“For the 47 years I have worked here, I have taken care of my duties without needing anyone to tell me what to do! What I’m saying is, there’s nothing left to worry about when it comes to the garden! So just let me and the child pass.”
At his sneering voice, Arad frowned and glared at Hartland.
It was the first time Hartland had ever seen the young man give such an intimidating look, but the old man was one who would break rather than bend.
He glared back at Arad with contempt, refusing to back down.
‘If he wants to kill me, then let him.’
He had sent his wife off and buried her with his own hands, so he no longer had any attachment to life.
He had a firm belief that ‘a man who refuses to take responsibility for a woman carrying his child is nothing but a useless, worthless bastard.’
Poverty, one’s origins, or misfortunes that came crashing down like an accident were not things to be ashamed of. What people truly ought to be ashamed of was refusing to take responsibility for something they were supposed to be responsible for.
It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to protect Ivnia or get angry on her behalf. He was simply angry that the new master he had come to serve was such a worthless human being.
‘Damn it, that kind of person is the new master of this place.’
Gelendzik was the place where he had devoted almost his entire life to working and caring for it, and he had thought he would continue doing so until the day he died.
He had lived here, gotten married, had and raised a child, and seen his wife off.
He had lived in Gelendzik longer than this young new master had. And he took great pride in working at this mansion. But that pride was now in danger of being destroyed because of that pathetic young man.
Hartland continued to sneer as though he could no longer stand it.
“If you show any more interest in Ivnia and this child, people won’t leave Ibnia alone.”
Arad spoke indifferently with his arms crossed.
“Then tell them to come complain to me.”
He makes it sound so easy.
Hartland gave a mocking grin as though Arad were disgusting.
He thought Arad was joking. But there was sincerity in his eyes. That sheltered young master clearly had no idea how a maid caught up in a scandal was treated in a mansion.
‘Having lived his whole life being treated well, there’s no way he’d know about petty harassment.’
Hartland gave him a cold warning.
“If you’re not going to take responsibility for that girl, then stop making the situation worse. We servants will handle matters among ourselves, so stop interfering out of pointless curiosity.”
The butler, Hampton, happened to hear the conversation as he was passing by.
Hampton’s mouth fell open in surprise, and he stood there stiffly for a moment.
‘Has that old man gone mad?’
Why was the old man, who normally went out of his way to avoid the Gelendzik family or precious guests whenever they came, suddenly arguing with the new master?
‘He’s senile. He must have gone senile.’
Arad seemed to have the same thought. He spotted the butler and gestured toward Hartland with his chin.
“The old man seems to have something seriously wrong with him, so take him to his quarters and let him rest, Hampton.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The butler knew that this was an extremely generous response. Arad was making a special effort to tolerate Hartland, who had worked here for a long time.
Before Arad could change his mind, Hampton quickly grabbed Hartland’s arm and pulled him away. But Hartland shook off his hand and tried to grab Ranelli.
“Let go of me!”
“Why are you acting like this, Mr. Hartland! Calm down and leave for now.”
“Ah, I’m leaving! I said I’m leaving! But shouldn’t I take the child with me?”
But then Arad, who had stopped paying attention to Hartland, picked up Ranelli in his arms.
“G-Grandpa……!”
At Ranelli’s flustered voice, Hartland’s eyes widened.
“What are you trying to do to the child! Give her back!”
Arad frowned irritably and looked at Hartland.
“If someone saw you, they’d think she was your granddaughter. You have work to do, so I’ll look after the child. You weren’t hired as a nanny, were you?”
Desperate, Hartland lost his reason and shouted.
“You’re not the child’s father either!”
“The child’s father?”
Arad suddenly smiled meaningfully.
“You never know.”
For a moment, Hartland felt his heart drop. He forgot to struggle and simply stared at Arad, as though trying to determine the meaning behind the smile on his lips.
His face turned pale.
“W-What do you mean by that?”
Arad shrugged.
“I’ll take responsibility for the child and bring her to Ivnia, so don’t worry too much.”
With that, he passed Hartland and disappeared with the child.
Hartland was incredibly strong for his age, but he was still a man in his seventies, no match for a young butler in his twenties who was using all his strength to hold him back.
Ibvia, washing clothes without pause until her fingertips were so wrinkled from being soaked in water that they had lost all sensation, was like a doll.
A doll that felt nothing and simply moved according to the purpose for which it had been made.
Her expression was numb, but in truth, she was trying to empty her mind and feel nothing.
Otherwise, she felt she would become so angry that she would make a mistake at work.
She continued moving her hands, burning with a transparent anger, without even realizing how much time had passed.
Then, at some point, she suddenly startled as though waking from sleep and cried out, “Ranelli!” coming to her senses.
Looking outside through the open door, quite some time had passed.
Her heart sank.
She had left Ranelli alone for far too long.
‘She must be hungry.’
When she turned around, the laundry was still piled up like a mountain.
But Ivnia could no longer waste any more time.
As she rubbed her hands dry against her apron, the girl who had earlier been caught secretly passing some of her own laundry to Ivnia asked sulkily,
“Why? Where are you going?”
“Ah, I’m just going to see my daughter for a moment……”
“Didn’t you hear what Miss Olivia said earlier? If you leave without finishing all of that, you’ll be in serious trouble.”
There was more guilt than malice in the girl’s eyes as she said that. She seemed to think it was her fault that Ivnia had been punished.
After hesitating, the girl looked down and spoke bluntly.
“I-I mean, I didn’t know you had a child. I was just…… It’s something we normally do when a new person comes in……”
It seemed that although she had played a mean prank, hearing Ivnia plead with Olivia had made her feel guilty.
But Ivnia had no room to care about her.
All she could think about was Ranelli.
“When Miss Olivia comes, please say something nice for me. I’ll just go check that my daughter is safe and come back quickly.”
“Wait! Wait!”
Ivnia ran out just like that and headed straight for the shed.
She thought Ranelli must be hungry, but she had no time to stop by the dining hall.
She was going out of her mind wondering if her child was safe.
She ran until she was out of breath and arrived at the shed.
But no matter how much she searched, Ranelli was nowhere to be seen.
Her heart sank.
Ivnia was terribly flustered, but she calmly ran toward the detached building.
There, Hartland was using a ladder against the roof and hammering away with tremendous force.
“Mr. Hartland?”
The old man hammering flinched and turned around.
When he confirmed that it was Ivnia who had called him, he climbed down the ladder with a stunned expression.
“What are you doing here?”
Ivnia put her hand on the doorknob and fidgeted anxiously.
She felt she should at least acknowledge Hartland, but she was so worried about Ranelli that she was frantic.
As though he felt apologetic toward her, Hartland cleared his throat, “Ahem, ahem,” then looked off into the distance and said,
“Well… I remembered that the roof over here used to leak the last time I lived here with my wife…Anyway, if you’re looking for the child, she isn’t here.”
“Did you see Ranelli? How could Ranelli not be here? Then where……?”
Hartland scratched the back of his head.
His eyes wandered from place to place before he spoke bluntly.
“The child was hungry and wandering around in front of that shed, so I fed her and was going to bring her to you, but, well, the new master showed up and said he would take the child himself.”
“The master?”
Ivnia’s face went pale.
Why would Arad take Ranelli?
In an instant, the worst thoughts overwhelmed her reason.
‘Did Arad realize? He wouldn’t hurt Ranelli, would he? He might take Ranelli and abandon her at some orphanage no one knows about. Oh, my God.’
Hartland shouted from behind her, “He said he’d bring the child to you, so it would be best to wait and see.”
But Ivnia couldn’t hear anything.
She ran toward the main building like a madwoman.
Without giving anyone a chance to stop her, she ran all the way to the fourth floor where Arad was likely to be.
She was moving with such tremendous force that the servants she passed only stared at her with startled expressions, unable to stop her.
She hesitated for only a moment over where to go, then spotted the butler and ran toward him.
Since he was standing in front of the former duke’s office, Arad must have inherited and continued using it as his own.
“Ivnia?”
The butler’s mouth fell open when he saw Ivnia.
Her hair was disheveled from running around, her face was covered in sweat, and her complexion was deathly pale.
She looked completely out of her mind.
“Ranelli! Ranelli!”
Having lost all reason, Ivnia shoved the butler away with tremendous strength.
Because her actions were so aggressive, the butler grabbed her with all his strength.
“Calm down, Ivnia!”
“Let go of me!”
Ivnia resisted fiercely.
Hampton, who only remembered her as gentle and obedient, was startled.
He had never imagined that her elegant and calm gaze could change like this.
In any case, Hampton had to do his job.
“This isn’t somewhere you can enter as you please! I’ll bring the child to you, so calm down. Guards! What are you doing?!”
The guards who had been following Ivnia quickly grabbed her.
Once she was held by three men, Ivnia’s already extreme fear intensified even further.
‘If Arad finds out Ranelli’s identity, he’ll try to kill her!’
That was her worst fear.
“Ranelli!!”
Ivnia screamed desperately.
Her scream was so heartbreaking that the guards, who were using force against an unarmed woman, hesitated slightly.
In that instant, when their grip loosened, Ivnia struggled with all her strength and charged toward the tightly closed door.
At the same time, the door opened.
“What is all this commotion?”
“Ah!”
Ivnia let out a short scream and collided with Arad, who suddenly emerged.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Her head struck the solid chest of a man and bounced back, sending her falling toward the floor.
But before she could tumble onto the floor, Arad quickly caught her by the lower back.
After catching Ivnia, Arad looked down at her with his eyes filled with his characteristic arrogance.
“You’re nothing but a moth to a flame.”