Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

I headed out into the hallway with Mary in front.

A chill wrapped around my body as I went outside without a shawl.

Will the child be okay alone with no one to take care of him in this cold weather? I was worried, so I quickened my pace.

Escal’s room is in the farthest corner of the mansion.

When I arrived at the front of his room, I caught my eye on the tray that had been laid down on the floor.

I opened the dome plate and muttered, “No way,” the food was still intact.

“When was this put here?”

“This morning……”

“What?”

It’s been a while since lunchtime, so he’s been starving all day?

I hurriedly pulled the doorknob, but the door did not open.

“What, why isn’t it open?”

“I think the Young Master locked it from inside.”

At Mary’s words, I shook the door vigorously again, but the thick wooden door did not budge in my strength.

“Escal, are you there?”

I knocked on the door and called Escal.

He must have heard me, but why was there no answer?

“Escal? Can’t you hear me?”

Could it be that he fainted?

My heart slumped down and hurriedly said to Mary: “Go and get the axe.”

“Why the axe?”

“I don’t have time to explain, hurry up and bring me an ax!”

“Ye-yes!”

Mary hurriedly ran to get the axe.

“Escal, Escal! Answer me. Escal?”

Something must have happened, seeing no response even though I called him so loud my throat hurt.

Why did Mary take so long?

While I was stomping my feet at a loss, Mary returned with an axe as well as a servant.

“What’s going on, Madam?”

“Break this door right now.”

“Ma’am, calm down. Young Master has committed a grave sin against you, but please don’t do this……”

The servant stopped me with gibberish, thinking that I was going to break the door to harm Escal.

I don’t know if the original Lenia would do that, but I won’t!

“Noisy! Just break the door right now!”

With a gasp, the servant closed his eyes and raised the axe.

“I’m sorry, Young Master!”

crack! crack! The doorknob was crushed with two blows of the axe.

I grabbed the handle that was barely hanging and pulled it out, then slammed the door and entered the room.

“Escal?”

The boy was crouching alone in the dark room without a single light.

I cautiously approached Escal and lowered my body.

“Escal.”

“……”

Escal, who had his face buried in his knees, slowly raised his head.

The boy looked up at me blankly, neither crying nor whining.

My figure suddenly overlapped with the boy.

When I was a child, I was alone in a small room and waited all night for my mother who never came back.

Clearing my throat, I asked Escal gently, “Escal, are you okay?”

“……sorry.”

“Escal.”

“I was wrong. I will never do that again.”

Like a broken tape, Escal repeatedly said that he was wrong.

“I’m fine, don’t apologize. It’s okay.”

I hugged him tightly and said I was fine, but he couldn’t calm down easily.

I patted him a few more times, then released my arms and asked. “Are you feeling sick?”

Escal slowly shook his head.

I reached out to the boy with relief.

“It’s too cold in this room, so let’s go somewhere warm. Get up.”

“……”

Escal just looked at my outstretched hand and shook his head.

“The Duke told me to reflect here.”

His biological father, whom he had seen for a long time, seemed scarier to him than a stranger.

I persuaded the boy once more, thinking that I should have a serious conversation when Helios arrived.

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”

“I’ll be scolded by the Duke……”

Escal looked around and stood up carefully.

I left the room with the staggering Escal.

Seeing him in a bright place, he was very messy.

The son of the Duke of Anthemion, who is said to have abundant money, looks like that.

It’s only natural for Escal to hold a grudge against me.

I told the servant to fix the door before Helios returned.

“Escal, have you eaten?” I asked kindly.

“I just ate–”

growl! There was a loud sound from Escal’s stomach.

The boy’s face turned red.

“I haven’t eaten yet, do you want to eat with me?”

“With- with me?”

Escal asked wide-eyed in surprise.

I replied kindly, “Food doesn’t taste good if you eat alone. But if you don’t want to eat with me, you can say no.”

“I- I’ll eat with you.”

“Will you? Then let’s go to my room.”

I smiled broadly and took the boy’s hand.

It was unbelievably small for a six-year-old, and just by looking at his skinny body, it was clear that no one cared about him.

‘Why did a person called the birth mother leave her child like this?’

If she liked Helios so much, wouldn’t she take care of his son?

I entered my room, quelling my anger toward Charlett Melks.

The room is warm thanks to the firewood burning throughout the day, because a sick person is not allowed to stay in the cold room.

I brought a chair in front of the fireplace and sat Escal on it.

His face is full of dirt.

I thought I should bathe him before feeding him so I told Mary: “Go to the kitchen and ask them to prepare a meal.”

“Are you going to have a meal?”

“Yeah, I’ll be eating with Escal, so prepare for two servings. Bring a towel and hot water too.”

“You don’t have to……”

“Stop talking and go.”

“……yes.”

After the dissatisfied pouting Mary left the room, I looked at Escal again.

The boy warming himself in front of the fireplace glanced at me and cautiously asked, “Are you not sick anymore?”

“Hm?”

“You were very sick because of me.”

Escal bit his tiny lip.

I looked at the boy with sad eyes.

This kid thinks it’s all his fault. The reason people don’t like him and he isn’t loved is that he’s done something wrong. So it is natural for him to be ignored.

It breaks my heart to think about what this boy had to go through before he gave up on being loved by his parents.

“Escal, it’s not your fault.”

“It’s because of the cookie I gave you.”

“Escal.” Ignoring his sobs I said softly, “I can’t eat crustaceans; shrimps, lobsters, crabs….., those with hard shells and living in the sea.”

“……I see.”

The boy bowed his head like a sinner.

“Instead, I like steak; chicken, duck, and beef steaks are especially good. Does Escal also like steak?”

Escal nodded his head after hesitating for a bit.

“Then what about fruit? I like sour fruit; oranges, pineapples, strawberries, and so on.”

The boy who was listening to me swallowed his saliva.

Thunder rumbled once again from his stomach.

“What does Escal like?”

“I……”

At my question, Escal wiggled his fingers.

The boy, who was trying to pick his favorite food, was silent for a long time.

Then he began to shed beads of tears.

“Escal?”

“Hic……”

Escal covered his eyes with the back of his hand. But once the tears flowed, they did not stop.

I think I know why.

This boy had never been asked such a question before, so he didn’t even have a chance to think about what he liked.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Escal.”

It felt like I was looking at myself when I was a child, so I hugged Escal as tight as I could.

“Hic, hic……”

How deep is the wound? He sobbed bitterly in my arms.

I comforted the boy quietly, letting him to cry as much as he could – which he probably never did.

“……I’m sorry.”

That was the first thing Escal said after crying for a long time.

“What are you sorry for?”

“Because I cried……”

“What’s wrong with crying?”

“The Duke told me not to cry and annoy the others……”

“It’s okay, Escal. You can cry as much as you want. Basically, children grow up crying.”

I said so and wiped his face with a handkerchief.

He is a child who sniffles with the tip of his nose red. Nevertheless, it’s more pitiful to see him pretending to be determined.

“I brought some hot water.”

Just then, Mary came into the room with a basin of hot water and a wet towel.

There was a hint of dissatisfaction in her eyes that glanced at Escal.

In the original story, Mary doesn’t Escal because of Lenia.

It is not as much as it was back then, but she sure does’t like Escal because I got seriously ill from the cookie he gave me.

“I’ll do it myself. Put it in here and get out.”

I told Mary to go out and picked up the wet towel myself.