“Mandy, I probably won’t reach spring. So my child, Carl, is–”

Cough cough, Merilyn’s cough became intense. I patted her carefully on the back. Oh, what should I do? Carl was freed from the vicious touch of his stepmother, Amanda, but perhaps another stepmother was set aside for his ordeal. I saw the child writhing and reaching for me as if it were a matter of course. Carl has already recognized me from hugging and cuddling him these days. This little baby seemed to believe without a doubt that I would hug him.

“Oh, he’s already very heavy. What about Young Master?”

Carl burped and spat out the milk as she gently patted the child on the back. The sour smell of vomiting mixed with the smell of milk was not so disgusting because it was a baby’s. I wiped Carl’s lips while the maid wiped the vomit on my clothes. The baby, who waited calmly while he was wiped with a handkerchief, smiled like an angel when she took off the handkerchief. The rosy lips resembling Merilyn’s were wide open and his cheeks were full.

“Oh, it’s pretty, too. Look, mom, don’t be depressed~ Carl is laughing.”

So cheer up, Merilyn. Don’t get sick.

I smiled as I showed Carl to Merilyn. Maybe Merilyn wouldn’t die, just as I didn’t become Amanda.

“Mandy, if anything happens to me… I want you to protect him then.”

“As a godmother, I’ll always be by his side.”

I knew it wasn’t what she wanted, but I said I wasn’t going to take her place, and disappointment flashed across her face. She would have quickly erased the disappointment and smiled kindly, but Merilyn could not easily hide her disappointment as the illness had exhausted her.

“My father is calling Agatha.”

I was surprised at what Merilyn said. Agatha was the second daughter of Viscount Bell, another vassal of the Count Petrika. I was familiar with her personality as I had once fought with her by the hair. She’s really, really, really… bad.

Agatha’s personality could not be simply expressed in bad words. In this feudal society, Merilyn, the County’s Lady, was much higher in rank than me and Agatha, because the order of father and family led to the order between us, the daughters. It wasn’t just high enough. In a fairly large, wealthy county, Merilyn was the noblest girl, and she had the highest rank unless a peer of her class visited. But Merilyn was a very kind and gentle girl, so she was kind to the daughters of her father’s vassals like me and Agatha, and unlike Merilyn and I, who became good friends, Agatha… She seemed to forget who the count’s daughter was.

Agatha came out to drink tea time with us, acted forcefully to Merilyn, and committed excessive acts such as punishing her maids or performing sadistic acts. Merilyn was at a loss and I was so enraged that I grabbed Agatha by the hair and fought. In this unprecedented situation, the Countess, Merilyn’s mother, came forward, and Agatha was half expelled from the County.

I can’t believe he brought that Agatha.

Unlike me, who has an excuse for ‘Merilyn misses you,’ Agatha had nothing. When she was called in at this point, it meant that the Count of Petrika had her in mind as the next Duchess. No matter how hard it is, what do you mean Agatha?! The Count must have gone mad. The impression of the poor old man who was looking for a place similar to his daughter with his grandchild in his arms has changed.

What do you mean Agatha? Agatha? Even Merilyn, who always had a warm perspective on people, looked stiff and full of anxiety and worry. If it’s the old Agatha she would definitely be the next Duchess and perhaps a more vicious stepmother than Amanda.

Oh, my God! Without Amanda, am I creating a new vicious stepmother? If this was the law of preservation of the original, it was scary.

“Mandy, Agatha… Hah.”

Merilyn sighed, emphasizing again. Even when she was only a Young lady of a Viscount, when she thought of Merilyn as weak, she moved as if it were her own house and harassed her maids. I was also worried about Agatha becoming the new Duchess, but…

I was very worried that this pretty Carlos would grow up under Agatha, but…

I closed my eyes tightly. I had the hot body of Oscar waiting for me. Oscar, the knight who protects the County, is quite promising handsome! There was an Oscar who wouldn’t be taken to the battlefield of the border for a symbolic reason because he was too good-looking!

Even pretty and kind-hearted Merilyn didn’t intend to marry a Duke who didn’t show even a handful of affection for his wife, she gave birth to his child, and he didn’t come to see her, so who would become a wife in name. What’s more, her friend becomes a Duchess! Even with the protection of Count Petrika, she would not be loved by her husband, the Duke, nor would she cherish how hard life would be for a Duchess of Viscount ancestry who raises a Duke’s heir, and not her own son.

I turned a blind eye to Merilyn’s plea, and Carlos’s cuteness.

“Agatha, too.”

I couldn’t speak when I tried to tell a lie indifferently. I quickly licked my lips with my tongue and recited a near-false wish.

“If she sees Carlos, who is cute, Agatha might change.”

After confirming my determination, Merilyn had a depressive look on her face, but quickly smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I hope so.”

Unfortunately, however, it could not have been so.

* * *