Chapter 81

Ellenia frowned slightly without realizing it, as discomfort suddenly filled her mind.

How did Martha bring it up to Rudbeckia?

If she asked, she would definitely hear a sufficiently convincing reason.

The problem was that this fact made her feel even more unpleasant.

The feeling of being trapped and the unidentified discomfort that stayed throughout the whole time since yesterday’s disturbance.

“I didn’t know you were that considerate to my wife.”

“Are you being sarcastic again?”

“I’m refraining because I’m afraid of losing my temper. Ruby hit your nanny for that? As you said, it must have something to do with last time. Do you want me to believe that?”

“Martha, I will definitely…”

“Last time, you said the same and look how it is now. Do you know how much she cried?”

Izek growled.

Restrained anger was blazing fiercely in his narrow eyes.

Ellenia recalled Rudbeckia, who looked almost exhausted last night.

She bit her lips gently.

Without her, Martha would have been beaten and kicked out even before dawn without a chance to make excuses.

No, she would be lucky if she was only beaten.

Her brother was merciless with a person at his fingertips.

If Martha wasn’t her nanny, if their relationship wasn’t so tight, if there wasn’t room for her to resent Rudbeckia after Martha was kicked out…

This was a great development because now she knew how to deduct and endure it.

It was funny that this development applied only to one person-related factor.

How could she persuade him?

“This is the last time, Brother. Let me take care of Martha. It’s because of me after all.”

It wasn’t a careless addition.

Ellenia was also in a bad mood due to unpleasant suspicions that had been rising all along.

Why did it feel like Martha used her to escape Izek’s anger?

It was ridiculous.

Nevertheless, such ridiculous suspicions were urging her.

Izek threw an unknown look at her for a moment and let out a ragged sigh.

“Damn it. Fine. I don’t want Ruby to feel conflicted because of a stupid maid. But this is the last time. Make sure you don’t let her get close to Ruby for a while.”

“I don’t want that either, so don’t worry.”

“I’m very grateful. Tell me something else. What’s the matter with the tea party?”

“What did Ruby say to you?””

“The same thing she told you.”

“What’s that…”

“She didn’t do anything.”

Right, it was like that.

Ellenia hesitated for a moment to catch her breath, and replied.

“If you fully believe her, you don’t have to ask this question.”

As if he could see her thoughts, Izek smiled.

It was a rare sarcastic smile.

“You’re funny. Don’t try to take this out on me. Don’t try to project your feelings on me. I just want to know what Freya talked to you about.”

“…….”

“If you really don’t want to say it, you don’t have to.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t really want to say it.

It was just hard to define in a word.

Feeling a headache again, Ellenia rubbed her temple.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself? She’s also your friend.”

“She’s your friend, not my friend. These young ones keep trying to match up with me.”

Izek clicked his tongue and poked his sister’s forehead with his finger.

Ellenia stopped staring at him.

“So why did you run that fast then? On the day of the temple incident.”

“I know it was a misunderstandable situation, but I would have done the same if the person who consumed the magic stone was not her but another person. And at that time, there was another person near her who made me worry.”

She didn’t have to ask who it was.

Because she already knew it.

Ellenia knew more about her brother than anyone else.

Maybe even more than he perceived himself.

Was that why there was such a bizarre anxiety?

Izek was truly selfish.

When he was young, he seemed quite sad when their mother died, but after that, he turned rough like an ice storm.

If he was blunt to his family, he was like a beast to others.

He showed no interest in anything other than sword fights, and rather than understanding other people’s circumstances or thoughts, he ridiculed them.

He was so sensitive to such indifferent topics that he became violent like a hungry beast when someone went against his plans.

It was not a bad thing for Ellenia to see such a human being’s attachment to others for the first time, showing an obsession that seemed almost blind to a southern woman who was clearly annoying.

What she was worried about was others.

Others who would have thought they were special to him. For example…

“Anyway, don’t say anything of what I just said to Ruby. She has been getting better little by little these days, but if you push her, she’ll probably not be able to bear it.”

“I’m speechless. Who do you think I am?”

Irritated and grumbling, Izek had a very complex look. And Ellenia was speechless.

Did he actually have a conscience?

It was difficult to adapt to him acting like another human being.

“It’s because I’m worried about what you’ll do if you follow your temper. If you have a temper to ask why she threw up even though you prepared everything…”

“Why do you think I’ll get mad at her? Why are you trying to give me this hint?”

“Why do you say I’m giving you a hint? I’m doing this because I’m really worried. Even yesterday, it would have been resolved if Ruby had told me everything correctly. She just said she didn’t do anything, but what happened then?”

It was a reasonable argument. Above all, Ellenia was not so aware of Rudbeckia’s hidden thoughts.

However, Izek did not want to blame Rudbeckia, who would have been frightened by the northern nobles.

To make matters worse, she had an eating disorder.

Somehow, he had always thought there was no change in my skinny body.

It was a little better than when he first saw it, but had she secretly been like that all the time?

How long had she been doing that?

Should he pretend he didn’t know or hold onto it and talk?

How would she react if he brought up the topic?

The thoughts were chilling and his stomach was boiling.

He didn’t know who he was angry at.

His mind was all over the place. A complicated and dirty feeling.

Recently, Rudbeckia did not give him a strange look of fear as before.

Before she easily shrank her shoulders and would not even look at him

So this development was good.

It was also good to see her smile lively as if she threw away the burden in her heart, to come up and hug him first, and to fall asleep on his bed every night with an unidentified look on his face.

Even making a fuss like last night and hitting him with that tiny hand…

He thought it was evidence that it was getting better, but now,where should he start?

He had to dig up the fundamental cause, but the problem with the surrounding people was also an issue.

The humans that made her cry this time were those he had considered as trustworthy for many years.

But now, rather, the monsters looked more reliable.

The maid and Freya.

Freya and Lorenzo…

“Why aren’t you talking all of a sudden?”

He did not respond to Ellenia’s question.

When he thought of Freya, one side of his head became cold.

Was she originally a two-faced person?

Along with the incident at the horseback riding meeting, Lorenzo’s words had been persistently stuck on his mind since last night, urging him to do something, a cold sensation growing in him.

His trainee Andymion was not the type to get caught up in a quarrel. Such a man had recently caused a huge fight with Lorenzo.

Even if he pressed him for why he fought, there was no explanation.

All he said later was for Lorenzo’s cheeky self to keep in mind that he seemed to have the wrong feelings for the mistress.

The wrong feeling would not have meant the frivolous love of a teenager.

As for trainees, the fellow pigs suddenly turned into golden pigs for a problem.

To make matters worse, Lorenzo hadn’t been around him recently to find out what he had said.

“Brother?”

“… In the meantime, Ruby begged me to apologize first because there was such an unsavory disturbance in my garden. I’m sorry. She asked me to deliver this message.”

“Why me?”

“Because she hit your nanny. What the heck, I want everyone to be at least half alike.”

She’d heard couples resemble each other, but why didn’t her brother take on Ruby’s form instead?

Ellenia swallowed a sigh and clenched both hands. Ruby was such a nice person.

“I don’t like being awkward with Ruby either. I hate this kind of situation.”

“That’s a relief, I just happened to ask you a favour.”

“What do you mean by favour?”

“My holy in-laws will soon visit this shabby neighborhood.”

Izek’s eyes, which had a sarcastic flare, subsided coolly.

It was quite rare for him to ask for something first, so Ellenia listened silently.

“I won’t have enough time to look at the game, so I hope you don’t take your eyes off them.”

“From whom?”

“From my wife and her relatives. Keep your eyes on her, especially when she’s with Cardinal Valentino.”