Chapter 28
Jeremy grinned as if he knew he would be like that.
“How is it, delicious?”
“It’s a little bit edible.”
Dylan naturally took another bite and said,
“But this is the last one. Stop eating hainas, Elisabeth.”
“If it’s this tasty, it can’t be bad for the body.”
Elisabeth said proudly.
“No noble eats this. You didn’t know about the existence of hainas until now.”
“Isn’t it just a cheap fruit that common people enjoy eating?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The aristocrats can’t eat what the common people enjoy, so they unilaterally accused it of bad health. It can’t be bad if it’s delicious.”
Jeremy nodded as he listened to Elisabeth.
“Sounds plausible.”
“What’s plausible? When people eat delicious food, it’s aristocrats who take it away and prevent them from eating it.”
“Wouldn’t there have been difficult circumstances to do that? They could have grown so well even if they were just planted anywhere that they couldn’t stop them.”
Elisabeth protested.
“Then why don’t we go ask Damon about the answer?”
Jeremy said.
“Why would we go all the way to Damon and ask him something like this?”
Dylan put on a serious look.
Damon raised his head at the knock on the door of his office. He could hear the voice of the employee outside.
“The young masters and the lady would like to see you.”
“Tell them to come in.”
When the door opened, Elisabeth, Dylan and Jeremy appeared.
Elisabeth looked with curious eyes at Damon’s office, forgetting even the purpose of coming here.
Damon’s office was arranged in a white tone resembling him. Damon, who was reviewing business documents, seemed surprised by the appearance of children.
“What’s going on? You even came with Jeremy.”
“Why don’t the nobles eat hainas?”
Dylan brought up the main point in no time.
“Because it’s not good for the body.”
“Not that, there must be a real reason behind it.”
“Hmm.”
Looking closely at the three children, Damon smiled at Elisabeth when he saw the traces of eating hainas around her mouth.
“Elisabeth, was the hainas delicious?”
He spoke affectionately and tidied Elisabeth’s mouth with a handkerchief.
“Yes. I’ve never had anything so delicious in my life.”
“That’s what everybody says. So at first, the aristocrats tried to monopolize that they can only eat the good fruit and not the common people can eat it.”
Damon explained.
“Then why is it the opposite now?”
“About a 100 years ago, there was a famine, and the nobles had no way of surviving. At that time, the hainas that grew up well anywhere, became the main food of the people. The imperial family strongly recommended it.”
“In the end, the hainas fruit have become the target of the common people?”
“That’s right, Elisabeth. Can you eat such fruit on the pride of the unlucky aristocrats? It’s a fruit that only poor people eat because it’s bad for their health, so our precious aristocrats gave an excuse not to eat it.”
“Then can I eat the hainas as I like? I’m a child from a poor birth anyway.”
Elisabeth asked excitedly.
“Yes.”
Damon nodded.
Elisabeth looked at Dylan. Dylan, who had an unsuitable face, was looking at Elisabeth with a little surprise.
Maybe it was because she played so intensely with Jeremy, Elisabeth went to sleep without even having dinner.
The dinner table with only three men was filled with cold air, like the early winter came.
“What did Jeremy come and do?”
The news that Elisabeth had not eaten dinner and was tired that she was asleep filled with complaints.
“They played on the wooden horse, played tag, and climbed trees.”
“Jeremy did those at that age?”
“Because Elisabeth likes it.”
“I see.”
Victoire nodded and looked at Dylan again.
“What did you do?”
“Jeremy’s taunt kept me on the lookout if Elisabeth were to fall.”
“Good job.”
Damon looked at the abnormal father and son conversation with a weary face, and opened his mouth to thaw the atmosphere a little.
“Father, Elisabeth is very clever.”
“I already know that. Did something happen in particular?”
“Yes, she came to me today and asked me why the nobles don’t eat ‘hainas.’ But when she heard Dylan and Jeremy, Elisabeth knew everything before they could tell her why.”
Victoire asked after a moment’s thought.
“Is it because she reads a lot of books?”
“She deduced it herself.”
Victoire nodded his head. A gentle smile spread around his mouth. Damon felt proud when his plan succeeded.
Now that the atmosphere on the table must have softened up a bit, it was time to relax and eat.
“Give Elisabeth a real tutor.”
Dylan managed to pour cold water on the barely mellow atmosphere. Victoire frowned.
“You are ostensibly known as her ‘teacher.’ “
“But I don’t really teach Elisabeth. I’m sure Victoire has heard of it, but Elisabeth is talented. So she really needs a proper education.”
Damon thought Victoire would tell him not to talk nonsense. But unexpectedly, Victoire agreed.
“You’re right. For the future of Elisabeth, formal education is necessary. If she wants to go out into society and get married…”
“Father!”
“Don’t say weird things!”
Damon and Dylan shouted at the same time. Victoire looked at his two sons with a face of uncertainty.
“What marriage are you talking about, that kid’s marriage?”
Dylan said bluntly.
“What does that mean? Is Elisabeth not allowed to get married?”
“Not that… How old is she to get married already?”
Victoire ignored his son’s words, thinking Dylan was being mean for nothing.
Damon looked closely at Victoire.
‘Social world? Marriage? Father, you… Are you seriously thinking about the future of Elisabeth?’
According to their plan, Elisabeth was a child who should not be revealed outside. Far from getting married, she was a time-limited person who could not be sure if she would be alive until she made her debut in society.
‘Father, since when did you…?’
Damon was curious and carefully started to talk.
“But isn’t it risky to have an official tutor for Elisabeth? Elisabeth’s identity may be revealed.”
“I have a way.”
Dylan said.
“Let’s ask aunt a favor to educate her.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Dylan. I thought that conversation was over.”
Damon startled. Dylan had offered it to Victoire before, but was caught short of breath.
“My sister hates Cabezo blood very much.”
Victoire also said.
“But is there someone as safe and cultured as aunt?”
“But you can’t do that, Dylan. Aunt… “
“I get it. Let’s send a letter.”
Damon, who was refuting Dylan, looked at Victoire with his chin wide open. He couldn’t hide his surprise.
That was an actual approval.
“Father!”
“My sister might do me a favor.”
Damon couldn’t control his facial expression.
‘You said no before, but why did you change your mind? No way…’
It was not that it did not have a point. But it shouldn’t have been.
“Father, it’s something you should reconsider. Aunt Terran, I mean.”
“I’m only going to send letters. My sister will decide.”
Victoire replied with a firm attitude, implying that it should not be talked about anymore.
Dylan finally asked a piece of meat with a bright face as if he was feeling better. Victoire also looked pleasant, humming for some reason.
It was Damon alone who froze like winter’s here.
After a while, a white carriage appeared in the mansion. The white carriage was a symbol of the north, which was covered with snow all year round.
The blonde woman came down with a haughty step from the carriage. She had blonde hair that was distinctly different from Victoire’s blue hair, but her eyes were blue.
‘Wow. Blonde like me.’
She thought everyone in this family had blue hair and blue eyes.
The woman’s eyes were blue, but her hair was the same color as Elisabeth’s.
The woman looking around made eye contact with Elisabeth. The woman frowned as if she had seen something dirty.
‘Uh.’
Elisabeth stepped back in surprise. Victoire patted Elisabeth by the shoulder.
“Long time no see, Baroness Terran.”
Victoire greeted her politely. When Damon and Dylan also said hello, Elisabeth also followed.
“I didn’t know I’d come back to Daughtry’s mansion for this, Count. How dare you make me teach that scum-like blood.”
“Sister!”
Victoire raised his voice in embarrassment. Baroness Terran kept talking as if she couldn’t hear.
“I’ll do you this favor, Count, but that’s it. Don’t expect more from me. I don’t want to see the face of that dirty bloodline for long.”
The atmosphere became as cold as the frozen sky in the north. But Baroness Terran, who had frozen the air, did not care.
“Where should I stay?”
“Please follow me.”
The butler led Baroness Terran and disappeared into the mansion.
Elisabeth looked at her from the back with a blank face.
‘You’re describing me dirty, right?’
It was natural for the Leschine family to despise the Cabezo family. Since she was an enemy of the family, Elisabeth expected it.
‘…I understand with my head, but I can’t help being hurt.’
“Elisabeth.”
Suddenly, Victoire held Elisabeth in his arms. Elisabeth looked up in his arms. The expression of Victoire looking at the heartbroken Elisabeth was dark.
“My sister is a good person. If you treat her sincerely, she’ll open her heart.”
“Yes. I know. “
Elisabeth was feeling it, too. She was cold to her, but she could not feel any bad energy.
A straightforward person like Baroness Terran was better than a man who laughed outwardly and cursed backward.
Sure it was all right, although not comfortable.
Now, Elisabeth was personally experiencing ‘human beings can be this nervous too.’
“What’s your name?”
“I am Elisabeth Daughtry.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 12 years old.”
Baroness Terran, who was burying questions as if to interrogate, rolled her eyes and looked at Elisabeth crookedly.
“How did you live before?”
“I lived on a farm near Ethen with my parents. After my parents died, I ran out of clothes and food to eat, so Mrs. Marian, the nanny, brought me here.”
“Hmph. You have a good memory.”
Baroness Terran said like she was forced to admit it.