Gunmage
Chapter 145: Don’t hate your stepmother

Chapter 145: Chapter 145: Don’t hate your stepmother

The walk was long. For some reason, they hadn’t wanted Lugh to appear through the front door. Instead, they led him along a winding path through the manor’s halls, one that connected to the upper balconies of the ballroom.

From there, Lugh could see the guests gathered below, still buzzing with speculation. The rest of what happened at the ball seemed trivial now—so much so that even the dances were performed half-heartedly.

What most people awaited was the emergence of the Von Heim bastard.

While standing there, Lugh’s mind wandered back to the events that had taken place earlier, during the time the servants were preparing him for his appearance.

There had been one particular lady—a maid, old, with greying hair but still strong enough to move briskly.

She had started by calling him young master.

"Please don’t hate your stepmother."

Lugh had raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue.

Whatever she wanted to say either wasn’t secret enough to warrant silence in front of the other attending servants, or there simply wasn’t enough time for privacy. So, she took a risk.

What Lugh gleaned from her was more than gossip, it was a recollection of the past. Particularly of this manor’s residents.

"I’ve been serving the Caldreth family for decades. I knew the Lady when she was just a babe. My name is Jeane."

Now that was an important piece of information, Lugh thought to himself.

If there was ever another leader of the Shadows apart from Isolde, this woman had to be one of them.

Lugh remained silent. Seeing the neutrality on his face, Jeane pressed on.

"She was married off to the Von Heim family at nineteen. At that time, the matriarch—Lady Selaphiel—came to us with an ultimatum. We didn’t dare refuse."

"So it was a forced marriage?"

Lugh spoke for the first time, even as a younger maid applied ointment to his neck.

He’d noticed that Jeane had used us and we, instead of House Caldreth and the family. Something told him she wasn’t just a servant, not in the conventional sense.

"Well, not exactly"

The woman replied, her tone composed.

"We might not have had a say, but the young lady didn’t seem to mind. The Von Heim family was very powerful, and she was promised further aid in her magic studies. At the time, that was all the young Lady cared about."

Lugh froze—magic. She had used the word freely, yet the attendants didn’t so much as flinch. Contrary to his expectations, they weren’t mundane. Who said actual maids couldn’t be Shadows?

In fact, Lugh was beginning to suspect the former came before the latter.

"Go on"

He said, intrigued.

"Yes, young Lord."

She continued.

"Your father, Lord Lucas, was against the marriage from the start. It wasn’t until later that we discovered his heart had already belonged to someone else. A disgraced noble turned servant. A woman from Heieg."

Lugh’s gaze darkened with a hidden depth. They were speaking about his mother. His attention snapped fully into focus.

The woman, Jeane, hesitated before speaking again.

"But by then, the young lady had already fallen for him and was pregnant with her first child."

Lugh exhaled. He could already see where this was going.

"Contrary to expectations, Lord Lucas had been a responsible man. He paid the Lady all the respects due to a wife. But the Von Heim family needed an heir. And after three daughters, well... He..."

"Went to his love?"

Lugh completed her sentence.

"Exactly, young master."

"Continue."

"When you were delivered, it was the happiest I had ever seen him. I’m not sure if you know this, but your father—just like you—wasn’t one to show emotion."

"I see"

Lugh murmured.

He could already picture it, a man cradling the child of his mistress beside said mistress, while his lawful wife looked on from afar.

He felt a flicker of pity for her.

"After the delivery"

Jeane’s voice cut through his thoughts,

"Your mother’s status was raised from that of a servant. Yet he didn’t announce your birth or existence to the world, in consideration of his actual wife—even if it meant being deemed heirless. For that, I still respect him."

Just a few years later, the young lady became pregnant again. Her fourth pregnancy in seven years. One could say she was desperate to cement her status, so much that she began to neglect her magical studies.

If her next child was a boy, he would be the official heir of the family. But alas...

Lugh already knew what followed next. Isolde had four daughters. He could easily imagine the joy of childbirth giving way to grief, not because of the baby itself, but because it wasn’t a boy.

It was unfair to Isolde. Even more so to her daughters.

Ah. What a troublesome affair.

Then the war erupted.

Jeane’s voice echoed in his mind.

Lord Lucas began to spend more time away from home than in it. Both women, the bearers of his children, were left alone.

Lugh’s eyes narrowed. His presence began to grow... unnatural. Like a slow, cold fog creeping into the room. His aura turned eerie.

Jeane noticed. She froze slightly, carefully weighing her next words.

"Before I continue, young Lord, please try to understand the Lady’s emotions at the time—"

"Oh, I understand all right"

Lugh replied, his voice distant.

In the countless lives he’d lived, such situations were uncommon, but not rare. The Lady of the House. The Mistress. The bitter cohabitation of grief and pride.

Jeane glanced at him again, clearly unconvinced.

The other attendants, those grooming and dressing him, had unconsciously slowed their movements, eager to hear more.

Lugh noticed, but said nothing. There were people eagerly awaiting his appearance down below. But at this moment, he couldn’t care less.

The maid continued.

"Like I said, young master, this happened a long time ago. You have to try to understand the circumstances of all the participants invol—"

"Cut the bullshit, Jeane."

Lugh’s voice was soft, but it cracked like glass in the still air.

"Is Isolde responsible for my mother’s death?"