Chapter – 12
“What about Elliot?”
“Young Master is asleep.”
“I see.”
Aleksei nodded and strode toward the study.
“I still have work left to finish, so bring a cup of coffee to the study. And…”
Aleksei, who had been about to ask about Anriche, shook his head and swallowed the question.
There was no need to ask. She was probably sleeping comfortably in a soft, warm bed.
She was a woman who valued herself above anyone else in the world, so at the very least, she would be taking good care of her own body.
“M-My Lord.”
At that moment, the butler following behind Aleksei carefully spoke up.
Aleksei glanced back at him.
“What is it?”
“Today, Madam brought Lady Liliana to the townhouse.”
“…Liliana?”
Aleksei’s steps abruptly halted.
Why had she brought Liliana here?
He had clearly been told that she was doing well at the Rondini Baron family.
‘Could it be… does she plan to keep the child close just to torment her?’
A sharp edge entered his blue eyes.
“That is…”
The butler quietly began explaining.
Liliana had not actually been living comfortably at the Rondini Baron family. In truth, she had been worked like a maid at the Rondini orphanage.
And because of that, Anriche had brought Liliana back.
She had fed Liliana well, dressed her well, and treated her kindly as well.
“…At the moment, Madam is sleeping together with Lady Liliana.”
The butler finished his report.
At once, Aleksei furrowed his brows.
“Wait. You said Liliana was being treated like a servant?”
“Yes, that is what I heard.”
“…But Meg has never once said anything like that.”
Back when they had decided to entrust Liliana to the Rondini family—
Aleksei had instructed Meg to regularly check whether Liliana was doing well.
Originally, the matter concerning Liliana should have been entrusted to Anriche, the lady of the house, but…
‘She had absolutely no interest in Liliana.’
If anything, it would have been fortunate enough if she did not throw a fit over bringing a lowborn girl into the family.
So as a last resort, the person he had thought of was Meg, the head maid who had been with them since the Valois Duchy.
‘Lady Liliana is doing very well.’
That had always been Meg’s usual phrase.
A strange sense of discomfort overcame Aleksei.
“…Madam’s words and Meg’s words are so completely different that I believe we need to verify the truth.”
The butler cautiously added his thoughts while watching Aleksei’s expression.
Aleksei slowly nodded.
“Yes. We should.”
After a brief moment of thought, Aleksei spoke.
“For now, keep silent about this.”
“If that is your order…”
“But I’m not saying we should simply bury the matter.”
Aleksei added firmly,
“You are to investigate this issue separately.”
“You mean… me?”
“Yes. It must be done discreetly, without anyone noticing.”
“…I understand.”
After giving his dependable reply, the butler carefully glanced at Aleksei.
“Then will you not ask Madam and Meg directly?”
“…”
Aleksei fell silent for a moment.
If he followed his feelings, he wanted to grab Anriche immediately and demand, ‘What exactly is going on?’
After all, Meg had been an extremely loyal maid.
Rather than suspecting Meg, it seemed more reasonable to think that Anriche was trying to drive a wedge between Meg and Aleksei.
But…
‘…At least today, she showed that she was carefully looking after Liliana.’
It was unexpected.
The Anriche he knew had even found her own son bothersome and would not let him linger near her.
Of course, even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
Anriche’s actions were probably that sort of thing as well…
“She is the mistress of Valois.”
That fact, at least, did not change.
And the mistress of Valois deserved the respect fitting for her position.
No matter how suspicious she seemed, he could not openly show distrust toward her before the truth had been clearly revealed.
“It will not be too late to judge after the facts are confirmed.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The butler respectfully bowed his head.
“More importantly, for the Rondini Baron family to dare behave in such a manner…”
Aleksei’s voice had turned cold before he realized it.
‘We will take care of Liliana until she comes of age.’
‘No matter what, wouldn’t relatives like us be able to care for her more attentively?’
Were all those kind words lies?
He had believed they were compassionate people, enough to run an orphanage.
That was why he had entrusted them with the only daughter left behind by his precious friend.
But… to think they had been treating Liliana like that behind his back.
Aleksei clenched his teeth.
Before hearing about Liliana, he had not realized it, but now that he thought about it, there had been many suspicious points.
For example…
“The Rondini Baron family recently expanded their orphanage, did they not?”
“Yes, that is what I heard.”
“And where did the money for that expansion come from?”
…
The source of the funds the Rondini Baron family spent so casually.
“Well…”
The butler hesitated for a moment, unable to answer immediately.
He did not know either.
Aleksei’s gaze sharpened.
“You do not know either?”
“…My apologies. Meg always said everything was fine.”
The butler anxiously watched Aleksei’s reaction.
‘I’ve been too complacent.’
Aleksei deeply reflected inwardly.
Of course, there was a reason he had not been able to pay close attention to Liliana.
He was the only duke in the Empire and the Emperor’s trusted friend.
Affairs of the nation and matters of the ducal house alone kept him extremely busy, leaving him with no room to spare for anything else.
‘But even so, I should not have neglected it.’
At the very least, he should have ordered the butler to keep a close eye on Liliana.
He should not have blindly trusted Meg and the Rondini Baron family.
“…No. The truth is, I too trusted Meg until now.”
Honestly, this was not something he could blame the butler for.
If a servant acted on their own without the master’s orders, it would practically be overstepping authority.
Besides, the butler was already constantly overworked handling household matters in place of the negligent mistress.
He likely had no spare time to pay attention to the Rondini Baron family.
Aleksei squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again and asking,
“How much money has the Rondini Baron family taken so far under the pretense of Liliana’s living expenses?”
“Approximately one thousand groschen.”
At that answer, deep lines formed between Aleksei’s brows.
One thousand groschen was nearly enough to cover three years of living expenses for a commoner household.
And despite receiving such a large amount of money, they had raised Liliana worse than a servant.
Most likely, they had been embezzling the money in the middle.
“From now on, never allow anyone from the Rondini Baron family to access Everit’s assets.”
Aleksei continued in a frigid voice.
“They are precious assets that should rightfully belong to Liliana once she comes of age.”
“I understand.”
The butler bowed deeply.
A crooked smile tugged at Aleksei’s lips.
“Also, submit a formal complaint to the Imperial Palace’s tax department.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Make sure a tax investigation is conducted on the orphanage run by the Rondini Baron family.”
“A tax investigation?”
The butler’s eyes widened in shock.
But Aleksei remained firm.
“Yes. If we are going to proceed, then we should do it properly.”
“Understood. Shall the ducal house submit the complaint directly?”
“Do so.”
Aleksei nodded.
The butler asked,
“Then shall I have the coffee brought to the study immediately?”
“No, in thirty minutes. I think I’ll go look at Elliot sleeping first.”
Perhaps because Elliot’s fiancée had entered the house, he suddenly wanted to see his son.
“Understood. I will inform the kitchen.”
After nodding, Aleksei turned and headed toward Elliot’s room.
Aleksei carefully opened the door so as not to make any noise.
Moonlight filtered through the white curtains, so the room was not completely dark.
Suppressing the sound of his footsteps, Aleksei approached the bed.
Elliot was sleeping curled on his side, tightly hugging the blanket in his arms.
The soft sound of his breathing tickled Aleksei’s ears.
‘…Cute.’
Aleksei smiled warmly.
Most people thought Elliot resembled him greatly, but Aleksei thought differently.
It only seemed that way because Elliot had inherited Aleksei’s atmosphere and the ebony-black hair unique to the Valois family.
In truth, Elliot resembled Anriche far more.
His delicate features, violet-colored eyes, and even his graceful deer-like neck—all of it.
“…”
Aleksei reached out and gently straightened the hair scattered across Elliot’s forehead.
Come to think of it, when he had first met Anriche…
‘Back then, I thought we would be able to have a reasonably happy marriage.’
The daughter of the prestigious Saxen Marquis family.
When he first met her, she had been noble, elegant, and beautiful.
It had been a political marriage, but even so, he had thought it was acceptable enough.
Even if it was not a passionate love burning like flames, there had at least been trust between them.
He had firmly believed that trust would lead to a stable marriage.
Of course, that belief had turned into cold ashes once he learned Anriche’s true nature.
‘How ridiculous, thinking about pointless things.’
Just as Aleksei shook his head—
Elliot slowly opened his eyes.
Beneath his long, thick black eyelashes, brilliant violet eyes stared directly at Aleksei.
They were eyes that resembled Anriche perfectly.
