*Edited

The child’s room door was firmly shut.

“……”

Beyond the thick door, there was an awful silence.  As if no one was in the room.

“Young Master Claude, Young Master Claude? Please open the door. Please?”

The servants of the Ducal House of Ambrosia knocked and called out their young master’s name eagerly. However, the child stubbornly locked the door and showed no response.

“Young Master Claude!”

The servants who were stomping their feet called the child’s name in a slightly firmer voice.

Then a voice with a faint weeping sound came from inside the door.

“I don’t want to……”

“Heavens, Young Master Claude!”

When the child reacted for the first time, the servants finally felt relieved and patted their chests. But it was only for a moment, and then the sad cry of a child who had been holding it back burst forth.

“No, I don’t like it! I don’t want to! Wahhhh!”

The servants read the tough stubbornness contained in the voice of their young master. Perhaps that heavy door would not open today.

“She’s not my mother, hic…… Because I killed my mother……”

“What are you talking about, Young Master Claude? That’s not true.”

“I don’t need anyone other than my mom! I don’t need a nanny!”

“Young Master Claude!”

“Wahh! I don’t want to, I don’t need her!”

The quiet room was now filled with the crying of a sad child. The stubborn rejection forced the servants to despair, swallowing only dry saliva. As Claude had never cried like a child like this before, it became even more difficult for the servants to know how to deal with this unfamiliar situation. In the end, their gazes all at once fell on one of the maids.

‘Why are you talking nonsense to Young Matter Claude?!’

The maid, who received the gaze of resentment all over her body, merely snorted and turned her head away.

“Hmph!”

Her name was May Chenblun. She was the seventh daughter of Baron Chenblun, one of the vassal families of the Duke of Ambrosia. Perhaps because she was different from other servants, May had always been arrogant.

May was always next to the Young Lord of Ambrosia, sticking to him like glue. So it was obvious what she was whispering to the Young Lord this time. She must have provoked the poor little kid by saying, ‘Someone is coming to replace Claude’s mother!’

The servants shook their heads in regret and thought. If only Mr. Butler and Mrs. Head Maid were here right now, May wouldn’t be able to be so arrogant!

They had gone out to see off the Duke of Ambrosia, who had just left the mansion to attend the Imperial Palace meeting and had not returned yet. Therefore, the servants had to swallow their rising anger and try to convince Claude.

“Go away. I, I hate you……! Hic, hic.”

The sobs of the disappointed child continued to flow through the door, and there was nothing the servants could do about it.

“……”

Sarah Millen did not miss a single image of it and carved it into her eyes.

‘It’s twisted from the start.’

She raised her hand, swallowing the throbbing headache caused by the lack of sleep in anticipation the day before.

“It seems that Young Lord Ambrosia is not quite ready for this. So may I call it a day?”

“……!”

The servants shook their heads violently from side to side and fired their desperate eyes at Sarah.

‘Please do something!’

It was as if they were looking for salvation.

They seemed to think that Sarah Millen could solve this predicament because the name Sarah Millen had a pretty infamous ring to it.

In the Crombell Empire, she was called the Lady’s Textbook, and even the Emperor himself bowed his head and asked her for the education of the Princess.

Even though unmarried women couldn’t inherit the title and family name, she was the de facto Small Countess of the Millen family, who was promised the succession to the title regardless of her marital status.

That was Sarah Millen.

“Countess Millen, I am ashamed, but I hope you can lend us your help. Our Young Master Claude is not a stubborn child, so I guess he was a little nervous……”

They smiled and asked for help. Although their pride was hurt, it was more important for them to carry out their Master’s order to introduce Sarah and Claude to each other.

“……”

Watching that, Sarah quietly swallowed a sigh. It was not that she was unaware of the servants’ troubles, but the truth was, she was just as confused.

‘The novel has changed.  Why did it change now?’

Claude Ambrosia.

An unfortunate Young Lord who was stigmatized for killing his mother as soon as he was born. And the male protagonist of ‘Flower of Darkness’, who grew into a darkness that will destroy this Empire.

That was the fate of the weeping child who was now locking the door.

Claude Ambrosia was devoured by the cursed power of darkness passed down from generation to generation in the Duke of Ambrosia family, and was saved by Elena Preston, the female protagonist who appeared in the distant future.

Until then, however, he hated himself and was gradually becoming maniacal. Eventually, it led to the unfortunate death of his father. Claude Ambrosia had to be unhappy and became a villain to satisfy his twisted desires.

That was how he was written in the novel ‘Flower of Darkness’.

And Sarah had come here to prevent Claude’s blackening.

‘It’s okay. Claude has not fallen into complete despair yet. Then why……’

Hungry for affection and love, the male protagonist only craved blind affection for his nanny Sarah throughout his childhood. So Sarah was expecting the child to come running lovingly today and throw himself into her arms. She didn’t expect Claude to reject her crying sadly like that. She didn’t expect the plot of the novel which had frustrated her so many times in the past to change so drastically.

“First of all, since the Young Lord rejects me,……”

As she was trying to ease her throbbing headache, racking her brain over what a pain in the *ss this had become. May, who had been watching this situation with her thin snake eyes, stepped forward with a bright smile and opened her mouth.

“Hmm, is it time for me to step up?”

The servants all looked at May’s arrogant attitude with uneasy eyes. No matter how gentle she was next to Claude and controlling the child to her own taste, they wondered if she would be disrespectful to Sarah, the actual Small Countess of Millen.

But their concerns soon became true.

“But I’m not sure how to address you. Umm…… Miss Millen? Lady Millen?”

“Miss May!”

In a collective gasp, the servants shouted May’s name. But May didn’t care and rolled her luscious snake tongue.

“I can’t help it. Young Master Claude only listens to me, right? You guys should have left the nanny position to me. Then we wouldn’t have all this trouble, would we? Lady Millen.”

May was deliberately ignorant of the fact that Sarah had been promised the title directly by the Emperor himself. She seemed to have gained confidence when Sarah stepped down without even greeting him due to Claude’s fierce rejection.

“Miss May! Be aware of your status!”

The servants were once again appalled and scolded May because Sarah Millen had no reason to suffer such an insult from May, who was merely a maid. In the Duke’s house, May was favored by the Young Master, Claude, and walked around proudly, but outside the Duke of Ambrosia’s house, she was not allowed to speak to Sarah Millen.

So the servants had no choice but to stop her. In this situation, May was the only one who can appease the Young Lord, and if things went wrong, they would not be able to carry out the Duke’s order.

“How can you be so rude to Countess Millen? The Countess is the one His Grace himself……”

“Then are you guys going to bring Young Master Claude out? Try it if you can! You can’t even approach Young Master Claude.”

“……!”

Sarah stared silently at May’s confrontation with the servants who stopped her from contemplating. Then, slowly, she straightened her disturbed posture. She felt like the person who had ruined her first meeting with Claude was right in front of her eyes.

“It’s interesting.”

A soft voice mixed with laughter flowed from between Sarah’s lips. The servants and May stopped their quarrel and turned to look at her.

“……?”

Their gazes fell on a gentle smiling face. Sarah’s face was shining brightly with azure eyes that seemed to have been studded with jewels. May and Ambrosia’s servants were at a loss for a moment due to the chilly atmosphere that could be felt even though she was smiling.

“What were you saying just now……?”

“It’s interesting.”

Sarah slowly approached May at a leisurely pace. May took an involuntary step back. But Sarah stepped in front of her, looked down at May, who was smaller than her, and said with a soft voice.

“I’ve never thought that the people of this prestigious Ambrosia would not know the title that His Majesty, the Emperor of the Crombell Empire, granted me personally.”

At her words, the faces of the Ambrosia servants stiffened all at once as she gracefully looked around the Duke’s house.

Ambrosia was their pride. Insulting the name was like insulting them. It was the same for May, so she belatedly realized that she was insulting Ambrosia and screamed in surprise.

“Isn’t it common sense that an unmarried lady cannot be given a title?!”

“It is His Majesty the Emperor who has kindly made the impossible possible. His Majesty also refers to me as Small Countess Millen…… If you have any dissatisfactions, would you like me to give you a chance to air them in front of His Majesty?”

“What, what is that?!”

When Sarah mentioned the Emperor, May stuttered.

T/N: Sarah’s full title is the Small Countess of Millen, as her father, the current Count of Millen, is still in charge. Hence the word ‘Small’ in her title. From the next chapter on, I’ll shorten her title from ‘Small Countess’ to just ‘Countess’ because her full title is mouthful.