IFAHWIPUTML Chapter 11

"My lord."

"What is it."

"A moment, I need to speak with you……."

When Rohan—who normally handled everything on his own—sought out his master Chayston, it meant something had happened.

Chayston turned his head with no other choice.

"You win! Veraseel!"

The moment he did, Raphel shouted as if he'd been waiting for this exact opportunity. Verasielle inwardly cheered in triumph.

In that instant, Chayston's brow crumpled sharply.

Why did Rohan have to call him at this precise moment…

But as if nothing had happened, he wiped all expression from his face and spoke with perfect composure.

"Excuse me for a moment."

He acted unbothered, but inside he was seething.

"Of course. Take your time."

Verasielle revealed a victorious smile with a leisurely expression. The lofty attitude of a winner.

Chayston turned his head sharply as if he couldn't stand the sight of her and left the drawing room with Rohan.

From their very first meeting, these two had been clashing.

"You win!"

"Yeah. Thanks to Raphel's cheering."

The two who meshed perfectly smiled at each other.

"Hehehe."

Raphel laughed shyly, his cheeks flushing pink at the pleasant praise.

Verasielle collapsed onto the sofa. Thump. The unexpected battle of wills had left her mentally shredded.

She massaged her stiff eyes with both hands, then leaned back against the sofa to rest for a moment against the wave of fatigue.

In preparation for a potential second round when Chayston returned.

She couldn't lose this time either.

After leaving the drawing room, Chayston stood in the hallway and glared at Rohan.

"What is it."

His prickly tone alone revealed just how displeased he was.

If Rohan hadn't called him, he could have beaten that vain fraud of a young lady down a notch…

Chayston, known for his cold composure, had somehow lost his equilibrium without realizing it and gotten dragged into a childish fight.

Rohan was slightly flustered by this unfamiliar side of his master.

Until now, his master had ignored bothersome matters, and when someone tried to cling, he'd cut them off decisively with a single stroke.

Yet here that same man was, growling because he hated to lose…

And to a delicate woman at that, not even a man. It was a peculiar sight.

"I apologize. All the spare bottles containing the antidote have broken."

"What?"

Unlike Rohan's calm delivery, Chayston's face twisted as if to say what kind of nonsense is this.

"The shelf suddenly collapsed. I'm sorry. I've placed an order, but the ingredients are difficult to obtain—we won't receive it for a month."

This sudden bolt from the blue gave him a headache. Chayston roughly swept his hair back.

"There's not a single one left?"

"No, I apologize."

He needed to use the antidote on the child that woman had brought immediately. He had to expose her fraudulent scheme right here and now.

But there was no antidote.

Without the antidote, he couldn't prove the crime…

Chayston sighed.

But just letting her go like this didn't sit right with him either.

A fraud who had the gall to throw it back in his face when he questioned her, who didn't avoid his gaze but glared right back at him. Her shamelessness was excessive.

He felt he wouldn't be satisfied until he saw those confident green eyes waver.

Otherwise, he didn't think he'd be able to sleep.

But without the antidote, he couldn't expose the fraud. Unless she confessed voluntarily.

Given her attitude, she seemed unlikely to turn herself in.

Everyone becomes humble when faced with clear evidence, but right now there was no other way to prove the crime.

"It can't be helped."

Chayston decided to concede this round. It was extremely irritating, but without the antidote, there was nothing he could do.

"I'll explain to the young lady and send her away."

Rohan stepped forward first, worried his master might engage in another battle of wills with the woman. It would be better for his master to send the young lady away quickly.

Though they'd met only briefly, the two were incompatible.

Like water and fire, each had such strong temperaments that neither would bend.

"I'll tell her myself."

However, Chayston stopped Rohan from heading to the drawing room.

Rohan wanted to say if you dislike her so much, why go yourself, but he pressed his lips shut and quietly followed Chayston.

"Ugh, why is he taking so long."

Left alone with Raphel, Verasielle grumbled and muttered complaints. He'd been gone for quite a while now, and the duke still hadn't returned.

That rude knight guarding the gate must have taken after his master.

Verasielle crossed her arms and glanced at the drawing room with dissatisfied eyes. Flashy and all glittering surface—just like the master of this house.

"Ha, I must have been insane."

To have said such an insufferable duke was handsome.

Verasielle resisted the urge to tear at her own hair.

If she could turn back time, she would never, absolutely never say such a thing.

She would thoroughly guard her tongue. Her eyes must have malfunctioned temporarily. She'd misjudged someone—and misjudged them badly.

"Veras……. When we going home?"

At Raphel's question, Verasielle's head turned. Looking bored, Raphel was pouting his lips and kicking the innocent sofa. Thump, thump.

"Home?"

"Yeah! Our home!"

It seemed Raphel was mistaking her house as his own.

"Wanna see Grandpa and Grandma soon!"

Verasielle bit her lip, speechless.

If she told Raphel you have to live here from now on, how would he react?

She worried whether Raphel, who already missed his grandparents, could accept this situation.

"Pardon the intrusion."

Just then, the drawing room door opened and Chayston stood before Verasielle in a few strides of his long legs, just like when they'd first met.

"Have you finished your business?"

She stood up from her seat, clearly showing her displeasure.

Chayston could detect from her attitude that she wanted him to handle this quickly.

"Yes. I have."

"Then what will you do now?"

"To get straight to the conclusion—an antidote to determine the child's hair and eye color will arrive in a month."

Seeing no need to beat around the bush, Chayston spoke directly.

"Antidote?"

"That's correct."

"Why is that necessary?"

Verasielle stared at Chayston, demanding an explanation.

An antidote to determine eye and hair color? Did such a thing exist? She'd read the early part of the novel too quickly and couldn't remember well.

Even if such a thing existed, could it really confirm blood relations? Black hair and red eyes were characteristics unique to the Halos family in the empire.

"It's common for people to change their hair and eye color through magic."

"Ah…"

Only then did Verasielle understand why he'd asked her if she could prove it.

'Wait, hold on.'

So he's treating me the same as those frauds? That's why he glared at me like that?

"Are you saying you think I'm deceiving you right now, Your Grace?"

Verasielle didn't hide her displeasure. She'd found his child and instead of gratitude, she was being treated like a fraud. Her mood soured completely.

"It doesn't hurt to be careful."

"The antidote to determine the child's hair and eye color is currently all depleted. I apologize to the young lady, but please understand this is a necessary procedure for us."

Rohan, who'd been watching, inwardly sighed and added flesh to his master's words.

"Even so."

"Before you arrived, young lady, many people came, but every single one used magic to disguise the child's appearance, aiming for the reward money."

Chayston looked straight into her eyes, twisted with displeasure, as he spoke.

"……."

Verasielle thought she understood a little now. Why the duke had been so guarded against her.

But that didn't make treating her like a fraud a separate matter. Especially being rude when they'd just met and he barely knew her.

"Fine. Then contact me when the antidote is finished. I'll receive the reward money then. Let's go, Raphel."

Verasielle extended her hand to Raphel.

"Yeah!"

Raphel smiled brightly and grasped Verasielle's hand.

He wanted to escape this place quickly and return to where Grandpa and Grandma were.

Then Chayston blocked the two as they tried to leave.

"You'll have to leave the child here."