I Became The Stepmother Of An Irrevocable Dark Family

At this point, the other noblewomen who were close to Duchess Cuffs should’ve stepped up and put an end to this situation, but they were only quietly watching the situation unfold.

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As if they thought that it won’t do them any good to step up at this moment.

Because of that, Duchess Cuffs’ eyes wandered aimlessly as if asking for someone to help her.

“Do you have anything left to say, Duchess Cuffs?”

I gave her another chance.
Only then did she come to her senses, awkwardly shaking her head and lowering her gaze.

“I apologize for making a scene at Duchess Petri’s party.
I’d like to invite you to my tea party, and give you a proper apology.”

She didn’t hold out any longer than I thought.

“I’m looking forward to it.
Additionally, Duchess Cuffs is not the only one who needs to reflect on herself.”

I looked at the people around me who were busy whispering among themselves.

“Everyone here is the same.
Children are the reflection of their parents.
They learn exactly what their parents do.”

Their whispering got worse.

“So get a hold of yourself.
From what I see, all of you are the same.”

The room was then enshrouded by sudden silence.
After spitting out everything I wanted to say to them, I made up my mind.

‘I’ll never appear in high society again.’

Today, I was able to make a fuss under the name of ‘Duchess Petri’, but I won’t do that ever again.

If I acted in such a way somewhere else, I might have already been buried alive without anyone knowing.

My heart was still beating like crazy, but I smiled as if it didn’t affect me.

“Then shall we put an end to this matter? This is starting to feel as though I’m picking on one person, isn’t that so?”

I’ve said this much, so they should’ve understood, right?

Duke Ian Petri approached us, but it wasn’t just him who did so as the people who were originally busy talking to him also approached Rere and I.

“I see.
What a funny sight.
How dare you do this at my wife’s party…”

His sharp eyes examined the surroundings.
Perhaps because everyone realized how grave the situation was, they took small steps backwards with signs of hesitation.

Rere, who also noticed the suffocating situation, waved her hand.

“Everyone, disperse now! Disperse! Shoo, shoo!”

I thought she would tell everyone to get lost or curse at them, but Rere was quite polite this time.

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Nevertheless, there was a man who did not leave.

“…Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“…Aren’t you leaving, too?”

“Ahem.
Well, I do believe I’m done with my business, so now I’ll spend the rest of my time with my family…”

“What family are you talking about! Today is a day I must spend with mom!”

“You don’t have any room left for daddy?”

“Yes! Daddy! Get lo—No, disperse!”

The child, who was about to say ‘get lost’, changed her words and smiled ever so brightly.
She was so cute that I couldn’t help but rub my cheek against the child’s.

“Right, mom?”

“Yes! Let us be alone for today.”

“Yesterday, the day before, and a week ago.
It has always been only the two of you.
When the hell can I join?”

“….I suppose only when Rere’s heart allows you to join…? In any case, you should understand because today is a special one.”

The more this man became obsessed about spending time with the two of us and did not back down, the more Rere became stubborn.

“Mom! Let’s go eat cake now.”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, Rere, who slipped out of my arms, naturally held my hand.
Rere’s hands surprisingly felt so plump and soft every time it held mine.
As if she didn’t want to let go of my hand, she grabbed my hand tightly as we walked forward.

As we were on our way to eat cake, Rere slightly pushed the Duke who was blocking our path.

“Re-Rere, did you just push daddy away?!”

“Yes! I pushed you.
Go away.
I want to eat cake, but you’re in the way!”

The Duke’s eyes shook as if the sky had collapsed.
He weakly raised his fingers towards Rere as if to reach out to her, but Rere had already taken her eyes off him.

“Rere….”

As if she didn’t hear his sorrowful voice, Rere excitedly strode towards the cake.

“Cake, cake!”

Before I knew it, Luca was already standing by his side.
Duke Ian Petri, who was hit by despair, seemed to have made up his mind to do something, and walked away.

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Meanwhile, not a single soul has touched the delicious cake, perhaps wanting to save their honor.

The chef must have worked so hard to make this 5 tier cake.
It looked so delicious, and it’s exactly because of that, I felt full just by looking at it.

“Cake, cake.”

“It’s good that you’re eating well, but don’t eat too much.
You’ll end up having a stomachache.”

“Yup! For that reason, let’s divide it.
I’ll eat the bottom three layers.
Mom, you eat the two layers on top! Hehe.”

I also walked towards the cake excitedly at the sight of Rere grinning from ear to ear.

The chef, who was waiting for someone to eat his cake with a gloomy face, looked at us.

There was a knife and a number of plates arranged neatly on the table, but he looked pretty upset because no one came.

“Madam…Miss…”

Rere confidently pointed at him, who had a tearful face.

“Give me the cake!”

“Re-really?! You’re the first one who showed interest in the cake!”

“They’re all idiots.
They don’t even know how good my chef is at cooking.
So, hurry up and give it to me.”

“I’m so happy.
Since you always tell me that I’m bad at cooking….”

“When did I ever say that! The chef is a weirdo! I never said you’re bad at cooking.
Give it to me! Quickly!”

The chef, who was busy wiping his tears, eventually placed a slice of the cake on one of the plates.

“This is for you!”

“Mom, you eat it first!”

“Really?”

“Yes! Look at how skinny you are.
Eat a lot, and get fat.
That way, I’d be able to eat Big Bunny.”

“A-Are you going to eat me?”

“Yes! That’s why I’m going to feed you until you’re fat.
What’s more, Mom’s cheeks don’t feel good when you rub it against mine.”

My heart sank for a moment.

“Thank you.
Rere, you should try the cake, too.”

At her words, the cook hummed as he sliced a part of the cake and gave it to Rere.

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“Thank you for the meal!”

Rere ate a mouthful of the cake.

“It’s really tasty.
Go ahead and try it.”

I put the cake in my mouth at the child’s urging.
The cake, which was so deliciously sweet, melted in my mouth with ease.
Because of that, I had goosebumps all over my body for a moment.

“It’s really tasty…!”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

At that time, a child, who had been looking at the delicious cake since earlier, ran toward us and reached out her hand.

“Give me one, too.”

“Sure, young lady.”

I wasn’t sure of which family this young lady came from, but the child, who ran happily, ate a small piece of the cake as soon as it came into her hands.

“It’s really tasty!”

At her exclamation, a number of children looked at the cake as if they wanted to eat a slice of it as well, but the children only looked at their parents as if waiting for approval.

Still, among them, Lily was the fastest one to run towards us.

“Give me one, too!”

Unlike the child’s previous attitude, she extended her hand with a bright smile on her face as she asked for a slice of the cake.
And so, almost immediately after, the children began to flock around her.

Now that many people had come to eat the cake, the chef smiled happily, while Rere and I had no choice but to back off.

“I still want to eat more…!”

“Let’s ask for a chocolate cake later, Rere.”

“I like chocolate cake!”

Rere, who pouted as if it was regrettable, smiled happily at my reply and finished the cake in her hands.

“Let’s go back now.”

“A-Already?”

“Yes! Since I’ve eaten delicious cake, and scolded the bad guys already.”

Looking happier than ever, Rere held my hand and shook it back and forth excitedly.

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But our suffering didn’t end there.

“…It’s been a long time.”

It was Astra.
She approached us without hesitation.
Even though she came with Duke Arvida to the party, she boldly came to me alone.

“Ah, it’s a chunk of poop.”

“P-Poop…..
Ha.”

“Why are you here again?”

“I was invited, so I thought I’d see you for a bit, but do you need to be so hostile towards me?”

As if she were a completely different person, Astra spoke and behaved politely.
But of course, she still spoke informally.

“Ah, did you invite her, Rere?”

“Yes! I invited her as well.
This is great! Poop!”

Rere pointed her finger to Astra.

“Where is my present?”

“…P-Present?”

“Aren’t you here to congratulate me? You’re supposed to give me a present.
Don’t tell me you came with a different purpose in mind?”

Rere stared at her intently.

“No way.
I’m just here to deliver my father’s message.
More importantly, Arvida Dukedom still wants to maintain a good relationship with Petri Dukedom.
That being the case, of course we’ve prepared gifts.”

As Astra raised her hand, a servant who was standing close by approached us with a large box in his hands.

“This is a gift from Arvida Dukedom.
I’m sure you’ll like it because we chose it after careful thought.”

“Is it for me? Or for Duke Petri?”

“I’m giving this to you because I want to get along with you, Duchess.”

“Aha.
Something must have gone wrong with Duke Ian Petri.
But what should I do? I don’t want to accept gifts that aren’t meant for me.”

I shook my head with a warm smile.

“….What? How dare you refuse my gift?”

“Of course.
Since this gift is for me, I naturally have the right to refuse it, right? And how can you call this a gift when you chose to give it without consideration of the receiver’s feelings? Take it back, Princess Astra.”

“…Ha.
Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

“Of course.
I’m not entirely sure if you are supposed to give it to Duke Ian Petri, but even if that isn’t the case, I will still refuse to accept it.
With that said, Lady Astra, we are tired, so we’ll take our leave first.”