“Hmm...”
After a while, they each fell into deep thought, without a word about who should speak first. After a brief silence, Isidore was the first to speak.
"How about this method? We could deceive him by fabricating that Noah is dead. If we used illusion magic to transform a doll into a corpse and showed it to Laura, wouldn't she believe it?"
“Hmm.”
It was certainly a plausible idea, but everyone's reaction wasn't very positive. Even if it was just a temporary lie, people felt uncomfortable claiming a living child was dead.
It was the same for Isidore, who had expressed his opinion, and he soon withdrew his opinion with a deadened look on his face.
“...I guess that’s a bit much? I guess I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.”
And silence fell again in the room. Everyone was absorbed in their own thoughts, trying to come up with another solution.
The same was true for Aila. Surely there had to be a way to prove herself loyal to Byron while still refusing to obey the order to kill Noah.
After much thought, she opened her mouth solemnly.
“I... will try to persuade him.”
No matter how much she thought about it, there was no other way.
She wasn't sure if she could convince that self-centered man who believed his word was the only law and truth.
“...Can you do it?”
Ophelia asked with concern in her voice. She knew very well how stubborn Byron could be.
"I'll try my best. If persuasion fails... can I ask for help again then?"
“Of course.”
Her mother smiled gently and nodded. Her father and uncle did the same.
Aila smiled shyly.
Before, it was so precarious that if she took just one wrong step, she would fall off a thousand-foot cliff... But now it was different.
It was okay if she failed. She had reliable adults behind her, holding her up.
Aila felt really secure.
When Aila returned to her room, Lisa had gone back to packing her things, leaving Laura alone. Her expression was grim, as if she were determined to somehow end the conversation with Aila.
“You’re here now? You’re later than I thought.”
“...The Duchess kept asking me about the little things about my trip, so the story got long.”
Aila responded in a timid voice to Laura's seemingly reproachful words. As she sat hesitantly in the armchair, Laura, as if she had been waiting, opened her mouth.
"Now I can finally finish the story I was trying to tell you. The story I couldn't tell you because that poor, poor young lady interrupted me."
Laura grimaced, as if she didn't even want to mention Lisa's name.
"A poor, poor young lady." Aila couldn't understand why Laura would insist on slandering Lisa's poverty, given her beautiful name, but she simply kept her mouth shut and avoided her gaze.
It was because now was the time to take Lisa's side and go against Laura's wishes.
"Why are you doing this, Miss? Surely you weren't fooled by that Roderick's sweet talk and weakened your heart?"
Laura said in a voice that seemed to be amazed.
Of course, it was understandably embarrassing for her. Her sole duty was to supervise Aila and ensure her brainwashing remained intact, but she hadn't done a good job of it.
And this situation, where she was so flustered, presented a golden opportunity for Aila. She needed to bring up the subject while Laura was losing her judgment and faltering, so her plan would work.
“...That’s not it.”
Aila answered weakly, her expression as pitiful as possible.
"But why are you hesitating? If your father knew you were hesitating like this, he'd be extremely disappointed."
"But... I'm not confident. Could I do something like that without getting caught? If they found out I killed that child, Father's plan would be ruined before it even got off the ground. I'm scared of what might happen."
As Aila gazed at Laura with moist eyes, as if on the verge of tears, her own pupils trembled violently. She seemed completely unaware of this situation.
“So you have to make sure the young lady doesn’t get caught!”
Laura tried to remain rational and refute her, but Aila, who would normally have accepted her story, started talking back again.
"Of course I'll try to do so, but what if I get caught? What then? What if I'm exposed as a fake and punished for assassinating the young master? What will happen to Father?"
“...”
When Aila, who had always been obedient, refuted her with logical arguments, Laura felt her eyes spinning.
No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like Laura couldn't handle Aila's current situation alone. She felt she needed to consult with her uncle and mother and seek their advice on what to do.
No, if Laura had to choose, she'd rather have her Uncle Cloud than her mother. Capella would surely scold her for not being able to properly carry out such simple instructions.
Aila, who saw Laura's eyes wandering here and there, trying to figure out how to contact her uncle, decided that now was the right time to do so.
"I want to see my father. It's been so long since I've seen him that I feel even more depressed. I'm losing confidence..."
Aila spoke with a sullen expression and furrowed eyebrows. She felt it would be better to speak directly to Byron than to talk through Laura.
“Speak sensibly. How can you possibly meet the master?”
“How can it not work out? We can at least talk about it.”
“...”
Laura shook her head at Aila's words.
Wouldn't it be better to allow her to contact Byron directly, as she requested? Then, the blame for failing to properly handle even one simple task would fall on Aila, not Laura.
“...I’ll tell them something. Don’t expect too much.”
Laura, who had been thinking for a moment, opened her mouth and grumbled.
“Thank you, Laura.”
Aila smiled broadly, a smile of reassurance. The first hurdle had been overcome. Now all that remained was to convince Byron.
Cloud Air looked at the report his niece had sent him several times with a serious expression.
The report stated that Aila had lost all confidence and motivation, was out of control, and wanted to see Byron.
Considering her outward appearance up until then, it wasn't all that surprising. Aila had been a child who had firmly believed Byron was her biological father and relied on him, always desperate for his approval.
But now Cloud knew that what the child had shown him was not true.
Aila already knows who her biological parents are, and she wants revenge on Byron for taking her away from her biological parents and using her as a tool for revenge.
So, the story that the child wanted to meet Byron should not be taken at face value.
'What is this child thinking?'
Cloud frowned, gently stroking his chin. He tried to fathom Aila's motives for inventing such a thing, but nothing came to mind.
Giving up on understanding her, he took out the small piece of paper from the envelope. It was a note addressed to him, written in Laura's handwriting, clearly spelled out.
His niece, who usually only sent him official reports, contacted him privately this time for some reason.
Cloud carefully opened the note, worried that the paper might tear.
He was half curious about what Laura had written, and half worried that it might be bad news.
But when he opened the note, there was nothing special in it. It was just an excuse: she was doing her best at her assigned duties, and it wasn't her fault that Aila was in such a bad situation.
"So, please, uncle, tell the master. Tell him that this is because the girl is weak-hearted, and that it's not my fault.
And to my mother, too. She'll surely berate me for not being able to do even that much properly, so you need to tell her that it's not like that. You get it, right?"
Cloud folded his niece's note again with a complicated expression and put it in his pocket. How could such an innocent child grow up to be such a blame-hitter?
He felt sorry for her, thinking that maybe it was because she had suffered from various things since she was young, but he also thought that maybe he and Capella had raised her wrong.
It was at that time that he was lost in his own thoughts.
“Cloud.”
From behind, he heard Capella calling him.
“...Sister-in-law.”
“Did you hear from Laura?”
Capella briefly examined the letter in his hand, recognized his daughter's handwriting, and asked in a cool voice.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Cloud answered, avoiding Capella's red eyes that were staring at him.
As Cloud faced her fierce gaze, he could understand his niece's fear of being scolded by her mother.
“What seems to be happening?”
Capella, who read the ominous expression on her younger brother's face, narrowed her eyes and asked.
“...I’m on my way to report to my lord. Sister-in-law, we can talk later.”
That wasn't a mistake. It was natural to report to Byron first.
However, Capella looked at Cloud's back as he walked away with a look of dissatisfaction in his eyes.
No matter how much she thought about it, she had a strong feeling that he was hiding something from her.
But since she couldn't say anything to someone who wanted to report to the master first, she just tried to suppress her uneasy feelings.
After a while, they each fell into deep thought, without a word about who should speak first. After a brief silence, Isidore was the first to speak.
"How about this method? We could deceive him by fabricating that Noah is dead. If we used illusion magic to transform a doll into a corpse and showed it to Laura, wouldn't she believe it?"
“Hmm.”
It was certainly a plausible idea, but everyone's reaction wasn't very positive. Even if it was just a temporary lie, people felt uncomfortable claiming a living child was dead.
It was the same for Isidore, who had expressed his opinion, and he soon withdrew his opinion with a deadened look on his face.
“...I guess that’s a bit much? I guess I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it.”
And silence fell again in the room. Everyone was absorbed in their own thoughts, trying to come up with another solution.
The same was true for Aila. Surely there had to be a way to prove herself loyal to Byron while still refusing to obey the order to kill Noah.
After much thought, she opened her mouth solemnly.
“I... will try to persuade him.”
No matter how much she thought about it, there was no other way.
She wasn't sure if she could convince that self-centered man who believed his word was the only law and truth.
“...Can you do it?”
Ophelia asked with concern in her voice. She knew very well how stubborn Byron could be.
"I'll try my best. If persuasion fails... can I ask for help again then?"
“Of course.”
Her mother smiled gently and nodded. Her father and uncle did the same.
Aila smiled shyly.
Before, it was so precarious that if she took just one wrong step, she would fall off a thousand-foot cliff... But now it was different.
It was okay if she failed. She had reliable adults behind her, holding her up.
Aila felt really secure.
***
When Aila returned to her room, Lisa had gone back to packing her things, leaving Laura alone. Her expression was grim, as if she were determined to somehow end the conversation with Aila.
“You’re here now? You’re later than I thought.”
“...The Duchess kept asking me about the little things about my trip, so the story got long.”
Aila responded in a timid voice to Laura's seemingly reproachful words. As she sat hesitantly in the armchair, Laura, as if she had been waiting, opened her mouth.
"Now I can finally finish the story I was trying to tell you. The story I couldn't tell you because that poor, poor young lady interrupted me."
Laura grimaced, as if she didn't even want to mention Lisa's name.
"A poor, poor young lady." Aila couldn't understand why Laura would insist on slandering Lisa's poverty, given her beautiful name, but she simply kept her mouth shut and avoided her gaze.
It was because now was the time to take Lisa's side and go against Laura's wishes.
"Why are you doing this, Miss? Surely you weren't fooled by that Roderick's sweet talk and weakened your heart?"
Laura said in a voice that seemed to be amazed.
Of course, it was understandably embarrassing for her. Her sole duty was to supervise Aila and ensure her brainwashing remained intact, but she hadn't done a good job of it.
And this situation, where she was so flustered, presented a golden opportunity for Aila. She needed to bring up the subject while Laura was losing her judgment and faltering, so her plan would work.
“...That’s not it.”
Aila answered weakly, her expression as pitiful as possible.
"But why are you hesitating? If your father knew you were hesitating like this, he'd be extremely disappointed."
"But... I'm not confident. Could I do something like that without getting caught? If they found out I killed that child, Father's plan would be ruined before it even got off the ground. I'm scared of what might happen."
As Aila gazed at Laura with moist eyes, as if on the verge of tears, her own pupils trembled violently. She seemed completely unaware of this situation.
“So you have to make sure the young lady doesn’t get caught!”
Laura tried to remain rational and refute her, but Aila, who would normally have accepted her story, started talking back again.
"Of course I'll try to do so, but what if I get caught? What then? What if I'm exposed as a fake and punished for assassinating the young master? What will happen to Father?"
“...”
When Aila, who had always been obedient, refuted her with logical arguments, Laura felt her eyes spinning.
No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed like Laura couldn't handle Aila's current situation alone. She felt she needed to consult with her uncle and mother and seek their advice on what to do.
No, if Laura had to choose, she'd rather have her Uncle Cloud than her mother. Capella would surely scold her for not being able to properly carry out such simple instructions.
Aila, who saw Laura's eyes wandering here and there, trying to figure out how to contact her uncle, decided that now was the right time to do so.
"I want to see my father. It's been so long since I've seen him that I feel even more depressed. I'm losing confidence..."
Aila spoke with a sullen expression and furrowed eyebrows. She felt it would be better to speak directly to Byron than to talk through Laura.
“Speak sensibly. How can you possibly meet the master?”
“How can it not work out? We can at least talk about it.”
“...”
Laura shook her head at Aila's words.
Wouldn't it be better to allow her to contact Byron directly, as she requested? Then, the blame for failing to properly handle even one simple task would fall on Aila, not Laura.
“...I’ll tell them something. Don’t expect too much.”
Laura, who had been thinking for a moment, opened her mouth and grumbled.
“Thank you, Laura.”
Aila smiled broadly, a smile of reassurance. The first hurdle had been overcome. Now all that remained was to convince Byron.
***
Cloud Air looked at the report his niece had sent him several times with a serious expression.
The report stated that Aila had lost all confidence and motivation, was out of control, and wanted to see Byron.
Considering her outward appearance up until then, it wasn't all that surprising. Aila had been a child who had firmly believed Byron was her biological father and relied on him, always desperate for his approval.
But now Cloud knew that what the child had shown him was not true.
Aila already knows who her biological parents are, and she wants revenge on Byron for taking her away from her biological parents and using her as a tool for revenge.
So, the story that the child wanted to meet Byron should not be taken at face value.
'What is this child thinking?'
Cloud frowned, gently stroking his chin. He tried to fathom Aila's motives for inventing such a thing, but nothing came to mind.
Giving up on understanding her, he took out the small piece of paper from the envelope. It was a note addressed to him, written in Laura's handwriting, clearly spelled out.
His niece, who usually only sent him official reports, contacted him privately this time for some reason.
Cloud carefully opened the note, worried that the paper might tear.
He was half curious about what Laura had written, and half worried that it might be bad news.
But when he opened the note, there was nothing special in it. It was just an excuse: she was doing her best at her assigned duties, and it wasn't her fault that Aila was in such a bad situation.
"So, please, uncle, tell the master. Tell him that this is because the girl is weak-hearted, and that it's not my fault.
And to my mother, too. She'll surely berate me for not being able to do even that much properly, so you need to tell her that it's not like that. You get it, right?"
Cloud folded his niece's note again with a complicated expression and put it in his pocket. How could such an innocent child grow up to be such a blame-hitter?
He felt sorry for her, thinking that maybe it was because she had suffered from various things since she was young, but he also thought that maybe he and Capella had raised her wrong.
It was at that time that he was lost in his own thoughts.
“Cloud.”
From behind, he heard Capella calling him.
“...Sister-in-law.”
“Did you hear from Laura?”
Capella briefly examined the letter in his hand, recognized his daughter's handwriting, and asked in a cool voice.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Cloud answered, avoiding Capella's red eyes that were staring at him.
As Cloud faced her fierce gaze, he could understand his niece's fear of being scolded by her mother.
“What seems to be happening?”
Capella, who read the ominous expression on her younger brother's face, narrowed her eyes and asked.
“...I’m on my way to report to my lord. Sister-in-law, we can talk later.”
That wasn't a mistake. It was natural to report to Byron first.
However, Capella looked at Cloud's back as he walked away with a look of dissatisfaction in his eyes.
No matter how much she thought about it, she had a strong feeling that he was hiding something from her.
But since she couldn't say anything to someone who wanted to report to the master first, she just tried to suppress her uneasy feelings.
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