Chapter 6
I batted my eyes playfully and said.
“Right, now that you’ve made money, wouldn’t it be only proper to give me at least something as payment for having devoured your husband?”
“Oh my, I’m too young to know such things. If you show me first with your own actions, Mother, then I’ll learn.”
The mother-in-law’s expression, as she watched me grinning like a fool, slowly began to crack.
I seized the moment and continued.
“Still, I’m living here with you, Mother. I want us to live like mother and daughter, foreveeer.”
The mother-in-law gritted her teeth, utterly speechless.
At that moment, I felt a gaze and casually looked up.
‘Linea.’
A small child peeking at me from the stairs came into my view.
Over the past two months, Linea and I still hadn’t grown close.
Every time I tried to approach her gently to strike up a conversation, Linea would flinch and run away.
‘Though my mother-in-law is keeping her from returning to her maternal family, intending to make me act as Linea’s tutor.’
But even if I wanted to, Linea had been avoiding me for two months, so there was nothing I could do.
In the end, all I could do was occasionally leave letters or gifts by Linea’s door and knock.
Linea was like a kitten with its fur bristled up like a chestnut burr.
‘Still, I can clearly tell she’s been angelically beautiful since childhood.’
Even now, Linea’s face, looking down at me with curious eyes, was as dreamily lovely as described in the novel.
Except for the fact that she was terribly thin.
If I were her mother, I would have fed her all sorts of delicious things until those cute cheeks plumped up!
As I thought that and glanced at Linea, our eyes met for an instant.
I beamed and acknowledged her, but Linea flinched and ran away.
“Hey, and you—”
Cutting off my mother-in-law, who was about to say something, I yawned openly.
“Mother, I’m tired, so I’ll go to bed now. Good night.”
“It’s still evening, what sleep are you talking about! You, stop right there. …Hey!”
Ignoring her, I gave a light bow and cheerfully headed upstairs.
I could hear my mother-in-law yelling something from behind, but I couldn’t make it out.
Fortunately, the hardships of married life I was enduring weren’t too severe by my standards.
‘Going hungry, deliberately releasing bugs and rats in my room, tearing my clothes so I couldn’t go out—just that level of childish mischief.’
Having been through all sorts of trials, this was nothing to me.
I even found myself pitying these two-dimensional villains for being so weak in their malice.
But Linea was different.
A girl born from a political marriage, who could never become heir.
Her father—my late husband—was obsessed with his mistress and showed no interest in Linea whatsoever.
After he died, Linea’s uncle, who inherited the earldom, also tried to spend as little money as possible on his niece.
Her grandmother, who at least offered direct care, constantly used Linea as an emotional punching bag under the guise of discipline.
‘And on top of that, there’s the new stepmother—Asha Delmore.’
And after I, the stepmother, was appointed as her tutor, she even began being beaten under the pretext of discipline.
To the point that irreversible, mottled scars were left on her delicate skin.
That’s why Duke Racan, who accidentally discovered the scars on her legs, disposed of Asha without mercy—true to his nature.
Though that won’t happen this time.
And setting that aside, I desperately wanted to save Linea.
As I went upstairs, I heard a door close at the end of the hallway.
‘She’s refusing to talk again today.’
I walked down the hallway and set down the gifts I’d brought, packed full.
Then I gently knocked on Linea’s door.
“Hello?”
Even with my greeting, no answer came from beyond.
I had no choice but to continue speaking.
“I heard girls these days like these dolls, so I bought one. I don’t know if Linea likes this kind of thing, though.”
With my hand on the wooden door, I hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
“Still, I’d be really happy if Linea likes it. I bought it with money I worked hard to earn? This isn’t meant to pressure you—I just hope Linea will smile at me just once someday…”
I felt as though warmth was somehow radiating from beyond the door.
I stepped aside so Linea could come out comfortably.
“I’ll be going now.”
With that, I entered my room, which was right next door.
Once inside, I closed the door and held my breath, waiting to hear the sound of the next room’s door opening.
Linea was still like a wary wild cat—she would never open the door if I was in front of it.
But as I stood there leaning against the door for a long while—
Creak.
Letting out an eerie sound because the hinges hadn’t been oiled properly, the door next door opened.
“Gasp!”
At the same time, I heard a tiny intake of breath.
Then came a few rustling sounds—she must have picked up the gift—and soon the door closed again.
But even that was enough to make me giggle with delight.
‘How cute.’
I knew why Linea acted that way.
‘She’s probably afraid of opening her heart to me only to get hurt again.’
Linea had once, briefly, opened her heart to a maid named Mary who was kind to her.
—I think you’re a truly lovely and adorable young lady.
—Me?
—Of course. And do you know what I bought yesterday to give you?
Saying that, the maid gave Linea fancy treats, as if sharing a secret just between them.
But when that new maid learned that Linea was a child looked down upon even in her own home, she quickly turned her back.
—Ugh, her following me around all the time and telling me useless things about what she saw and ate today—it’s driving me crazy.
—Hey. That’s why you shouldn’t have done unnecessary things and gotten on the mistress’s bad side.
—Exactly. I thought she looked innocent so I tried to sweet-talk her, but she doesn’t even have any jewelry worth selling. What a waste of money.
To make matters worse, Linea, who had been hiding to surprise Mary, heard every word of that conversation.
From then on, Linea said she decided to stop being a bother to anyone.
Because taking care of a lonely child like herself takes more effort than one might think.
‘I really hope she comes to like me.’
Thinking that, I clutched the check in my bosom more tightly.
I needed to go to the bank early tomorrow morning, deposit it, and withdraw some cash.
From now on, everything must go according to plan.
I steeled my resolve and clenched my fist firmly.
‘I’ll earn enough money to leave with Linea, no matter what!’
Meanwhile, in the next room, Linea stared down at the doll in her hands for a long time.
It was an expensive doll that her grandmother or uncle would never buy for her.
“It’s pretty…”
The words slipped out, but Linea immediately clamped her mouth shut.
Then she shook her head firmly.
Her new stepmother was clearly an impressive person.
Linea herself couldn’t even move properly in front of her grandmother without watching her every step.
But her stepmother never once cowered or acted timid in front of that terrifying grandmother.
Just that alone made Linea like her stepmother.
Moreover, after two months of her stepmother’s persistent efforts to reach out, the walls Linea had so firmly built around her heart had long since crumbled.
But… Father was dead.
Her stepmother wasn’t her real mother—she was someone who could leave this house at any time.
Linea had heard her grandmother say several times that her stepmother could leave the house soon.
‘And that’s why I was told never to get close to her.’
She knew that if she opened her heart to her stepmother—the only one who was kind to her—and then she left, she would surely be devastated.
Especially when she met those round brown eyes that always cared about what she liked, just like a mother would.
‘It makes me want to be held.’
That was why Linea had been running from her stepmother.
For fear that if she were caught, she’d want to be embraced right then and there. For fear that her defenses would completely melt away in that warmth.
But she couldn’t do that.
The only reason she could stay in this house was because she was a well-behaved child.
‘Eventually, she’ll think I’m a bother too…’
Her grandmother, her uncle, everyone who cared for her—they’d all been the same.
She was a girl, worthless, and nothing but a bother who cost money to raise.
‘So I mustn’t be a nuisance to Mother either.’
That was what Linea resolved. Unaware that this resolve was about to crumble.
Yet all currents were rushing in like powerful waves, unstoppable.
