IPAMB 23

Chapter: 23

“I’m sorry, Lady Winiel. We showed you something disgraceful.”

“No, it’s fine. I was mistaken. It’s okay.”

One of the maids sliced the cake and placed a piece in front of me.

“Would you like some? It was just made.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

I poked the cake firmly with my fork, then cautiously brought it to my mouth while glancing around.

“……”

All three of them stared at me silently with tense expressions.

“I–It’s delicious…!”

When I spoke stiffly and mechanically, they finally let out relieved breaths.

“Oh, thank goodness.”

“Here, have some milk too!”

“There’s plenty, so eat as much as you want!”

I had answered out of reflex, but it truly was delicious. So much so that I wanted to eat the entire cake by myself.

But I couldn’t.

‘If someone suddenly shows kindness for no clear reason, you should be suspicious!’

That was a life lesson I had learned firsthand over the years.

I quietly set down my fork and cautiously asked,

“But why are you giving me this…?”

“It’s to say thank you!”

Thank you?

I tilted my head.

‘Did I do something to help them?’

Nothing came to mind. If anything, I’d only caused trouble by becoming a guest the ducal estate had to take care of.

Perhaps sensing my confusion, one of the maids continued,

“We heard you saved and purified Rain from a monster. We work in different areas now, but Rain is a close colleague of ours.”

“That might just be you thinking that.”

“Be quiet.”

The maid replied without opening her mouth, her smile unchanged.

Ah, so that was why.

I lowered my head gloomily.

“But I didn’t save him… Rain is still unconscious.”

I suddenly felt like I should spit the cake back out.

I could usually let things slide, but not when Rain hadn’t even woken up yet.

‘If I’d arrived a little sooner, Rain wouldn’t have been hurt.’

Even though I had tried to fix things afterward, there was too much lacking to proudly accept their thanks.

“If Lady Winiel hadn’t defeated the monster, Rain would’ve died for sure. That is saving him.”

“But still…”

“And even while you were being falsely accused, you worried about Rain! How brave and thoughtful!”

“Completely different at the core from the selfish, individualistic trash that used to be in the ducal estate— Ack!”

The short-haired maid elbowed the one beside her, scolding her for speaking carelessly in front of a child.

I didn’t particularly mind. I’d heard far worse without hesitation.

Besides, that trash had already been dealt with.

‘Looking at it this way, there really were normal people in the North.’

I wondered how things had ended up so divided, but the culprit came to mind easily. Tristan, probably.

“Ahem, anyway, you’re still watching over Rain. Thank you so much.”

“Yes! Thanks to Lady Winiel, the Young Master is safe, and the ducal estate is intact!”

“Have more confidence!”

Ah, this was dangerous. Their constant praise made my shoulders unconsciously straighten.

Even though I hadn’t yet fixed the relationship between Kain and the Duke, and Rain still hadn’t woken up.

“Can I have one more slice?”

“Of course! Have as much as you want!”

“It’s all yours!”

Before I knew it, I had fully relaxed and was quickly devouring the cake.

“You eat so well!”

“You even scrape the plate clean at meals!”

“It’s wonderful to see. As the baker, I’m proud.”

Hmm… thinking about it, I must’ve been eating like a pig lately.

Everything in the ducal estate tasted so good that my eyes practically rolled back every time I ate.

‘Now that I think about it, it’s a shame I missed breakfast so often. I’m eating well now, though.’

If only I hadn’t had so much on my mind at night, I could’ve woken up early enough to eat.

It was all because I worried about my brother and couldn’t sleep well. Seriously.

“It’s because it’s delicious. Thank you for always making such wonderful food.”

“Oh my, you speak so sweetly!”

“You’re too cute! I can’t let you go! I’m staying here! I’m not going back North!”

“That’s not up to you.”

“I’ll bring more. And other desserts too.”

They were so generous with praise.

Feeling embarrassed, I nodded anyway. I couldn’t resist cake.

“Are you going back to the North later?”

While eating, I chatted with the maids.

“Yes, we came temporarily, so once new servants are found, we’ll probably return!”

“I’m not going!”

“That’s not your choice.”

They answered my questions readily, but whenever the topic turned to the North, they subtly changed the subject.

‘It must be about the Duke’s spouse. No wonder they were specially selected to come here.’

As expected of ducal servants, they were extremely thorough about sensitive matters.

‘I wanted to ask whether something happened in the North since the Duke’s attitude toward Kain is strange…’

But it didn’t seem possible.

So I gave up and focused on eating cake. Sometimes, rest like this was necessary.

The conversation continued.

“So this purification stone prevents disease from spreading?”

“Yes. It’s hard to obtain, but the Duke even secured enough for us.”

I had noticed people carrying purification stones lately.

Not because I investigated—just that I began sensing faint holy power around everyone.

‘I thought they were carrying them because a monster appeared in the estate…’

To think it was to prevent disease.

“What kind of disease is it? I’ve never heard of purification stones being used that way.”

“Well… it’s an illness known only in the North.”

“But holy power isn’t related to disease transmission. That’s strange.”

Holy power only affected dark magic and monsters. It was useless for anything else.

“Who said that?”

“Our personal physician…”

Ah.

If a doctor said it, that changed things.

“If it were someone else, I’d think it was a lie. But if it’s a physician… I’m not sure either.”

Maybe they had discovered an effect of holy power I didn’t know.

“He’s incredibly skilled!”

“He cured an illness no one else could. The Duke cherishes him so much.”

“He came with us from the North, so Lady Winiel must have seen him. He’s in the estate right now.”

***

My chat with the maids went on for quite some time.

It was my first time casually talking with people while eating snacks, and eventually, I grew excited and my voice got louder.

“…So the cat that came in was black and white, so I named it Tuxedo, but it turned out to be female—!”

Looking back, I had no idea what nonsense I was rambling about. I must’ve been extremely excited.

‘So embarrassing! I’m such a kid!’

Well, I am a kid…

But I’d always thought of myself as an adult, so it felt especially embarrassing.

Meanwhile, the maids just watched me with fond smiles.

“Ugh, whatever!”

Since I felt good, I decided to let it go.

Cooling my flushed cheeks with my hands, I quickened my pace.

‘Let’s think about what’s ahead. Tomorrow is important too.’

From my conversation with the maids, it didn’t seem like there was any special reason the Duke disliked talking with Kain.

Then maybe it really was just his personality and manner of speech.

‘In that case, continuing family meals and slowly easing the atmosphere is the right approach.’

Since neither of them was good at expressing emotions, forcing confrontation would be worse than moving forward little by little.

Thankfully, the meals were continuing, so that helped.

“Hm, eating together really does increase consumption.”

A voice suddenly came from beyond the hallway window.

What?

I quietly peeked down.

A woman in a white coat stood with Sylvain.

‘Oh, that person is…’

It was the physician from the North—Zaira.

“Then what should we do? The Duke wishes to continue dining with the Young Master!”

“We need more purification stones. But high-purity ones are not easy to obtain…”

What? What were they talking about?

I strained my ears. Since I was on the second floor, I couldn’t hear everything clearly, but the next words reached me distinctly.

“Until more stones are secured, keep your distance from the Young Master. Absolutely no shared meals.”

……!