"What?"
"If what I'm saying just feels like meddling to you, then let's get a divorce. You once said goodbyes always come suddenly, didn't you?"
Only then did Lennox really look at Estelle's face.
It was expressionless—neither anger, nor resignation, nor sadness.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. I'm going to ask Duren right now whether he wants to go back with you, Your Grace, or stay with Grandmother."
"..."
"If Duren chooses Grandmother, then we'll divorce."
"I don't understand how the conversation has come to this."
"You're not qualified to be his guardian. And I won't let the child I love become family with a man like you."
"From the beginning, our marriage was only for the sake of the adoption. But now I've become the one opposing the adoption, so doesn't that mean we should divorce?"
Estelle spoke with a calmness that was almost excessive, and with absolute clarity.
It was clear she wasn't being swept away by a fleeting emotion and blurting out something irreversible.
"Have you forgotten the terms you yourself set? If we divorce, you'll have to hand over all your wealth."
"So what?"
"..."
"I have no intention of throwing a child's life into the gutter for the sake of money."
Lennox wanted to argue that the word "gutter" was an exaggeration.
But he couldn't.
Because Estelle, having made up her mind, brushed past him.
He could have stopped her if he wanted to—easily. But Lennox let her go.
The idea of being toyed with by someone from Bellonsa was distasteful to him.
"Y-Your Grace!"
At Pippin's voice, Lennox turned his head.
"Mani, what is this…"
Pippin, who had unwillingly overheard their exchange, wore an expression of sheer disbelief.
Clearly, even to him, Estelle's words and actions made no sense.
To so readily declare she would give up everything for Duren, who in a year's time wouldn't even be her family anymore, to involve herself to this extent—
Yet the response Pippin gave was completely unexpected.
"What are you doing right now? This is no time for you to stand by idly, Your Grace!"
"Are you telling me to divorce her right this instant?"
"What? Did you get smacked hard on the back of the head or something? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Pippin, seizing the moment, sneered with biting sarcasm.
"No—this isn't the time for that! Why are you just standing there instead of stopping Madam?!"
Me? Why?
Reading the look in Lennox's eyes, Pippin raised his voice, even spitting in his agitation.
"If you ask the young master who he wants to choose, isn't it obvious? It certainly won't be you, Your Grace!"
"If the boy leaves, and Madam divorces you as well, this will be a disaster! The entire staff of Winterren might all resign!"
"You're exaggerating."
"Exaggerating? Do you think so? For one, I'm already planning to hand in my resignation."
Pippin? Resigning?
Over Estelle?
It almost sounded like a joke.
"It's no joke."
That Lennox wasn't taking him seriously was clear on his face. He looked on with indifference, so Pippin drove in the nail.
"Pippin Randell—you haven't fallen for that beauty, have you?"
From the very moment he'd read reports filled with praise for Estelle and complaints about himself, Lennox had thought something was off.
He had meant to press the matter as soon as they arrived in Winterren.
But with Duren's disappearance consuming his thoughts, the question had been delayed until now.
"Her beauty? Do you really think it's only her beauty I was taken in by?"
"So you admit you were taken in."
"Of course. Madam, unlike someone else I know, treats people as people."
"When have I ever not treated you as a person?"
Pippin felt as though he were talking to a wall.
Even knowing full well this was a contract marriage, he found himself wanting to cheer for Estelle's decision to divorce.
"While working under Your Grace, I can count on one hand the times I've slept more than three hours."
"And yet, I've made sure you're paid for every hour of overtime."
"See? You're talking about money again."
Pippin shook his head.
"My body was so worn down that even when I wanted to sleep, I couldn't. But ever since I met Madam, I've been sleeping more than seven hours a night."
"What trick did she use on you?"
"Trick? Do you mean manipulation?"
The words came out harsher than he intended.
"Madam simply made sure I had enough time in the evenings to rest properly."
"I could have done that too—by hiring a deputy to share your workload."
"A man who doesn't trust people is hardly going to hire my replacement properly."
During Lennox's absence, the duties left to Pippin had been "watch Estelle" and "look after Duren."
Of those, looking after Duren had nearly become an impossible task—something that no amount of sleepless nights could solve.
"The decisive factor was this: while Your Grace was out wandering and leaving the young master unattended, Madam stepped in and cared for him."
"If it was only that…"
"You didn't even do that much, Your Grace."
Pippin shot him a crooked glare, his long-held resentment seeping through.
"When the boy went days without eating, what were you doing then?"
"I gave orders to assign someone to watch over him exclusively."
"And yet, no matter who was assigned, it made no difference. Every day, we kept replacing them."
It had been a nightmarish time.
"Time passed, the boy wasted away, and the very people brought in to help were nowhere to be found. Do you think I—or any of the staff—were in our right minds?"
"What would have changed if someone like me, who knows nothing about children, had taken him on personally? Pippin, you should blame those caretakers who lacked the ability, not me. After all, they were well paid."
Everyone had their own specialties.
If the child was hungry, the finest chefs could be summoned.If he lacked education, the best tutors could be hired.
Lennox had never spared a single coin when it came to Duren's needs.
But Pippin rejected that outright.
"Bought affection will never compare to real affection. In the end, what the young master needed… was for Your Grace to return to your true self."
"..."
"It was that urgent of a situation."
"What's past is past—my absence at the time can't be changed, so there's no point in arguing. But let me make one thing clear."
"What is it?"
"A few days without food won't kill anyone."
To Lennox, Pippin's words sounded like needless exaggeration and fuss.
"It will kill them!"
Pippin shouted, his face drained pale with shock.
"Going without food that long leads to death! Even for an adult, it would have been life-threatening."
"It wouldn't have killed him."
"Your Grace, you're not human, so sometimes your sense of common knowledge is completely skewed. Ordinary people do die."
Pippin pressed a hand to his forehead.
No wonder talking to him felt impossible—he needed to be corrected on the most basic of facts.
"Surviving three months without food—that's something only Your Grace and Lady Glessia are capable of."
"That child isn't ordinary either, like us."
"The young master is only immune to demonic energy. He's not Your Grace's blood child. You can't be certain."
In Winterren, there were indeed those who could go months without food and remain alive.
But Duren was neither a direct descendant of Winterren blood, nor anything more than a small child.
"Adults always assume children don't know anything just because they're young. But the wounds of childhood last a lifetime."
"..."
"And surely, you don't want the young master to end up like Lady Glessia. If money or the efforts of others could fix everything, then Lady Glessia would have risen long ago."
"…All I did was entrust things to experts."
"When it comes to family—especially children—there is no expert greater than a parent. The moment you chose adoption, Your Grace, you became the young master's expert."
Only after Pippin spelled it out from beginning to end did Lennox seem to grasp the situation.
Watching his master's face sink into deep thought, Pippin realized anew that his superior was a man who looked the part but was hollow inside.
It was a relief that he at least seemed to recognize his mistakes now, but it was far too soon to breathe easy.
"You should run to Madam right this instant and beg her forgiveness without hesitation."
Pippin even mimed shoving Lennox forward by the back.
"But…"
"But what? Has Madam ever once spoken falsely?"
Lennox thought carefully.
Now that he considered it—she never had.
"I truly don't understand why Your Grace treats Madam with such coldness. Even if it's only a contractual relationship, the way you speak to her is harsher than you would be with a stranger. It shocked me."
"Has Madam ever once stolen your money and run off?"
Because she was from Bellonsa.
That was, of course, the first thought that rose in his mind.
In truth, she had never directly caused him harm in his past life. And yet, simply because she bore the name Bellonsa, no kind words would come out of his mouth.
It was a thoroughly prejudiced reason.
Realizing now just how narrow-minded he had been, Lennox shook his head.
"…No."
"Then you admit you were in the wrong, don't you? Since you've admitted it, you should kneel before Madam and beg her pardon, clean and simple."
"Do I really need to go that far?"
"I assure you, if kneeling is enough to appease her anger, you'll be lucky! This is no time for hesitation. Go now—quickly!"
Lennox Winterren.
In the span of a single day, he had gained a wife and a son.
And now, in the span of a single day, he stood on the verge of losing not only that family, but those around him as well.
It was a grave crisis.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]