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I Hid the Duke’s Daughter (Web Novel) - Chapter 7: Mr. Lay at Dantel Hotel
Chapter 7: Mr. Lay at Dantel Hotel
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Evelyn secretly glanced up at the clock. As she saw the time, a faint smile came over her lips.
It was 3 PM.
It was finally time for her to pick up her child.
She could also be free of Kevin’s presence at last.
“Then, I need to be leaving to pick up my child.”
She stood up and looked at Kevin, who hadn’t left the coffeehouse since he had entered earlier in the day. After dealing with his string of petty tricks and borderline inappropriate jokes, Evelyn was quite mentally exhausted.
“If you are heading to the kindergarten, I would be happy to take you there.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“But it’s because I just want to.”
Kevin snuck a glance at Evelyn as he spoke. She felt disgusted whenever he looked her up and down that way.
“You’ll embarrass me if you keep rejecting me like this, no?”
So, did he mean his embarrassment was important, but that her difficulties didn’t matter? Evelyn slightly knit her eyebrows. But since it was too troublesome to keep refusing, she nodded her head with an unwilling expression on her face.
“…..I understand. I need to close up shop, so please wait outside.”
“Aw, come on, how could I leave a lovely lady alone while she’s closing her shop?”
Kevin took a couple steps closer to her as he spoke. Seeing Evelyn avoid him on reflex, he chuckled.
“I’ll help.”
He spoke grandly as if he were granting her a huge wish. Evelyn was utterly speechless.
It wasn’t such a hard task to close up shop and she had even told him to wait outside, but he still stuck next to her like this.
“I am really okay so please go outside.”
This is where Evelyn drew the line. As Kevin looked at her as she organized the items in the coffeehouse, he grumbled inwardly.
At any rate, gotta admit that her snobbiness is on another level.
Did she think she was some sort of princess, acting with such an air of importance?
Well, whatever…
He smacked his lips.
No matter how she acts, she’s merely a single mother raising a child from an unknown father. In the end, wasn’t she just a woman who had no place to go or turn to?
So he should continue to be the generous one and pardon her flaws. Thinking in this way, his eyes gradually grew darker, reflecting his wicked thoughts.
Well, if I just entice her a little more, she’ll come to me. There’s even that saying, that there are no trees that can’t be cut down after one hundred strokes.
He continued to watch Evelyn work.
Bianca’s teacher had told Evelyn that they would be returning from the picnic at 3:20 PM. Instead of being late, she’d rather be early in picking her daughter up, so she sped up her pace. As she approached the place where she would pick up her child, she saw other children’s mothers waiting in a small group. The mothers turned to see the two who approached.
“That person…isn’t that Mr. Jones?”
“You’re right. She’s a single mother, is she not ashamed being with such a young man…”
They whispered, but loudly, as if they wanted Evelyn to hear. Her face turned red at their remarks and she chewed on her lips.
I’ve never, not even once, wanted to get involved with Mr. Jones.
Though Evelyn was clearly the one being bothered, others in town judged her and made her out to be the perpetrator because she was a single mother. But since she didn’t want to show others a vulnerable appearance, she raised her head and stood upright. .
“Mom!”
“Oh, our son!”
Soon, the children began to arrive and ran to their mothers. Evelyn turned her head this way and that, searching for Bianca. She then heard Bianca’s unique and bubbly voice from the crowd.
“Mommyyyy!”
“Bibi!”
Evelyn hugged Bianca tightly. As she stroked her head, the child gave a small “hehe” as she rested her cheek on Evelyn’s chest.
But at that moment, Bianca’s teacher approached the two, her eyes narrowed at her student.
“Bianca’s mother.”1
“Yes?”
The teacher had a very serious expression, and Evelyn put Bianca down before standing to listen to what she had to say. As she did so, she noticed Bianca looking around, as if wanting to hide something.
“To be honest, we almost lost Bianca today.”
“Bibi?”
“Yes, she got out of line and wandered off to another place in the middle of our hike.”
“Oh my goodness, such a thing occurred?”
The shocked Evelyn’s eyes were as large as saucers.
The teacher let out a sigh and continued to explain.
“Fortunately, a passing nobleman kindly brought Bianca back to us.”
“Ah…that’s such a relief.”
“I know. I had been so busy, all I could do was just thank the nobleman multiple times.”
The teacher’s face became slightly muddled. If the child had been lost and the gentleman hadn’t been there…
Both of them thinking this way, the teacher and the Evelyn shook their heads to erase the thought.
“Of course, most of this is my fault, since I was not able to keep track of the child…”
Upon saying this, the teacher looked at Bianca, who then subtly turned her head away to avoid her gaze.
“But I just thought that you should be informed about this incident.”
“Yes, thank you very much for letting me know.”
The teacher and Evelyn bowed to each other, and after the teacher left, Evelyn turned to Bianca with a stern expression on her face.
“Bibi.”
“…Yes…”
Her shoulders drooping, Bianca looked up at her mother, who continued to scold her.
“What did I tell you to do at the picnic today?”
“To listen to Teacher, and to follow her around well….”
“So you do remember. But then you went and wandered off by yourself and got lost?”
Evelyn’s eyes were raised into triangle shapes. As if she knew that she was wrong, she tried to avoid her mother’s gaze.
“I’m, I’m really sorry. But still, the mister from before helped me find my way, so…”
Mister? Did she mean the person who had seen her and brought her back to the teacher? After this thought passed, her face returned to its previously stern expression.
“………I was wrong.”
The child who couldn’t deny her guilt admitted her mistake, lowering head into her chest. Evelyn’s face loosened a little as she looked at her daughter.
But at that moment.
“You should stop scolding her. A woman should raise her child with love…”
“…”
Evelyn and Bianca glared at Kevin, who had barged into their conversation without paying any attention to the mood. He spoke loftily as if he were an expert on child rearing.
“Bibi is still a young child.”
“…”
“Bibi, hi?”
Evelyn couldn’t hide her sour face. For a moment, she thought.
Being this cheeky has to be a disease.
On the other hand, Bianca scowled at Kevin. She hated how Kevin was always pretending to be nice to her, doing whatever he wanted.
Why does he always call me ‘Bibi?’
She hadn’t allowed him to call her by her nickname yet. She had learned that calling someone by their nickname without permission and in such an awkward situation was known as “rude” from her mother.
However…
Bianca glanced up at Evelyn.
She could tell that if she pointed that out to him here, her mother would only get in trouble.
“Hel, hello…”
Bianca gave a reluctant greeting. But at that moment, she heard a determined voice.
“Mr. Jones, please stop calling Bianca by her nickname Bibi.”
The child’s eyes widened at Evelyn’s firm words.
Kevin looked at them, speechless.
“Huh? What do you mean…”
“Just because she is young, it does not mean she has to tolerate rude behavior towards her.”
Though Evelyn didn’t know about herself, she didn’t want her child to be at a disadvantage. At Evelyn’s words that were clearly drawing a line between them, Kevin’s face crumpled up. He had looked after her because she had been pretty, but she really was only paying with her face and not her actions.
“Ms. Martinise. Why do you always act so sensitive?”
“It’s not that I’m sensitive, I’m just saying the truth.”
“Don’t act to picky, she’s only a seven year old child?”
But Evelyn didn’t budge from her position, and Kevin began to show a hostile attitude. Showing a tired expression, he shook his head. And then holding both arms up, he spoke in a loud voice.
“Alright, alright, I got it. Maaan, I really can’t say anything and not be criticized.”
“Then, please apologize to my daughter.”
“Bianca, I’m sorry! Anything else?!”
After showing his displeasure, he turned around and left without a farewell greeting.
Women should act tender and affectionate to be appealing, not in this kind of a picky way…
After he left, Bianca pouted and spoke.
“I don’t like that ajusshi.”
“You shouldn’t speak like that, Bibi.”
Though she felt the same way.
“But still, he always makes us feel bad.”
“Bibi.”
“He’s always bothering you at the coffeehouse, and is always tagging along when you come to pick me up…”
Bianca complained, both cheeks puffed up in dissatisfaction. But her complaints were reasonable, and Evelyn felt sorry to only be able to tell her daughter to bear with it.
Letting out a sigh, she changed the topic of conversation topic.
“That’s that, but what about that person who helped you find your way back at the picnic?”
She needed to go thank the nobleman. With a big nod, Bianca beamed.
“Yeah, he was a really amazing mister!”
“An amazing mister?”
“Uh-huh!”
Hmm, wait. Should I be calling him mister of elder brother?
Bianca thought, puzzled. By her standards, a handsome and cool person shouldn’t be called mister, but elder brother. But she was still supposed to call people her mom’s age as mister…
Evelyn saw Bianca’s puzzled expression and threw out a question.
“Bibi, what are you thinking about all of a sudden?”
“Ah…that…just, whether it’s right to call him by mister.”
Bianca solemnly answered after thinking for a couple more moments and coming to a decision to call him mister. Evelyn wasn’t sure why such thoughts were coming from her daughter, but she nodded her head. Bianca seemed to get excited at the thought of visiting the mister she had met.
“Ah and, the mister and I shared the sandwich you made me and he said it was good!”
“You shared your sandwich with him…?”
“You know, mom, you said that when I receive help from people I should give back something in thanks, remember?”
Of course she had said that, but this…
Seeing her mother unable to conceal her confused expression, Bianca proudly said the words she had picked up.
“Even if it is a humble meal, I’m grateful to you so I want to share this with you!”
Evelyn decided to first just listen to her daughter’s words before asking questions.
“So then, I handed him the sandwich, but the mister said he was okay.”
“Mmhm, and then?”
“But I just gave it to him! Because I wanted to thank him!”
Evelyn listened silently, struggling to follow her daughter’s story.
At some point, the child made a face as if she had remembered something.
“Oh right, and I told the mister that you baked really tasty cookies!”
“Ah, uhuh…”
“And then the mister said he wanted to try your cookies!”
Evelyn was soon at a loss for words. Because she was sure that while bringing the child back, he had suffered a lot. How much had she bragged that he had to keep chiming in with words of empty agreement…
“And then, at the very end, I asked the mister if we could meet again.”
At those words, Evelyn pricked up her ears. If it wasn’t going to bother him too much, she thought that she should drop by to thank him. She wondered what Bianca knew about this nobleman. Right at that moment, Bianca seemed to be answering her question.
“The mister said I could come over to play anytime.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah! And, the mister said he’s at Dantel Hotel right now.”
Dantel Hotel. Evelyn narrowed her eyes. In Annette Town, Dantel Hotel was a place with the best accomodations, so much that it was specially named a “hotel.” Seeing that the person was staying at a hotel, he didn’t seem to be someone from Annette Town.
Did he come to sightsee?
But there really wasn’t much to sightsee in this small town…
She folded her interest of the man at that thought.
She didn’t have the time nor energy to think anymore over such matters.
More importantly, she was relieved that she could at least go thank the person who had found Bianca.
Then, for a gift of thanks….
Hmm, what if she baked some cookies as a present. She thought for a moment before looking down at her daughter.
“Anyway Bibi, is there anything you want for dinner?”
“Uh, don’t you have to go back to the coffeehouse?”
“Nope, today I’m staying at home with Bibi.”
If she went and reopened the coffeehouse, Kevin was bound to drop by and stay for sure.
Evelyn really couldn’t stand him for another minute, and since Bianca was probably tired after coming back from the picnic, it would be nice to spend the rest of the day together.
“Then…meat!”
“Okay, then today’s dinner will be beef stew.”
“Then Mommy, for me, can you please put in a lot of potatoes and take out the celery and carrots!”
“You can’t just eat what you want, you need to eat celery and carrots.”
Bianca pouted at Evelyn’s flat refusal.
The two continued to share a conversation as they walked back home.
***
Notes:
1: In Korea, people will call you as someone’s mother. It’s supposed to be a compliment, as it means you are someone who has taken on the duty of motherhood. So once you become a mother, the people around you will call you “___’s mother” instead of your name.
