Published at 23rd of November 2022 9:53 am

Chapter 17

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

" And what about Uncle Lay?"

Islay could not deny her calm voice.

He will protect their mother and daughter himself, and the outward harm will be prevented.

However, he could not block the backbiting, hateful and contemptuous eyes that spread behind his back.

And Evelyn and Bianca will have to deal with the damage.

"And even if the Duke promises to protect me and Bianca."

Towards the stunned black eyes looking at me, Evelyn continued in a bitter voice.

"A family that doesn't welcome my mother and daughter...... I don't want to take Bianca with me."

"Eve."

"Before, you asked me if I didn't trust you."

Evelyn already seemed to have decided to draw a line on him once again.

The way he connected his words in a determined voice was like that.

"At the time, I was just saying it was because the relationship ended seven years ago, but......yes, that's right."

With no trust left in his eyes, the amber-colored eyes seemed to penetrate his heart.

"I don't trust you, Duke. No, I don't exactly believe in your environment."

Staring unshakably at the collapsed face of Islay, Evelyn continued.

"The Duke being Bianca's father means that to me."

There was a glacial silence.

Evelyn did not shy away from Islay's gaze and responded.

Rather, it was Islay who avoided her eyes.

Unable to bring any words out of his mouth, Islay chewed on the soft flesh in his mouth.

Knowing that any word was just an excuse or a false promise to Evelyn.

The two endured the heavy silence of the moment, bearing their own feelings.

"By the way, it's already time to pick up Bianca."

After a while, a glimpse of the time, she opened her mouth strangely.

"......I'll take you."

Even with a confused face, Islay hastily tried to follow in the footsteps of Evelyn, who was lifting himself up.

But Evelyn shook her head in a calm motion.

"No."

The soft but determined word of rejection pushes away Islay.

Towards the speechless Islay, Evelyn smiled faintly.

"I'll pick you up alone today."

"But it could be dangerous......."

"You know better that it's not dangerous."

It was like looking inside him.

The last glimpse of Islay, Evelyn, disappeared through a door connected to the kitchen.

Perhaps because Evelyn threatened firmly, Islay did not follow her.

Evelyn, who was walking toward kindergarten, suddenly burst into laughter as if she were sighing at the dual appearance of herself.

'Oh, I'm funny, too.'

After pouring out the emotions that have been accumulated so far, I feel empty without him.

'In the end, I was angry with Islay because I felt inferior to him.'

The bitter taste in my mouth bothers me.

Evelyn let out a small sigh.

In fact, objectively looking at the situation, Islay didn't do much wrong to her.

But unfortunately, when Evelyn's long-established feelings burst, Islay was in front of her.

Though what Islay said may have been an opportunity to destroy her tightly built sediment, there was no reason for him to take her out entirely.

'Maybe Ray...... you said that because you were worried about me and Bibi.'

The reason why Islay made such a suggestion to her was, perhaps, consideration and affection for Evelyn.

But Kevin condescended to press her, saying, "I can be Bianca's father."

In addition, when raising a child, there was clearly a gap in the absence of a father.

Among the gaps, there were areas that Evelyn could not fill.

'......It's true that I was sensitive.'

Recalling Islay's wounded face, Evelyn finally let out a long sigh.

'But you can't rely on Lay forever.'

Besides, Evelyn had one more personal reason not to be able to rely on him.

The reason is.......

"Mom!"

Then, a bubbly voice sang Evelyn.

Bianca was running toward her from afar as Evelyn, who had already come to her senses, raised her head.

Evelyn, who smiled hard, opened her arms wide toward the child.

"Bibi, did you have fun today?"

"Yes, it was fun!"

Bianca, who nodded loudly, looked around.

A child glancing behind his mother looked up at Evelyn.

"But what about Uncle Lay?"

"Oh, that's... He said he couldn't come today because he was busy."

"I see."

Despite the hastily concocted excuse, Bianca nodded with little doubt.

The mother and daughter began to go home hand in hand.

"Come to think of it, it's been a while since I walked alone with my mom and Bibi. Right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Bianca grinned.

The mother and daughter walked slowly along the road.

Bianca chattered as usual, and Evelyn nodded one by one to the voice.

To Bianca, who was selling her eyes to the unknown wildflowers on the side of the road, Evelyn sneaked a question.

"Bibi."

"What?"

Bianca looked back, picking all the wild flowers blooming white like clouds.

Evelyn tried to sound as serene as possible.

"I've been thinking about it lately."

"What?"

"Why don't we move out?"

Bianca's eyes were rounded by the words.

Of course, she was a child who had never left Annette since she was born.

Bianca, who had only puffed her lips, asked questions in a fresh voice.

"Eh, move? Where?"

"Well, where do you like Bianca?"

When Evelyn smiled and asked again, Bianca shut up with a very serious look.

Bianca, who had been agonizing for a long time, opened her mouth determinedly after almost reaching home.

"Hildes."

Hildes. Hildesheim is an institution and cultural center of the empire, the busiest city in the country.

And...... this is where Evelyn first met Islay.

Evelyn's expression was slightly blurred.

Meanwhile, Bianca held Evelyn's hand with her amber eyes glistening.

"But mom, are we really moving?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking."

Evelyn nodded lightly.

Although it bothers me that the Duke of Neidhart has a townhouse, in fact the system was a very large city.

It feels like a miracle that Evelyn and Islay bumped into each other.

And most of all, there was Hildesheim Imperial School, the best school in the empire.

For Bianca's education, Evelyn initially intended to return to the system when her child grew up.

There was a limit to sending a child to kindergarten and Evelyn's education of basic manners.

In addition, the money given by the Duke's Grandmother was left untouched.

When you settle in a system and send your child to a higher education institution, the money will be enough.

'I'm just leaving a little earlier.'

Evelyn tried to comfort herself.

It was not her intention, but having met with Islay again, it would be right to leave before further entanglement with him.

......to keep my word with the Duke's Grandmother.

If you're as careful as you can after going into the system, you'll never run into Islay as you are this time.

There are so many people and it's a big place.

But then Bianca asked in an innocent voice.

"Mom, but when we move out."

"Huh?"

"What about Uncle Lay?"

I was caught off guard.

At that moment, Evelyn's face crumbled badly.

Meanwhile, Bianca, looking at her mother's face, realized she had made a mistake.

Yeah, Mom and Uncle Lay.......'

Although Evelyn never explained it properly, Bianca knew there was a story between her mother and Uncle Lay.

Embarrassed Bianca hurriedly opened her mouth.

"Oh, Mom. No!"

At that, Evelyn bit her lip and looked down at Bianca.

Bianca smiled broadly as if nothing had happened.

"I was just talking about Mr. Lay once!"

"...... Bibi."

"Are we really moving to Hildes?"

Bianca asked Evelyn with a bright face.

Only then, watching her mother's face lighten up a little, Bianca swept away her sagging heart.

"Honestly...... I'm a little sad that I won't be able to see Uncle Lay in the future."

Still, Bianca hated seeing her mother's sad face.

That day, Evelyn spent the whole evening with Bianca.

Bianca ate three chubby sausages.

Evelyn looked at Bianca, satisfied, rubbing her chubby belly, with happy eyes.

I washed Bianca's hair and watched the child splash in the bathtub.

Kissing Bianca's cheek, which was finally soft, Evelyn grinned.

"Shall we sleep together tonight?"

At that word, Bianca came squirming in Evelyn's arms.

The two mothers and daughters rolled together in bed, tickled each other, and played a long joke.

After a while, the child yawned loudly.

"Are you sleepy?"

"Oh, just a little......."

"Then let's go to bed."

Evelyn fixed the child's pillow and covered his neck with a blanket.

Patting her body with her hands, Bianca, who yawned long again, closed her eyes.

But unlike the child, Evelyn couldn't sleep easily.

Looking into the face of a sleeping child, Evelyn recalled why she decided to leave the city of Annette sooner.

Lay.

Pumpkin eyes trembled into small pieces.

I can believe that Islay cares about her and loves her.

But......Islay's family couldn't believe it.

Because Evelyn had already been betrayed by her closest family.

The old memories of the family were like razor blades in an invisible drawer.

Every time I accidentally push my hand into that drawer, I tear her heart out.

"I'm a commoner, and I'd be grateful if I'd let you in, as a nobleman!'

When I search through old memories and think of my father, a sharp cry always follows first.

"Please don't hit me, honey!"

"Noisy! Who's your baby? Who's your husband!"

My father, who was crazy about drinking and gambling, would come home once or twice a week and commit atrocities.

The only reason the father treated his mother like that was because she was a commoner.

The father was just, it was natural to squeeze his mother out.

"Where's the money? Where did you hide it?"

"You took everything last time, there's nothing left! Eve is starving too......!"

Evil! With a shrill scream, the mother fell to the floor.

Evelyn cried and hugged her mother to protect her, but her father only breathed hard.

"Nothing?! What have you done so far without making money!"

The mother brought a considerable amount of dowry for her marriage with her noble father, but the dowry was carried away by her father and spent on entertainment.

But the mother didn't even properly protest against such a father.

Because my mother was a commoner who had the opportunity to marry a noble.

'If you're going to live like this, you'd rather not get married.'

Through her father's countless misdeeds, Evelyn thought so again and again.

'What the hell is so great about a peerage that has fallen without a territory.......'

The father, who had been harassing his family, fell off his leg drunk and died.

Her mother, who had been struggling, died of illness for a long time, and Evelyn was left alone.

The only thing such a family has left to Evelyn is the last name Martinise.

The castle of the patrician nobleman, worse than the commoners, was not very pleasant.

"Bibi, my daughter."

Dropping lips on Bianca's forehead, Evelyn held my daughter in her arms.

When Islay persuaded her that she wanted to have a chance to be Bianca's father, it was true that she was a little shaken.

'But....'

Evelyn's eyes sank deep.

His father, who was only a Korean aristocrat in the countryside, persecuted his mother so much, and how would the noblest peacock people in the empire treat Bianca?

In the arms of a family that should be the safest place, if Bianca were to suffer the same injuries as her.

'......I'd better leave, too.'

Evelyn decided once again.

She wanted to see Bianca live happily without hurting anyone.

Evelyn could do anything for him.

Leaving Islay...... of course I can.

By dawn and morning, Evelyn had stayed up all night.

She keeps pushing out any thought trying to get into the deepest part of her heart.

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