Mrs. Somerset, with a thick shawl draped over her shoulders, was coming out of the living room. Standing at the door, she looked at Jacqueline with cold eyes.

“Mother.”

Jacqueline’s eyebrows slightly contorted. Mrs. Somerset tightened her shawl and put on an even more severe expression.

“As soon as you get to the capital, go see Mr. O’Brien. And do as he says. Then we can rise again, Jackie. With that money, we can return to the capital. No one will be able to say the Somerset family has fallen anymore.”

“I can’t lie for money. My false testimony will make many people unhappy, Mother.”

“Unhappy?”

Mrs. Somerset’s voice became sharp as a needle. She glared at her daughter with fierce eyes, grinding her teeth.

Jacqueline’s eyes widened at her mother’s suddenly changed demeanor.

“Mother…”

Mrs. Brown called out, “Sister,” as if to tell her to stop, but Mrs. Somerset didn’t hear. Her blue eyes blazed with anger.

“Are you saying other people are more important than me? Can’t you see how miserable I am, Jackie? Can’t you see me dying day by day in this rural backwater? How could you do this to me after how I raised you!”

Mrs. Somerset, who had been biting her lower lip hard, suddenly softened her gaze. She whispered affectionately as if soothing a young child.

The momentary change was chillingly dramatic.

“Jacqueline. You know who I live for, don’t you? You know how much I trust and rely on you. I would have died long ago without you.”

“Of course, Mom.”

Mrs. Somerset slowly approached and embraced her. Jacqueline hugged her mother back. The protruding bones on her thin body pained her heart.

At the same time, a cool wind blew in Jacqueline’s heart. Like a large hole had been punctured, a desolate wind lost its way and wandered.

Whoosh.

The empty wind whirled more fiercely inside her. She felt devastated wherever the wind passed.

Jacqueline was not free from these two emotions towards her mother: sympathy and burden. She felt pitiful yet heavy at the same time.

And every time she realized this fact, Jacqueline had to be weighed down by guilt.

A daughter finding her mother burdensome, that’s nonsense. I am mother’s only family.

“Yes, my child. I believe you’ll accept His Majesty’s offer for my sake. Let’s return to society together. It’s a bit late, but you’ll find a husband there. A husband who will make both of us happy. Surely there will be a gentleman who will accept you and me. Then we can return to our previous life.”

“…Mom.”

Jacqueline’s voice took on a dejected tone. She knew that whatever she said wouldn’t reach her ears.

Her mother’s eyes became dreamy. Gazing into space with hopeful eyes, she cupped Jacqueline’s cheeks with her bony hands.

“My beloved daughter, Jackie. You’ve never disappointed me.”

And she looked up at her daughter with kind eyes. She smiled a gentle smile. A radiant smile like before she suffered from neurasthenia.

That’s why Jacqueline couldn’t be harsh to her. She had always been a caring mother to Jacqueline.

Reading her bedtime stories before sleep, being the first to open the door on stormy nights.

She was just ill now. Someday she would return to being the kind mother of before. Jacqueline believed so. Otherwise, she couldn’t endure this moment.

“It’s time for the train, I have to go now. I’ll write you letters, Mom.”

“Yes. Don’t forget to see Mr. Parker O’Brien.”

Instead of answering, Jacqueline opened the front door and stepped out. No longer the naive earl’s daughter, she knew well that small promises could hold her back.

In front of the house, a luggage cart was waiting for her. The coachman, who had been hunched over, gripped the reins as the front door opened.

As she took a step, Mrs. Somerset’s sharp voice continued behind her back.

“Surely you won’t abandon me and take the side of those you’ve just met, Jackie? You won’t end my life like this!”

“Stop it, sister. Why are you making the child’s heart heavy when she’s going to work?”

Mrs. Brown, unable to bear it any longer, scolded her.

Jacqueline, who had climbed into the seat next to the coachman, waved lightly towards the two women standing at the entrance. However, her heart was heavier than ever.

“Don’t disappoint me, Jackie.”

Mrs. Somerset delivered a final warning with a cold expression. Jacqueline turned to the coachman and said, “Let’s go.”

The carriage began to move. The gaze stuck to her back persisted tenaciously. As if strangling her neck.

Haah.

Only after the red brick house faded into the distance did Jacqueline finally let out a sigh of relief.

She truly loved her mother. She wanted to give her whatever she desired.

Her mother, who had fallen overnight, suffered from neurasthenia, and Jacqueline wanted to bring back her smile.

But pleasing her mother meant making Windsor and Benjamin sad. Jacqueline knew how hard Windsor was trying to protect his young nephew.

He paid great attention to Benjamin’s education. Sometimes it seemed excessive, but there was no doubt that it was for Benjamin’s sake.

Moreover, he endured countless moments to protect the Preston family. Unskilled in noble etiquette, he couldn’t ask any lady to dance, nor could he attend social gatherings.

Although he knew that the rumors surrounding him were snowballing, Windsor endured silently.

He did his best to pass on an intact Preston family to Benjamin and not to tarnish the family’s honor.

If she hadn’t become Benjamin’s tutor, she might have nodded readily to O’Brien’s proposal.

But Jacqueline had watched the two closely. She knew better than anyone how much Windsor devoted himself to his nephew, and how much Benjamin respected his uncle.

“…”

But I can’t make Mother sad either.

This time, experiencing another loss, she might collapse miserably. She would think she had been betrayed by Jacqueline, whom she trusted.

Unlike now, when she was barely hanging on, this time she would fall so thoroughly that she could never rise again. Jacqueline would have to push her mother into the mud with her own hands.

She felt as if she had been thrown into a dark room with her hands and feet tied. She couldn’t move from that spot, and she couldn’t see ahead.

It felt like if she took a careless step, she would fall into an irreversible abyss.

Having to choose one of the two was a terribly cruel thing for her. It was like saying to give up one of the two.

Jacqueline slowly turned her head. She could see the endless plains and hills, and sheep freely roaming between them.

But even the tranquil countryside scenery couldn’t bring peace to Jacqueline’s heart. Her eyes sank gloomily. Her heart was heavier than ever before.

***

Windsor, who had gotten off the carriage, buttoned up his jacket one by one. Roman stood behind him with a solemn face.

The butler, who had been waiting for guests at the entrance since the carriage passed through the mansion’s gate, bowed politely.

“Welcome, Lord Preston. The Dowager is waiting. I will guide you to the reception room.”

Windsor nodded and slowly followed him. The Chamberlin mansion was as large and grand as the Preston mansion.

Roman, walking down the corridor, glanced around, turning only his eyes. Then, seeing the expensive frames and ornaments, he shook his head.

He could never understand the taste of rich people. The bad taste of spending thousands of gold on paintings or porcelain that couldn’t even be eaten.

“Please enter, Lord Preston.”

“I’ll wait here.”

Roman straightened his posture in front of the reception room door. The butler, who opened the door with one hand, gave him a look.

“I will guide Mr. Miller to the lounge. Please follow me.”

“Yes, then.”

Scratching his head, Roman only turned to walk after seeing Windsor enter the reception room. Thinking, it seems even a grand mansion like this has a waiting room for aides.

“How do you do, Dowager Chamberlin.”

Windsor’s gaze turned to the old lady sitting in the chair as he entered the reception room. He walked straight towards the dowager.

“Ah, Lord Preston. Welcome.”

She held out her hand as if it were natural. Windsor lightly kissed the back of her soft hand, which had never known hard work, and sat down.

Dowager Chamberlin looked at him with a benevolent gaze. There was elegance in her every expression and action.

“Was there any inconvenience in coming here? The mansion is quite secluded, isn’t it?”

“It wasn’t inconvenient at all.”

At that blunt answer, she suddenly burst into laughter.

Windsor slightly raised one eyebrow. He reflected on the previous conversation, wondering if he had made a joke. Nothing particularly came to mind.

“It’s refreshing. It’s been a very long time since someone made such an expression in front of me.”

“If I’ve been disrespectful, I apologize.”

“No, not at all. Gregory, ah, my husband who passed away 10 years ago. It reminds me of his expression. It makes me miss Gregory for once.”

Dowager Chamberlin truly seemed unbothered, with a cheerful face.

No matter who the other person was, she generally didn’t lose her smile in front of them. It was an artificial smile to curry favor, but that was natural in noble society.

Moreover, she was once called the ‘Queen of Society.’ Everyone wanted to be in her good graces and wanted to use her connections.

“I see.”

Windsor just nodded vaguely with an expression that said he didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, she liked to chat like other nobles.

Dowager Chamberlin poured tea into an empty cup.

“He was originally a very blunt person. He was also clumsy, not understanding a woman’s heart. Thanks to that, I suffered a lot inwardly. Later… much later, I realized his true feelings, but by then it was too late. Have some.”

“Thank you.”

Windsor pulled the teacup she handed him towards himself. Unfortunately, the dowager’s chatter was just beginning.

“He locked himself in the study for days before he passed away. He was already known as a workaholic, so I nagged him, asking if he was going to be buried in work until he died, and why he married me instead of work if that was the case. I resented him for spending his little remaining time alone.”