CH 7.10

Lila walked out of the office and returned to her room without thinking. She placed the basket from Michael on the table and blinked slowly.

“Ah.”

Lila muttered, realizing the reason behind her dull mood.

“I didn’t tell him about the young master’s snack.”

She was mortified that she hadn’t told the most important story. She wondered if she should tell Vincent first.

She didn’t want to keep coming back while he was at work.

Leaving the room, Lila went downstairs to find Vincent. In the concourse, she stopped a passing employee.

“Where is Vincent?”

The servant replied unkindly, looking displeased that she had caught him.

“The butler is attending to the Duchess. You can find him.”

Lila sighed softly as she watched the servant walk away.

She wondered if she should just ring the bell, but then bumped into Anna coming in from the back door of the manor. Vincent, who was at her side, approached Lila and asked.

“Duchess, is there anything you need?”

She looked around the hall, puzzled. Lila carefully avoided Anna’s eyes, who stood behind her, staring at her, and whispered to Vincent.

“There’s something I need you to look into…”

“Yes, please feel free to say it.”

“A certain group of maids have been taking some of the young master’s snacks, and they said they were going to give them to him.”

Vincent’s expression hardened at her words. With a sullen expression, he lowered his eyes and replied in short, bold sentences.

“Don’t worry, leave it to me.”

“Then, please. Find out the names of those maids on you own, and if you need anything, come find me.”

“Yes, Duchess.”

Lila turned to Anna, her expression much lighter.

“I apologize for not greeting you first.”

Anna watched Lila curtsy gracefully as she lifted the hem of her skirt and said with a small frown.

“No matter how much you say it’s inside the house, I want you to pay attention to your clothes.”

“…Yes, I understand. Well, then…”

It was an uncomfortable encounter, and Lila wanted to get back to her room and get some rest. She’d been through a lot today, and she was tired.

She greeted her again and started to turn away, but Anna caught her.

“I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“…Yes?”

“Vincent, please have tea ready in the parlor.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Without hearing her reply, Anna was already walking away. Lila was puzzled, but had no choice but to follow.

Though she had no intention of listening to whatever she had to say.

Entering a parlor close to the concourse, they sat facing each other and were silent for a moment.

When Vincent came in with the tea, Anna, who hadn’t broken eye contact, looked away.

As he set down the tea and refreshments and stood there staring at her, Anna said.

“Can you leave us for a minute.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”

She flashed a look of annoyance at Vincent, who bowed politely in response.

“I’m not going to do what you think I’m going to do, so please allow us ladies to have a moment of conversation.”

Vincent, who assisted Anna on Lucas’s orders, was a thorough man. The menial tasks were covered by the maids he personally selected, and when he left the room, they followed him along.

Normally, Anna would have screamed at him to leave, but instead she asked as if she had lost her energy. There were many reasons, but perhaps a conversation with Lucas had changed her mind.

And the other person who changed her mind was the woman in front of her.

“I’ll be right at the door. If there’s a problem, I’ll speak to the master myself.”

Anna stared intensely at Vincent, who remained unmoved by her words, until Lila interrupted.

“Vincent, it’s okay.”

With Lila joining in, Vincent’s brow creased. After a moment’s hesitation, he replied in a casual voice.

“Then, by all means, do so. I hope you both understand that I am reporting to the Duke.”

With a curt bow, he left the parlor.

“I thought you wouldn’t like it…”

To Anna’s surprised reaction, Lila replied.

“There’s no reason to avoid it.”

“That’s true.”

Anna replied, quietly picking up her teacup. Lila picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip of the hot tea.

After a few moments, Anna set her cup down and got to the point.

“My son… How did you know he has cucumber allergy?”

“His skin was breaking out, so I asked around and found out.”

“I haven’t met anyone in my life who was cucumber intolerant… it’s strange.”

Her tone was mild, though it sounded like she was questioning Lila’s opinion.

“When I heard that you were wielding my son recklessly, I came to you with the intention of grabbing your hair.”

Lyla listened to her in silence.

“I thought you were disrespecting me when you said you’d cut off my maids, even though I knew you hadn’t made the decision, because I didn’t think you would.”

“The young master was receiving that disrespect every day. These maids would shut him up, saying it was the Duchess’s orders. Did you know that? Or not?”

Lila’s question left Anna speechless.

“I didn’t think it mattered… His father was treated like that, and so was the young Duke. “

“Why?”

Lila was starting to get a little angry. She remembered the scorn and ridicule he had received, even though she knew it was none of her business.

“The nobles of the Empire care about their appearance. Not just care, but care more than their lives. Why do you think you can walk around unadorned? You’re from the capital, you should know better than anyone.”

“I don’t want to tell you my story, because you know it better than anyone else. About the lookism1 of the Vassium Empire.”

“Lookism… Right.”

“All I’m trying to say is that neither you, nor the Duke, nor I, are ugly, and that minor differences can make a difference in how we look and dress, or how we’re perceived by others, so all I’m trying to say is that… they’re cute and handsome enough in my eyes.”

Anna felt uncomfortable and wanted to turn her head away, but she couldn’t avoid those dark blue eyes, so she stared back into Lila’s face.

“I’m somewhat of an outsider here, and even though I’m about to get married, I don’t have the slightest desire to tear apart what has become a family. Even if you say you don’t want to, the young master is your son, and he still deserves your affection, so please, I beg you to show him sincere affection.”

Anna asked, barely concealing her discomfort.

“As you say, it’s none of your business. Then why are you meddling so much?”

Anna wanted to ask, why does she favored Michael over everyone else, or whether she has an ulterior motive. She wanted to know.

Lila’s eyes narrowed at her question, and she gave her a knowing look.

“Because every child in the world deserves to be loved.”

Lila remembered a memory from her childhood. That memory of Yoon Seol is still the driving force that keeps her going.

Being able to remember her parents, who died young but gave her unlimited affection, helped her stay strong.

She wanted to make sure that not only Michael, but all the children here were loved the way she was.

That way, when they grew up, they would be able to love others with that memory, and it would be a driving force in their lives.

Anna stiffened as if she had received a great shock. As she stared off into the distance, unable to say anything, the parlor door opened.

“I beg your pardon, but I have come in for dinner. The Duke and young master are already down in the dining room. Would you both please go?”

Vincent asked politely. Lila stared through the parlor window at the red sky where the sun was already setting.1

prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance and especially physical appearance believed to fall short of societal notions of beauty