Mrs Gail’s eyes widened. Estella was a little embarrassed by the reaction. Mrs Gail smirked and warned.

“That’s a taboo word that must never be brought up. Don’t even think about asking anyone but me, okay?”

Taboo was a bit of a stretch, but she didn’t blame her. With a new mistress in place, no one would want to offend her by mentioning the former madame.

It was unlikely that Mrs Gail would rush over to the Duchess and ask to reprimand her, but she knew she had touched a sensitive subject.

Estella nodded uneasily, and Lady Gail’s expression relaxed. Lady Gail gestured with her hands restlessly.

As she said this, Mrs Gail looked pensive. It was easy for her to listen to the story without thinking. Mrs Gail finished in a reminiscent voice.

“I’m one of those people who never understood why there were paintings I could never buy even if I work all my life, but when I see the madame, I think I know why they exist.”

As she finished speaking, a small smile formed on her lips. It was a rare positive evaluation that could hardly be found. Even if the former madame may be like a bear, but it seemed to be in line with the belief that she possess virtues that are unattainable by a concubine.

Estella scraped the bottom of her plate with her spoon and asked.

“I heard she died of an illness, but what exactly was it?”

Mrs Gail paused for a moment before answering.

“The cause is unknown.”

“Didn’t they say it was an infectious disease?”

“The doctor said it was.”

“You say that as if you don’t think so.”

Estella said and gave Mrs Gail a hard look. Mrs Gail finally put down the knife she was holding. She looked over the countertop at Estella.

“Young lady, among the noble ladies in the capital that year, there was only one who suffered from the same illness as the previous Madam.”

“…….”

“And as soon as the funeral was over, the manor had a new mistress. A decision that could hardly be described as mourning for a widowed husband.”

Mrs Gail smiled bitterly and bowed her head. She resumed her paused hand and spoke in a bitter tone.

“I guess it’s something like that for nobles. Especially when it comes to relationships between spouses.”

It wasn’t a matter of status, it was a matter of humanity. Estella kept the corners of her mouth tugged up instead of criticising her employer out loud. To criticise the Duke of Berta would have come across as taking up Diego’s mantle.

Mrs Gail glanced at Estella and spoke sharply.

“Don’t go around talking about it elsewhere. I told you personally because I didn’t want you to hear strange rumors from others.”

“Um, I’m not sure what you’re talking about, what were we talking about?”

Estella’s cheerfulness made Mrs Gail squirm. Estella continued with a smile on her face.

“By the way, why are there so few people in the mansion? You’re working alone.”

“Oh, didn’t you know? The feast starts this evening, and most of the people are out.”

Estella’s eyes widened at the news. With no one to talk to but the children, she was slow to respond to news.

Being a governess was a strange position. The maids were very attentive to Estella’s needs, but she had too much status to have a personal relationship with them. A nobleman is a nobleman, no matter how fallen.

“The master and mistress will be going to the temple to pray in the evening, so I’m guessing that’s why they took time off in the morning.”

“Prayer…….”

The event was excessively sacred for the adulterous couple to participate in. I wondered if by making an offering, would the divine bestow blessings even upon such individuals? With each bite of the meat on the plate, unwanted thoughts seemed to grow, despite their impurity.

Suddenly, Estella’s hand stopped. Mesquida was an agrarian nation, and the Great Feast was celebrated annually to foretell the year’s harvest. At the end of winter and the beginning of spring, when plants sprouted, they would ask the heavens for a good harvest.

Estella murmured, her voice lower than before.

“It’s spring, yes.”

Mrs Gail stared at her as if to ask what she meant, but she didn’t have the energy to answer. Estella concentrated, trying not to let go of the tail of the thought she was now holding onto. She desperately tried to relive the moment when the hero and heroine first met.

When Adriana came to find Diego, it seemed like there was also a description of the subtly warming weather. If her memory serves her right, Duke Berta’s death was probably in the spring. As she gathered more clues, her memories became increasingly vivid.

Estella originally only remembered that Duke Berta was killed in an enclosed space. Duke Berta was murdered by Diego after entering a restricted prayer room for a private prayer. It is at this point that Adriana, the heroine, discovers Diego’s secret. She witnesses the murder while hiding from a nosy maid.

‘Do you think an irreligious man like the Duke of Berta would visit the temple for no reason?’

Estella was quick to deny it. There must have been some compelling force that drove him to the temple, such as the stares of others that would be cast upon him if he were absent from a ceremony in which he must participate.

Estella rose hastily from her seat. She barely had time to say thank you before she stormed out of the kitchen.

‘Stupid, to think of this just now!’

Kicking herself for her hindsight didn’t make things any better. It’s not that she hadn’t been doing her best, it’s just that there’s a difference between knowing the information and actually putting it to work. Perhaps it’s a good thing she’s deduced it now, because while it may be late, it’s not like she has all the time in the world to prepare.

Not knowing if Duke Berta is going to die today or tomorrow, in such an urgent situation, what should she prepare for? Should she make preparations to flee with the children? Or perhaps…

“Prepare to survive alone?”

Estella froze in place, appalled at her own selfishness, until her deafening ears cleared and she heard a distant voice calling out to her.

“Estella!”

Estella slowly turned around. A maid was running towards her, waving. As she came closer, she saw Estella’s pale face and felt a little embarrassed, but she didn’t say anything. The maid cleared her throat and spoke quickly.

“The mistress is looking for you.”

* * *

“Would you care to explain this situation to my satisfaction?”

There was silence, and an unusually frosty tone in her voice. The Duchess was looking out the window, not even glancing in Estella’s direction. Her expression was unreadable, but it was easy to guess that it was as rigid as her voice.

Estella tried to make sense of the situation as quickly as possible. She couldn’t think of anything that would cause the Duchess to raise her voice. Estella glanced at Cedric, who looked uneasy, and then at her.

She said, trying not to provoke the Duchess.

“I am not quite sure what you are referring to. Please let me know, and I will tell you all about it.”

“You’re quite the master at feigning ignorance, haven’t you been fooling me all this time with that placid face of yours?”

The Duchess snorted in disbelief. Estella looked up from her bowed head, a puzzled expression on her face.

“What the…….”

“Why do I have to hear rumors about my son playing well with the his half-brother?”

Estella’s shoulders stiffened. Cedric is beside the duchess, fidgeting uneasily in his seat. She had warned Cedric and Cecilia not to mention their encounter with Diego, but was she wrong to expect them to be perfect at keeping secrets?

There was no way to fix this by blaming the children, so Estella bowed her head in silence. If she got to the root of the problem, it would be her fault for arranging the meeting with Diego in the first place. She had no choice but to keep her head down until the Duchess let go of her anger.

“The education fees I paid you were meant to raise my children properly, quite literally. It was to build their character, to keep them from getting involved in anything improper, and to cultivate their ability to discern right from wrong.”

The Duchess silently listed the duties of a teacher. Her voice had the rhyme of a song. There was even a hint of sternness in her elegant voice, as if the years she had spent as the Duchess of Berta’s mistress had been nothing more than a passing fancy.

She turned her head slowly toward Estella. The Duchess stepped up in front of Estella with an easy stride. The Duchess twisted the corners of her mouth.

“I believed that you were teaching my child well, but now I see that you have only fulfilled the first aspect diligently, haven’t you?”

“I can explain how that happened …….”

“I don’t need an explanation right now, and I don’t care how it happened. What matters now is that you allowed Cedric hang out with Diego.”

The use of the word ‘allowed’ suggests that Cedric hadn’t told her everything. She wondered if it was just a coincidence, and if so, there was no way out.

“I’m not sure what calculation he made to associate with my son, but in a situation like this, there are a few appropriate responses that the people I hired should show. You made the worst possible choice.”

“I have no face.”

“Didn’t the butler gave you butler a heads-up? I seem to recall, about avoiding confrontation if possible?”

“I apologize, Madam. It seems that my attempt to discreetly let it pass without interfering, as I cannot control that person, has created a misunderstanding. I will be more careful in the future.”

Estella bowed deeply. At that, the duchess’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Anna was a commoner. Her marriage to Duke Berta had placed her in social circles, but she had never been fully accepted by aristocratic society. It was not uncommon for sweetly flattering ladies to sneer at her origins behind her back. It was not uncommon for sweetly flattering ladies to mock her origins behind her back. A woman of noble birth, albeit a fallen one, bowed to her. With a pleasant feeling of satiety, a cruel sadistic desire welled up in her.

The Duchess was about to raise her voice again. Cedric hastily seized her by the hem of her skirt.

“Mother, don’t say anything to Estella.”

“What?”

“She only did it because I wanted to be with my brother, please stop.”

Cedric was almost crying. He was trying to hold back the tears, but he couldn’t hide them well enough to fool everyone.

But the Duchess’s eyes did not show any compassion as she watched. If anything, Cedric’s mention of Diego only fueled her anger.

“I told you not to spit out that nonsense!”

The Duchess stomped over to Estella and, without hesitation, slapped her across the cheek. Her head snapped completely to the left. Estella was dumbfounded, unable to fight back, unable to retaliate.

Before she knew it, the lightning struck again. Her already tingling cheeks went completely numb. There was even a foul taste in her mouth.