The Villainess Hides Her Wealth - Chapter 107.1

Chapter 107.1

In fact, from the beginning, I had only one family member.

“Mother.”

“… Yuria.”

My mother rushed to me with a sorrowful expression. It seemed that someone had told her what had happened.

I contemplated whether to explain the situation with my father, but she spoke first.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m ashamed of being your mother… and not being able to do anything until you’re pushed into a situation like this.”

I wasn’t the only one who had been wondering what to say.

Even though my mother accepted her extramarital child and was treated like this by her husband, she had never stopped thinking about me.

“I… should have cared about you more than anyone else. My daughter, Yuria…”

“Mother.”

I hugged her. Her warm embrace had always been there with me.

My most precious person, who had turned into a cold corpse in my previous life, lost in a death that no one cared about.

“Mother. I don’t need to be a Primrose anymore. I am the representative of Yunette, and I also lead the alchemy guild. I’m a very capable person.”

I forced a smile even as tears welled up in my eyes.

“So… would you… leave the duchy with me?”

Then, I asked the scariest question I had ever asked.

I didn’t want to leave my mother in this mess. I didn’t care about my father’s rejection. Although our relationship had improved a little in this life, I had never expected any affection from him anyway.

But my mother was different. She was someone I loved, someone whose affection I wanted.

I feared what her answer would be.

“Wherever you are is where I’ll go.”

But all my worries disappeared when I saw my mother nodding right away.

Without the slightest hesitation.

“Yuria. Do whatever you want to do. I’ll always be behind you.”

My mother, who was cupping my cheeks with her hands, looked more dazzling than ever, contrary to my worries.

In the end, she held me in her arms. Her hand swept my hair as she whispered, “You’ve done well.”

‘I knew this even in my past life… but my mother is my only true family.’

Yes, she was on my side unconditionally.

Maybe that was even more reassuring than Yunette or the alchemy guild.

***

Everything I had accomplished was outside the duchy anyway, so I didn’t have to pack much.

“Young Lady… are you really going to leave like this?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong…”

I just said quick goodbyes to the servants I was close with.

They would be confused if I suddenly disappeared, and I didn’t want them to hear about it from others.

“It’s ridiculous!”

But their reactions were more intense than expected.

Among them, Jera, the maid, and some of the knights were downright enraged.

“This is ridiculous. How could the Duke…”

They were even more upset than I was, the person involved.

‘I never thought that the people who followed Lilika in my past life would be on my side like this.’

Even though Lilika had been involved in a few incidents in the duchy and showed a different appearance than before, she was now called the saintess and was on a fast track.

“We will follow you, too. We don’t want to work in this duchy anymore.”

Some were even willing to leave the prestigious position of working for the Primrose duchy to follow me and my mother.

I gently shook my head.

“You should stay here.”

“But!”

“I’ll call you later if I need you. Okay?”

“…”

Sir Jomil, who was close to Jera, stepped forward to whisper to me.

He was the one I personally gave orders to during the hunting competition because I was impressed by his horseback riding skills.

“It might be better for the Young Lady if we stay here… So we’ll stay for now.”

“Please think of us if something happens.”

Why were they going so far for me?

But they spoke again before I could ask, as if they could read my thoughts.

“We were greatly impressed by the way you stepped forward and took charge during the hunting competition while the Duke was hesitating, Young Lady.”

“…”

“You’re the one who risked being insulted if something went wrong and came forward carrying the name of the Primrose duchy.”

Despite saying that he didn’t understand why someone who did that was leaving the duchy, Jomil gave me a look of trust.

I looked at Jera, who was weeping next to him. No doubt, she must have also influenced him.

“I noticed that Jera was visiting the training grounds more often, but I see you are now speaking informally to each other, huh?”

“Young Lady.”

“Well then… Stay healthy until we meet again. I’ll do the same.”

The small joke I told to lighten the mood finally made Jera stop crying.

I turned my head and saw my mother talking to the butler who had come to see us off.

At that moment, the butler met my eyes and nodded. I reflexively nodded back. I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it was nice to see that someone was sad about me leaving.

‘How many people must have mourned when I died after ingesting the poison my father gave me in my previous life… Probably none.’