I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

“I don’t know about that, but if you’re truly a nanny, you wouldn’t raise your voice when the child is sound asleep.”

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“…It’s because you keep talking nonsense!”
“If you don’t want to get dragged away, let the child rest and get out.
I’m afraid the child might wake up if you were here.”

For a long time, she glared at me.

But then, whether she changed her mind or not, she went out without saying anything.

Just in case she came back, I stayed in the room for another half an hour before leaving.

“In case the nanny drops by, come and tell me anytime.”
“…Yes.
I understand.”

It wasn’t really the mood where the maids would listen to me.

They seemed to treat me better compared to when I first arrived in this room.
However, their superior was the nanny, not me.

So I turned around without saying anything compelling.

“I’m tired.”

This is my first day working, and it’s been an eventful day that I became so sleepy.
But then, when I was about to walk out of Rebecca’s room, someone stopped me.

“Excuse me…Lady Leona.”
“Yes?”
“Fr-From now on, I will regularly pick up Lady Leona in the morning…!”

She was one of the maids.
I think I saw her in Rebecca’s room briefly, but she wasn’t special as I couldn’t remember her.

“My name is May!”

As I stared at her, the woman hurriedly lowered her head and introduced herself.

“It’s only been 3 months since I entered the duke’s mansion.”
“If you’re with me, it might only cause you more trouble.”

She couldn’t possibly be happy with my sudden push.

But May, who was oblivious of my discomfort, smiled brightly.

“It’s fine! Actually, I might quit soon.
So…please don’t feel pressured! I’m not on the nanny or the duke’s side!”
“So you’re not siding with them, huh? You don’t have to answer everything I ask.
The more you easily open your mouth, the more it’ll likely strangle yourself one day.”

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At my words, May hurriedly grabbed her neck with her hand.

“I’ll keep that in mind…!”

It was an advice for myself and her.

It was also a piece of advice for May about the person who sent her here.

“Th-Then may I accompany Lady Leona?”
“Do as you please.
I’m going to return to my room anyway.”

May, who seemed to be happy about something, started walking a step ahead of me.
With brown bob hair, she looked the same age as Leona, but she was much brighter than her.

“I’m worried that you might refuse me!”
“Is that so?”
“I want to get along with Lady Leona!”
“Didn’t you just say that you were quitting? Why would you want to get along with me.”
“Ah…Th-That.” I could see that her steps were subtly shaken.
“That’s true.
But isn’t it better to get along before I leave?”
“That’s right.
But why would you leave? There’s nothing better than being the maid in this dukedom.”

Only then did May turn around and clap her hands.

“Actually, the Imperial Palace is recruiting a maid! So I want to go there.”
“In the palace? They hardly recruit new workers unless there is a special occasion, don’t they?”
“While the Crown Prince is selecting his fiancee, the Crown Princess’ palace is under restoration.
Since the Crown Prince may get married at any time soon, they are gathering and preparing the maids from early on.
This way, the palace maid won’t have to wait for one or two years.”

Hearing her words, I let out a sigh.

Come to think of it, Rebecca was supposed to be the prince’s fiancee.
Her already trashy personality will become worse as soon as she becomes the prince’s fiancee.

‘The word ‘arrogant beyond belief’ fits her perfectly.’

As soon as I was about to sigh, a good idea came to my mind.

‘I’m Leona anyway.
Leona was abandoned by her own family.
No one would look for her.
So if I don’t have any place to go later, should I just become the palace maid?’

I was worried for a while thinking about how I would live after being kicked out of here.

For Leona, family existence was unnecessary.
They cling onto her and is sucking her blood dry.

Therefore, the palace maid recruitment itself could be my refuge after my escape from here.

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I smiled as kindly as possible to May, who gave me the valuable information.

“I see.”
“Yes! That’s why I’ll definitely become the palace maid!”
“Yes.
I hope it goes well.”

However, I had no choice but to feel strange.

Why would the maid that I just met today tell me such detailed information? As if it was a written scenario.

“But can you just say that casually? Does the Duke understand that you’re going to quit like that?”
“Ah…Yes.
He understands.
Ah, we have arrived!”

In the meantime, we walked quite a long time, and before I knew it, we already arrived in front of my room.

“You’re amazing, May.
You know where my room is located at once.”

Not only that, but all her actions were suspicious.

“I-I heard it from someone.
I was enamored with Lady Leona the first time we met and wanted to be on your side.”
“I see.
Thanks for taking me here.”
“Then I’ll pick you up before the miss wakes up tomorrow!”

May bowed her head and opened the door, and I entered the room appreciating the unintended luxury.

I was so tired that as soon as the door closed, I threw my body in bed and fell asleep.

***

Every day is pretty much the same.

As if to keep what she said, May came to pick me up every day.

Was it because of that?

I couldn’t find the room without her.
I was so bad with directions, and I didn’t bother to memorize it because I am used to having someone guide me.

Fortunately, I had memorized the way every time I went out in case of an unforeseen situation.

Using the excuse of feeling stuffy, I strolled around before going to Rebecca’s room, and thanks to that I precisely remember the way.

There was a small kitchen not too far from my room.
The restaurant, which only opened when the guests came, was empty.
I went there every night and made the food that I wanted to eat.
That’s how I spent my time in the dukedom.

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The Duke hadn’t said anything about me since then, and all I had to do was to come three times a day to see Rebecca.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as him kicking me out.

So 15 days had passed.

“What are you going to do today?”
“….”
“You’re not going to answer me now?”
“…Yeah.
Don’t talk to me.
It’s annoying.”

As the days went by, Rebecca’s nerves grew sharp.
As if showing that she’s not in a good shape when I was here.

“Yes.
Then do as you please.
Oh, I will also spend time reading other books.”

After a few days, the child seemed to open her heart to me.

But then, Rebecca changed again.
She became sensitive and distanced herself from me.

I quietly looked at Rebecca, and for her sake, moved my gaze to the book I had prepared.

It’s almost eleven o’clock.

The child moved in a constant pattern.

Woke up around 11 a.m, washed up, had breakfast, and after that, she spent time doing whatever she wanted to do.

She mostly stayed inside the room, but there are times when the child moved peculiarly.
Once a day, she went to the garden when the sun was warm.

That’s why I went to the Duke’s office with May after entrusting the child to the others to go to the garden.

My sudden appearance made the chamberlain’s face, who was guarding the office, turn white.

“Ah…La-Lady Leona.”

“I came to see the Duke.
But your face seemed so stiff as if it’s not right for me to come here.”
“Oh, no.
I didn’t think that you were going to come here.
I’ll announce your presence to the Duke.”

The chamberlain looked at me and May subsequently with a stunned expression and went inside.

After a while, the door opened, and finally, I had another private audience with that guy after a long time.

“You’re looking for me? How rare.”
“I’m here to say thank you, and there’s something I wanted to discuss.”

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“What made you thank me?”
“I’m comfortable walking around because you’ve appointed someone to guide me.
I wanted to express my gratitude.”

He was a little surprised at what I said, but then a smile rose on his face.

“So you know?”
“There’s no way anyone would approach me without a particular intention.
It’s a principle to be especially careful about unconditional kindness.”

I knew it right away when May suddenly approached me.

Rather, it was more amazing that he didn’t know I was aware of that.

Sticking to the door, I looked at him for a long time.

“But it wasn’t entirely because of my command that made them stand next to you.
How did you capture the maid’s hearts? Because the number of applicants has increased significantly.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”

Why?

One has to be careful about unconditional kindness, but why would the maid want to be by my side?

Actually, I have no expectations of him.

But then, he made eye contact with me as he brushed his disheveled hair up.

“So why are you here today?”
“Why don’t we take a walk?”
“Take a walk? I wonder if this is a dream.”

While saying that, the Duke arranged the documents in one place.

“You won’t refuse it?”
“Because I’m curious about you.
I heard you’ve been doing strange things to my daughter lately.”
“I’ll take it in a good way.”
“It’s a compliment.”

Seeing him concede to my invitation so easily, I smiled.

Whatever the reason is, I just need to take him.

In the meantime, he wore his outer garment and came close to the door.

“Let’s go.
But where are we going?”
“The maze.”