Maylily - Chapter 123

The train that departed from southern Cartia in the morning arrived at Cereno Station only after sunset.

“Welcome, Count. It’s been a while, Miss Aile.”

As Hugh and Maylily stepped off the train and onto the platform, David, who had come to meet them with the servants, quickly approached and greeted them. Having already been informed by Hugh about Dylan, he cast a calm gaze at the child in Maylily’s arms, but couldn’t take his eyes off him for several seconds.

While Hugh was staying in Bredova, David had been handling business matters in Riverton. Two weeks ago, he came to Cereno at Hugh’s summons to prepare separate residences in the city for Hugh and Maylily. As always, he carried out his task flawlessly.

The station, lit by reddish gas lamps, was crowded with people getting on and off the night train. Cutting through the busy crowd, Hugh and Maylily stepped outside and boarded the waiting carriage. The servants who followed loaded the luggage onto the wagon.

The carriage soon set off along streets fully wrapped in the night. Unlike Hugh, who had visited Cereno several times for business, this was Maylily’s first time in the city, and she looked out the window with a slightly tense expression. In her arms, Dylan slept soundly, exhausted from the long journey.

“I’ll hold Dylan until we arrive at the house.”

“He just fell asleep not long ago. If we move him, he might wake up. It’s better if I keep holding him.”

Just before getting off the train, Hugh and Maylily, who had been in separate compartments, met in the corridor. Hugh thought Maylily must be tired from holding Dylan the entire time and tried to take the child from her, but she refused.

No matter how much he reached out for her sake, he couldn’t force it if she didn’t want it. All he could do was watch, restless.

He couldn’t complain about his situation. Hugh knew he should be grateful just to remain by Maylily’s side as Dylan’s biological father, nothing more and nothing less. Even so, his desire kept swelling endlessly, and his thirst refused to be satisfied.

Hugh, who had been watching Maylily’s profile as she continued to face the window, finally spoke.

“You’ll need time to get used to the city, so let’s look around together tomorrow.”

“You must have a lot to do after being away for so long. I’ll be fine on my own, so please don’t worry.”

At last, Maylily turned to look at Hugh, a polite smile on her lips that carried a clear sense of distance. Leaving behind a gentle refusal as if speaking to a complete stranger she expected nothing from, she turned her head away again. Hugh couldn’t say anything more.

The carriage left the central district of Cereno, where the mansion Hugh had recently purchased was located, and entered a residential area on a gentle slope. After traveling along a road lined sparsely with trees, they arrived at a reddish apartment building. On the first floor of that old building was the home where Maylily would stay.

From the worn surroundings to the outdated facilities, not a single part of it met Hugh’s standards. However, this was the best that could be found within the budget Maylily had set.

He could have lied to Maylily about the rent and found a house with better conditions, but Hugh no longer wanted to tell any more lies. So for now, he chose to secure this house for her and persuade Maylily to move at a suitable time later.

“You must be tired from the long journey, Master, Miss Aile.”

“We’ve prepared some warm tea, so please come in.”

The ones who greeted Maylily and Hugh as they entered the house were none other than Alice and Mrs. Keaton. Seeing the familiar faces, a faint smile spread across Maylily’s face.

“Thank you both for coming all the way here for my child. I look forward to working with you.”

“So this is Dylan. Just look at that sleeping face, ma’am. It’s as if Miss Aile didn’t give birth to a child but to an angel.”

“Truly, how can a baby boy be so lovely?”

Alice and Mrs. Keaton surrounded Dylan, who slept in Maylily’s arms, exclaiming in admiration again and again. Affection was already overflowing in their eyes as they looked at the child.

It was Hugh’s idea to bring them to Cartia. He wanted Dylan, who was at the stage of learning to speak, to acquire Riverton as his native language. Maylily had no objections to that, so they decided to hire a Riverton nurse.

After carefully selecting someone trustworthy, the one chosen as Dylan’s nurse was Mrs. Keaton. With her experience raising several children and her upright character, Hugh judged that Maylily and Dylan could be entrusted to her care. Alice came to Cartia with her as a maid to assist her.

When Hugh first revealed his plan to bring the two of them to Cartia, Maylily showed a somewhat uneasy reaction. She regarded both Mrs. Keaton and Alice as Hugh’s people and was wary that her daily life would once again fall under his influence like before.

“There will be more times when neither of us can look after Dylan. I want to bring people we can trust and leave him with ease. I won’t use them to interfere in your private life. If anything ever makes you uncomfortable, I’ll replace them immediately.”

“…That’s not enough. If you break that promise, Count, you won’t be allowed to step into my home ever again.”

With that, the two reached an agreement, and Mrs. Keaton and Alice came to Cartia. Hugh arranged for them to live next door so Maylily could rely on their help whenever she needed it. At the same time, he gave strict instructions that they must refrain from any words or actions that could make Maylily uncomfortable.

Since the small house didn’t have a separate space that could be called a reception room, tea and refreshments were set out in the small sitting area in front of the bedroom. When the servants finished moving all of Maylily’s belongings, Hugh set down his teacup and signaled to David, who was standing nearby.

David stepped closer and handed him a brown envelope. Hugh carefully reviewed the documents inside, then signed at the bottom. After that, he placed them back in the envelope and handed it to Maylily.

“This is an agreement regarding Dylan’s upbringing. I’ll leave it with you, so take a look. If there’s anything you want to change, I’ll have it redrafted.”

Maylily remembered the Count of Everscourt’s promise about the agreement, but she had never thought to ask for it. Still dazed, she accepted it. The Count rose from his seat, straightened his clothes, and led his people out of the house.

“You must be tired after traveling all day, so we’ll take our leave as well.”

“We’ll come again tomorrow morning, so please get some rest. If anything comes up, call for us.”

Alice’s fingertips pointed to the pull cord installed on one side of the living room. It had been specially set up so Maylily could easily summon the two of them, who were staying next door, in case of an emergency.

“Yes, I will. I don’t have any plans to go out tomorrow morning, so please come at your convenience.”

As the sound of the front door opening and closing faded, silence settled inside the house. After checking that Dylan, whom she’d laid in the wooden cradle in the bedroom, was sleeping well, Maylily briefly sorted the items and clothes she would need from tonight, then returned to the living room.

The house, consisting of a bedroom, a living room, a small dining area connected to the kitchen, and a bathroom, felt somewhat old, but it seemed more than adequate for her and Dylan to live in. The fear she felt toward the dark, unfamiliar city she saw on the way here gradually turned into anticipation.

Maylily sat at the living room table and wrote down on a memo the groceries and items she needed to buy at the market tomorrow. Since most of the necessities for daily life were already prepared, there wasn’t much to purchase. As she checked whether anything was missing from the list she wrote, her eyes fell on the document envelope the Count had left behind.

“This is an agreement regarding Dylan’s upbringing. I’ll leave it with you, so take a look.”

With careful hands, Maylily took the documents out of the envelope and read through them slowly.

It stated that Hugh Scard, Count of Everscourt, acknowledged Dylan Aile as his son and would provide a fixed amount of child support each month, along with details of a trust account set so withdrawals would be possible once the child reached adulthood.

In addition, regarding the matter of granting Dylan, who currently bore his mother’s surname, the Skaard name and the status of heir to the Count of Everscourt, it was clearly stated that it would entirely follow the will of the child’s mother, Maylily. There were also detailed provisions covering Dylan’s upbringing, education, and inheritance.

Even though he had been in Bredova all this time, when did he prepare all of this….

It wasn’t just a sense of obligation as Dylan’s biological father. The Count’s genuine affection for the child came through in every line of the text. Gently tracing the Count’s signature at the bottom of the agreement with her fingertips, Maylily read it over and over again late into the night.