A Stepmother's Marchen

Chapter 58

…Hmm? Did I look scared?

For some unique reason, which is hard for me to understand, the knights followed me holding their sword’s grip and insisted that they wouldn’t let anyone get close to me.

Needless to say, merchants, who were preparing to earn money from aristocratic travelers in the early morning, began to pretend to be busy and looked down.

“Sir Altz, Sir Wolfgang?”

“Give me your word, madam.”

” …. I don’t think you have to be that wary.”

“You don’t have to worry about us.”

“I mean, I think it’s okay for you to relax a little…”

“We know nothing about relaxing, Madam.”

No matter what I say, it won’t work.

I looked around the market with a feeling of desperation, tightening the warm hooded cape made of the fox that Jeremy had caught the other day.

In such a place, it’s an implicit rule to pretend not to know someone even if you run into someone you know, but it is still inevitable to stand out.

For example, at the scarf stall over there is Duke Heinrich laughing with a woman my age.

My eyes can’t be deceived no matter how he wore the hat. It was unknown whether he had made a new lover after his wife died half a year later or he met her before that.

In the latter case, I understand why rumors spread that Duchess Heinrich committed suicide after suffering from depression.

Phew, I feel like I’m finally realizing how people have looked at me in the past. A woman who had lovers less than a month after her husband died.

“It’s a thief!”

It was then that the streets of the marketplace in the hot spring area, which was brightened with colorful colors all over the place, became noisy in an instant. I heard someone’s sharp cry, and the next moment, a man popped out of the very opposite side of the point where I was walking, followed by a knight in a black uniform.

“Get out of my way!”

At the very moment when the confident thief passed by me, Sir Altz, who was behind me, tripped the thief.

Thump!

As soon as the nearby signpost collapsed loudly, the merchant’s raspy roar ran, “Where do you think you’re pickpocketing?”

“Argh!”

I turned away from the scene when the angry merchant hit the head of the thief with a pot-covering object.

A knight in black uniform who reached our way quickly thanked my knights.

I’ve seen that uniform before…

“Sir Betstein, it’s too harsh… oh, my God.”

With another knight in black uniform, the lady with sky blue hair, who was rushing up this way, suddenly paused, covered her mouth with her hands and looked toward me. I was also surprised.

“Lady Neuwanstein…? What are you doing here?”

“It’s my first family trip.”

Duchess Nurembert was here for the same reason. She came to look for souvenirs early on and met a bad pickpocket.

I guess I’m not the only one who feels a little embarrassed. The Duchess, who was walking, fiddling with the Cape’s hem just as awkwardly as I was while our knights followed suit reliably, turned, “Madam, you received the New Year’s card, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I received it.”

“Yes, I wanted to tell you that what you have shown me… .. gave me the courage to be brave.”

Oh, that part. I wondered what kind of courage it was, but I wasn’t sure if it would be rude to ask.

Yet the Duchess, who seemed to look at the well-cleaned road with her eyes down, brought it up first.

“Well, I told my husband.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“I said for the first time that I can’t stand it anymore.”

What can’t she stand? Or did the decent Duke of Nurembert have relationships? How many…!

It was then that she, who had been looking at the ground all this time, suddenly jerked her head.

Seeing the watery eyes which had always subsided sadly, I swallowed a dry saliva in the scenery that glistened with unusual light as they haven’t before.

Huh?

“I mean, I can’t agree with that kind of discipline anymore, and shouldn’t I trust my child’s words rather than what others say?”

“I should have told you earlier, but anyway, he seemed a little surprised. After talking about it, I planned a family trip.”

The Duchess, who spoke in a surprisingly fast tone, now faced me with her shoulders up. The watery eyes, which had always been sad, sparkled brilliantly with pride. As for me, I was just mesmerized.

Well, it may not be a big deal to others. However, it was hard to imagine how much courage this slender wife, who was now in her early thirties, had to confront her husband for the first time in her life.

At least in my opinion. How can I understand everything about other people’s family?

“No… I’m glad the young Nurembert seems to be doing well.”

When she finally expressed her feelings, she now smiled broadly. For me, it was my first time seeing a bright smile, so for a moment I felt like she was a teenager who just had a coming-of-age ceremony.

“I hope so.”

Of course, assuming that it is not too late for all of us.

———-

“Don’t talk to me!”

The legend of the effectiveness of hot spring baths is said to have existed for a long time even back to the enduring history of the Kaiserreich Empire.

It hasn’t been long since this kind of popular hot spring center began to emerge in earnest, but anyway, when the moment finally came to try this luxurious open-air bath, the second son, who was like an angry colt, was in a strange condition.

“What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know, but don’t talk to me! Especially you!”

Elias seemed to be very sulky. I wish I had a way to know why he’s acting that way.

“Jeremy, what’s wrong with your brother?”

“I don’t know. If you leave him alone, it’ll work out. Oh, by the way, it’s already hot.”

As soon as I paid for the entrance fee, I forgot the outside season in the heat of the magnificent dome roof.

“I’m going in separately with Rachel, so please take care of your younger siblings.”

“I’ll try my best, my beloved mother. Oh, but are they not giving us food here?”

After Jeremy disappeared with his two younger brothers, already complaining about how long it had been since lunch, I entered the women’s bath with Rachel.

On the second floor, there is a wide pool that can accommodate dozens of people, and on the third floor, there are small pools that can be used individually between the stone walls that were constantly built.

No matter how popular it is these days, we didn’t want to play naked in the water with others, so we immediately changed into gowns and went up to the third floor.

As soon as I took off my gown and went into the water, I immediately realized the effect of the hot spring bath. God, this is heaven! Why didn’t I know this was good before?

It feels different from when I take a bath at home. Should I say that the skin feels like it’s getting bouncy automatically, along with the dizzying sensation of the whole body being loosened? Maybe it’s just a feeling, but I feel really healthy.

“Mom, I’m hot. Isn’t there cold water here?”

Our little lady didn’t seem to be enjoying herself as much as I was.

It seemed quite affectionate to see the plump white cheeks splashing with roses. Curly golden hair had already been soaked and straightened.

“Hang in there. They say hot springs are good for beauty.”

“Hot water makes you pretty? How?”

I don’t know how to explain. I smiled, moved my arms in the water, clasped the shoulders of the girl with her mouth pouting. The days when you try to argue about everything like this won’t last long…

“Well, it makes your skin whiter, removes scars and tickles quickly, and makes your nails shiny. Don’t you want to lose weight, Rachel??”

Rachel briefly touched my hair with her hands and said nothing, but soon shook her golden head in a distinctive stubborn voice, “You’re pretty without doing this. So I don’t want to do it either. It’s absurd to have to endure everything you don’t want to do to be pretty!”

Of course, this is unreasonable. There are only a few years left for her to experience the trouble once a month and have difficulty breathing because of the corsets.

…..Of course, when the time comes, I will take care of it. As it has been in the past.

Thanks to Rachel, who insisted that she wouldn’t tolerate such absurdities(that she would die from the heat), I had to leave the hot spring early.

My sons were clearly still playing there, so I returned to the villa and sat on the terrace with Rachel, enjoying the surrounding scenery and nibbling at refreshments.

I think I should go back alone when everyone is sleeping at night. Cough, I sound like an old woman.