When she, a woman named Robinia who is a candidate for Duke Ranankura’s attendant, was told by Wolf that the number of guests for dinner has increased, she simply said, “I understand.” She seemed to to smile and nod.
Since she wasn’t familiar with it, she wanted to start as soon as possible, so she secluded herself in the kitchen, and when it was almost evening, she called Wolf into the kitchen.
She offered Wolf a taste and handed him a small plate of soup.
It was at just such a moment that I rushed into the kitchen of Duke Ranankura’s residence.
“Wolf!”
When I called out his name as loudly as I could, Wolf looked at me with a stunned expression on his face.
“Lycoris… what’s wrong? What happened?”
Wolf immediately ran over to me, and I said, “Doctor.”
“I’m not feeling well and I want you to call a doctor. Please.”
Wolf immediately panicked when he saw that I was having trouble breathing after sprinting so far.
“Robinia, this is Lycoris. Please take care of her for a moment.”
With that said, he left the kitchen with hurried footsteps.
Then I confronted the woman who was still standing in front of the soup pot.
Robinia was a fair-skinned woman with extremely delicate limbs. She was much younger than I expected, I had heard that she was in her late thirties, but I found it hard to believe.
The atmosphere she wore seemed somehow ephemeral and innocent. “Nice to meet you, my name is Lycoris Radiata.”
My voice is urgent and strained. Of course, I have no intention of making small talk with her. There was only one thing I wanted to confirm. If it was all a misunderstanding on my part, I would be happy to make amends to her in any way I could.
“I know it’s rude, but did you taste the soup?”
“……..”
“If you haven’t done so yet, I highly recommend you taste it for yourself first.”
As I said this, I lined up the new plates on the shelf and held it out to her.
“I also cook sometimes, but I sometimes make unbelievable mistakes. I add the wrong salt and sugar. So…”
“How do you know?”
Her words had a flat tone that didn’t form a conversation with mine. And my head was completely blank.
“How did you know? That’s strange.”
The woman in front of me is definitely the murderer.
She put the poison in her homemade soup and makes him eat it with her own hands. This ephemeral murder plotted to poison him in a way that would have been impossible if she had thought about self preservation, but she showed no signs of running away at all.
She stared at the poisoned soup she had. Made, looking like a bewildered child.
“…That’s terrible. All that precious soup was wasted.”
She murmured that in a voice that sounded like she was in the depth of deep sadness.
“…At first, I wanted to be a good mother, too. But you always looked grumpy and didn’t call me mother.”
When she said ‘you’ and looked at the door, I followed her line of sight, and when I saw that Wolf was there, I felt a chill run down my spine.
“Besides, I don’t want other people to be in this house even though I am starting a new life with the Duke. I want to start from a blank slate and build a wonderful family with the Duke. The second wife. They also say that my child might be bullied by the ex-wife’s child. What should I do if I have a beautiful baby and you start bullying it?”
She was staring at Wolf with a hateful gaze.
It was open and innocent, like a child complaining, and that’s why it was so frightening and chilling.
“That’s why I got this thing so could kill anyone who gets in my way. It might be convenient, but it was really, really scary to have poison at hand.”
She carefully took out a small bottle and placed it on the table. It seems like she has no intention of hiding what she did after all.
Robinia is a madman. At least that’s what I think.
I thought I had to separate Wolf from this horrible woman.
People gather in the kitchen, starting with the steward who seems to have brought me some hot medicinal water.
“I can’t be blamed,” she says to those who are confused. “Because I just deeply admire the Duke.”
I move my trembling legs closer to Wolf.
I tried pulling on Wolf’s black clothes, but he remained stunned as he stared intently at Robinia. If that’s the case, I cover Wolf’s ears with both hands.
Then, his blue-purple eyes finally turned towards me. There he saw the distorted face of a crying child. It’s my face.
I’m glad that Wolf is safe, and I’m also scared of Robinia.
At this time, I felt a lot of emotions. Unable to bear the heaviness in my chest, I could only do the normal thing a ten-year-old child should do.
I kept crying and raising my voice.
It wasn’t until late in the night that I realized that no matter how I looked at it, it was Wolf who really wanted to cry.
I left everything to Lord Ranankura and my father, who had come home before dinner, and we sat close together in Wolf’s room with the light on. We both had books open in our hands, but the sound of pages being turned had not been heard since earlier.
Just for today, even if the adults told me to sleep alone of turn off the lights, I wouldn’t be able to obey them.
I slammed the book shut and turned to Wolf.
“Just cry,” I said, and he replied, “It’s okay.”
I knew there was no way he was okay, so I tried to press the damp cloth I had put on my eyes to cool them down to his face.
However, Wolf quickly snatched it from my hand and shoved it back against my eyes, where the swelling had not yet subsided.
“You cried this much. I think that’s enough.”
His voice is gentle as if he’s spoiling me when he says things that don’t make sense.
My tear ducts burst again. Making the wet cloth even wetter.
I remember what Lord Ranankura wrote in a letter.
Wolf has grown up. It may indeed be as he said. Is he trying to become an adult? He has overcome difficult events. At an astonishing speed.
“… If something like this were to happen, Wolf would definitely hate women.”
He seemed to think my words were a joke.
He laughed in amusement, then somehow stood up quickly and looked down at me.
“That’s exactly what you think, and that’s why you’re sitting defenselessly in a man’s room crying in the middle of the night. If I don’t feel at least a little bit of a crisis, it would affect my reputation as a man.”
When he said that, he pulled my arm and made me stand up, but then Wolf lifted me up.
This is the position known to the world as a princess carry.
The was surprised and made a stupid face with my mouth open. I was surprised by Wolf’s power, but most of all…
“Maybe Wolf, are you really taller than me?”
“… You didn’t believe me?”
“That’s not it… But it’s only been three months.”
“I’m struggling to become and adult. My body and my mind.”
The shy smile on his face seemed mature and strong to me.
This time it was clear.
He is trying to become an adult.
Maybe that too.
He is trying to form a new ‘Wolfgang Eisenhut’ that is different from the game I know.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!
