Chapter 7
Who is this…?
The moment I saw the woman’s face, I knew who she was.
She had the exact same face as Sally.
“It’s because the young lady has other plans today.”
It was Margaret—Rahel’s nanny, and Sally’s mother.
At her words, Rahel, who had just been about to speak, closed her mouth.
I glanced between Rahel and Margaret with narrowed eyes.
I get that she wants to protect Rahel… but is it okay to just dismiss her opinion without even hearing it?
No matter how I looked at it, Rahel’s eyes right now looked like she wanted to go outside.
I had never raised a child in my past life or in this one, so I couldn’t say I knew much…
But I could tell for sure—Margaret’s attitude was not that of a proper guardian.
“Well… but I still have tea time left with her, right? Can’t we go out before that?”
Putting on the face of an innocent child, I started lightly poking at Margaret’s nerves.
A person’s true nature shows not when they’re smiling, but when they’re angry.
“I mean it’s not possible to go out today. Is my meaning hard for you to understand?”
“Then… would it be okay if I got the duke’s permission?”
Margaret’s expression instantly tightened.
What I’d just said basically meant—
‘Your opinion doesn’t matter; as long as the duke allows it, it’s fine.’
That could be taken as ignoring her authority over Rahel’s upbringing.
Of course, I was just a nine-year-old girl right now, so it would seem like I meant no harm.
But that might make her even angrier.
Even a nine-year-old was disregarding her authority.
And just as I expected, Margaret dropped her “kind nanny” act and said coldly,
“You must not know yet, but I’m in charge of all of the young lady’s education. My will is the duke’s will. Do you understand now?”
Oh, treating me like some clueless little kid?
Too bad—the one in this body isn’t just any nine-year-old, but me, with all my memories from a past life.
Hmph. I’m not falling for that kind of gaslighting. But the problem is…
I glanced at Rahel to gauge her reaction.
She didn’t say, “I want to go,” or object to her nanny’s words.
Whatever she was feeling, the fact that she went along with it meant the nanny’s influence over her was absolute.
If I oppose the nanny here, Rahel will only resent me.
Still, just learning that the nanny wasn’t a good person was already valuable information.
I should step back for now.
I was about to smooth things over when—
“Well, have I ever stopped the child from going out before?”
A shadow fell from the staircase above.
…The duke?!
The duke appeared.
Margaret’s face turned pale.
“M-My Lord! I was only worried about the young lady…”
“If you’re truly worried, then you can simply assign her more guards.”
The duke said this and looked briefly at Rahel.
Meeting her grandfather’s eyes, Rahel’s gaze wavered for a moment before she looked away.
Right… in the original story, it was said Rahel and the duke didn’t get along.
I had thought they grew apart after she turned dark and left the family.
But I guess their relationship was bad even when she was young.
As I was thinking this, I suddenly felt eyes on me and turned.
The duke, having looked away from Rahel, was now looking down at me—with his usual cold gaze.
I swallowed hard.
So this is what “pressure” feels like.
He was so tall that it felt like that sharp, piercing look was drilling right into me.
Still, I didn’t avoid his eyes. I forced an innocent smile, feeling like I had to.
Like how you’re not supposed to look away from a predator.
After staring at me for a moment, the duke spoke.
“If you want to go, then go.”
At that unexpectedly generous permission, not only I, but Sally and Margaret too, widened our eyes in shock.
“Of course, you must return before sunset.”
Margaret, briefly stunned, quickly tried to object.
“B-But, My Lord… the young lady has an etiquette lesson in an hour.”
It must have been her last resort to ruin my plan.
“That can be postponed until tomorrow, can it not?”
The duke dismissed her objection easily.
“Owen. Prepare the carriage.”
And just like that, he ordered the preparations to be made on the spot.
Then he turned and walked away.
Oh… so this is the taste of power?
Still dazed from the unexpected fortune, I then noticed the glares from Sally and Margaret.
They were looking at me like they wanted to kill me.
Seeing that, an idea popped into my head.
Looks like both Sally and Margaret only want to drive me away.
On the other hand, the duke—though I didn’t know why—seemed to have a favorable view of me.
Why not try playing both sides here?
With a sly smile, I trotted after the duke.
“My Lord!”
He didn’t answer, but turned his head slightly to look at me.
I bowed politely.
“I wanted to greet you, but you seemed busy, so I couldn’t come see you.”
“I recall you already greeted me in the kitchen.”
“Yes, but this is my first time greeting you formally as the young lady’s playmate, isn’t it?”
He seemed to think I had a point, so he looked at me in silence.
“My dad always taught me that when I visit a friend’s house for the first time, I should always introduce myself politely and say where I’m from.”
“You’ve been raised well under a father of fine character.”
“So… about that…”
I seized the moment, keeping up my innocent act.
“Could I have dinner with you tonight?”
Basically, I was asking him to treat me to a meal.
Regardless of rank, even between friends, that wasn’t something you’d often request. From an adult, it might have sounded ridiculous.
Rahel stared at me in disbelief.
Margaret, who had been watching me with disapproval, pounced immediately.
“This is why we shouldn’t have let in an uneducated commoner child… My Lord, this girl—”
But her attempt to drag me down was cut off by the duke’s hearty laugh.
Then—
“Very well.”
I got the answer I’d been hoping for!
“There’s no reason I can’t offer my granddaughter’s friend a meal.”
While everyone else stood there surprised, the duke looked at me for a moment before turning away.
“Owen, prepare the dinner.”
I thought I had succeeded in getting Rahel to go out with me…
“I’m not going.”
Even with the duke’s permission, with her nanny and Sally out of the way, and nothing left but to leave—
The person herself flatly refused!
But her eyes earlier definitely looked like she wanted to go…
I narrowed my eyes at her, then suddenly remembered something from the original story.
“Why not? Why don’t you want to go?”
“I just don’t.”
“There must be a reason you don’t want to go to the village. If you tell me, I can fix it for you!”
When I pressed her, Rahel let out a reluctant sigh.
“It’s noisy and chaotic. I hate that.”
Hearing her answer, I became sure my guess was right.
She said she disliked the noise and bustle, but the truth was—
She’s afraid of people’s eyes.
Afraid that even here, someone might recognize her.
Afraid they would whisper about her being the daughter of a traitor.
Maybe even that cold attitude is just a defense mechanism to protect herself.
Thinking of that, I felt a little sorry for this prickly young lady.
“How could you fix that? That’s why I’m not—”
“I can fix it!”
Before she could walk away, I quickly shouted,
“I told you, I can fix it for you.”
She still looked doubtful, but I gave her a confident smile.
“Just trust me.”
