I'm Only a Stepmother, but My Daughter is Just so Cute!

Ch 18

She couldn’t breathe.

Miss Jeremie was now fully able to understand what prey felt like before a predator. Abigail, to her, looked like a judge that had come straight out of the depths of hell. This woman was the devil—there was no other way of explaining it. How else was Abigail capable of releasing an aura of such malevolence? Miss Jeremie couldn’t speak from the fear choking her. She couldn’t even think, let alone dare, to ask for another option from Abigail. It felt like she was about to die from the sheer pressure itself.

Abigail silently looked down at the petrified woman before delivering the coup de grace. “Now. What will you do?”

* * *

“Miss Abigail, have you heard? Miss Jeremie got put in jail.” Clara spoke almost as if she was imparting something of utmost secrecy. Though obviously, I knew about all this from the very beginning.

Miss Jeremie chose the first of the three options I gave her. After all, turning herself in would have given her a lighter punishment in theory. Despite all that, Sabelian still sentenced her to death. He did give her the choice of death by hanging or death by guillotine, though. Well, she didn’t end up dying at any rate. She just went to prison. All thanks to Blanche.

I tried to hide the truth so that Blanche wouldn’t be hit so hard by shock. But despite my best efforts, I couldn’t stop the rumors from spreading inside the palace and the child ended up learning about what happened. Blanche cried all day when she heard Miss Jeremie was going to die. She asked Millard to send a message to the king asking him to not kill Miss Jeremie for her crimes. After all, no matter how bad of a person Miss Jeremie was, she did raise Blanche for ten years.

Sabelian decided to simply punish the woman using normal means after receiving that message. It was honestly the first time I’ve ever heard of him doing anything like this. The fact that the request came from his daughter must’ve held more weight in his eyes. It looked like Sabelian, too, was beginning to change a little.

In any case, since Miss Jeremie was in prison now, there should be no way for her to hurt Blanche anymore. I’ve even recorded the scene where she ordered a maid to hide nutmeg in my room. It should still be of use in the future. If she tries to mess with Blanche again, then I really won’t stay still, “Speaking of which, did the chef ever get his job back?”

“Yes. He’s back in the kitchens now.”

“That’s good.” Phew, even the chef was able to make it back. We almost ended up killing someone completely innocent. Thank goodness Verite has my back like a champ.

“By the way, today’s the day you go out walking with Princess Blanche, isn’t it?” Clara’s timely reminder was a godsend. Oh, shoot! I completely forgot! I can’t believe myself! I quickly jumped up from my seat at the reminder, “Let’s get ready to go out. We can’t have Princess Blanche waiting.”

I quickly headed to the meeting spot. Thanks to my haste, we ended up arriving at the gardens thirty minutes earlier than planned. Despite being so early, I was as happy as could be. I could finally understand what people meant by a person being giddy with happiness almost an hour before meeting someone they loved.

Just then, I caught sight of something black on one side of the garden. Was it a cat? When I came close enough, I realized that I was staring at a small head. It was Blanche. She was crouching down in a corner of the garden, looking at something. Whatever it was she was doing, She seemed really absorbed in it. She wasn’t even looking at me. “Princess Blanche?”

The girl leaped up in surprise when I called her name. She quickly hid something behind her back. “M-Miss Abigail! You’re early…!”

“Well, yes. I am, somehow… What were you doing over there?”