At least it was a relief that Cedric was coming late. There would be enough time to buy birth control pills. But the servant caught me. He said the servants would take care of me…
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Soon the maid came in. She glanced at me and said something to Cedric. Seeing that, I remembered the times I was here before.
“Is there something in this mansion that I don’t know about?”
Cedric even knew about the money bag I was looking for. The servants had pretended not to know. If I wanted to buy the birth control pills, I would have to go secretly, without the servants knowing.
Suddenly, I thought of Vincent. When I looked up, the maid bowed slightly and left the room. Cedric turned to me and said,
“Revril, you’ll have to eat breakfast alone this morning.”
I looked at him without saying a word. Cedric came closer and looked into my eyes. When I looked away, he kissed my cheek.
It seemed like Cedric didn’t care about my refusal at all. Just before he left the room,
“What about Vincent?”
For a moment, I felt scared. I worried Cedric might not let me meet Vincent. Cedric slowly turned to me.
“The nanny will take care of him. You don’t need to worry.”
“But I still want to see him. It’s the first time we’ve been apart for this long…”
I stopped talking for a moment, feeling tears coming. Cedric watched me for a bit, then spoke.
“I’ll tell the nanny.”
I was surprised he agreed so easily, so I stared at him. He added,
“But don’t overdo it. You don’t seem to be feeling well right now.”
I nodded. His attitude of caring annoyed me a little, but…
After Cedric left, Vincent came in shortly.
“Mom!”
Vincent ran to me right away. I got up from the bed and hugged him.
“Did you eat breakfast?”
Vincent nodded and proudly said he ate a lot of tasty food. Listening to him, a smile appeared on my face naturally. Just then, Sahel stood beside me. She smiled gently and said,
“The young master is very curious and talks well. After breakfast, he wanted to take a short walk.”
“A walk?”
“Yes. The young master seems very curious about this mansion.”
I quickly stood up and answered,
“Then I’ll go with him.”
“Are you sure it’s okay without me?”
“Yes. I took care of him most of the time before coming here anyway.”
Sahel nodded and said carefully,
“Madam, you don’t have to speak so formally to me.”
I looked at her with surprise. Sahel smiled.
“You are using formal speech with me.”
Sahel was about the same age as Chartine and Floren from the temple, so I naturally used formal speech. Also, being called “Madam” felt uncomfortable.
Trying to calm myself, I said to Sahel,
“Can you not call me ‘Madam’ when Cedric isn’t here?”
Sahel looked at me with wide eyes. Feeling the need to explain, I said carefully,
“This place is unfamiliar to me, and especially the word ‘Madam’ doesn’t feel right.”
Sahel nodded and calmly smiled.
“Yes, I will do so. Then, may I call you Revril?”
It was fine with me, so I nodded silently. Vincent, probably bored, grabbed my hand and told me about what he had done with Sahel. Luckily, Sahel seemed to treat Vincent well, and praise for her came up from time to time.
I stood up fully and said to Sahel,
“Thank you. Taking care of Vincent must not be easy.”
“No, I prefer active children like the young master. I had been resting for a while, so I’m honored to take care of him.”
I nodded and held Vincent’s hand tightly.
“Then please rest a little. I’ll take Vincent for a walk.”
Sahel bowed obediently and left the room. I turned quickly and searched my luggage. Luckily, I had money to buy the birth control pills. Vincent looked at me curiously.
“Mom, we’re just taking a walk.”
“We will walk and then go to the village for a little while.”
“The village?”
I nodded and talked about all the fun things in the capital. Vincent smiled widely and led me outside.
The servants greeted me as soon as they saw me. Their eyes focused on me, which made me slightly uncomfortable. It felt like they were watching where I was going.
Ignoring their gaze on purpose, I went down the stairs. Vincent insisted on going down by himself, and I followed slowly at his pace.
We were just about to leave the mansion.
“Madam, do you need a carriage?”
A man who looked like a coachman came up. I was tired of being called “Madam” all the time. Without saying anything, I just looked at him. He greeted me.
“I am Beruger, your coachman. I usually drive the carriage. If you ever need to go to the capital, please tell me.”
I didn’t want to ride the carriage driven by Cedric’s coachman. If I stopped by the apothecary, Cedric would surely be informed. Then Cedric would question me about what I bought there.
“No, thank you.”
I grabbed Vincent’s hand and quickly left the place. After a while, Vincent asked,
“Why don’t we ride the carriage?”
“The carriages here are uncomfortable.”
“I thought it was comfortable.”
“Vincent, if you keep riding only those carriages, how will you get used to uncomfortable ones later?”
Vincent lowered his head with a sad face. But soon, when we reach the capital and see new things, he will feel better. Especially the buildings in the capital, which Vincent has never seen, will surely please him.
At that moment, several gardeners saw me and greeted me.
It seemed Cedric had placed people all around the Bestine mansion. I tried to act as if nothing was wrong and walked through the garden. Near the door, I checked if anyone was watching me. Luckily, no servants were around when I reached the door.
Just as I calmed myself and stepped outside,
“Madam, where are you going?”
Startled, I turned to see two soldiers looking at me. I was momentarily at a loss for words. Then Vincent grabbed my hand and looked at me. I managed to calm down and said,
“Vincent wants to go outside the mansion.”
“Then I will call soldiers to go with you. Please wait a moment…”
“No, we’ll just walk around nearby. There’s nothing dangerous.”
“But the master asked us to be careful. Whenever you leave the mansion…”
“I’ll be back soon.”
I turned immediately and left the mansion. When I looked back, the soldiers were watching me. Feeling uneasy, I walked quickly. Vincent complained that I was too fast. In the end, I carried Vincent and moved faster.
After a while, we saw the carriage stand. There was a carriage for several people, but I was glad it was available at this time.
I quickly walked up to the coachman.
“How much to the capital?”
The coachman looked at Vincent and me and said,
“15 crocks.”
I put Vincent down briefly and took out 15 crocks from my pocket. The coachman gave me two small white papers about the size of his second finger. I took them and got into the carriage.
There were quite a few people inside. As soon as we sat down, Vincent looked at the people with curiosity.
After a moment, the coachman shouted that we were leaving, and the carriage started moving. I looked outside the window just in case. No soldiers or servants were following us. I felt relieved and held Vincent’s hand tightly.
The capital, which I had not visited for a long time, was crowded and noisy with people and changed buildings. It was very different from my last visit. Fortunately, the main buildings like the bank and large stores were still there.
Vincent stood there with his mouth wide open for a while. I wiped around his mouth and held his hand tightly.
“There are many people here, so you have to hold mom’s hand tightly.”
Vincent nodded but was busy looking at the buildings around us. I recalled my memories from previous visits.
I didn’t walk around much, but every time I came to the capital, I sometimes stopped by Deisha.
