Chapter 23: Volume 3 - CH 1

Franz replied hesitantly as he looked into my eyes.

“I believe…… He seemed to be on the search for Lady Selina.”

His and my expectations were the same.

Valhail had entered the Holy Knights with meekness in order to meet me at the temple.

‘I’m sure he assumed I’d be at the temple.’

But when he saw I wasn’t, he must have realized he had no reason to stay.

Because they couldn’t help him by force, the Holy Knights decided to banish him.

Excitement and disappointment.

‘To the point where he refused to eat or drink……’

The man’s departure from the temple was portrayed right before my eyes.

He must have been bitterly disappointed.

What feelings did he have as he walked out of the temple?

‘I shouldn’t have promised to give him a name.’

He must despise me.

We parted ways without saying our goodbye.

“How did you know that he was looking for me?”

“I know what happened in the monastery. Can’t I be a little more tactful?”

Obviously, Franz was quick-witted.

“Maybe he went out of the temple after learning about your identity, Lady Selina. Be careful.”

I couldn’t pay attention to anything he said as he asked one question after another.

“Never go out alone……”

Be careful?

‘Does he mean… of that guy? Me?’

My lips pressed together in a sour laugh.

Nothing could have been funnier than what Franz had just stated.

I do not even know where and how to meet Valhail again, and I felt guilty for that…… It was just heartbreaking.

* * * * *

I have no recollection of how I left the temple.

“What’s the matter with you?”

I became depressed.

Shannon, on the other hand, appeared to repent and be free of her guilt.

“Priest Franz told me to come back if I had anything to confess. Next week, I’ll go again.”

Her now smiling and exciting face are 180 degrees different from her appearance sitting dead in her bedroom.

I laid my head against the carriage window and turned my sight to Shannon, who was sitting across from me.

I couldn’t figure out where or how to find Valhail.

‘Should I distribute a flyer?’

Looking for a man.

Features: Brown hair like black hair, blue eyes, and a very tall figure. Super handsome, but very fierce.

※ If you find him, you will be rewarded.

I couldn’t even laugh at the ridiculous idea.

To settle my jumbled mind, I closed my eyes.

I intended to take it easy on the way back, but Shannon kept interrupting me.

“How long has Lord Spencer been your escort?”

William, who was seated next to the horseman, was unaware to the conversation.

“Did you request an escort knight from Uncle?”

Shannon, it occurred to me, had no escort, despite the fact that she was frequently outside.

It was because Emma, Camilla, or another person was always around Shannon.

Now it seems like Shannon wants an escort too.

She must have been jealous of the fact that I had an escort.

In the same way as in the original story.

Shannon would have brought that man in if it had been in the original story.

However, the situation has changed from the original story.

It was thanks to my efforts to actively change fate.

I knew that things didn’t always go as planned, and that at this rate, I’d be able to avoid that Archduke guy…

“Should I request an escort just like you?”

“You put the name ‘sister’ on your own and then take it out on your own.”

In my words, the smile on Shannon’s face vanished in an instant.

“Does something like that fit between you and me?”

Shannon, who had just fired a sharp shot, turned her head away from me and muttered something about not wanting to see me.

“What does she mean when she says ‘sister’? Wasn’t she the one who always wanted to be a sister when she wanted to play as a family?”

“……”

Is it Shannon’s specialty to grumble on pretending to talk to herself?

“Yes, yes, it will be awkward. Would the noble want Count’s daughter to be a sister to an illegitimate child who has no idea who her father is?”

Shannon’s scathing remarks made it evident that something had happened between her and Selina in the past.

I wanted to clear things up if there was a misunderstanding.

However.

“You get off here and walk.”

“… What?”

“Get off and walk, Selina.”

Shannon’s snout was a real problem.

My intention to clear up the misunderstanding vanished in an instant as a result of this.

I opened the curtain, stunned, and it was still a long way before we arrived at the Countdom.

On the subject of getting a carriage driven by my escort, brazenly telling me to get off and walk home?

‘Have you ever seen such a scumbag?’

Why is it that there is such a thing?

Shannon pressed me with a confident look, as if to do anything to stopping the carriage.

“William, stop the carriage.”

I stopped the carriage as Shannon wished.

* * * * *

* * * * *

“My Lady, you went to the temple with Lady Shannon?”

“Yes.”

Penny, who was accepting my outerwear, responded with a question as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“The Shannon lady has yet to arrive.”

“She’ll return in the evening. I dropped her off in the middle because she wanted to go for a walk.”

“My Lady, you didn’t leave me here alone so you could go with Lady Shannon, did you……?” “Do you think that’s possible?”

I smiled and shook my head in response to Penny’s veiled envy.

“I, too, need to know what’s going on here. Because you’re trustworthy, that’s why I left you.”

Penny grinned and told me what had transpired in the Countdom, soothed by the word ‘trust.’

“Madam will have a meeting with the Vassals in the morning tomorrow.”

“Yet, my uncle is still absent.”

“Your uncle isn’t the head of the family. Since Madam is in charge, she is allowed to do as she wishes in accordance with the law.”

Cedric may be said to be the Crawford family’s most powerful person.

Camilla, on the other hand, could decide the Crawford family’s fate since he couldn’t.

‘All he needed to do was get married and take over as the family’s head, so why was he putting it off?’

Cedric was the kind of person who didn’t even bother to listen to what others had to say.

‘However, he must have had a reason for remaining single till that age, right?’

At the age of 18, everyone in our world is hunting for a marriage partner. And it is stated that a person’s soul is incomplete if he is still single at the age of thirty.

‘Is it because he’s so preoccupied with his work?’

It was then.

I heard a quarrel outside.

“Lord Spencer, get out of my way! I need to meet Selina right away!”

“The lady is taking a rest.”

“Ha! Taking a rest? What kind of rest is that if she went home by sitting pleasantly in a carriage? Hey! Right now, come out! This crazy stuttering……!”

Shannon, unable to contain her rage any longer, began kicking the door with her thudding feet.

“Lady Shannon!”

It was then that William, who hadn’t expected to see such a shambles, became humiliated and intervened.

Outside, the silence had descended.

“My Lady, it’s Madam!”

I, lying in a spacious bed where I could do a forward roll, quickly got up and went to the sofa.

In the meantime, Camilla seemed to blame Shannon for her uncultured words and actions in front of William.

“…… what’s wrong with you, the soon-to-be-married lady!”

“Oh, mother…… It’s not like that… I… Selina……”

“Go back to your room right away and reflect on yourself.”

As she leaned against the door, Penny’s eyes widened.

Then, through the door, William’s solemn voice could be heard, accompanied with a knock.

“The Countess has arrived, Lady.”

I nodded when I made eye contact with Penny.

“Please come in, Madam.”

The door slid open slowly.

Camilla was the only person who came into my room.

Shannon appeared to have been scolded and went back to her room.

“Madam, she went to bed early because she wanted to pray for the Commander. She must be exhausted.”

“That’s so admirable of her.”

Camilla’s sluggish steps came to a halt in front of me on the sofa.

“How come Selina is sleeping here instead of in the bed?”

“She was uncomfortable about using your room…… Lady Selina said she had no idea why she had used the Countess’ bedroom.”

Doesn’t her acting skills improve?

I grinned inwardly as I lay down with an old blanket over Penny’s sly retort.

“Oh, my goodness. Her fair skin will be harmed. Tell her not to do anything like that and to relax.”

Camilla stroked my head and walked out, as if she was dying of pity for me.

“Lord Spencer, please take good care of our Selina.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Because she’s such a fragile lady, I’m quite concerned.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I peeped up, trying to take a look, then make a direct eye contact to Willam.

His gaze as he closed the door looking at me wearily had a strange sense of superiority that only the two of us who shared the secret could know.

* * * * *

“How could he exile the Countess to the annex! Lord Cedric is unquestionably to blame!”

“Does it make sense for the Countess to live in the annex in the first place?”

“You’re right. Ignoring the Countess is a betrayal of the Crawford family as a whole.”

“Let’s put Lord Cedric on trial when he returns!”

As the Vassals increased their voices, Camilla, who was seated comfortably, raised her right hand.

Then the raucous meeting room fell silent.

With a satisfactory smile, Camilla looked back on the Vassals one by one.

They are those nobles of the territory who served Count Crawford as their lord.

Cedric was esteemed by all families in the western territory, and they swore allegiance to him.

‘At initially, it was like that.’

They believed that Camilla, an outsider who had recently married Count Crawford, lacked the legitimacy to lead Count Crawford.

After going through a battle, though, it transformed.

There was no money in the war-ravaged land.

Currently, all military expenses guarding the periphery come from Camilla’s pocket.

She was also known in social circles as the leading lady who, despite her husband’s death, raised her children admirably.

Then the Vassals had no reason not to be loyal to Camilla.

“I can’t bother Lord Cedric, who works tirelessly to ensure the protection of our territory.”

Camilla sarcastically referred to Cedric as a “outside guard.”

“It’s ludicrous to even bring up the trial council in this situation.”

Camilla was the one who called the meeting to discuss the subject.

The Vassals’ demeanor, on the other hand, soothed her rage.

“There’s a more pressing matter at hand.”

Camilla does not need to rearrange the bedroom.

She had an excellent reason to expel Selina from the Countdom.

“Selina is already eighteen, and Shannon is seventeen.”

The Vassals then sighed as if they had expected what she would say.

“We have to make a decision about the children’s marriage.”