I’m The Real Daughter, But I Don’t Want To Go Back To The Duke’s Estate - Chapter 58

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

The Duchess asked abruptly.

The Countess felt inwardly guilty, but still maintained a calm expression.

“Something to say?”

“About Cecilia.”

The Duchess questioned sharply.

“You clearly told me that child had harmed herself, didn’t you? But Cecilia’s story is different.”

The Duchess’s lips trembled with anger.

“She said she was punished?”

Ha.

The Countess closed her eyes tightly and opened them again.

That girl’s only virtue was not babbling carelessly, and now she stabs me in the back like this?

But she couldn’t just take this lying down.

The Countess looked at the Duchess with a serious expression.

“Surely you don’t believe those words?”

“…What did you say?”

“I told you, didn’t I? That Cecilia’s mental state is unstable.”

The Countess protested with a voice full of grievance.

“But to pin those self-harm marks on me, what kind of nonsense…!”

“Then, the scars remaining on Cecilia’s back.”

For a moment, the Countess doubted her own ears.

What? Scars?

“Are you going to claim that even those were self-inflicted by that child?”

Cold violet eyes stared directly at the Countess.

A blade-like voice pierced into the Countess’s ears.

“I don’t think Cecilia could have taken a rod herself and beaten her own back.”

“…”

The Countess fell silent for a moment.

‘Scars on her back?’

Honestly, it had been so long since she had punished Cecilia that she could barely remember beating her back with a rod.

But thinking about it carefully, there seemed to have been such occasions.

‘…I thought they would have healed completely.’

Could scars have remained?

Since she had only started using ointment recently, it was possible that the old punishment marks could have left scars.

The Countess ground her teeth.

‘That girl can’t even properly manage a single wound!’

In this situation, she had to change her strategy a bit.

With that judgment, the Countess completely changed her expression and put on a pitiful look.

“Of course, it’s true that I taught her strictly. It was because I cared for Cecilia, hoping she wouldn’t behave undignifiedly as a princess.”

“…”

“I admit there was some corporal punishment in the process. But I taught her with Cecilia’s prior agreement, and I provided sufficient aftercare.”

The Countess’s expression, which had been speaking firmly, gradually began to crumble.

“If I hadn’t cared for Cecilia, would I have brought ointment to tend to her? That ointment is truly precious medicine. I had a hard time obtaining it too.”

The Countess gazed at the Duchess with moist eyes.

It was a truly sorrowful expression, as if she might shed tears at the slightest touch.

“But why Cecilia made such unreasonable claims, I simply cannot understand…”

However, despite acting with all her might, the Duchess still had a rigidly hardened face.

The Countess’s expression became subtle.

‘What’s this?’

The usual Duchess would have been completely fooled by this level of excuse.

But the current Duchess still had a cold expression.

“Ha, teaching, you say?”

The Duchess let out an incredulous laugh.

The Countess weakly lowered her eyes.

“I feel sorry about that. I thought that sometimes sharp warnings were necessary to teach a child…”

Slap!!

Suddenly, sparks flew before her eyes.

The Duchess had violently slapped her cheek.

The shocked Countess blinked her eyes blankly.

The surprise was much greater than the pain.

After a moment.

The Countess raised her voice angrily.

“What on earth is this behavior…!”

“I’m also giving you a lesson.”

The Duchess lowered her hand with an expressionless face.

She had slapped so hard that her hand was tingling with pain.

“A lesson that you must not dare lay hands on a princess of Lusert.”

“Du, Duchess.”

The Countess called the Duchess with a trembling voice.

However, the Duchess didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

“Does it hurt? Well, my daughter must have hurt much more.”

“Th, that…”

The Countess, who had only been moving her lips, cried out desperately.

“But Duchess, I told you! I only did that because I truly cared for Cecilia!”

The Countess frantically clung to the Duchess.

“Pl, please don’t do this and let me face Cecilia. I’ll somehow clear up this misunderstanding…!”

“Ha, really.”

The Countess’s body stiffened.

That was because what formed on the Duchess’s lips was blatant mockery.

“There’s a limit to shamelessness.”

“Duchess, I…”

The Duchess shook her head and looked directly at the Countess.

“Teacher, no, Countess of Seres.”

“…!”

The Countess felt cold sweat running down her spine.

The Duchess had always held special favor for the Countess, and thus had consistently called her ‘Teacher’ in private.

So this meant.

‘She’s completely drawing a line with me.’

While the Countess was dismayed, the Duchess continued quietly.

“Talking with the Countess makes me disgusted with myself.”

“Wh, what do you mean by that…”

“I really had no eye for people.”

The Duchess, who let out a long sigh, concluded with a shudder.

“Good heavens, to think I chose someone as shameless as you as my daughter’s teacher.”

“…”

The Countess was left speechless.

This was the first time she had seen the always gentle Duchess look so stern.

“If you had even a minimum sense of shame, you wouldn’t dare mention Cecilia with that mouth.”

“Du, Duchess. I…”

The Countess urgently tried to speak to the Duchess.

However, the Duchess firmly shook her head.

“There’s no longer any value in continuing this conversation. Please leave here immediately.”

“W-wait a moment!”

“I cannot entrust my child to someone as immoral as the Countess, so I’m dismissing you effective today.”

“Please, if you would just listen to what I have to say…!”

“Naturally, there will be no letter of recommendation. Also, I intend to spread word of today’s events widely.”

…What did she say?

For a moment, the Countess doubted her own ears.

However, the Duchess coldly lifted her chin.

“We cannot allow more victims like Cecilia to emerge.”

The color drained completely from the Countess’s face.

Then my reputation of having ‘debuted countless ladies into society’ until now…!

But the Duchess’s words weren’t finished yet.

“Lastly, the Duke’s Household intends to withdraw all the investment funds we provided to the Seres Estate, effective today.”

Her cold voice fell like the blade of a guillotine.

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