I Don’t Want to Part With My Angelic Stepchild - Chapter 87 - Chapter 92 (Patreon)

Chapter 87 - It’s too late now.
The man I knew as the Commander of the Imperial Guards was earnest and inflexible in some ways, but I was surprised when I arrived in this mansion to find that he had such a way of playing with women.
Since he had more opportunities to converse with me, I found him to be a different person from the one he was in Ligisia. I can't help but think how much better it would have been if he had been someone else.

The man who was my husband has been trying to gallantly take care of me. I couldn’t help but feel wary that it was my turn next after Anna.

“Can you guys withdraw? I’d like to talk with my wife alone. Don’t let anyone bother us.”

Anton had the maids who were quietly watching from the side retreat. It seems he wants to speak about something that even the maids shouldn’t hear. If so, he does not seem to trust any of the servants here.

“You are not a convenient woman to me. You are more important than any other woman to me.”

He said clearly as the two of us remained in the dining room alone. From my point of view, these words came too late.

“Who was it that wanted to divorce that important woman?”
“It was my fault. I have deeply regretted after coming with Anna to this country.”
“It’s too late now.”

We are divorced. Anton continued talking, not paying attention to my refusal for reconciliation.

“I know that you cannot forgive me.”
“Why don’t you quickly return me to Ligisia then?”
“That is an impossible proposition.”
“Why?”
“Anna’s comrades have an eye on you.”
“Hah? Why would you kidnap me at the pier then?”
“At that time, I had no choice but to take you because you were found by them.”

Anton’s story sounded too good to be true. Moreover, he made it sound as if something bad would happen to me at the pier otherwise.

“You showing up there was beyond my expectations. They did not know you were my wife. They thought you were simply the daughter of the Lord who owned the land tasked with finding smugglers, so they planned on drugging you and taking you to Troyl to sell you to a brothel.”
“...!”
“I was very surprised when I saw you drugged asleep. I knew you’d be in a terrible situation if I left you alone. I protected you.”
“Thank you very much for that.”

He’s apparently portraying himself as a Knight in shining armor now. He’s trying to say that he doesn’t know what would happen to me if he didn’t help. He might be thinking that I should be grateful to him for saving me.
As for me, I can only think that it was his fault to begin with that I got involved.

“You look unconvinced. Your wrinkles will increase if you frown like that.”
“Who cares? It’s none of your business anyway.”

I don’t think there’s any reason he should be talking about my face. Anton laughed with a mean look. It seems that he, who always looked expressionless in front of Noah and me, could make such faces, too. It was a new discovery.

“Rather than that, what are you trying to accomplish by coming here? The woman in picture of that locket pendant is Mother-in-law, no?”

I’ve been thinking since that time. Anton isn’t a man who would just simply elope with Anna. It appears that he just took advantage of the elopement to accomplish his own goals. He was scheming something and made use of Anna to do it.
The elopement was simply a point in his plan.

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Chapter 88 - Anton’s lie.
Since I picked up the locket pendant he dropped the other day, it has been stuck on my mind and never left. If I wasn't mistaken, it was because I had seen it shining on the chest of someone else.
The person revealed her good friend, now deceased, had this pendant as well. She said that they had kept a picture of each other in it. That lady’s pendant had the picture of Anton’s mother in it, and the pendant of Anton’s mother had that lady’s picture in it.

And Anton was holding onto it. Perhaps he inherited it as a keepsake of his late mother. What does it mean he has it on his person in here? I couldn’t think of a reason.

“You noticed the pendant. Do you know its meaning?”
“Mother-in-law told me about it before. She told me she had a matching one with her late best friend. I heard that each had a picture of the other one stored in their pendants.”

Anton's face contorted as he heard my words. As I thought, my Mother-in-law was somehow involved in this, after all.

“Did you tell Anna about Mother-in-law?”
“No, Anna wanted to know, but I never told her. I hate that person, after all. She was very close, but never noticed a thing. When have you noticed?”
“When I saw the picture in the pendant and thought carefully about it. I heard that your real mother was a maid of Duke Manela’s daughter.”

It was the night of my birthday. I recalled the talk I had with Fii when I couldn’t fall asleep. At that time, Fii told me that Anton’s mother was a maid of Duke Manela’s daughter, who accompanied her when she married.
And on the same day, I heard from my Mother-in-law that Anton’s deceased mother was a close friend of hers and that they had each other’s pictures in their locket pendants.

Later, after coming to this mansion and picking up the pendant Anton had dropped, there was a flash of inspiration in my head. Anton's mother, who was a close friend of his stepmother. Anton who hated his stepmother. Fii, who was being chased by his pursuers and lived in hiding in the vine house with Anton’s stepmother.
When I thought about that relationship, there was something that came to my mind. I couldn't help but ask to confirm it.

“You don't mean to tell me that you've been in contact with those in Troyl who were looking for the Duke Manela’s daughter and that you have made them let their guard down by showing them that picture in the locket pendant, making them think you're the prince she bore?”

I didn't want to believe it while asking that question. He was a man who had even held the position of Commander of the Imperial Guards in Ligisia. I didn't want to think that a man loyal to the imperial family would descend to be a deceiver in the land of Troyl, even if it was another country.

“As expected of you. You are exactly right. Thanks to that, you have narrowly escaped death, too.”
“Everyone in Troyl believes that you are the late Crown Prince’s son? Even the people of this mansion?”
“Yeah.”

Anton nodded with satisfaction.

“Anton, what have you done…!”

Anton's affirmation nearly made me fall to my knees. He had lied to everyone that he was of the royal blood. If the truth was discovered, he would be charged with perjury and could be sent to the guillotine.
The life of his supposed wife, myself, had been because of him. Is what Anton is trying to imply, but from the point of view of those who don’t know the circumstances, I am his accomplice. Just like everyone in this mansion.
Even though in reality I was simply kidnapped and imprisoned here.

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Chapter 89 - Shocking incident.
The people working in this mansion seem to be brainwashed, believing that Anton is a good person. No matter what I say, then won’t listen to me.
It happened when I was trembling in anger. I heard a lot of noise outside the room. The servants seemed to be tussling with someone, and occasionally I heard the complaints of some woman, as the noise was getting closer and closer.

“Please stop. Not good, beyond this point is…!”
“Let me go. I have business with that man.”
“If you need something, I am at your service.”
“Sheesh, you are in the way. Get out of my way!”

It seemed that several male servants were trying to stop a woman who was yelling at them. I could easily imagine whom that voice belonged to. Thinking that a troublesome one came for a visit, the door suddenly opened with a bang.

“Anna?”
“This is unforgivable, Anton. To pick that woman over me.”

Anna resembled a demon. She was holding a silver knife in both of her hands. The hair that was usually tied up was messed up. Her cheeks were warped like a different person.
She stared at Anton hatefully as she approached.

“Stop it, Anna!”
“...!”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what just happened. Just when I realized that Anton strongly pulled on my arm, I felt the knife Anna held stabbed into my stomach. Not being able to bear the sudden pain, I lost my consciousness.

“Yurika! Thank God you are awake.”
“Lady Yurika, how do you feel?”

I regained consciousness two days later. I was in a bed with a silk canopy. There were two faces peeking at me. Anton, who looked as if nothing happened and the teary-eyed Mille.
I had just woken up and my head was in a state where I couldn't think well, so I tried to get up, but my abdomen was in pain and I couldn't get up.

“Ow…!”
“Don’t overdo it. You covered for me and got stabbed by Anna in my place.”
“I got stabbed by Anna?”
“Do you not remember? Anna pulled a knife on me, and you covered me to protect me from it.”

When I felt uncomfortable with Anton's lukewarm attitude, he said something somewhat different than what I remembered. I wasn’t covering for him. What does the man who used me as a shield is trying to say? Anton pulled on my arm and thrust me in front of him. At that time, I think Anna looked very surprised. Mille, who didn't know anything about it, smiled at me as if she was relieved.

“Lady Yurika. I'm so glad you're okay. We were afraid you'd never wake up.”
“What happened to Anna?”
“After that, Anna was captured and put in jail. The stimulation was so terrible that a few men seized her right after. You can rest assured.”
“Lady Yurika, everything is going to be all right now.”
“I'll leave the house for a bit. Mille, I'm leaving Yurika in your hands.”

Anton lightly tapped Mille’s shoulder as he walked out. The action of his overlapped with something he did to me before. It was the day he told me about the divorce. As I thought, this conduct was still nothing to him. I was, after all, just a housemate for my husband.

“Lady Yurika?”

I hated myself for not being able to raise myself up for fear of being hurt. I only moved my face from the bed and looked at Anton's back, which Mille seemed to take as my reluctance to part.

“Lady Yurika, Master will be back soon.”

Mille must have misunderstood that I was worried about Anton. I couldn't help but feel that Anton was a horrible man. I wanted to run away from here with all my heart.

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Chapter 90 - Character introduction
I’m not sure why the author decided to do “character introduction” this far in the novel, but I decided to skip it as there was nothing of importance.

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Chapter 91 - Mille’s identity.
As I'm in bed, wondering what's going to happen to me now, Mille pulled her face right next to mine and whispered in my ear.

“Wha, what is it?”
“Lady Yurika. Please rest assured. I am on your side.”
“What are you talking about? You are Anton's...!”

I tried to sit up again, but a pain shot through my abdomen. When I thought that I would have to experience this pain for a while, I couldn't help but feel ashamed of myself for not being able to move as I wanted.

''Why did this happen to me...!”
“Lady Yurika, you must not be reckless. The wound has only just been closed.”

Mille put her hand around my waist, which made me feel so pathetic that I felt like I was about to cry.

“Let’s sit up slowly, I will give you a hand.”
“Thank you.”

Despite the stinging pain, I was helped up by Mille to a sitting position in the bed and found a cup of milk tea on the side table.

“Would you like to drink?”
“Yes.”

I was surprised when I sipped at the teacup that Mille handed me. It was milk tea, full of milk that I liked very much. It was the same as the one someone certain had made for me before.

“This is…?”
“Made by Lord Fii.”

Mille grinned.

“Mille, why are you?”
“Can’t you tell?”
“I cannot.”
“It’s me, M-E. Lady Yurika.”

I couldn’t understand what she meant by winking at me. It cannot be helped, she said and lifted the hair from her head.

“Mille…?”

Mille’s hair was a wig. She smiled as she took off her wig and showed it to me. That smile was so familiar.

“You are Dora? No way? Since when?”
“Please forgive me. I was here since the beginning. I infiltrated this mansion as a maid after you were kidnapped, but Anna had doubts about me, so I had to treat you badly to earn her trust. I have no excuses.”
“That is surprising. I would have never thought you were Mille…”

Despite saying that, I noticed something.

“Is it your doing that the maids suddenly changed their tune in the middle of the night?”
“I'm sorry about that too. I couldn't bear it when you were constantly being criticized, so I secretly told my fellow maids that Anna actually stole your husband from you and is living here as if she owned the place.”
“So where's Fii then?”
“The kitchen. He infiltrated the house as one of the chefs here.”

---

Chapter 92 - Behind the scenes of her captivity.
“By the time we replaced the servants here, you were confined in this room and we couldn’t get near. Lord Fionn was so concerned about you and your health so he often had Blacky bring you food away from Lord Anton’s eyes.”
“Is that why Blacky was coming so often? I get it now.”
“The meals were prepared according to Lord Anton’s instructions, but Lord Fionn made sure to prepare them as close to your preferences as possible.”
“So the meals were prepared by Fii, huh.”
“Yes. The deep-fried guineafowl is in fact, Lord Fionn’s specialty. He were allowed to have some after that, too.”

Dora said proudly.

“But then, when you were told to poison taste for me by Anton, you didn't seem to want to eat it very much, why?”
“Of course, Lady Yurika. The fried food was so delicious that I wasn't sure I could satisfy myself just by tasting it. Of course, I asked Fionn-sama to especially fry it up for you as a reward for your current situation.”

Apparently, the reason Mille looked shaken at that moment was not that she was afraid of the poison, but because she was on the brink of eating it all by herself.

“As expected of you, Dora.”
“You can rest assured while staying here, Lady Yurika. We will be always by your side.”
“Dora…”

I felt alone because I thought I had no one here to stand by me, no one on my side. I was convinced that I had to keep fighting alone until help arrived. And yet here I was, with an ally right beside me.
Then I wondered why they didn't rescue me sooner, and Dora apologized to me.

“Forgive me, Lady Yurika. I never thought Anna would try to harm you. I never thought she would target you when I was not by your side. It’s my fault that you were stabbed.”
“That was not your fault. That’s how things just ended up turning out.”
“Lady Yurika.”
“You were able to treat my wound properly, right? My abdomen feels tightly wrapped up in bandages.”

I was stabbed on my side. A bandage was tightly wrapped around the wound. When I touched it with my hand, I could smell a strong odor of medicine.

“Yes, although I am unworthy, I had the privilege of treating your wound. I have learned a lot about medicine. Fortunately, the wound was very shallow, so it should close up in just a few days. But, it would be best for you to rest for a while.”
“Your studied medicine? Just who are you?”
“I am a fledgling doctor.”
“Why are you working as a maid then?”

I cannot imagine. Dora is a female doctor? Why is she working as a maid then?

“That’s a long story…”

Ahaha, Dora laughed in an attempt to divert the conversation. It didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it.