I’m The Real Daughter, But I Don’t Want To Go Back To The Duke’s Estate - Chapter 55

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

“What? But…!”

“Still, I’ll at least observe until the next lesson.”

At those words, Cecilia’s face brightened with color.

“R-really?”

“Yes. But please make sure to skip the next lesson somehow.”

“…Huh? Skip it?”

Cecilia tilted her head in confusion.

Milena continued with a deeply furrowed brow.

“We don’t know when the Countess might punish you again. But you want me to just watch you take lessons? That’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“That’s…”

“If you attend the next lesson, I won’t be able to just keep my mouth shut either.”

Milena had a very stubborn expression.

Cecilia nodded with a tense face.

“Alright. I’ll speak well with the teacher about it.”

Phew.

Milena sighed inwardly.

Rather than showing mercy to the Countess of Seres, it was more for practical reasons.

If she forcefully pushed ‘the Countess of Seres must be punished no matter what’ right now, it would be difficult to gain Cecilia’s cooperation.

And.

‘The Countess of Seres might play dumb.’

If she claimed that everything Cecilia said was lies, the mental blow to Cecilia would be enormous.

Moreover, since the Countess had a close relationship with the Duchess, she had to be even more careful.

Hadn’t the Duchess fallen for Mrs. Howard’s words before?

‘If I’m going to cut her out, I need to do it thoroughly.’

Milena’s eyes gleamed sharply.

For now, she planned to wait through Rudrick to see if any news would come from the Mage Tower.

* * *

Sara looked around with a wary expression.

There was no sign of anyone around.

Actually, that was natural.

The place where Sara was now was the Mage Tower Confidential Archives where patent materials were gathered.

‘Export records, export records…’

Sara carefully examined the bookshelf densely organized with document files.

Until now, she had processed missing quantities of ointments as lost items.

The Countess of Seres was confident about her close friendship with the tower master, and practically when processed as lost, it was approved without any particular restraint.

That had been going on for years already.

But leaving a record in the export records that it was ‘legally purchased’…

‘Well, aunt will handle it well.’

Sara clicked her tongue inwardly and picked up a pen.

Just as she was about to write the Countess’s name in the export record list.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a dumbfounded voice flowed from between Sara’s lips.

Because a shadow had suddenly fallen over the document file.

Startled, Sara quickly raised her head.

The man facing Sara with a bright smile was none other than…

* * *

The next day.

The Countess of Seres sat in the hotel restaurant with a heavy expression.

It was divided into private room style, making it a good place for quiet conversation.

“Oh my, Teacher.”

The Countess of Lusert, who had just entered the private room, spoke with a bright face.

“What brings you to ask to meet me outside?”

“…”

At those words, the Countess’s face became even darker.

“Well…”

The Countess, who had trailed off for a moment, forced a smile.

“L-let’s eat first. We can talk slowly about it later.”

It was clearly an attempt to avoid the topic.

The Duchess looked at the Countess with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong? Is there some problem?”

“Well…”

The Countess only moved her lips several times, showing no sign of easily bringing up the words.

The Duchess’s face also became serious.

“Please speak comfortably. Okay?”

“…”

The Countess glanced at the Duchess sideways and muttered with a sigh.

“Ha, I don’t know if I should tell you this. Cecilia earnestly begged me to keep it secret…”

“Cecilia?”

The Duchess’s eyes widened.

The Countess nodded and kept sighing deeply.

“I’m Cecilia’s mother, aren’t I? If not me, who would listen to Cecilia’s story?”

“Still, if the student said something…”

“You created this meeting because you thought it was a matter you needed to tell me about. Isn’t that right?”

The heated Duchess kept pressing the Countess.

The hesitating Countess finally opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Actually… Cecilia’s condition isn’t very good.”

“H-her condition isn’t good?!”

The shocked Duchess unconsciously raised her voice.

The Countess shook her head repeatedly.

“It seems she’s having some mental difficulties, but she won’t open up to me.”

“Cecilia?”

“Yes. So she keeps hitting her own arms with things like switches… honestly, I’m very worried.”

The Countess of Seres speaking this way looked exactly like a teacher who deeply cared for her student.

“But since she keeps refusing to talk, if I keep pressing for reasons and things go wrong, that would be a big problem too.”

“H-how could that be…”

The Duchess’s eyes trembled with shock.

The Countess made a worried expression, pretending to care greatly for Cecilia.

“So I’m getting ointment from the Mage Tower to apply to her wounds. She’ll continue to be active in social circles, so she can’t have scars on her arms.”

“Is Cecilia badly hurt?”

The Duchess asked worriedly.

The Countess smiled reassuringly.

“She is hurt a little… but it’s manageable with care.”

Only after hearing that answer did the Duchess’s expression brighten somewhat.

“It’s an ointment that has healing effects and also prevents scars from showing externally. For now, you don’t need to worry too much.”

The Countess skillfully comforted the Duchess once again.

“I thought you should know about this, so I’m telling you carefully.”

“…Thank you so much.”

The Duchess nodded and shakily stood up.

“I’ll go back for now. I need to meet with Cecilia.”

“Oh, you’re going to meet her directly?”

“Of course. I need to hear from the child about what happened.”

The Duchess answered firmly.

Then the Countess pulled out a small jar of ointment from her bosom.

“Then please take this ointment with you.”

“This is…?”

“It’s a medicine that removes the effect of the ointment I applied.”

The Countess continued with a sigh mixed in her words.

“Cecilia might lie, you know. She probably wouldn’t want to reveal that she’s been self-harming to others.”

Self-harm.

The Duchess swallowed hard.

Every time she heard that word, she felt her heart sink with a thud.

The Countess pushed the ointment toward the Duchess.

“Without this ointment, Cecilia might deny that she was hurt at all.”

It was a reasonable point.

The Duchess nodded and tucked the ointment into her bosom.

The Countess concluded with a bitter expression.

“I feel inadequate for not being able to properly care for our Cecilia. I hope Your Grace will take good care of Cecilia.”

“Not at all. Thank you for giving me this advice.”

The Duchess forced a smile and hurriedly left her seat, unlike her usual composed demeanor.

The Countess watched her retreating figure intently, then elegantly lifted her water glass to wet her throat.

‘Yes, it’s good to be prepared for anything.’

The corners of her mouth hidden behind the water glass curved into a clear arc.

It was a sinister smile, like that of a snake.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————