Chapter 79

“Is that you, Julia? I was worried since I hadn’t heard from you. But I’m glad you look fine.”

“Irina…”

No.

It can’t be.

Despite desperately shaking my head in denial, my gaze was fixed on Irina’s belly.

In the past, I might have thought she had just gained a little weight on her stomach.

But having gone through it once, I could now say with certainty.

It didn’t make sense that the slender Irina would gain weight only on her lower abdomen.

Only one possibility had taken root in my mind.

“That belly…”

“Oh, this? I’m pregnant. I don’t know if it’s a son or a daughter yet. It should be a son though.”

My eyes trembled slightly.

I wasn’t surprised since it was as I expected, but the shock hit me hard and shook my head.

Irina wasn’t in a relationship with a man.

There was no man she lived with.

So, there were only a few ways she could have become pregnant.

It didn’t seem like someone else’s business at all.

“What do you mean? Are you saying you’re carrying a customer’s child?”

“Customer? Ahahaha, what are you talking about? Do you think I would make such a mistake after all my experience? Of course, I always take precautions.”

“Then whose child is it…?”

“Um. Ah, now that I think about it, Julia, you don’t know the whole story at all. It seems the letters didn’t reach you. Let me explain everything from the beginning.”

“……”

Irina said with a sad smile.

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

Not a single letter had arrived at the tavern during that time.

Perhaps the address I provided was wrong, or the butler might have filtered out any letters sent to the duke and burned the rest.

I hadn’t thought of that.

What had happened while I was out of contact…?

“I went to meet the kids after hearing what you said. I gathered the courage and went.”

“Why didn’t you go with me? Why did you go alone?”

“At that time, I didn’t think you wouldn’t receive my letter. I thought you were too busy to respond, so I went by myself. Anyway, I went, but when I got there… the kids didn’t recognize me. They asked who the lady was.”

“Ah….”

“So, just as I was about to turn back, I ran into the lord. He suddenly came by and apologized without saying a word, saying he wouldn’t come by again, but then he stopped me and said he would introduce me to the kids as their birth mother, and he would arrange for regular meeting times. Instead… he asked me to have one more child… his child… saying his wife wasn’t doing well…”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

The child in her belly wasn’t Irina’s.

From the moment it’s born, it would be the child of the lord and his wife.

“You…!”

“Why are you crying? I’m okay. Really, I’m fine.”

I had unconsciously grabbed Irina’s shoulder.

I was frustrated.

To Irina, the two children she adopted were her life goal; no, they were her life itself.

If those children were to forget her, Irina would rather choose death.

At that time, Irina had no choice.

She had no option but to bear the lord’s child.

“Why… why are you still working in this state…?”

“Because I can still move. And there are quite a few customers who like a pregnant belly.”

“Damn…”

I closed my eyes tightly because of the disgust.

She was speaking as if it didn’t matter, but there was no light in Irina’s pupils, and the corners of her eyes were drooping.

She looked like a person who had been awake too long, almost a corpse.

It was really hard to keep looking at her.

This wasn’t something she got used to, but something she had worn down.

Irina’s condition was that serious.

“Ugh?”

“Irina…”

I could no longer hold back my tears and hugged Irina tightly.

Even though it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

I couldn’t protect Irina.

If I had been by her side, the outcome might have been different.

I could have helped Irina to have another life goal aside from the children.

When my heart ached and I wanted to cry, I could have held her as much as I wanted.

At the very least, I could have convinced her not to get pregnant with someone else’s child.

I wouldn’t have let her fall apart like this…

“Julia, it’s not your fault. Even if you were here, the outcome would have been the same.”

“That’s not true…”

“I’m really okay, really. If you’re worried, just contact me regularly from now on, you little brat.”

“Okay…”

If only I had made a little time to contact her.

That thought kept bubbling up and my tears wouldn’t stop.

As Irina said, what mattered from now on was important.

Irina’s shock at getting pregnant with someone else’s child, only to have it taken away immediately after birth, must be beyond words.

If I had been in her situation, having my child killed before my eyes, claiming it was the child of a demon, I would probably have lost my mind on the spot.

I couldn’t allow such a thing to happen to Irina.

I had to care for her well.

“Is that you, Tia? Is that my cute little Tia?!”

“Mmhmm! Tia has grown up, right?”

“Yes! You’ve grown! But since you’ve grown up, don’t you think you should start earning money to help your mom?”

“T-Tia is still a baby. Not grown up yet…”

“Haha!”

The noisy sounds outside pierced through the door.

It seemed everyone was gathered around Tia.

Upon hearing that sound, Irina’s expression brightened.

For a brief moment, I could see a glimpse of Irina’s old self.

“Tia came too? I want to go see her!”

“Hehe. You’ll be surprised. She has grown ridiculously tall. And there’s also something you’ll be surprised to hear…”

“What is it?”

“Ah, I’ll tell you later.”

“Ugh! Why so curious!”

I helped Irina stand up from her chair.

Both our faces were a mess from tears.

They say if you cry and laugh, you grow horns on your butt…

I didn’t really know about that anymore.

Both Irina and I must have grown horns on our backsides many times over.

“Did I mention this?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I found a lot of comfort watching Tia. I didn’t see my children grow up at all. After sending them to adoption and doing this lowly job for years. But seeing Tia grow in such a short time made me realize our kids must have grown up like that too. It felt like I was seeing my own children grow right in front of me.”

“……”

I couldn’t think of a response.

So, I decided to just remain quiet.

It wasn’t too awkward a silence.

“Isn’t it about time to head back?”

“Ah. The curfew…”

“Go quickly.”

“Ugh! Julia! Are we really leaving already?!”

As we chattered excitedly, the time had already passed, and the curfew for the villa was approaching.

Now was the time to leave.

I suppressed my feelings of regret and left the innkeeper, Irina, and Sasha behind.

Of course, I didn’t forget to give them the new address.

This time I made sure to provide a connection leading to the staff mail box, so there wouldn’t be any filtering in the middle.

“Mmhmm! Irina, Auntie, I can’t wait to see the baby! I want to see her soon!”

“……”

On the way back.

Unlike my complicated feelings, Tia seemed to be in a great mood.

She had no idea what kind of circumstances surrounded the child in Irina’s belly.

Of course, even if I told her, she wouldn’t understand.

“Let’s visit again next time!”

“Okay. We should…”

Did Tia not notice the changes in the three of us?

Perhaps it made sense.

Tia was just a toddler when she left the tavern, and her memories from that time must have faded considerably by now.

The innkeeper had a scraggly beard and dark circles under his eyes.

Irina was smiling, but her smile looked so sorrowful.

And Sasha, who had become so dependent that she felt anxious without someone to hug her at least for a moment.

It seemed Tia had simply accepted that it was how they were.

“Let’s keep in touch really often…”

“Mmhmm!”

That was good enough.

It was settled.

Maybe…

I thought as I held Tia’s hand and walked on.

*

It was a boring few days.

Or rather, to be more precise, it was peaceful days.

There weren’t any dukes sending me strange glances.

The visits from the leopard had dropped sharply, so I no longer had to deal with that irritating woman.

I hadn’t seen that church dog named Alexander or whatever for so long that I had forgotten what he looked like.

The cold winter passed without incident.

During that time, I continued to exchange letters with everyone at the Ryuba Inn, and I visited with Tia every holiday.

Irina, who had looked like a dying corpse when we first reunited, was doing much better now.

The innkeeper’s expression brightened as sales gradually began to recover, and Sasha seemed to have gained confidence as her recognition increased significantly.

Prince Nikolai’s tutoring was also proceeding smoothly for the time being.

There was merit in having solidified the discipline by using the duke’s name.

As I started to engage in earnest, progress was able to move along well.

It seemed that noble blood wasn’t just for show, as he was quite smart.

Of course, up until this point, Nikolai had never scored a perfect score on my tests.

He had protested multiple times, claiming I was cheating, but I remained unfazed.

Thus ended my winter tutoring sessions without a hitch.

Now it was the time when the snow began to melt and sleeping lives gradually awoke.

“Is today the entrance ceremony? Tia must be excited!”

“You have to make lots of friends!”

“Be sure to hold Mom’s hand!”

“H-Hold on, one at a time! I can’t hear very well!”

The villa was in complete chaos from the morning.

Today was a major event, the most significant one among significant events: Tia’s entrance ceremony.

I smiled fondly at the squealing sounds coming from the hallway and opened the drawer.

There, a small pendant with a golden string and a metallic token appeared.

“That bastard…”

The moment I saw the pendant, the duke came to mind, and I couldn’t help but curse.

I firmly grasped the pendant in my hand and hesitated for a moment before finally putting it around my neck.

It brought me comfort when I wore it.

That bastard was still disgusting and unpleasant, but this pendant he gave me had become my precious treasure.

“Tia, take this.”

“Mmhmm? What is it?”

“I don’t know either. Anyway, it’s important, so you must not lose it.”

“……?”

As I tossed the token to her, Tia looked at me, bewildered.

The token given to me by the sailor…

I never figured out its identity by the end of winter.

I just kept it because both the duke and the sailor said it was important.

Maybe they were both just messing with me, handing me some random coin.

If this token is believed to have any power, it should belong to Tia, not me.

Only then could it save Tia from danger.

“Mom, are you ready too?”

“Yes. Let’s gradually get going.”

“Mom, you look super pretty today! You must be really excited!”

“I’m not that excited…”

I held tightly onto Tia’s hand, filled with excitement.

At the main gate, a large carriage and the butler were waiting.

The butler had a displeased expression, as if he didn’t like the situation at all.

“Although the carriage is provided by the duke’s orders, it’s troublesome if used for any purpose other than commuting to school.”

“I know. I won’t use it for anything else, just to get to school, so don’t worry.”

“Please be careful not to bring disgrace to the duke’s honor.”

“Butler! I’ll be back!”

“Y-Yeah…”

The butler’s stern expression slightly softened.

In that very brief moment, I caught a glimpse of a smile spreading across his face.

He had never been called ‘big brother’ before…

Sometimes I was surprised at how clever Tia could be with her social skills.

“Coachman, let’s go.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The carriage started to move slowly.

At that moment, a shadow suddenly loomed, and everything around us grew dark.

It was just a split second.

When I looked outside, the sun was shining brightly as if nothing had happened.

“Did a cloud block the sun?”

But it was too brief to say that.

It felt like a swift flying object had passed right overhead, casting a shadow.

It couldn’t have been anything serious.

I decided not to think too much about it.

Today was Tia’s entrance ceremony day.

It was an important day, and I couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything else.

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