# 1
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"A year ago, my eldest sister ran away from home, and now she's back with an illegitimate child. We can't leave the future of the Count's family in the hands of someone like her!"
Bloodshot eyes.
Screams filled with hatred.
Her younger sister, whom Elinor met after a long absence, has changed a lot.
Her younger sister was once a leading candidate to become the next saint.
And Elinor herf firmly believed that her sister would become a saint.
Therefore, she deliberately left the palace and joined the Imperial Academy.
Because she believed that physical separation was the highest priority to avoid the role of the evil sister who harasses the good and lovable heroine, Charlotte Winston.
“Look! She's walking around with a baby and no husband.”
Charlotte pointed her finger at the child Elinor was carrying.
The boy with light blonde hair shrank in fear.
Young children quickly realize who loves them and who hates them.
The terrified child hid deeper into Elinor's arms.
His small, fern-like hands gripped Elinor's dress so tightly that they turned white.
“Who knows what filthy blood runs through his veins? If he has not been exposed to something unmentionable, then this is the lesser of evils.”
“Theo, don't listen.”
Elinor covered Theodore's little ears with her hands.
She didn't want to hear Charlotte's bullshit.
Theodore was not Elinor's son by birth, but she raised him lovingly.
It's as if you're afraid it will turn off if you neglect it, or explode if you put pressure on it.
She always sought to expose him only to beautiful things, and left his ears to only hear good things.
She loved her nephew, Theodore, very much.
But Charlotte, on the contrary...
“Charles, stop.”
Elinor said softly.
"Don't do anything you'll regret. What do you do now?"
“It's you who shouldn't act like this.”
Charlotte opened her eyes sharply.
“While I was training to enhance my sacred power, you had to take care of our parents. But you ran away and left our elderly parents.”
“Holy power cultivation? I’m the one who ran away?”
“Yes! It seems that you made a life with a child, so why did you come back now? Did you come to take your share after our parents died?”
Charlotte shouted at her in a sharp tone, with nothing but evil remaining from her.
She looked at Elinor and Theodore with disgusted looks.
Elinor felt frustrated.
'You have really decided to give up your child.'
No, Charlotte gave up her baby a long time ago.
A year ago, when she left Theodore, who had just had a baby, at Winston's mansion, and ran off with a man.
It was not possible for Charlotte not to recognize Theodore.
Theodore looked like Charlotte.
It is true that he resembles his aunt Elinor to some extent, but he resembles his mother Charlotte more.
His bright, light blonde hair is rare in the empire.
Theodore clung to Elinor, trembling.
Elinor tightened her arms around him.
whispered people who witnessed the scene.
“It seems like he really is her son.”
"Who is the baby's father? I don't remember anyone who looks like him."
“Didn’t Miss Elinor go to the Magic Tower after she graduated from the academy? There were rumors that she suddenly disappeared there.”
“Oh, didn’t His Majesty the Emperor take it?”
“I heard that she went to a neighboring kingdom to live lavishly.”
“It seems like it was all a lie.”
Curious glances roamed over Elinor and Theodore.
Their eyes sparkling with interest concealed sarcasm.
Since her first year at the academy, Elinor has been recognized as a genius.
You easily solved a problem that no one had been able to solve in a hundred years.
All of the academy's teachers were longing for her.
Even before she graduated, rumors spread that different countries had sent her offers.
But Elinor suddenly disappeared after graduating a year ago.
And now, she's back in the capital with an illegitimate child!
The scene was exciting for onlookers.
“Hoo.”
Theodore cried in a worried tone.
Elinor hugged him tightly.
If she revealed the truth about Theodore's origin here, she would get rid of the stigma of having an illegitimate child.
I heard that there is a magic tool in the Magic Tower to check lineage.
Renting it may be difficult, but it is not impossible.
If Gadget reveals the truth, Charlotte will be punished for lying.
She will be punished for abandoning her newborn child and trying to deny his existence.
Her reputation will be crushed.
But Elinor could not reveal the truth.
She knew very well where the arrows would hit if she dodged them.
‘Theodore will be hurt.’
A child who is only one year old will become the subject of gossip.
It is one thing for a child to be without a father, but it is another thing for a mother to abandon her child and call him a foundling.
Especially since his father is completely alive.
Interesting dirty rumors will stick to him.
She will still be alive and will cruelly haunt his future.
Elinor could not bear this fate for him.
Elinor stood still, holding the child.
Looks filled with curiosity focused on her.
She was afraid, but she had decided long ago how she would act.
“Theodore is…”
The moment she opened her mouth, she looked directly at Charlotte.
“Can you take responsibility for what I just said?”
A man appeared and interrupted Elinor's words.
“His Highness Duke Hilliard?”
Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise.
The man who suddenly appeared was Matthias Hilliard, the most famous and wealthy duke in the capital.
But he has been isolated in recent years.
It is said that he was busy with his family affairs.
How could he suddenly appear in such a situation?
“Mathias.”
Elinor also seemed surprised by the Duke's appearance.
She moved her lips.
The Duke shook his head slightly.
Elinor's eyes twitched.
'What is this?'
Charlotte felt a strange atmosphere.
‘How dare you call His Highness the Duke by his name? It looks like they know each other.'
“It has been a long time, Sir Duke.”
Charlotte straightened her expression and greeted him warmly.
After all, the Duke was a man who had admired and flirted with her in the past.
If she had not eloped with Alexis, she might have married the Duke and lived as a Duchess.
'Maybe this is better.'
She can use the Duke to push Elinor into even greater trouble.
And perhaps she can tempt the Duke again.
Charlotte smiled with the beauty of a saint as she thought of an evil plan.
"You're still kind. Surely His Highness the Duke's chivalric spirit would not allow him to leave a lady in trouble, so he came to quell the dispute, right? But this is not the time to show mercy."
Matthias raised his eyebrows and asked in a low tone.
“Why?”
“Because this is a family matter between me and my sister.”
“If that is the meaning, then I have the right too. Because this is my family’s matter too.”
"What?"
Matthias hugged Elinor.
The woman, who was receiving everyone's stares, disappeared into the man's embrace.
The child is no longer visible.
Only the sound of small, slightly calmed breathing could be heard from a wide, tightly protecting embrace.
He looked at Charlotte with ice cold eyes.
“I, Matthias Hilliard, husband of Elinor and father of Theodore.”
Startled voices exploded from everywhere.
Charlotte's beautiful smile froze.
Elinor, who was holding her nephew, widened her eyes.
“So I will not tolerate any further insult.”
It all started a year ago.