Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

Chapter 866: Twisting The Truth

Looking into those pleading eyes, the Baroness did not have the heart to reject her son’s request.

Therefore, caressing his full cheeks, she nodded in acceptance.

“Mama will surely accompany you the next time.” She coaxed him, using a gentle voice while rocking him in her arms.

The little boy had just turned six this year and was always treated as the apple of their eyes from the day he was born.

This second child of hers was born three years after Hilda’s disappearance and never faced any hardships throughout this short span of his life.

Due to the trauma of losing their first child, the Baron and his family had been excessively careful when she had gotten pregnant for the second time.

They made sure that she was well taken care of and never lacked anything until she safely gave birth to this healthy baby boy.

.....

One of the reasons why the Baroness had to stop secretly looking for her stolen firstborn was the timely funds that her elder brother had blocked after their father’s sudden and unexpected death.

Without the monetary support coming from her maternal family, she had to dip into the money that she had been saving throughout these years and also the profits that came from the investments she had made in the past.

Though she was running out of her savings at a rapid pace, she did not mind it as long as she could gain the results she desired.

However, when she learned that she had gotten pregnant a second time, her nanny suggested she end the wild goose chase and accept the reality of their situation.

The old lady had also advised her to control her spending as she would need it for the future of the coming child that was still in her womb.

These two reasons coupled with the constant negative reports she was receiving from the men she had commissioned to look for her child, the Baroness had no other option but to give up on trying to find her firstborn.

Every time she thought of how she had stopped searching for her baby who turned out to still be alive and living a miserable life as a commoner, the Baroness could not help but feel guilty.

She had failed the child by not being able to protect her as she should have.

Therefore, after they had finally reunited, she vowed to never let her daughter down again.

She had failed her once so she would never turn her down again and was willing to give her everything she asked for.

When she had first brought Hilda home, her family believed that she was being scammed by the commoner girl.

To put an end to their doubts, she had worked hard to convince and assure them that this girl was the same baby whom they all thought to have died at birth.

The excuse she had come up with to explain how the child they believed to be dead was standing before them, was also a clever and plausible one.

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When the Baroness had first brought Hilda back from the flower store, she announced that this was the child that she had previously believed to have died at birth.

When her husband questioned her about it, she twisted the truth in such a way that everything she said made sense yet at the same time, no one would doubt the previous version of the incident.

She declared that after she had given birth, she fainted due to exhaustion, throwing the entire mansion into a panic.

The nanny she had brought along with her was looking after her hence a different maid who worked in that place was asked to look after the child until the tired mother could wake up.

When she arose from her slumber, a dead child was handed to her by the same maid who claimed that she had given birth to a still child.

The real truth was much different as that maid had never appeared after she had left with the baby but she could not reveal this part and thus twisted the facts to work in her favor.

She went on to say that she was overcome by grief and could only embrace the dead child, mourning the tragic death.

This part was similar to what the Baron and his family had heard and believed to be the truth for over nine years now.

However, looking at the child who had accompanied the Baroness into their mansion and the portrait which the noble lady used as evidence, the resemblance was uncanny which made their beliefs waver.

The Baron had seen this portrait of his wife made when she was younger so he believed in the authenticity of the painting, invoking some suspicions in him.

This was when her personal maid stepped in and successfully planted the seeds of doubt into their minds.

She hinted that the maid who had taken the child after birth and later brought back the dead baby had resigned from her job at that mansion soon after this incident.

Everyone had thought that it was the guilt for not being able to save the child which had led the maid to take this drastic step.

However, now she felt that more sinister motives could have been at play.

The Baroness’s personal maid also skillfully mentioned that the child could have been exchanged for a dead baby during the chaos soon after the delivery.

Since everyone was tending to the Madame and only that maid had handled the baby, who would know what had truly happened in that short period?

The baby handed to the Baroness when she woke up was long dead, making everyone believe that the noble lady had given birth to a stillborn.

All children looked similar at birth so no one could have differentiated between the dead child in the Baroness’s arms and the one whom she had truly given birth to.

For this reason, the new mother could not be blamed for believing the maid’s words.

Unfortunately, the real daughter of the Baron had become the true victim of this incident.

She was made to live in poverty away from her parents while everyone was lamenting the death of some baby they had no connection with.

As the elders of the family pondered over these insinuations made by the Baroness’s personal maid, they felt that the chances of such ill acts being committed were too high.

The child who their Madame had brought home on that day looked a lot like the portrait and also her hair color was quite similar to what was inherited in the Baron’s family.

Thus, through a lot of effort put in by the Baroness and her maid, the rest of the Baron’s family were convinced that this indeed was a daughter of their family.

Not only had they resolved the issue of the child’s true birth but they had also succeeded in twisting the facts to avoid suspicions being aimed at them later on.

The doubt was on the maid who had dealt with the baby back then and the Baroness, who had tried her best to look for that woman, was sure that no one could get a hold of her.

Even if her furious husband tried to locate this maid, no results could be achieved which helped her lay down all her worries.

Instead, she focused her attention on Hilda, who was soon declared to be the firstborn child of the Baron.

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After that incident six months ago, her son, Edgar, was no longer an only child and had found an older sister who appeared out of nowhere.

Thinking of the difference in the life her two children had lived thus far, the mother’s heart ached for her firstborn.

From a young age, her son received everything he wished for but her daughter was forced to live in poverty with her commoner guardians who could barely afford to live a good life.

Therefore, ever since they had reunited, she had done everything in her power to make up for the pains her daughter must have experienced in the past.

It was due to her negligence that Hilda had to suffer for so many years, away from her true family.

Thus, now, she had to regain the trust that was once lost and correct the errors made in the past.

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However, listening to her son’s pleas, she realized that in the process of appeasing her daughter, she might have neglected her son whom she had loved dearly from the moment he was born.

He had never been deprived of anything so seeing him holding in his dissatisfaction and putting on a brave face was now making her sigh.

To get closer to one child, she had been neglecting the other but there was nothing that she could do.

However, thinking of how her son would soon be leaving their fief to resume his studies at the academy and would not be back for the next six months, she could not bear to see him unhappy any longer.

All noble boys joined the academy at the age of five but the plague had delayed them.

Therefore, the current first-year pupils at the academy were all six-year-olds and that included her dear son.

She had been worried about him but obeying his father’s instructions, he had been staying at the academy with the rest of the boys for the last six months.

He had been pampered since birth and this was his first time staying away from his family for such a long period.

It was understandable that he yearned for his parents yet, never once threw a tantrum to be sent home and only returned after he completed his first half-year without any issues.

He would have to head back in a few days to complete the next half of his academic year.

Therefore, the Baroness was already planning to spend more time with him before he could leave once again.