CHAPTER 30
Late at night, a letter arrived from Id.
It said he had a favor to ask and wanted to visit early the next morning.
“What now? I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
There was no explanation—just a hastily scribbled message.
And sure enough, early the next morning, Id came by as he said he would.
“I have to leave the house for a while. Could I ask you to look after Ayla in the meantime?”
“…Excuse me?”
Honestly, I hoped I’d misheard.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t.
With an all-too-serious face, Lloyd added:
“Of course, I don’t expect you to do it for nothing. I’ll be visiting the capital, so I can bring back a few jewels for you to—”
“That’s not the point.”
I cut him off before he could finish.
Ugh, my head already hurt.
He just shows up out of nowhere and says, “Here, I’ll give you some jewels—watch my kid.”
He’d been pushy before, but this was on another level.
I took a deep breath and asked him calmly,
“Even if you’re away, there are still servants in your house, right? You fired the ones who were abusing Ayla, so shouldn’t it be safe now? Why bring her to me?”
“…The mansion isn’t safe right now.”
“And my house is? There are way more strangers here, you know.”
His reasoning made no sense.
Surely, a place with servants he’d worked with for years was safer than our house full of strangers.
But Id looked anxious. He pressed his lips together and finally started speaking, like he’d made a difficult decision.
“Do you know why Deborah and Sasha—Ayla’s governess and maid—did what they did?”
“No. And I don’t care.”
Why would I care about the motives of child abusers?
No amount of sad backstory excuses that kind of behavior.
At least, that’s what I thought… until Id’s next words left me stunned.
“My mother had a hand in it.”
“…Your mother?”
He nodded, looking deeply ashamed.
“She wanted Ayla to be raised with strict discipline. So she bribed the people I hired. I’ve dismissed Deborah and Sasha, but I don’t know how many others are still under her influence.”
Even as he spoke, I couldn’t believe it.
She bribed her own son’s employees to torment her granddaughter?
Parental interference was common enough before someone inherited a title—but this was extreme.
I asked cautiously,
“Don’t tell me the reason Ayla was so obsessed with studying… was because of her?”
“…Yes. Deborah pressured Ayla under my mother’s orders. …Honestly, I might be complicit too. Deep down, I wanted Ayla to meet my mother’s expectations. She’s sharp enough to have figured that out.”
“Wow…”
Id looked pained as he blamed himself, and I slumped onto the sofa.
What kind of future were they preparing her for that they needed to start tormenting her at five?
Now I understood why he’d come so early in the morning.
“…So, you’re saying your house still isn’t safe, and you want to leave Ayla here until you settle things with your mother?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Lloyd nodded, looking apologetic.
Honestly, the day he told me about Ayla’s abuse, I thought my part was over.
But now he wanted post-crisis babysitting too?
“I would’ve agreed under different circumstances…”
But the truth was, I was in no position to care for someone else.
Even agreeing to tutor Ayla once a week had been a stretch.
Now he wanted me to take her in for at least two weeks?
“How am I supposed to say no to this?”
Maybe he saw my hesitation, because he quickly tried to sweeten the deal.
“Uh, if you’re not interested in the jewels…”
“I was going to say this earlier—do I look like someone who’d be bribed with shiny rocks?”
I snapped, letting out a long sigh.
Was he looking down on me just because I was a nameless noble living in the countryside?
“My dressing room is already overflowing with jewels I brought from the palace.”
It’s not that I didn’t have jewels—it’s just that most of them were too fancy to wear in this quiet rural life.
Apparently, Id hadn’t expected that wouldn’t work—he looked flustered.
“Th-then if there’s anything else you’d prefer…”
“Mommy… where are you…”
Just then, Aslan came in, rubbing his eyes and dragging his pillow behind him.
I stood up reflexively.
“Oh, Aslan—Mommy’s right here.”
He ran into my arms and snuggled against me. Then he suddenly spotted Id and jumped in excitement.
“Oh! It’s Mr. Id!”
“Good morning, Aslan.”
With a gentle smile—as if we hadn’t just been having a serious conversation—Id greeted him.
Aslan lit up at the sight of him and asked excitedly,
“Why are you here? It’s not Wednesday! Did Ayla come too?”
“Unfortunately, no. She’s at home.”
“Aww… I wanted to play with her…”
Aslan drooped in disappointment, slumping in my arms.
That’s when Id’s eyes lit up cunningly.
Before I could even say “Don’t you dare,” he started running his mouth.
“Anyway, Madam, I understand. Ayla did say she preferred staying here… It breaks my heart to leave her alone in that house with no father around, but what can I do…”
This man! Putting on that pitiful face like he’s heading off to war?
Of course, my daughter completely fell for it.
“Wait, what? You’re going somewhere? Ayla wants to stay here?”
“No, Aslan. Don’t worry about it—your mom said it’s not possible.”
Id gave a bitter smile.
And just like that, Aslan turned her attention to me.
“Why not, Mom? Can’t Ayla come over? We have lots of rooms!”
I knew this was going to happen.
“We already talked about this. The answer is no.”
I said it firmly.
But my kid was never one to take “no” at face value.
She puffed out her cheeks and flopped dramatically to the floor.
“No! I want Ayla to come! I’ll study hard and eat all my veggies! Please, Mom, pleeaase!”
Are you serious right now?!
I glared at Id.
“What are you going to do about this?!”
He just gave me an annoying little shrug.
Ugh. Has his face always been this punchable?
While my blood pressure climbed, Aslan’s tantrum intensified.
“Ayla said she wants to come too! And I want her to come! Let her stay!”
Now she was writhing around on the carpet like she owned the place.
That bastard—he’d seen one of Aslan’s tantrums before and now he was using it to blackmail me.
But not this time. Absolutely not.
I raised my voice sternly.
“Aslan! Mommy said no!”
“But whyyy! Just tell me why!”
“…”
My lips clamped shut.
There were too many reasons.
I didn’t want anyone to find out I was the exiled princess, or let a character from the original story disrupt my peaceful life.
But I couldn’t say any of that.
Especially not in front of Id!
Apparently sensing my hesitation, Aslan flopped over again.
“I’m not moving from here until you say yes!”
God, my blood pressure. Is throwing a tantrum some kind of kid instinct?
“…I guess I did the same thing at her age.”
At this point, I was used to her theatrics. She’d embarrassed me in public plenty of times before.
Now she started tugging at my heartstrings.
“But Mooom! Mr. Id said there are bad people at his house! How can we leave Ayla alone there?”
And the problem was, Id kept muttering to himself like it was some tragic monologue.
“Ah… I really should be going… Haven’t finished taking care of everything… I hate leaving her alone, even for a moment…”
“See, Mom? We have to protect Ayla! You’re the adult!”
Oh, wow. Way to play the “you’re the adult” card.
Now I sounded like a selfish grown-up who wouldn’t help a child in danger.
As if sensing my resolve was weakening, the two of them looked up at me with those pitiful, pleading eyes.
“Madam…”
“Mommy…”
Two beautiful faces, both tearful and hopeful, gazed at me.
I had no choice but to surrender.
“Fine, fine! Alright, Sir Mente! I’ll take Ayla—bring her over already, okay?!”
Their faces lit up instantly, like they’d been waiting for this moment.
“Yay!!”
“Thank you so much, Madam.”
These villains…!
I could only pound the floor in despair, thinking I’d made the mistake of the century trusting my neighbors.
