“Aaron is all better now too, Mother. How long do I have to stay locked up in this room? Let me at least go out by myself, okay?”
Not knowing how things would turn out, the Countess told Bianca to stay put in the lodge until she received confirmation of protection from Riena and Cassel Winkler.
But when she returned, Bianca was nowhere to be found.
Aaron, who had been sleeping, said he didn’t know her whereabouts.
Just in case, she asked the staff in charge of the room, and they said that Bianca had asked them to take care of Aaron for a bit before going out, but they didn’t know her destination.
‘I thought she went out for a bit, but why isn’t she back yet?’
She thought Bianca had just gone for a short walk nearby.
She expected her to return after waiting a little, but Bianca still hadn’t come back even by dinnertime.
‘Surely Count Belliard didn’t do something, did he?’
The Countess was pacing around the living room again in anxiety when there was a knock at the door and a staff member entered.
“Countess Dyke, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Who is it?”
“They did not give their name.”
As the Countess hesitated on whether to let the visitor in or not, the knight from the ducal family that Riena had assigned stepped forward.
“I will go check and return.”
He left the room with the staff member and soon returned with a few attendants.
“What is it?”
The knight approached the Countess and whispered in her ear.
“They are attendants sent by my lord. He ordered to bring Count Dyke, his wife, and the young lady to the mansion immediately.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If you go to the mansion first, the attendants will pack your luggage. Shall we go then?”
“Wait a moment. My daughter hasn’t returned yet.”
“Do you know when she will be back?”
“Well…”
As the Countess trailed off, the knight suggested,
“If you don’t know her return time, how about the two of you go first? I will wait here and accompany her when she returns.”
“Would you do that?”
“Yes.”
The Countess hesitated for a moment before gesturing to Aaron.
“Aaron, go change your clothes. We’re going to the Winkler ducal residence, so you need to dress neatly.”
Aaron tilted his head quizzically.
“The Winkler ducal family?”
“Yes. So…”
She chose her words carefully.
“Riena is there.”
“Lady Riena?”
Aaron’s eyes sparkled.
Influenced by the Countess, Aaron had only been close to Bianca like an elder sister and was distant with Riena. But he was quite impressed by Riena nursing him last time.
Moreover, he was really excited to hear that she had arranged this nice lodge for them.
“I’ll go change right away!”
As Aaron hurried to the dressing room, the Countess let out a small sigh.
‘Anyway, that’s one less worry.’
She thought to herself.
[This is the timeline separator]“Lady Riena!”
As soon as he got out of the carriage, Aaron ran to Riena. Riena instinctively hugged Aaron as he nestled into her arms.
“I missed you!”
“Oh, um. I missed you too.”
Riena was just dumbfounded. Even when they lived together at the Dyke residence, her younger brother had rarely initiated such an affectionate hug.
Usually, Riena would carefully gauge his mood before hugging Aaron.
Aaron didn’t avoid her touch, but he didn’t seem to welcome it either.
She didn’t know whether to be happy or puzzled by this change in her brother.
“Well…”
Riena stroked the hair of Aaron, who was hugging her waist tightly. The hair slipping between her fingers was soft and fluffy.
“You’re not hurting anymore?”
“Nope! I’m all better now! It doesn’t hurt at all!”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“Yes! I heard you treated me! And arranged a big, wonderful lodge too! Thank you, sister!”
“No, it’s not that I did it, but rather…”
Riena hesitated for a moment before introducing Cassel, who had been standing beside her all along, to Aaron.
“Aaron, this is Cassel Winkler. He’s the Duke of Winkler. And he’s also the one who helped you.”
“Duke Winkler!”
Aaron let go of Riena and greeted him with a rather plausible noble etiquette.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Duke Winkler. My family and I have received a lot of help from you this time.”
“No, Count Dyke. I simply did what I was supposed to do.”
“Please call me Aaron. The title of Count still feels unfamiliar to me! And please speak comfortably to me!”
“…Alright.”
Cassel hesitated for a moment before patting Aaron’s shoulder to finish the greeting.
“There’s a child named Noah at the mansion. Aaron, he’s about your age. Get along well and don’t fight.”
“Okay, sister!”
After stroking Aaron’s hair once more, Riena shifted her gaze to Countess Dyke this time.
“I hope you didn’t experience any inconvenience on your way here.”
“What inconvenience could there be. Thank you for inviting us, Riena.”
“…Please make yourself at home during your stay.”
Although there was some unease in calling it an ‘invitation’ in this situation, they had no choice but to present it that way to the public.
Riena smiled wryly and asked again,
“But where is Bianca?”
The Countess let out a big sigh.
“It seems she went out for a bit. Since we don’t know when she’ll be back, we came by ourselves for now.”
“Where did she go? I’ll send a carriage there.”
“It’s alright. You don’t need to go that far.”
The Countess waved her hands dismissively. Riena didn’t probe further and guided the two inside the mansion.
“I prepared three rooms. However, I hastily prepared them, so there may be some shortcomings. Please let me know anytime if anything is lacking.”
“How could there be any shortcomings. I’m grateful enough that you provided guest rooms. Thank you for your consideration.”
“…Yes. The luggage will be brought up to the rooms as soon as it arrives.”
Riena hesitated for a moment before whispering to the Countess, who was looking around the room.
“And I’d like to continue the conversation we couldn’t finish earlier.”
“There’s no need to rush, is there? It’s not like I’m going to run away somewhere.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s talk about it later in the evening after seeing Bianca return safely first.”
Riena grabbed the arm of the Countess, who was ushering Aaron into the room.
“It was you, Mother, who urgently made the request. I want to talk about it quickly. Cassel is waiting too.”
The Countess sighed.
“Alright. I’ll just change my clothes and be there, so wait for me.”
“Yes.”
As she said, Riena waited with Cassel in the drawing room.
After asking the maid to bring out refreshments, it wasn’t long before the Countess entered in a slightly more comfortable outfit than before.
Cassel stood up and bowed his head.
“I apologize for not properly greeting you earlier. I hope you can rest comfortably during your stay here.”
The Countess covered her mouth with the back of her hand and chuckled softly.
“Thank you for your consideration, Your Grace. It seems I have some luck with sons-in-law.”
“Mother.”
“Am I wrong, Riena? Anyway, you’re my daughter, and if His Grace marries you, he’ll become my son-in-law.”
Riena made up her mind to draw the line with the Countess again later and offered them seats.
“Please sit for now.”
“Thank you.”
After pouring tea into the three cups, Riena got straight to the point.
“After discussing with Cassel, we decided to protect the three of you at the Winkler residence for the time being, as per Mother’s request. We have announced that you are here as guests. Since you are family anyway, it’s not strange to invite you to the mansion.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“So please tell me, Mother. What did you mean by what you said earlier?”
The Countess, who was sipping her tea, looked somewhat uneasily towards the door. Cassel reassured her.
“I instructed everyone to leave. I have it under control, so you don’t need to worry about the conversation leaking out.”
“Sigh…”
The Countess put down the teacup she was holding. The porcelain made a clicking sound as it collided.
“Before that, there’s something I need confirmation on.”
“Yes?”
“Promise me that you won’t hold me accountable for anything I say from now on, no matter what.”
Riena gaped her lips in bewilderment and questioned,
“Mother, that’s different from what you said earlier. You clearly only asked for protection then, but now you’re saying not to hold you accountable? No, what on earth…”
She held her head in confusion.
“What did you even do in the first place to say such a thing?”
“I also regret the things I did, Riena. I’ve regretted countless times why I committed such acts. Maybe a demon possessed me at the time.”
“If you made a mistake, you should pay the appropriate price. That’s not something even I can do anything about.”
At this moment, Riena instinctively felt it.
No, in fact, she had noticed it for a while.
That the Countess was involved in the death of her father, Count Dyke.
That’s why the Countess didn’t grieve much over her husband’s death, and that’s why she stopped Riena from properly investigating.
However, there was a difference between simply suspecting it would be the case and receiving confirmation from the Countess herself.
Riena asked with a slightly chilled gaze.
“Are you trying to say that you were involved in Father’s accident, Mother?”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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