Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 148

Chapter 148 – New Habits

“We found a few clues that were left behind, but nothing damning enough to use as evidence against Dawson Hiln.” Roxanna continued to explain with the ambious black hard box still on the table.

“Traces.” Repeated Lacias while nodding his head.

“Yes, It’s a trace of Baron Doug Blake. It seems they were making a mutated hole in the form of an article so it can be disguised in the abandoned building.” (T/N: Holes can manifest any shape.)

With that, Roxanna lifted the top of the box revealing its contents. A torn piece of paper lay motionless in the middle of the box; it wasn’t much of an article now. If it wasn’t for the black mist which comes from the paper, it could be regarded as just a normal paper.

“When I connected the cut front part, it looked like a research journal in context, but it was all destroyed and the contents were unrecognizable. Baron Doug Blake’s signature remained, however. For now, I think it can serve as justifiable evidence to interrogate Baron Blake.”

“Are you saying there are other pieces?” Asked Lacias curiously.

“Yes. Not a lot, but very little. I couldn’t read the contents, so I’ve been keeping it in the general’s room. Should I bring it here?”

“No need. I’ll go and take a look at it.” Lacias grabbed the piece of paper inside the box and observed it very carefully. The Baron’s signature was clearly visible.

“This would be enough to bring him in.” She added. “So shall we proceed?”

Lacias nodded and headed out of the room. “Hizette, you’ll take charge of this matter.” Ordered him before leaving with Roxanna

“Got it, sir.”

While the others went to investigate the rest of the torn papers, Hizette took off with his mind set to Doug Blake’s mansion.

*

“I kept them here.” Roxanna opened one of the drawers that sat in the middle of the general’s room. A bunch of torn papers lay scattered inside it. “This page is the only one I tried putting together. The one with Baron Blake’s signature on the bottom-right, the rest were all impossible to put together.”

Lacias scratched his sharp chin. “It really was nothing special.”

“Yeah, if there was, I would have reported it to you beforehand, but there’s only a useless typeface….” Roxanna lowered her head and frowned slightly, she could vaguely hear the sound of grinding teeth.

“It’s okay. The situation isn’t completely bad.” He said after muffling a sigh.

“Right. Investigating the young master’s symptoms is an urgent priority. As time goes on, we don’t know how it will affect his body.”

Lacias nodded. “Yes. We should do a proper investigation.”

*

“Umm… Jane, I’m trying to touch this side, which do you think is better?”

“Hm, let’s see. In my opinion….”

Jane and Lila were busy examining the ingredients before them, their expressions were as serious as agents working on an important mission. However, in their case, this mission was making petite cupcakes.

Lila eyed the delicious delights with concern. “Since that’s a chocolate muffin, the color of the sheet is dark, so wouldn’t a lighter color suit the decor?”

“I think so too.” Replied Jane, taking a moment to think for herself. “Then should we choose white?”

“That’s a bit cliché.” Muttered Lila as she started squeezing the white cream on top of the cake.

“Even if it’s a bit cliché, I like the classics the best.” Even though Jane forgot her manners, she felt like they were finally friends. “After all, there is a reason for the classics.”

The two smiled at each other as the mouth-watering aroma filled the kitchen.

“If you sprinkle candy powder on the cream,” added Jane, “the young master will be very pleased. Although he doesn’t show it, he really likes colorful things.”

Lila giggled at the thought of it. “He doesn’t say it out loud but you can see the excitement in his adorable eyes.”

“Isn’t that adorable? His eyes shine brightly whenever there are things that look colorful or sweet in front of him. It’s something you have to notice.”

The duo kept chatting along with most of their conversations relating to how cute Hir was.

“Well, these days, the young master’s face has gotten so much better! Is it because he receives swordsmanship training? He seems to have grown a lot too!”

“I think so too. He’s growing fast,” said Lila, remembering how she could barely pick him up.

“I’m so proud of him! Anyways, I went to the training hall to give the young master some snacks and saw him training, huhu.”

Lila’s eyes instantly shone with interest, she quickly finished piling up the cream and rested on her hands together prompting Jane to keep going.

“He did….”

“Mhm, He did?”

“He did much better than I thought! His posture was already looking good.”

Lila’s lips began to twitch upwards. She tried to hold it in by coughing, but in the end, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you proud?”

“Of course. No mother wouldn’t be proud of her son doing well.”

“That’s true. You should watch the young master’s practice soon since you really seem happy just by listening to it.”

Lila frowned slightly after hearing this. “Hir said he will invite me to the training hall when he’s ready.”

“Aw, is that so? Then we should prepare a really delicious dessert for that day.”

“Of course, and I’m sure the knights would love it if we prepared enough desserts for all of them.” A sudden mischievous grin creeped its way onto Lila’s face. “Jane has to suffer.”

Even though Lila deliberately emphasised the word ‘suffer’, Jane seemed completely unbothered. “No suffering involved. I should actually practice for this coming day.”

What kind of practice is she planning to do when her skill is already at its peak? Lila laughed inwardly while Jane just worked on finishing up the cupcakes. She was adding life and color to make them more appealing to Hir.

They looked pretty even in her own eyes, she was sure that Hir would be overjoyed to see them. Although she already knew how he would react, Lila couldn’t wait to see his reaction again even though she’s seen it a thousand times.

“What do you think?” Asked Jane while looking proudly at her work.

“Yep, that’s enough.”

Pink, yellow, sky blue, the cupcakes were decorated with all kinds of cute colors that would catch the eyes of anyone, not just Hir’s.

“The young master will really love it, they would make a wonderful reward after training.”

Lila looked up at her friend after being reminded of Hir’s training. “Is it time to end soon?”

“Well… his timings are a bit flexible, so I’m not sure, but it should be over soon.”

“Is that so….” She tried to hide the disappointment in her eyes by grabbing a handful of candy pieces and sprinkling them over the cream. “By the way, I almost forgot, I have important work to do this afternoon!”

“Oh really?” Jane sounded a little underwhelmed. “But there isn’t much time left.”

“That’s what I mean. This is a big deal. I should really go now.”

“But the young master will come soon! Go after seeing him.”

“No. I don’t have much time .”

“Oh alright…”

Jane looked at Lila and the cake alternately, she was genuinely sorry. Most of the cupcakes were made by her, and now she had to leave without seeing Hir’s reaction or seeing him at all.

“Since it’s an urgent matter, I will go now,” said Lila confidently.

“Well, we can’t do anything about it. You don’t usually forget things like that…” She had always been available for Hir.  Jane surmised.

“I know right. I’m out of my mind these days.”

“Alright but allow me to prepare you some food before you go then.”

“Thank you, Jane.”

“No problem. That’s my job.”

Later on, Lila threw on her outdoor cloak and headed out the kitchen door, while doing so, Jane watched the window half-expecting Hir to come running towards them, but unfortunately, timing was not on their side.

He’s late today. If only he came at the usual timing, the two of them would have seen each other.

She stood with defeat clear in her eyes, staring at the small-sized round table, made especially for the young master to eat on.

She isn’t acting like she usually does.

Normally, she wouldn’t have made the mistake of forgetting her tasks, but even if she did, nothing would have stopped her from seeing Hir, but something was different about her now, she seemed to be in quite the hurry. It was almost as if she scurried out hastily to avoid running into Hir, but Jane could have been imagining it.