CHAPTER 55…………………..
The moment I began to question his true identity, the situation was completely over.
Thud.
The last of them collapsed onto the blood-soaked floor.
Id frowned briefly at the sight of my bloodied nightgown, then immediately turned his gaze toward me.
“Madam, are you unharmed?”
Whatever his true identity was, I owed my life to Id.
I nodded and replied, half in jest.
“Thanks to you, I got away with just a couple of cracks in my arms.”
Aside from the fact that no one had died, the situation was still dire.
The most pressing problem was the state of the servants who had been poisoned.
They needed urgent treatment, but finding a doctor in the countryside was like plucking a star from the sky.
Fortunately, Id was well-prepared.
The frantic rumble of carriage wheels drew closer, and then Id said to me,
“The doctor has arrived.”
“How…?”
“There is a resident physician at the manor. He’s skilled enough to identify the poison and will have brought the appropriate antidote.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than multiple footsteps echoed down the corridor, and the parlor door burst open.
“Mother!”
“Ah… Aslan?”
Contrary to my expectations, Aslan was the first to appear.
Her face was twisted as if she’d tasted every fear in the world, yet her body was clean, without a single wound.
That was thanks to Luisa’s protection.
But that aside—why was Aslan here?
Id had assured me she was safely at home.
I turned to look at him, and he too wore a face of bewilderment.
The relief of seeing Aslan unharmed lasted only a moment. Anger soon overtook me at the sight of my reckless child who had disobeyed me.
“Aslan! I told you to run—what were you thinking coming back!”
At that, Aslan’s eyes wavered more violently than before.
But this time, I couldn’t let it pass.
“I sent you away to keep you safe! Why would you come back? Did you want to face danger with me? Even now, you won’t listen to me?”
“B-but, b-but…”
Aslan clenched her skirt tightly in both fists, her face full of grievance.
Normally, I might have softened—but not now.
If things had gone slightly differently, Aslan could have been taken hostage.
That was why I had sent her away in the first place…!
My anger refused to settle, and just as I was about to scold her again, someone stepped between us.
“I’m sorry, Madam. I was the one who told her to come.”
It was Ayla.
Even Ayla—why was she here?
“My apologies, Mistress. The young ladies snuck into the carriage without us knowing…”
The physician and Id’s attendants, who had entered by then, looked mortified.
If it had been only Aslan, it would have been bad enough—but Ayla too had been put at risk.
Even Id, usually calm, looked betrayed as he reprimanded her.
“Ayla, I told you to keep Aslan from following!”
“She was ready to run back on foot. I thought it would be safer for her to ride with the adults.”
“Even so, it was dangerous…!”
Ayla glanced around, then shut her eyes tightly and turned her head away.
Only after seeing the bodies and the pools of blood scattered across the floor did she seem to realize how dangerous this place had been. Her face went pale, though she forced her expression into one of composure.
“I thought Father would resolve everything. We had no intention of interfering until the adults allowed it. But Madam was in danger—how could I tell Aslan to just sit still?”
It was the first time Ayla had ever openly defied Id.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out, over and over, his face conflicted, before finally bowing his head.
“…We’ll discuss this later. Dr. Jayden, see to these people. The rest of you—clear this mess away.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The household stirred into action.
Some servants began to clear the bodies while others carried the injured away with the still-conscious staff.
Through the bustle, Aslan’s eyes never left me.
And I couldn’t take mine off her either.
After a while, she began to approach me slowly.
Each step she took, her bare feet were stained by the blood that covered the floor.
When she reached me, she looked at my swollen, reddening arm and asked in a trembling voice,
“Mom… did it hurt a lot?”
“…Yes.”
I added after a pause,
“And you almost got badly hurt too.”
At that, fat tears welled and fell from Aslan’s eyes.
I thought she might reflect on her actions—but her words were not what I expected.
“I told you, I have to protect you.”
Her voice was thick with sorrow, tinged with faint reproach.
Not the playful reproach she showed when I scolded or denied her sweets—this was real.
Maybe it was because of that heaviness in her tone, or maybe because it was the first time she had truly resented me, but my heart ached as well.
Even so, I had to be firm.
“It’s natural for me to protect you. But it’s not natural for you to protect me.”
No parent would ever want to use their child as a shield.
I certainly didn’t.
Aslan’s tears fell harder at my words.
Then, with a face full of unease, she asked,
“Was it my fault you got hurt? Was it because of me?”
“What…?”
“I always cause trouble… Is that why you were in danger, just like you said?”
The pain in my arm vanished instantly. My heart sank.
Because I suddenly remembered.
“Right now, Mother has offended someone very important. If you make a fuss… Mother will die.”
That was what I had told her, back when she had first become human.
All because she ate with her hands at the table.
I had long forgotten those words—but Aslan had remembered them all this time.
My God. Was that why she had come back here, despite my warning? Because she thought I was in danger because of her?
The guilt snowballed within me.
I shook my head quickly.
“No, Aslan. It’s not because of you.”
“Then why is Mom in danger?”
She looked at me, confused and demanding answers.
But I didn’t know either.
I hadn’t followed the original story—I hadn’t gone to the capital, nor had I met the emperor.
Even if I had, it still wouldn’t have been Aslan’s fault.
There was only one thing I could say.
“You are not the reason I’m in danger. And nothing will ever happen to me.”
“But… but…!”
Her face crumpled in disbelief, as though she had seen me resign myself to death earlier.
Why had I done that—why had I waited passively for death instead of fighting to the end?
How could I, when I had such a loving daughter who only had me?
I wanted to hug her and comfort her like I always did when she cried, but I couldn’t move my arms.
So instead, I smiled weakly and asked,
“Aslan… can you hug me instead?”
“….”
She hesitated for a long time.
But finally, she slowly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around my neck.
I let my head rest on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry for saying those things. And thank you for being safe, Aslan.”
She sobbed softly against me.
By then, the chaos had mostly settled.
Id, who had been quietly watching us, spoke gently.
“You did well protecting Aslan, Madam.”
At his words, I raised my head.
If it weren’t for Id, today might have been the worst day of Aslan’s life.
I was grateful he was my neighbor.
Because I trusted him, I had been able to send Aslan to his estate for safety. Because he had come running, we had all survived.
Unlike me, who had given up, he had not.
Hearing those words from him now, I felt tears threatening to spill again, and I bowed my head.
Perhaps the best decision I had ever made was agreeing to teach Ayla—and thus becoming Id Mente’s neighbor.
