partner?”

She was his fiancée, wasn’t she? Nils added as if it was an obvious fact.

--- End Of The Chapter ----

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