Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

I… I really lost all my strength. In front of Mio, I just collapsed weakly onto the floor. Kneeling there, I still managed to force a smile.

“I-I'm sorry for causing such a fuss all of a sudden. Um—I'll be up soon.”

“Please don’t push yourself. Lady Marie must be tired from taking care of Lady Lisa.”

I shook my head. In fact, I should have had plenty of sleep — if anything, I’ve been lying in bed most of the time lately. I haven’t struggled with anything. It’s all thanks to Nanny Ella.

“I’m fine… But Mio, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“A consultation?”

“It’s about Nanny Ella—oh, I’m sorry. Um, you know Lady Sophia and marquis Dario, right? That maid over there… or was she originally a lady’s attendant? Anyway, she became our maid, and then a wet nurse.”

As I spoke, my words became more and more jumbled. Strange, was I always this bad at explaining? I never thought I was good at it, but even so, I should have been able to talk more clearly and get my point across. The more I panicked trying to fill in the missing information, the more my sentences twisted, subjects multiplied, and the timeline got all mixed up.

Lord Cyrus frowned and told me to calm down. Realizing that I really was speaking oddly from an outside perspective, I became even more afraid to speak. That’s enough. Details can wait. The important thing is Nanny Ella.

“Mio, Nanny Ella is pitiful. We have to do something quickly for her… but I don’t know what to do. Since you’re the chief chamberlain, maybe you can tell me what to do? I want to borrow your wisdom.”

Mio stared silently at me for a moment. Did I fail to get through? I opened my mouth to explain again, but she stopped me with her palm. Without prompting, she just quietly looked at my face. Then she said,

“Why, Lady Marie?”

She asked unexpectedly.

“…Huh?”

“You said you want to borrow my wisdom as chief chamberlain, but that you yourself would do something about it. That’s what it sounded like. Is that right?”

“Y-yes. That’s right. That’s what I meant…”

“Why? The mistress’s order can just be, ‘Fix it, that’s the chief chamberlain’s job.’”

…Why?

Why… could it be? Originally, I’m bad at ordering others around. Maybe because in my poor baronial family, even the servants bossed me around, I never got used to giving orders. Even so, I understand that maid duties are for maids, and chamberlain duties are for the chief chamberlain.

…I thought I understood that. Why… am I so desperate to help Nanny Ella myself…?

“Marie feels indebted and guilty toward Ella,” Lord Cyrus muttered.

“Or pity. In any case, she feels like she must rescue her from misery.”

“Feels like…? N-no, Ella really is in a pitiful state. It seems everyone at Granado Castle hates her—”

“I see. So Lady Marie hates her, too.”

Mio said it so casually, so simply.

I was stunned, standing frozen in place.

…Hate?

…That I hate Nanny Ella… No. That can’t be.

I shook my head.

“That’s impossible. She looks just like me…!”

Yes — this must be the biggest reason I sympathize with Nanny Ella. She resembles me. Not just in her birth circumstances, but in personality and behavior.

Timid and nervous, afraid to interact with others, unable to accept compliments sincerely. When helped, she apologizes instead of expressing gratitude, upsetting others. She’s humble but bad at refusing, and as a result, ends up treating others coldly, making them feel guilty for bothering them. In doing so, she ends up hurting others herself.

The worst, the most unlovable — a hateful person. That’s Ella… or rather, that’s me.

I hated myself. That’s why I wanted to save her. I wanted to make Nanny Ella smile.

Just like Lord Cyrus, Mio, and everyone at Granado Castle did for me back then…

Yet, do I hate her?

“Ugh—”

I covered my mouth and pressed my stomach, groaning. I felt terribly sick. As I struggled to suppress the nausea, Lord Cyrus whispered quietly.