The Monstrous Grand Duke's Fake Lady

Well, it’s quite nice to have some free money anyway. Vivian looked at him uneasily before turning back once again.

At first, she thought him to be an assassin sent by Young Lady Alexia. Vivian trembled since she thought that the Young Lady had ordered him to kill her after realizing what she had done. She even had her luggage packed so that she could just run away at any time as she observed his movements.

But even after two weeks, he was still visiting this place now. When Vivian’s simple yet passionately cooked food was brought out, he always emptied the dish before disappearing.

“I heard the villagers say that he is now wandering around after killing people somewhere. I also heard some people say that he was running away because he had committed a sin towards the Imperial Family.”

Ez was constantly talking.

No matter how interesting the gossip was, it was never good to talk about it in front of the customers. Vivian put her finger on his mouth to make him stop.

“Stop. It’s nice to talk, but it’ll be dinner time soon, right?”

Ez’s face instantly turned red at the moment her finger had brushed against his lips. Right then, the man who was wearing the robe turned his head towards Ez, but Vivian didn’t catch any of that.

“R-right. Oh my! I’ll go to prepare right away!”

As Ez, whose cheeks were flushed, ran away quickly, Vivian took a breath lightly.

Whether it was fortunate or not, the cooking skills which she obtained from the County were being quite useful over here. Thanks to that, there were often people who began coming over purposely to eat alone, saying that her food was absolutely delicious.

As proof, people started entering and she greeted them all by nodding slightly.

“Waaaaah!”

It was when she had been busy preparing. Vivian’s face turned pale at the faint but clear cry of her baby from the second floor.

After leaving all the cooking to Ez, Vivian quickly ascended upstairs. The room at the very end belonged to her and her child. The child was already wailing when she entered the room.

“You’re a good baby, aren’t you. What is it that disturbs you?”

Vivian hugged the baby and carefully patted her. But the baby didn’t look like it would stop crying any soon. She wouldn’t have been hungry since she had already fed her on time.

Vivian undressed the child and checked if she toileted, but even that was still clean.

The cries of unknown reasons persisted. It seemed to have stopped a little as she constantly patted and soothed her, but as soon as she stopped, she became aware of it and started crying once more.

In the end, Vivian had no choice but to come back down with the child in her arms. Ez’s eyes grew round when he saw the child.

“Is it fine to bring Ashley down?”

“She knows when I put her down and she’ll start crying again.”

Vivian had an awkward look on her face. Ez, who understood her concern, carefully reached out to Ashley.

“I’ll take her with me, ma’am. Ashley, let’s play with me.”

The baby’s clear eyes turned to Ez. She didn’t refuse his hand and appeared quiet, but it only lasted for a moment. The child, apparently aware of the hand other than her mother, began to cry once again.

The flustered Ez quickly comforted her, but the child was still shedding her tears. The child, who was crying like she was the most sorrowful person in the world, didn’t look like she was stopping any time soon.

Eventually, the child only stopped crying when she was returned to her beloved mother’s arms. When the squishy cheeks had touched Vivian’s shoulder, Ashley stopped crying like it had been a lie.

“Seems like we have no other choice. I think I should be the one making dinner for today.”

“I’m sorry Ez. I’ll give you a special bonus for this.”

“It’s fine—it’s just between us anyway.”

Ez smiled bravely before continuing the partly cooked dishes of Vivian. He still wasn’t up to Vivian’s level, but since he had already seen and followed her, he was able to imitate it similarly somehow.

As Ez began to cook skillfully, Vivian relaxed and patted the child on her back. She didn’t know what to do at times when she was embarrassed like this.

“A, woo—”

When the child reached her hand out as if her attention was going elsewhere, Vivian patted her bottom. She walked to the place where her child had pointed while talking lovingly to the child.

“Alright, alright. Is there something fascinating there?”

“…Is that your child?”

Right at that moment, the man in black robe talked to her. Since he was someone who would always express his request by nodding or shaking his head without a word, Vivian was surprised that she stuttered a bit.

“Ye, yes. I’m sorry that my child was crying rather loudly just now.”

“It’s fine.”

Even if it was just short, the man’s understanding made Vivian heave a sigh of relief. She worried if he might have been annoyed, but only with his consideration, she felt absolutely grateful.

She tilted her head since his voice sounded somewhat familiar, but as soon as Ez had finished cooking, she forgot all about that.

That day, for the first time ever, the man cladded all in robe went away after leaving some leftovers.