The Stepmother Has Left - Chapter 13

“Well.”

 

It was an act that she couldn’t understand herself that the answer automatically popped out.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him,” Cassia replied.

 

As she suddenly replied, the knight who saw her this time furrowed his eyebrows.

 

“Is that true? Please look at it again. Do you really remember not seeing him?”

 

“Hmm.”

 

They showed her the portrait once again, and she looked at it.

 

“I don’t know even if I look at it again.”

 

Cassia shook her head.

 

“I’ve never seen this person.”

 

“…I see. All right.”

 

Looking at her, he eventually nodded and rolled up the portrait.

 

“If anyone appears to be the person in the portrait, please be sure to report it. A bounty of 500 gold coins will be awarded to those who helped find the Third Prince.”

 

The Imperial Knights stepped out of the gallery one by one through the door. But one of them turned around, walked a few steps, stopped, and looked at Cassia.

 

“By the way… are you from a noble family?”

 

“Or have you never worked for a noble family? It’s the atmosphere, and I’m a little familiar with it.”

 

Actually, Cassia was a little flustered.

 

‘Is it because of the Imperial Order?’

 

They seemed to have excellent eyesight.

 

“Well, I used to visit the Imperial palace occasionally until I got married, so some of them might remember me.”

 

Cassia was quite surprised on the inside, but she wasn’t immature enough to show it off.

 

“Well, I am just an ordinary citizen.”

 

As she said with a smile, he tilted his head, nodded, and left through the gallery door.

 

After they left, Cassia was lost in thought for a while.

 

‘Why did I act like that?’

 

‘And who is the man in the portrait?’

 

‘The man in the portrait looked very much like Irwin.’

 

‘And the knights were saying that the man in the portrait was the Third Prince.’

 

‘So, Irwin might be the third prince.’

 

Her mind was confused for a while, but it quickly subsided.

 

She soon became calm.

 

Whether he was the third prince or Irwin, it didn’t matter to her.

 

Irwin is just Irwin.

 

She didn’t want to judge him by things beyond what she had known him. She didn’t seem to like it either.

 

Come to think of it, she felt the same way when she was a Duchess. In fact, living as a noble is the same for everyone, but ‘she’ could not normally exist in a high place that she had climbed for a short time.

 

That’s why Diana must have had a lot of trouble while living as a Duchess in the past. Perhaps it was the weight of the crown she wore, and it’s not like she was born because she wanted to be born like that.

 

A few minutes later, while she was working, Irwin came in, ringing the bell.

 

“Good morning.”

 

“You are here.”

 

Cassia smiled at Irwin.

 

He ordered coffee as usual.

 

When she presented him with a sweet cheese muffin, a new dessert she had recently made, he thanked her and took it to the corner and sat down. She looked at him and talked to him as if she would share what happened in her usual day.

 

“Before, the Imperial knights from the capital stopped by here.”

 

He spewed out coffee.

 

Cough, cough.

 

He started coughing, seemed to be choking.

 

‘Is he surprised?’

 

Cassia hurriedly handed him a tissue, his face turned red, and he accepted it. She waited for him to calm down.

 

After a little while…

 

“What did you just say…?”

 

“It seems that the knights are still looking for the whereabouts of the Third Prince who disappeared a long time ago. They came all the way to search every a nook and cranny.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“They showed me a portrait and asked if I had ever seen the Third Prince.”

 

He made a puzzled expression.

 

Portrait… He looked at her with desperate eyes.

 

He took a sip of his coffee once more, looked at her and carefully opened his mouth.

 

“…What did you say?”

 

“I have never seen such a person. I answered.”

 

He had puzzled eyes.

 

Silence flowed.

 

Soon he opened his mouth.

 

“Hey, didn’t the portrait resemble me?”

 

He asked Cassia carefully.

 

“So… I’ve actually heard quite a bit that I look like the Third Prince.”

 

“It was different from the portrait.”

 

He tilted his head, and she was talking.

 

“The face looks similar, but the picture didn’t have the feeling you have.”

 

“Besides, the Third Prince is said to be a troublemaker, but you don’t even look like one.”

 

It was sincere.

 

The vivid vitality he had was not contained in the portrait.

 

A strong and lively kind of atmosphere that can only be felt when seen in real life.

 

“As I lived my life, the impression of a person became more important to me than the person’s facial features. In that sense, I thought you were not the man in the portrait.”

 

“…I see.”

 

After answering, he looked at her as if hesitantly, took a few sips of coffee, and a bite of the muffin.

 

“These muffins are also delicious. If this becomes a regular menu item, I will buy it often.”

 

“I see. Thank you.”

 

Silence passed.

 

He opened his mouth after eating the muffins without saying a word for a while.

 

“…Just in case.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“If I were the Third Prince, what would have you done?”

 

As Cassia was organizing the dessert menu to be released on paper soon, her gaze turned to him.

 

“Would you report me?”

 

“Hmm, well…”

 

Cassia was lost in thought for a moment. It didn’t take long for the answer to come.

 

“I don’t know if I would have reported it, but there’s one thing I’m sure of.”

 

“What…?”

 

“It will be hard to deal with. Maybe I would have avoided you.”

 

His expression darkened.

 

He asked hurriedly, “…why?”

 

“Why?”

 

As if asking a natural question, she answered with a smile.

 

“Because it’ll be burdensome.”

 

Lightning struck his face.

 

***

 

The next day, Cassia went to the gallery early in the morning and was getting ready to open. The pictures in the gallery did not go anywhere, and all she had to do was prepare the cafe’s work for the day. While she was looking at coffee beans, the door opened, and someone came in.

 

Cassia looked up, and it was Irwin.

 

“…It hasn’t even opened yet.”

 

“Because I’m curious about something.”

 

He strode towards her. As he came closer, dark circles appeared on his face as if he hadn’t slept all night.

 

‘What’s going on?’

 

She paused what she was doing and looked at Irwin, who opened his mouth.

 

“The Third Prince.”

 

“…Say it.”

 

“I heard he’s rich and handsome. Is there a reason to avoid him?”

 

Cassia’s mouth opened a little.

 

‘Are you saying that you couldn’t sleep well because you were so curious about this?’

 

“I want to hear a little more about you avoiding him because it’s burdensome. A prince is usually envied by many people.”

 

“…Well.”

 

Cassia thought for a moment and answered him.

 

“In general, what you said would be correct. If the prince appears in front of me, I will try to get to know him somehow.”

 

She knew well enough how humble people can be in front of the powerful. She had always been watching Diana’s side. Even on rare occasions, there were those who approached the Duchess. Just hoping to know more.

 

Was that so?

 

She was not attracted to such things.

 

“It just seems that I am not the type of person who is attracted to money, fame, or appearance. Besides, the Third Prince is a troublemaker. You never know what would happen next, so it is burdensome.”

 

“…I see,” he sighed.

 

“Then what should he do to get close to someone like you?”

 

“I don’t know. It’s most comfortable to be friends as we are…”

 

“Just as we are?”

 

“Yes. If we just get to know each other, and if we think we get along well, we will naturally become friends. By the way…”

 

Cassia hesitated and continued talking, then suddenly looked at Irwin.

 

“Why do you keep asking that? Perhaps you are the Third Prince…”

 

“Well, I was just curious and asked.”

 

He hurriedly answered her, blushed, and left the gallery.

 

As she looked at his back as he left, Cassia let out a smirk.

 

Leaving the store, Adolf pressed his cloak deeply on and headed home with a fast pace.

 

He was still in shock.

 

All the words he had heard from her yesterday were floating around in his head.

 

[Because it’ll be burdensome.]

 

After hearing that it would be a burden, he couldn’t sleep last night. After wrapping his hands around his head and rolling on the bed, contemplating the meaning of the word ‘burdensome’, he went to see her in the morning, thinking that he had to hear the reasons from her anyhow.

 

But her reason was also very shocking…

 

[It just seems that I am not the type of person who is attracted to money, fame, or appearance.]

 

“I am burdensome…”

 

Haah, a deep sigh escaped from Adolf’s mouth, who exhaled in vain.

 

His steps slowed down.

 

He trudged home, exhausted.