#Side Story 6

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“My stepmother.”

An instant heavy silence enveloped the two of them.

For Ellin, too, stories about her stepmother weren’t a particularly pleasant subject.

She hadn’t expected Alment Garcien to mention her stepmother.

Alment, with a perplexed face, barely managed to ask.

“May I ask your deceased mother’s name……”

“Marisa. Marisa Nilson. Before marriage, Marisa Bayron.”

His pupils dilated as if her answer had greatly shocked him. Though he tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

Ellin had an instinctive feeling watching his reaction.

His expression when he mistook her for someone else, and now his shocked face upon hearing her mother’s name.

Perhaps the person he had confused her with was her mother?

Was that why he was so shocked to hear she had passed away?

With that thought, she unconsciously brought her hand to her neck. She needed to confirm it right away.

Ellin opened the pendant of the necklace she removed from her neck and showed it to him.

“This is my mother. We really look alike, don’t we?”

Seeing the woman in the necklace Ellin held out, he seemed shocked once more and couldn’t speak for a moment.

“Indeed. You really do look alike.”

Alment looked down at the woman in the necklace for a long time with complex eyes.

His emerald eyes seemed to tremble slightly.

“Did you ever meet my mother in the past? Did you know each other?”

Ellin couldn’t help but ask.

He couldn’t answer right away.

He didn’t say he knew her, nor did he say he didn’t. He gave an ambiguous answer.

“I think I met her when I was young. I remember now that I see her face. She was so beautiful that I couldn’t forget her.”

“……”

Ellin seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again.

“Did you perhaps become flustered when you grabbed me that time because you were reminded of my mother?”

He was taken aback by her direct question, unsure how to respond.

“That’s…… correct. When we first met that day, the resemblance was so strong. It felt like I had gone back to the past. I unconsciously……”

Ellin nodded slowly as if she now understood.

But from that moment, the doubt within her only grew stronger.

His answers and reactions weren’t entirely clear somewhere.

Ellin had an intuition that there was more to learn from him about her mother, but she didn’t ask further.

There would be opportunities later.

What was certain was that her mother and he weren’t just acquaintances who only knew each other’s faces.

“I just wondered. Since my mother passed away when I was young, I get excited whenever I meet someone who knew her. I become curious about many things.”

She said with a bright smile, then turned her head toward the mirror to put her necklace back on.

While looking at the wall mirror and putting on her necklace, their eyes accidentally met in the reflection.

Standing one step apart, one in front and one behind, they emanated a strangely similar atmosphere.

Like a familiar feeling, as though they had known each other for a long time.

Looking at each other in the mirror felt strange. It was difficult to explain.

It must be just a feeling.

She thought perhaps she felt this way because she found it amazing to be with someone of such renowned fame as a painter.

Alment also quickly dropped his gaze from the mirror, perhaps feeling similar emotions.

“Would you like to see my atelier in the garden?”

Breaking the momentary silence, Ellin cheerfully suggested a change of topic.

“That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”

He also accepted her proposal with enthusiasm, arching one eyebrow attractively.

Even while walking to the garden, the two continued their pleasant conversation, losing track of time due to their many common interests.

They weren’t even old acquaintances.

Rather than feeling difficult or awkward together, they felt comfortable and familiar.

Ellin wanted to know more about Alment Garcien.

He felt the same way.

He became completely captivated by this charming Duchess, who would have been the same age as his daughter if he had one.

Monica watched as the two crossed the corridor toward the garden.

“My lady looks so happy. Who could he be? He looks quite handsome despite his age. He must have made many women cry when he was young.”

When Monica asked with a curious face, Jeffrey, who had been checking the silver tableware for dust, looked up to see the two.

The two walking side by side, looking almost like father and daughter.

“I hear he’s a very famous court painter from abroad. The master seems to have invited him.”

“Why would the Duke leave after inviting such a person?”

Monica tilted her head, not understanding the Duke’s actions.

“He must have had the deep intention of giving the Duchess a good time.”

Monica snickered at his words and muttered knowingly.

“To think our Duke would consider such thoughtfulness. Our Duchess must be truly exceptional to have changed him like that.”

That night, when Dominic returned to the mansion, Ellin wore a serious expression, as if lost in a labyrinth.

She missed his questions several times, deep in her own thoughts.

He wondered what had happened to Ellin after he had gone to the trouble of inviting a renowned painter she admired to their home for a good time.

“How was today? Did you artists have a pleasant time together?”

Dominic asked about her day casually as he climbed onto the bed.

He lay down with his head on his wife’s thigh, who was sitting against the headboard, and played with the strap of her nightgown.

The nightgown strap twirled and untwirled in his fingers, floating weightlessly.

It looked like if he pulled it without applying force, the nightgown would slip down below her shoulders.

Dominic found himself more concerned about when this nightgown might come undone than about Ellin’s answer.

Then his gaze returned to his wife.

Normally, Ellin would have slapped the back of his hand and given him a pretty side-eye, as if telling him not to play around.

But now her face showed complete indifference to his touch and gaze.

She gave no reaction, completely lost in other thoughts.

Noticing something truly strange, Dominic raised his upper body and lightly stroked Ellin’s cheek.

“Ellin?”

She seemed to return to her senses and smiled at him halfheartedly.

“Are you alright?”

When he asked with a serious expression, she nodded as if she were fine, but her expression still seemed somewhat unsettled.

Knock knock.

Just then, an awkward knocking sound was heard before the door opened and Ian rushed in.

The child jumped onto the bed and nestled himself into Ellin’s arms.

The nanny, who arrived at the door belatedly, said with an embarrassed face.

“The young master had a nightmare and suddenly ran out…… I’m sorry. I’ll take him back……”

“No. I’ll sleep with him tonight. Go back and rest.”

Ellin said, holding Ian in her arms.

The child buried his chubby cheeks and cute nose deep against Ellin’s body, hugging her tightly with both arms as if smelling his mother’s scent.

“You had a scary dream. I was having trouble sleeping tonight too, so why don’t we go out to feel the cool breeze under the moonlight? That will make us sleepy.”

Ellin picked up Ian and walked from the bed to the terrace with the large window at the back.

Dominic, left alone on the large bed, felt somehow empty and lonely.

He supported his head with both arms and stared at the ceiling with deeply disappointed eyes.

“Tonight’s ruined too. And I was waiting for a good moment.”

Once again, there was no place for him by Ellin’s side tonight.

* * *

The next day, Ellin left the mansion early.

She headed to the old mansion her husband had gifted her.

Grandmother Isabella had been staying in that beautiful mansion, which had been completely transformed into something both antique yet new.

Thanks to her husband’s consideration, she could stay there comfortably whenever she visited the capital.

“I feel more comfortable here now than in my spacious but empty home in Castia. And you’re close by too.”

Isabella seemed to like the place quite a bit, extending her stay in the capital.

This reassured Ellin too.

She could visit her great-aunt anytime without having to go to Castia.

Eddie, who had recently started working at the Royal Museum’s administrative office, was also commuting from there with Grandmother Isabella.

Ellin often visited the mansion her husband had gifted her, as if it were her own family home.

While riding in the carriage through the central district, she recalled yesterday’s events again.

Alment Garcien.

What kind of relationship did he have with her mother?

She couldn’t shake it from her mind.

‘Perhaps Grandmother Isabella might know something.’