Selected as the New Stepmother - Chapter 24

It seems that’s not the area you needed to realize.

“I see. You’ve realized that you like me very much.”

I gently stroked the little one’s head.

‘Should I be glad that he realized something at least.’

It wasn’t the ideal realization I wanted. But if I pointed out that it wasn’t, wouldn’t that end up hurting the child more?

“Seeing you come here crying, it looks like you got scolded badly by the Duke.”

“Sob……”

Rublion pressed his lips tightly, trying not to cry.

“Since you said with your own mouth that you won’t do it again, you can keep that promise, right?”

“Yes! I really absolutely won’t do it again.”

The golden eyes brimming with tears were enough to stimulate maternal instincts.

I hugged Rublion. The little one leaned his cheek on my shoulder, sniffled for a while, then let out a deep sigh and mumbled.

“I’ll start morning training from tomorrow.”

“Yes, I heard about that.”

“As you know, I’m really smart. I read books extremely fast and have an incredibly good memory……”

The little one pulled away from my embrace. Then he sat down beside me and kept letting out deep sighs.

“All the tutors said I was the genius of the century, but the one thing I’m not good at is exercise.”

The child was serious, but I couldn’t help laughing.

“So that’s why you said you wouldn’t do the training?”

“Yes, and my feelings about not wanting to do it haven’t changed.”

“But you agreed to do it, right?”

The little one opened his palm, then clenched it into a fist again. Then, shaking his head with regretful eyes, he said:

“Sigh, I should have bargained for something else instead of morning training……”

I chuckled at Rublion who had become adorably and pitifully depressed. But well, the carriage has already left.

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A few days later.

Rublion came to the guest room at dawn whining that he didn’t want to go to morning training, but was eventually dragged away by a knight.

Thanks to that, Anna and I, who woke up early, finished preparing to go to Black Swan.

“You cannot go to Black Swan alone.”

“What? Why?”

Anna asked the butler who suddenly blocked our way.

“I heard that Johnston’s mercenaries attacked Black Swan last night. So if you want to go out, you must be accompanied by the Duke’s knights.”

“They… attacked Black Swan?”

I was speechless with shock. I stood there blankly for a moment as if I’d been hit on the back of the head, then suddenly came to my senses.

“Please call the knights quickly.”

I need to see it with my own eyes. I knew Johnston was a scoundrel, but he shouldn’t have touched Black Swan.

“I need to go check right away.”

Barely managing my anxious heart, I went to Black Swan accompanied by knights, and from the entrance it was exuding a miserable atmosphere. Of course, the interior was in chaos as if it had been bombed.

The flower shop owner approached me as I stood there in dismay and said:

“Last night they even broke all the doorknobs… Sigh. I reported it, but as soon as the guards came, they ran away in a hurry.”

The flower shop owner came even closer and whispered:

“That man Johnston is the culprit. I saw him.”

“Thank you for reporting it.”

I picked up the books that had fallen on the floor. I saw the desk split in half, the bookshelf that had fallen over and come apart, and the sofa that was torn with stuffing popping out.

“It’s completely… ruined.”

The flower pots I had carefully tended by the window were shattered.

The tea table in front of the sofa was cracked. The flower pot Rublion had given me was placed next to it, but it had been kicked and was in pieces.

Amidst all this, Rublion’s special high-quality sofa was pitifully intact.

“How could someone……”

Everything in Black Swan is precious to me. Johnston destroyed all the memories that had kept me going through difficult times. All the time I had endured tenaciously and everything of my mother’s.

Anger welled up inside me. His barbaric force, which was terrifying, was nothing in the face of my anger right now.

“Miss… What, what should we do about all this?”

I looked at the group of knights standing behind me. If they were the Duke’s knights, they would never lose to mercenaries.

“Anna.”

Anna, whose face was a mess of tears and snot, stared at me with a pale face.

“Go rent a carriage. I won’t just let this go.”

I tore off one of the wooden bars that had been supporting the desk top. The long, heavy object was perfect for beating someone up.

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Johnston’s business, the pub, had not opened yet. So I grabbed the pub’s guard and went to Johnston’s house.

The house was large enough to rival even a viscount’s residence.

When the rented carriage stopped in front of the gate, a maid with dark circles under her eyes came out.

“What brings you here?”

I got out of the carriage and answered her question.

“I came to see Johnston.”

Ignoring the maid’s question, I grabbed the wooden bar I had brought. Seeing that, the maid’s eyes and mouth gaped open.

“Oh my, who do we have here? Isn’t it the young lady of Viscount Deli?”

Just then, Johnston came outside. The maid turned pale and quickly stepped aside.

“If I knew you’d react like this, I should have smashed up that office earlier.”

Johnston approached with large strides, smoothing his oiled hair to keep it from getting messed up. I gripped the wooden bar tightly in my hand. Then I swung it.

“Whoa there, is it okay to carry around such a dangerous object? What if someone takes it from you?”

Johnston grabbed the wooden bar with his hand and smiled vilely. I also raised just one corner of my mouth and replied:

“Anyone else maybe, but I’ll never let you take it.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the Duke’s knights jumped out of the carriage. Johnston called for his mercenaries in surprise, but they were already subdued by the knights and couldn’t move an inch.

“You… you bitch!”

An enraged Johnston pulled on the wooden bar, trying to take it away. The knight standing guard beside me struck Johnston’s hand with his scabbard.

“Argh!”

He fell to his knees, clutching his hand in pain.

I looked down at Johnston kneeling at my feet.

“How, how dare you treat me like this! How will you deal with the consequences!”

I lifted my chin arrogantly and looked down my nose. Then, smiling benevolently and gently as if an angel had descended, I said:

“I just need to make sure there are no consequences.”

I raised the wooden bar high. Seeing the maid trembling and retreating into the house, I swung it down with all my might.

Afterwards, I handed what was once Johnston over to the guards and returned to Black Swan, deciding to call workers to restore the furniture. Of course, it would cost a lot, but I planned to bill Johnston for that.

‘I absolutely won’t let this slide.’

Meanwhile, Anna, who had gone to check on the viscount’s residence, brought news that repairs would be finished in two days. I was relieved, as I had been feeling uncomfortable staying at the Duke’s residence for too long.

After roughly cleaning up the mess at Black Swan, I came to the Duke’s residence and first told the schedule to the butler who greeted me warmly.

“I hear the repairs on the viscount’s residence will be finished in two days, so I plan to leave then.”

The aged butler’s face subtly stiffened.

“I see. Two days left. I will relay that to the Duke.”

“Yes, thank you.”

While staying at the Duke’s residence, I had almost no chance to see the Duke. The head of House Artenbach was a busy man, and I was also busy with my own affairs.

Still, it was nice that the little one came out to greet me whenever I arrived at the mansion. It was also nice to eat together and chat in the exhibition hall.

‘I might miss it a little after I leave?’

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It was an emergency situation. Rublion, Butler Gaven, Askal, and Rimon were gathered around a dim round table with serious faces, without even turning on the lights.

“The young lady says she plans to leave the mansion in two days.”

This was the butler’s report.

“We absolutely can’t let Auntie leave.”

This was Rublion’s determination.

“Well, I’ll do whatever I’m told.”

This was from Rimon Tyrell, the Duke’s secretary.

“…Then do we have to go with that ridiculous plan?”

To Askal’s question, Rublion nodded with a resolute expression.

“With Auntie’s personality, she’ll definitely leave unless there’s a clear reason not to.”

Rublion unfolded a paper densely covered in writing. The butler turned on the lamp hanging from the ceiling above the round table.

“First, we ask Auntie to stay here for just one more month. Using my studies as an excuse.”

“Is there anything worth learning from the young lady?”

At Rimon’s question, Rublion narrowed his eyes and glared.

“There’s so much to learn from Auntie!”

“Ah, yes.”

Rublion pointed to the center of the plan.

“My plan is to hire Auntie as a teacher of etiquette. Being a teacher for the Duke’s family is quite an honorable job and pays well.”

“What if the young lady refuses?”

To Askal’s question, Rublion thought for a moment before answering.

“Should we persuade her using the fact that Johnston hasn’t given up yet as leverage?”

Askal tapped the round table with his finger, pondering.

He had personally realized that she needed to be by Rublion’s side for him to become the ideal heir to the Duke’s family.

After all, she was the only one who could turn that Rublion, who was running wild like a leopard cub, into a docile cat.

“Hiring her as your nanny would be the best method.”

The question is whether Schmitt would be interested in that position.

“…Then how about we appeal to Auntie’s sense of responsibility and guilt?”

Rublion pointed to the seventh plan at the bottom of the document.

“I’ve found that Auntie has more weaknesses than I thought.”

The three people’s heads gathered over the plan. They each commented on this cunning and meticulous ten-year-old child’s plan.

“Young master, you’re truly brilliant.”

“…I didn’t raise you to be like this.”

“Well, I’ll do as I’m told.”