"The search by the Prince has not stopped yet. I'll have to go ahead with the plan."

Simone looked at the girl wearing a black wig with flas.h.i.+ng green eyes. Her blonde hair, similar to that of her niece, Iris, was covered, and she felt she could breathe now.

Simone, who had become a widow shortly after her marriage, had lived for her ailing niece for a lifetime, refusing to marry again. If it wasn't for her niece's business, she would never have intervened. The future of Iris was the same as her own.

When her brother, Duke Kiellini, said he wanted to look for a subst.i.tute to make a debut in society for Iris who was sick, Simone objected, saying it nonsense. But the words of Iris, who came and spoke to her, moved her, and so now she was here to educate the child who would replace her niece.

"Aunt, please keep my seat."

Glamorous blond hair very dry with long-term sickness and malnutrition, and the lovely turquoise eyes, which moved between blue and green according to the light, had long lost their light, like stained gla.s.s falling to the floor with a crack.

"I don't want to be kicked out of Tilia Territory where I've lived my whole life, like my aunt who was forced out of the Raban mansion by the nephew who became the new Marquis after his uncle died without a child. I've been in this territory all my life. Please don't let me be taken away from this, as I had to give up everything because of my health. Don't forget that I have to be the master of the family of the Duke, so security for your later years can be guaranteed."

These days, taking a walk once a day was too much for Iris. Iris' favorite place was the garden she could see out of her room.

"I know my father's been preparing for this for years. Getting a lot of people out of the mansion must have been part of the preparation."

It was true. Now she knew why, but in the past, Simone couldn't understand her brother's behavior.

From a few years ago, her brother had begun sending out the servants and maids of the southern mansion of Kiellini, one by one. Simone had expressed discomfort to her brother when he refused to hire new people to replace those who had been sent off with hefty severance pay with reasonable excuses. At that time the Duke only said a harsh word:

"Iris's health is getting worse. You don't want gossip about the child's health to spread around, do you?"

When she heard that, Simone shut her mouth.

There were only a few servants and maids left in the s.p.a.cious mansion, who had been loyal to the family of Kiellini for decades, including a butler who had served for generations and a head maid who had been a nanny of Duke Kiellini. The workers needed to manage the big mansion were then hired from the local people of the Territory, and they did not stay in the mansion long enough to meet Lady Kiellini.

"Please train the child who will replace me. No one should ever know that Iris Kiellini is weak. Make her into the perfect Kiellini princess. I want to keep my place even if I have to take the child's life as security for lifetime."

Simone saw Iris' bony hand clasping the armrest of the chair as if she would never let it go.

***

Now she was in Bertino for Iris and her future.

"What was planned before?"

When Julietta tilted her head because she did not know why, Simone's eyes became scary.

"A n.o.ble status never behaves vulgarly in that way. How many times do I have to tell you? Don't move your head when asked and try to answer exactly and clearly. Do you understand?"

'I won't move, like a cast is on my neck.'

With her back straight and her head stiff, Julietta, grunting inwardly, asked, with only her eyes slightly down.

"What do you mean by what you planned to do before?"

Simone looked at Julietta's att.i.tude as if she made a point, and gestured to Vera, who was waiting by her side. Upon receiving the instruction, Vera left the room and soon came in with a shabby brown bag. When Julietta saw the small pouch, she sprang up.

"That's my baggage."

"Sit down."

"Did you search my room?"

"I said, sit down."

"No matter how much I take on behalf of Lady Iris, my personality won't disappear. I can't believe you're touching my luggage. If that's the case, I can't work even if you give me ten million terns."

Julietta took off the wig she was wearing, threw it on the floor, and took her luggage from Vera. It was her entire fortune. It might look shabby and tacky to others, but they were the only items with memories that could prove she was herself.

Simone laughed coldly at Julietta's back, as she moved towards the door, as if she were really leaving, "Do you think you'll be safe knowing this huge secret? I just needed a suitable body to avoid the Prince, and that's all"

At Simone's words, Julietta stopped walking.

"What do you mean, a suitable body?"

"We need to make him give up the search, because the Prince's pursuit is still continuing."

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