How to Avoid Becoming a Vicious Stepmother - Chapter 77

The Seventh Plan. Revenge Done Right. (2.5)

“Please forgive me—my own mistake, my utter ignorance. Co, Count Petrika misses the Prince so much and since his daughter had died early, he was only worried about his grandson. Please, just this once, please forgive me!”

Baroness May immediately changed her posture. She became so flustered that she stuttered her words and continued to hold her breath until at the very end where she started gasping. On top of that, beads of tears were revealed too. Well, she probably didn’t know that the Duchess Dowager had wanted to keep Count of Petrika away from Carl as well.

Count Petrika was one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in the North and he had been close to the center too, so they tried to stretch their hands here and there into the capital’s politics. Merilyn’s older brother as well as Count Petrika’s son had also attended the academy in the center and made some friends while Count Petrika himself was a graduate of that same academy as well. It had also been the academy where Carlos—in the book—enrolled in as he was running away from the hands of his evil stepmother, ‘Amanda’.

Count Petrika’s influence in the North was quite large and blood ties had been the most powerful guarantee within the aristocratic society itself. The Duchess Dowager herself had said that she was from the South and possessed no maternal family that could otherwise empower her own son, Gellerhard. Therefore, during the process of choosing a bride for her son, she had carefully considered all the girls from such powerful families.

Count Petrika was such a suitable opponent in many ways for the Duchess Dowager. And it was also the reason why Gellerhard and I couldn’t willingly make a clean cut through Count Petrika’s head. Carlos, who would grow into the Duke of DeMancier in the future, had a fairly wealthy and powerful Count in the North as his maternal grandfather. While his maternal uncle, who was decapitated for treason against the Great Lord of the North, had been an entirely different story altogether.

“Has Count Petrika asked Baron May anything recently?”

“My, my husband? I didn’t, I hear…”

Baroness May trembled enough to appear pitiful since the Duchess Dowager had still not repressed her overbearing air before she eventually replied.

“Carl—the Prince had been ill, so he asked, uh, what happened?”

“What did you answer then?”

Right at the question of the Duchess Dowager’s, the Baroness threw herself flat on her own face. As she pressed her forehead against the floor and begged for mercy, it was utterly clear the kind of information that Baron May had given straight to Count Petrika. That day, both Theodora and Carlos had been sick at the same time. However, unlike Carlos, who was found to be ill relatively fast, Theodora had been the one that suddenly stopped breathing without anyone noticing at all. Only a few people noticed that Carl had gotten sick due to him consuming my breast milk. It was all because of the fact that not many people were even aware that Carl had been feeding off my breast milk in the first place.

“What did you answer!”

“I, I swear that I didn’t mean to! My husband, as I know, told me that Prince Carl was alright! And then, all of a sudden, Count Petrika—”

She gasped for air and Baroness May immediately tried to gather her breath as she cried.

“He said that the Duchess had accidentally killed her own daughter while trying to poison the Prince in the first place!”

The rage that burned bright blue spread from my cold chest and became tingled from the tips of my fingers right up to the end of my toes. I opened my eyes, but I hadn’t been able to see anything since my vision turned black and when I blinked again, I was already lying on the bed.

“Mandy! Open your eyes—Mandy, get up!”

What was the whole situation—I began to blink blankly when I could finally hear Gellerhard’s voice. They said that I passed out without me even knowing it. The doctor had prepared some medicine while remarking that it was actually a rather common occurrence for many people when they had been thrown in a weak state. When people had gotten too angry, they would pass out all of a sudden in response.

“Baroness May—how is she?”

“Both the title and the land would be confiscated.”

“That is too…”

I thought that it was quite excessive, but in the North, the territory had been under the jurisdiction of Gellerhard, the Duke of DeMancier himself. I wasn’t fond of meddling much. Besides, Gellerhard seemed to be very angry already. Well, since he had trusted Baron May, he appointed his wife as Carl’s wet nurse, but to think that things would turn out this way…

“Carl will be all alone.”

It was a nursery that had been busy with the children of the nannies, but since all the nannies had left, their children followed along as well. With my words out, Gellerhard eventually spoke with a sullen face.

“Stay with Mother. Stop worrying about Carl and start to be concerned about your body instead.”

“Your mother must have been busy as well…”

“The maids will take care of it anyway. Don’t even think about looking after Carl today.”

In a determined tone, Gellerhard seized the empty medicine bowl from my hand and passed it to the maid. At his signal, the maids soon went outside before leaving Gellerhard and myself alone. Oh, everyone would have noticed by now that I would talk casually to Gellerhard.

I became worried about what people would think of me, but that concern quickly turned into lethargy before it finally stuck. Anyway, to other people, I was just a stepmother that had been raising the poor Carl who lost his mother at a very young age, who  ultimately became fortunate enough to take the place of the Duchess. Ever since I became the Duchess, countless rumors had been attached to me like tails that adorned me with utter notoriety. Even if I were to try hard and look good, would that notoriety even change in the end?

“Mandy, should I have brought Carl over?”

“Why?”

“I see that you are in a rather bad mood. You always smile when you see Carl—happily even.”

Gellerhard said hesitantly. I chuckled when I heard him say that he was in trouble since his desire to provide me a good rest after passing out and his wish to make me laugh were colliding with each other.

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