The Nanny of House Herzen - Chapter 23
“Shh, you must pretend you don’t know, Nanny. If the head maid finds out I’ve told you things she hasn’t, it would complicate things for me too.”
“Thank you, truly. Without you, I might have faced difficulties someday.”
Evelyn bowed deeply to Kevin, thanking him, then hastily left the garden with Johanson in her arms.
She climbed the stairs breathlessly, not slowing until she was safely inside her room. Closing the door, she gasped for air, overwhelmed by everything she had just learned.
So, the Duke had an unwanted marriage with his black-haired cousin, who died giving birth to a blonde baby. The previous wet nurse fell ill, and the baby nearly starved. By chance, Evelyn appeared and saved the child, but the Duke had never once looked at the baby.
The sequence of events pointed to one clear conclusion.
‘…Johanson isn’t his biological child.’
The former Duchess, his cousin, must have equally despised the marriage. And to think she had an affair right under his nose, giving birth to a baby with different hair color…
Given that Evelyn herself almost died, she was no longer curious about what happened to the Duchess.
The man who smiles at her each night, who holds her gently, is capable of anything. From the beginning, she knew it. Once his interest waned, she too would be mercilessly discarded.
Evelyn loosened her embrace and looked into Johanson’s emerald green eyes. Those innocent eyes sparkled beautifully. It was a color unseen in the portraits of the former Dukes.
“Myah.”
Grief and fear gouged at her heart.
How long could she remain in this mansion to care for this child? The head maid, who had tearfully spoken of the Duke’s decision to keep the baby close and scrambled alone to find a wet nurse—how long could she protect this child?
Her own uncertain future paled in comparison to the tragic fate of this innocent child.
* * *
The night Evelyn first went to him after his demand to come first before being fetched, she remembered trembling as she knocked on his door. He had reached out from the doorway and kissed her immediately.
Then he whispered sweetly, “I’ve been waiting.”
That sweet voice and her own happiness at his words now seemed dimly distant.
Masters who casually use and discard their servants are common. To him, human lives are trivial, and she had even saved a baby he intended to let die.
Even though he didn’t ignore and insult her like her father might, or beat her like her former husband did, Evelyn feared him the most. He was the strongest and most powerful man she had ever known.
Everything he tenderly offered could turn into a terrifying blade in an instant. Into a weapon she couldn’t even imagine.
She was too afraid.
She could no longer dare to visit him.
It wasn’t because she hoped for a love that could last forever. She had foolishly vowed many times to choose his warmth tonight, even if it meant losing her life tomorrow.
But Johanson was different.
“I should try to bond with her.”
The words that made the head maid burst into tears of joy were never truly meant for Johanson.
Evelyn knew for certain. He had kept Johanson close because of his interest in Evelyn. What would happen to the little baby once that interest faded?
“I feared he might dismiss this little one…”
The head maid’s mournful cries echoed in her ears.
He could discard the baby born in his estate, who was not his own child, as easily as he could kiss away her tears one day and dismiss her indifferently the next.
The Duke had not summoned Evelyn, who hadn’t visited him for over a week. He had quickly become like a heavenly being, as unreachable as the sky.
It was as if everything had reset to the beginning.
* * *
On the tenth day since she had stopped seeking him out, Evelyn finally decided to visit the head maid.
Evelyn doesn’t even remember her birth mother, and she only suffered abuse from her stepmother. However, if such a lowly person as herself could feel maternal love, it would only be directed towards Johanson.
Evelyn just wanted to know how she could protect Johanson for even one more day.
Perhaps if the head maid helped, she wanted to run away with the baby the Duke wanted to abandon, just the two of them.
After all, Johanson and she share the same hair color… she could raise her as her own child without arousing suspicion. The Duke wouldn’t actively seek out a child he despised enough to want dead.
Evelyn knew all too well what it was like to grow up as an abused noblewoman’s daughter. While not as affluent as in the Duke’s household, she wanted to raise Johanson to be healthy and to meet someone he could love.
Yes, unless she was a part of such a grand noble family… perhaps she could find a position as a nanny in a middle-class family. It might even be better if she could find a job as a governess.
With these thoughts, Evelyn reached the head maid’s room.
As she raised her hand to knock, she heard voices inside.
“Is he really sending her? Already?”
It was the head maid.
It seemed she was in conversation with someone else, and it wasn’t a good time to interrupt.
Evelyn hesitated at the door when a man’s voice continued.
