I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family - Chapter 98

“Mom will go, okay!”

“I know! I’m not worried anymore!”

Rere scooped up a load of pudding big enough for it to spill and ate it in one bite.

So I walked to the child who smiled in her attempt to reassure me.

“Rere.”

“Yeah?”

After I came to her side, I sat down and made eye contact with her.

“Are you holding back because you’re scared that Mom will hate you?”

“W-What! Who is holding back? I’m not!”

“Are you sure? You don’t want me to leave, don’t you? So you’ve been holding back, right?”

Hearing that, Rere pouted grumpily with her tiny lips.

“If I said I was a little jealous…If I tell you not to go….will you hate me? Is it okay if I’m not as brave as an adult? Will you still like me as you are now?”

So I hugged the child who was anxiously mumbling alone.

“Big Bunny….?”

“Rere is the prettiest when Rere is being herself!”

“Really….?”

“Yeah! So you can tell me not to go out. It’s okay to whine once in a while.”

The child must’ve been scared to be hated by me, and that made me sad because the child seemed to grow up so fast.

“Okay! I like it if Big Bunny doesn’t go out.”

“Ah, is that so? Then, because Rere prefers if I don’t go out, I’ll just go once a week from now on. That should be okay, right?”

“Yup! Buy more bubbles on your way back, okay!”

“Okay.”

Rere finally nodded with a very relaxed expression.

“Okay. Then, do you want Rere to wait for you outside?”

“No. Just stay in your room, Rere.”

“Then, Rere will play with the toy from Big Bunny!”

Looking at the excited child, I rose from my seat and stroked her hair. If she waited for me outside, it could feel especially long even if I returned early.

“I’ll leave the child in your care.”

I made eye contact with the nanny and the maids behind her. For some reason, they looked very enthusiastic, clenching their fists as if telling me not to worry.

“You don’t need to worry, Madam. Leave it to us.”

“That’s right. Anyway, you’re worried too much about me! Whose daughter am I?! I’m Big Bunny’s daughter! So you don’t need to worry.”

She even did her best to reassure me, so there was no reason for me to stay any longer.

So I ended up heading to the carriage after receiving several wishes to return safely. The coachman looked quite relaxed as well because it was our third outing.

“We’ll depart shortly.”

Even the coachman barely showed any reaction when he saw Luca sitting inside the carriage.

Everything became natural as if it should be like that from the beginning.

“Alright.”

The coachman closed the carriage door and slowly drove off.

“Going out like this feesl like a date now, doesn’t it?”

“I agree.”

“But I think we should reduce the frequency of our dates to only once a week….”

“Honestly, I was a little disappointed. If only you had a separate bed, I think we could do a lot more together.”

“D-Do what more?”

“You’re such a cutie.”

He tilted his head slightly and looked at me as if he was having fun. Fortunately, the temple was close, and the carriage stopped before his lips came closer to me.

“Madam, I will open the door.”

“H-Hurry, open it!”

“Y-Yes!”

I yelled out of embarrassment, but the coachman mistook it for an order and hurriedly opened the door.

Meanwhile, Luca grabbed my hem as if not willing to let me go, but I hurriedly left the carriage.

And I saw Isaac as soon as I got off.

“Isaac!”

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Isaac waved his hand happily and looked more cheerful than before.

“I was worried about you, Isaac. But I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“Um, I-I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

“Yes. Let’s go in and talk! A lot has happened recently!”

“Really?”

I was wondering what made him so happy and looked about the surrounding area. Sure enough, the atmosphere in the temple was different. To be exact, the number of people rushing to my carriage had decreased significantly.

Isaac also walked more freely than before. Thanks to this, I felt more comfortable following him.

“So, where are we going today?”

“We’re going straight to the library.”

“We’re not going to see the High Priest first?”

“Do we really need to meet someone who is already so busy?”

I believe that there shouldn’t be any pressure in meeting each other. But I couldn’t help feeling pressured to meet the High Priest every single time. I tried to make myself feel comfortable, but there will always be a strange discomfort within me.

After a while, we arrived in the hallway of the library.

“So can you tell me what happened?”

“Since your last visit, the High Priest conducted an extensive purging.”

“An extensive purging?”

“Some of the senior priests were demoted to lower ranks, and some were dismissed from their role as a priest or holy knight.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the good news.

“Really….?!”

“Yes. And as for me….I was promoted to senior priest. It’s all thanks to you. I’ve been preparing for a long time but I never passed….”

He slightly turned around to wipe his tears and then smiled dejectedly.

“It’s all thanks to you, Duchess. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“No. I’m sure it’s because Isaac is more faithful than anyone else here. So you deserve this position.”

“Still, I think even the High Priest changed a lot since your visit last time.”

“I’m sure it’s only a coincidence.”

“It’s unlikely. But if the Duchess said it’s a coincidence, so it must be.”

Isaac crinkled his eyes into a smile. Just in time, we arrived in front of the library.

“In any case, it’s true that you helped me. Once again, I am thankful to you.”

In the end, I gave a light nod to Isaac, who was persistently thanking me even though I said I was okay.

“Then you can show us your medal and enter right away.”

So I took the medal out of the rabbit pocket and showed it to them. After inspecting the medal carefully, they opened the library door.

It was my second visit, but it made my heart flutter.

“Now, shall we look for another?”

“Yes!”

Luca and I quickly walked to the place we were at last time. I wasn’t sure if no one had come in since then or they purposely didn’t touch it since they saw us reading it, but the books were still the same as before.

Thanks to that, Luca and I could continue from where we left off.

Since then, I had been looking for a long time, but I couldn’t easily find what I wanted from these books. Even after an hour, then two hours passed.

“Luca, do you honestly think we can find it?”

“Don’t worry. We’ve seen quite a lot of information compared to the last time.”

“Even so….there are too many books.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration. There were thousands of books waiting to be read. Even each book was made by combining several patients’ diseases, so I wondered if I should read 100 books a day.

“Speaking of which, Leona.”

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t lose hope. Even if we don’t find something soon, I’m sure there’ll be a way someday. I believe in you, Leona.”

He rubbed his cheek against mine.

“Leona is an amazing person who can do anything.”

“I’m really glad that I have you, Luca. I won’t give up easily because you were here.”

“So let’s find Rere’s cure together!”

“Alright.”

And after looking for another hour, I finally put down the book I was reading.

“I think this is enough for today. Rere is waiting for me. If it’s too late….”

As if he understood what I was saying, Luca also put down the book he was reading.

“Then let’s wrap up for today. I think I’ve finally found something. There’s some record of disease with symptoms such as sudden collapse ….”

“Alright. Next time, we will start looking from that one. Let’s return home for today. “

And then we left the library. Isaac guided us to the carriage just as we had entered. Then, I told Isaac that we would come once a week now.

***{ /center}

By the time we arrived at the duchy, the back of my head was tingling.

I had a really bad feeling about it.

And just as the carriage entered the main gate, I saw another carriage in front of the mansion.

But it wasn’t an ordinary carriage.

“The royal family….?”

The carriage was decorated with the insignia of the imperial family. Which meant….

As soon as I felt the carriage slowing down a little, I opened the carriage door and jumped out.

“Leona!”

I could hear Luca’s surprised voice, but I ignored him and kept running. I couldn’t fully trust the Duke yet.

How could a royal family visit at times like this, anyway?

‘Maybe it’s the emperor.’

What if he came to force the engagement?

I was engulfed in anxiety and sped up my steps.

The Duke’s servants looked surprised when they saw me running in a hurry.

“Madam, what’s the matter?”

“Where’s Rere!!”

“She’s in the garden.”

“Take me there!”

The servants rushed to the front. Then I followed the servant to the garden and finally found Rere.

My daughter, Rere, was furious with a boy.

“I hate it when a man is obsessed with me!”