Hidden Faces And Desserts (5)

After patting Rurin’s head once more, I removed her from my embrace. Then I started walking again. Rurin followed, clutching the hem of my clothes tightly.

The person I was looking for was the butler. As soon as I went downstairs, I met the butler.

“Where is the Countess now?”

“She went to see the Master and just returned.”

“That’s good. The Countess asked me to come directly, so could you inform her?”

“Ah, I see. I understand.”

The butler nodded and led us. When he arrived in front of the Countess’s room, he knocked carefully on the door.

Knock knock.

But there was no answer. The butler tilted his head and spoke.

“She just went in…”

He knocked again. But it was still quiet. The butler looked at me. I looked at the butler. This was definitely strange. It’s a problem if the person who just went in doesn’t answer.

At least a sound telling us to go away should come out.

Suddenly, a bad premonition flashed through my mind. The Countess is in a situation where it’s reasonable to assume the worst.

I urgently shouted at the butler.

“Can you bring the Baron immediately? It’s urgent. I’ll explain later!”

The butler, knowing well that the Greek boy respects me as a master, hesitated slightly but then quickly walked away.

After the butler left, I forcibly opened the Countess’s room.

From just a brief conversation, I could tell how cornered she was. What options could she possibly have?

Unfortunately, she might have chosen the worst option.

I entered the room and looked around, immediately noticing something unusual.

A knot of rope hanging from her room’s ceiling. And a person hanging from that knot.

A thin woman was hanging silently from the rope from the ceiling.

I quickly cut the rope and caught her as she fell. Her face was pale.

“Cough cough cough.”

Fortunately, the color returned to her face. The fact that she’s coughing violently means she’s alive. The butler had said she just went in.

If I had been a little later, it would have been dangerous.

Just a little later.

Life and death are always a hair’s breadth apart. Fortunately, it seems she wasn’t destined to die here. I arrived just as she hung herself.

“Are you okay? Can you see me?”

“Cough cough cough.”

As she coughed violently, the Greek boy entered the room. The butler was standing behind him. I immediately gave the butler an order.

At times like this, strange rumors must not spread.

“Close the door quickly. This must not be known outside.”

The butler, quickly understanding the situation, hurriedly closed the door. The Greek boy ran to the Countess with a shocked face and shouted.

“Stepmother! Stepmother!”

The Greek boy grabbed the Countess’s arm as she gasped for breath. He immediately looked up at me.

“Master… Why on earth did Stepmother…?”

“She hung herself. She couldn’t defy Count Dedran, and she couldn’t touch the Baron… It seems she made the worst choice.”

“How could this be! Even for a moment, no, two moments… three moments! A worthless person like me who endlessly doubted Stepmother is still alive, but why!”

The Greek boy asked with trembling hands, but that’s not something I can answer.

The Countess, perhaps regaining some sense from the boy’s shout, looked at him with a red mark still on her neck.

“Dylan? I… didn’t die?”

“Stepmother!”

“Let me die. I’m a person who doesn’t deserve to see you. I… I… Count Greek and… and you… I’m not a woman worthy of your kindness…”

“Don’t say that!”

She grabbed the Greek boy’s cheek and stroked it. Tears started streaming from her eyes.

“I don’t know how many years it’s been since I last stroked your cheek. I was saved by your laughter when you were young… But someone like me is ruining you, so I must die. That’s the way for you, Dylan…”

“How can you say that? I still vividly remember being in Stepmother’s arms when I was young… Do you think I don’t remember how you stayed up all night worrying about me when I got hurt playing? I’m the one who endlessly doubted such an Stepmother recently! Endlessly! But I heard. I heard that Count Dedran ordered you to give me medicine! And that it had nothing to do with you!”

“How did you…?”

The Countess began to tremble, extremely surprised by the Greek boy’s words.

“I know everything. I know that Stepmother refused. So everything is Count Dedran’s fault. It’s not Stepmother.”

“The Count always asked me. He said it was okay if I didn’t love him. But he wanted me to take care of you until the end. So I…”

“Stop saying such nonsense!”

The Greek boy also continued to tremble. Their hands shook like aspen leaves. Their conversation was going in circles. It was time to intervene.

“Both of you calm down. No one needs to die.”

The Countess and the Greek boy both turned their gaze to me at the same time, as did the butler who had been quietly listening from behind.

“That’s right! Master definitely said there was a way. So it’s okay. It will be okay, Stepmother!”

The Greek boy suddenly stood up and knelt before me. Although he had been calling me master and showing respect for some time, he had never knelt before me because he was a noble.

This was the first time.

“Please, Master. You once taught me that whining and clinging like this is pathetic. You told me to live like a wild uba that bites even while dying. But this pathetic fool can’t think of anything beyond confronting Count Dedran directly. As you said, that won’t solve anything. But… this is too big a matter. It’s okay to call me pathetic. Just this once, even if it’s the last, please help me, Master!”

The Greek boy looked up at me, clutching his hands tightly. Though he called himself pathetic, his eyes still shone with a strong light. I liked that look in his eyes.

“Get up, Baron. Knees should not be bent carelessly. I was planning to help anyway.”

“If you help with this, I will repay this favor for the rest of my life. For the rest of my life as Greek!”

“There is no need to repay the favor, but keep the words you just said. From now on, you must have the teeth to bite your enemies yourself. Understood?”

“Yes! Master. I will try. I will try and try again.”

I grabbed the Greek boy, who was about to bow his head to the ground, and lifted him up.

“First, we need to take the Countess to her bedroom, then listen to her story once she has regained her composure. I’ll tell you how to deal with the Count after that.”

I looked at the butler again.

Indicating that all this must be handled in secrecy.

The butler, who had served the Count’s family for 20 years, understood at a glance, nodded, quietly looked outside the room, and then guided us to the Countess’s bedroom.

The Greek boy carried the Countess and gave her some time to settle down. After a while, only the Greek boy, Rurin, and I were left in the room, and I spoke to the Countess.

“Countess, can you sincerely reject your father and help the Baron?”

“I thought you were a chef… Are you Dylan’s master?”

“Yes, Stepmother. As you saw me kneel earlier, he is a chef, a retired wizard, and also my Master.”

“Is that so? I was a bit surprised earlier…”

“Yes.”

“Then, is it because of him that you’ve shown such strength recently…?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It’s a relief that you have someone like that. Truly a relief…!”

The Countess tried to rise from her bed and bow to me. It must be because the word ‘master’ brings a sense of motherly significance.

The Greek boy barely managed to stop her.

“That’s enough. More importantly, there is something you must tell us. For the sake of future plans, can you tell us everything about your involvement with Count Dedran? That will be the way to save the Count Greek’s family.”

At my words, the Countess looked between the Greek boy and me.

“My past story?”

“Yes.”

The Countess seemed a little hesitant. But then she looked at the Greek boy again and nodded after a moment.

Telling one’s own history. Of course, it’s not easy. She kept hesitating and struggling, but fortunately, she resolutely told her story to the end.

Of course, it was a very bleak story.

“Stepmother…”

At some point, the Greek boy started to cry.

Listening to her story, I felt pity for her life as a tool of Count Dedran.

Of course, there are many unfortunate people in the world.

Even now, there are surely children somewhere on the streets starving to death.

But she was certainly unfortunate. A woman who seemed to have walked on a rail made of misfortune.

From a childhood spent in a dark room, to a life lived as a tool until now.

The happiness she barely obtained was shattered by the ever-looming disaster of her father. Perhaps the only reason she could endure until now was because of Count Greek’s kindness.

She didn’t say that, but from her words, it was clear she sincerely loved Count Greek.

The Greek boy probably felt that too.

And Count Dedran was truly garbage. Garbage that doesn’t burn even among garbage. In other words, the worst of the worst. Garbage that stubbornly survives even when you try to burn it.

The Greek boy knelt before me again. How long had it been since I told him not to kneel carelessly?

The Greek boy, facing my frowning expression, began to recite his title.

“As Baron Greek Dylan, Count Dylan’s proxy, and Lord Greek’s proxy, I formally ask you, Master. Will you tell me how to deal with Count Dedran? I will do anything. Master.”

“Before that, I have one question. Countess… no, Berna. Can you really decide to fight your father? In the worst case, your father might die.”

The Countess. Honestly, Berna suited her better than Countess. Well, the title doesn’t matter. What matters is the strength of her resolve.

“That is…”

“Oh, and do you know that your father made Count Greek like that…?”

“……”

Berna blinked at me fiercely. But soon, she lowered her head. She must have thought it was strange herself.

Since receiving the medicine bottle, she had been overwhelmed by tremendous fear, which led to the thought of ending her life.

“My answer is decided. I am a person of the Greek Count’s family. My name is Greek Berna. If I can protect Dylan from my father, I will do anything. Anything.”

“Understood. Then I’ll tell you two how to deal with Count Dedran. The first thing to do is for Berna to follow Count Dedran’s orders.”

“Excuse me?”

“Master?”

At my suggestion, the two looked at me as if asking what I meant. Naturally, of course.

“Baron, you said you would do anything to deal with Count Dedran, who is both your father’s enemy and the enemy of Greek City.”

“Yes, I can do it…!”

“So you just need to let things go according to Count Dedran’s will.”

The Greek boy and Berna looked at me blankly.

I shrugged and began to explain.