The door burst open with a loud bang. Estella froze in place. Cedric could feel his body stiffen with tension.

It was Anna, the former Duchess, who emerged from the commotion. Anna frowned as she spotted her son at Estella’s side. But the agitation was short-lived, and she let out a small laugh of recognition.

“So it was you.”

“What brings you to my room?”

Estella asked back in as calm a voice as she could muster. She would be ignored if she bowed first. Anna was a woman who could smell an underdog.

Anna snorted in amusement at Estella’s confident demeanor.

“‘My room’? Ha!”

Anna strode in, her head held high, and the maid who had tried to stop her from entering stood in the doorway, looking helpless. Estella hadn’t given her any orders that she couldn’t fulfill.

Anna spoke in a friendly tone that didn’t match the content.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to grab your hair again. Your fiancé personally warned me.”

“…….”

“Well, since it was the room I stayed in, don’t I have the right to search for lost belongings here? I mean, I couldn’t find anything I was looking for in the luggage my stepson personally moved for me.”

As she spoke, Anna looked around the room appraisingly. She kicked at the rug, then approached the table and looked down at the plate of cake. Before Estella could stop her, Anna picked it up and threw it straight to the floor. Cream splattered everywhere with a sharp, demoralizing popping sound.

Estella froze in her tracks, about to tug on the string. It would be faster for Anna to lunge at her with the shards of the bowl than for the servants to reach the room. Quietly, Estella pulled Cedric into her arms. Cedric was shivering now.

“Yeah, I had my suspicions from the start. He’s been acting weirdly around you, and you’ve been uncharacteristically overreacting to the last time I slapped you on the cheek……..”

Muttering to herself, Anna gritted her teeth. She walked over to the window and kicked it. When it didn’t shatter, she picked up a vase from the tea table and threw it. The shattering sound sent shards of glass flying everywhere. Anna picked up the largest shard and ripped it through the curtains.

Everywhere but the bed was now a mess. Satisfaction washed over her face as she looked at the mess. Anna strode over to Estella with a casual stride.

“I have to admit, you have some skills. I mean, I did wonder why a woman like you would choose to work as a household tutor in such an unsatisfying family. I guess it was all to aim for a big catch?”

“Madam, please stop there. I’m not trying to insult you, but what you’re doing is tarnishing your honor, madam.”

Estella barely flinched and pretended not to be affected. Anna openly burst into laughter.

“Why, am I wrong? I heard you have a father who gambles on the land of your hometown. Wasn’t it your attempt to make a big impression in the capital because it’s hard to bear?”

Anna’s voice slowly grew angry, as if she were looking at a ragtag bum trying to steal her fortune. Anna frowned.

“And while we’re on the subject of tutors, you stole my job as if you were the mother of my children.”

As she spoke, Anna’s eyes flashed. Her hand tightened around the shard of glass, but she didn’t dare point it at Estella. Unable to control her anger, Anna threw it to the ground.

“How dare you look at me with your eyes open?”

Estella glared at the shards of glass that ricocheted off the floor. There was still enough reason left in her to see things differently. She knew that if she threatened her with a weapon, there would be no turning back. It was one thing to go on a rampage, breaking things, but it was quite another to threaten a life.

Estella was quick to recognize that she no longer had to worry about her own safety. She stood up, blocking Cedric’s view. Estella spoke in a calm voice.

“No, ma’am.”

“What?”

“No, a governess.”

With that, Estella raised her left hand, palm facing Anna. It wasn’t hard for Anna to recognize the foreign object on her ring finger.

“I’m about to be betrothed to the Duke, so my position will be very different than before, won’t it?”

Estella faked a note of amusement in her voice. Anna could hardly look away, her gaze fixed on the ring of brilliant light. It was so recognizable that she soon realized it was an object from her memory.

Anna clinked her teeth together.

“You…… how did you get that…….”

“Diego gave it to me. It was a romantic proposal. He told me it had been handed down from generation to generation to the Duchess of Berta.”

Estella turned her hand to examine the diamond, then glanced over at Anna. Estella sneered.

“And it’s something that’s new to you?”

Diego had said it as if it were something Anna coveted. It was the only thing she hadn’t gotten when she married Diego’s father and ruled the Duchy of Berta. Nothing could have stirred her complex more.

Anna paled and her shoulders shook. Estella strode to the foot of the bed, not losing momentum. Grabbing the long rope that ran down the bed frame, she spoke warningly.

“Get out before I have to drag you out. You don’t want to see which of us the servants will listen to, do you?”

“You insolent bitch…….”

Anna was glaring at her with hatred in her eyes, but Estella wasn’t so afraid of her anymore. Anna was shorter than her. If she lunged at her with a weapon, it wouldn’t be impossible to subdue her. Besides, Estella had already explained to her opponent that she was untouchable.

Estella took advantage of Anna’s pause to gesture toward the maid at the door. She motioned for the others to come in. Understanding her meaning, the maid turned quickly. From now on, it was a race against time.

With the knowledge that it would soon be over, Anna stopped trying to provoke Estella. She managed to swallow the fire in her chest. Once she’d swallowed her anger, she turned to her refined malice. Anna’s gaze returned to Cedric on the bed.

“Cedric, you haven’t even said hello to your mother.”

Cedric flinched, but didn’t answer. Estella knew that Cedric was not a gentle child. That she could make him like that was proof that Anna had raised him in a way that wasn’t right.

“Your mother is me. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Anna’s voice grew harsher and harsher.

“It seems like you’ve been deceived by those petty actors. Let me tell you a secret. I’ll tell you the real reason why you can never be a part of their family.”

“Madam, you can’t be serious……”

The tip of Estella’s tongue was dry. Estella had a very good idea of what not to say and do to a child, and Anna, on the other hand, was not even minimally qualified to be a parent. Anna said with a hint of glee in her voice.

“It was your brother, whom you respect so much, who killed your father.”

She had done everything in her power to ensure that her son would inherit the title, but here he was, in the arms of a woman she would not have minded tearing apart. Anna chuckled with satisfaction at Cedric’s pale face.

“Ma’am!”

Estella hastily closed the distance between Cedric and Anna. Though she was ultimately unsuccessful in stopping Anna’s mouth.

“He stabbed your father in the heart because he didn’t want you to take the title, Cedric. What difference does it make if the man who killed your father is your brother, or even your mother?”

Anna sneered. Just then, she heard the sound of servants running down the hall. As if the maid had gotten the message right, it was the manor’s guards who appeared through the open door.

They paused for a moment, puzzled by the chaos in the room. They seemed to be in a quandary as to whether to follow Anna or Estella’s orders. Estella was the first to speak up in anger.

“What are you doing standing there? Get the Duchess out of here!”

After all, Anna was the wife of a dead lord. Rumors of Diego’s displeasure with her and her banishment to the annex had already spread through the mansion. The guards, who had come to their senses late, grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her out. As they dragged her away, she didn’t stop and raised her voice.

“You’re going to have to keep that room, but would you be able to keep it if your husband is dead, like mine?”

Anna giggled, muttering something like a curse, and the eerie laughter died away after a moment. Estella almost slumped back in her seat in exhaustion. But she had someone else to take care of first.

“Hmph…….”

Cedric burst into tears. Estella ran to him and pulled him into a hug. She cupped his cheeks and searched his face. Estella spoke in a weak voice.

“Master, are you okay? Forget what your mother said……. It’s nonsense, don’t believe it, just…….”

“I’m fine.”

Cedric said in a gravelly voice and tried to shake off Estella’s arm. Cedric’s face, Estella thought, was contorted in an odd way, not like a child’s. Estella called out to Cedric impatiently.

“Master.”

“I told you it was okay, and…… I know.”

Her heart sank. He didn’t explain exactly what he knew, but the moment she met Cedric’s eyes, she realized it like a gut feeling. Her grip on Cedric stiffened. Her mouth fell open. She could feel it instinctively.

“I already knew. It was my brother who killed Father.”

Her excuses meant nothing.