CHAPTER 287: FALSE ACCUSATION

Aristia arrived in front of the door to the nursery.

Not wanting to disturb Valen in case he was sleeping, she quietly opened the door, a large smile plastered on her face.

But when she opened the door, her smile faded and anger filled her eyes.

What the hell was this nanny doing?!

"What are you doing?" She asked at the same time as baby Valen began to cry. It was a loud piercing cry that shot through to her heart.

The nanny quickly straightened up startled, seeing that it was Aristia, she panicked even more instead of relaxing.

"Y-Your Highness." She stuttered, looking from Aristia to Valen, stumbling over her words as she tried to explain herself.

Her face turned white. It was all over for her.

Aristia’s eyes narrowed.

’Aristia?’ Millie asked, sensing her emotions. ’Is something wrong?’

’Millie, ask Owen to bring my mother and Aunt Vasily to come to the nursery now.’

Glancing at baby Valen, she suppressed her anger.

"I asked what you were doing?" She tilted her head to the side and blinked curiously.

The maid blinked. So, the princess hadn’t seen her? She secretly breathed a sigh of relief before looking back at Aristia and putting on a smile.

"The young master is crying. I was just about to pick him up."

Aristia nodded her head in understanding.

"Oh? Then what’s wrong with my cousin? Why’s he crying?"

The maid shook her head. "I don’t know, but the princess shouldn’t worry. I’ll take care of the young master."

The door swung open at that moment. Catherine, Vasily, Alaric, Owen, Kai, Adeline, Alaric’s tutor, and a few servants stood there, looking into the room.

They looked around, taking in the crying Valen, the nanny, and Aristia whose gaze was stuck on the nanny.

"What is it?" Catherine asked with a small frown, Valen’s loud cry filling the space.

The maid bowed.

Vasily quickly carried her child up from the floor, trying to get him to stop crying.

"What’s wrong?" Catherine asked, taking in the somewhat tense air in the room.

She and Vasily were in the middle of having tea when Owen quickly approached with Millie, telling Catherine and Vasily that Aristia wanted them in the nursery immediately.

The two then quickly made their way towards the nursery, sensing the urgency in Owen’s message.

Vasily’s face had been clouded in worry, wondering whether something had happened to Valen since Aristia asked them to head to the nursery without delay.

Coincidentally, Kai and Adeline had heard Millie relaying Aristia’s message to Owen and also headed to the nursery together.

Alaric himself just came out of the the his lesson was being held in with his tutor when he saw the group heading to the nursery.

Curious, he and his tutor followed.

It was the same for the few servants who followed when they saw their madam moving quickly in the nursery’s direction.

At her mother’s question, Aristia replied. "That is what I want to know from Valen’s nanny, mama."

"This..." The nanny smiled awkwardly, then turned to look at Vasily to support her claim. "The young master just began crying. He usually cries like this, doesn’t he, my lady?"

Vasily frowned, but still nodded.

Aristia’s heart ached for her little second cousin when she found out that this wasn’t the first time this was happening.

But she had no doubt that Vasily was not aware of the real reason.

She fixed her gaze on the nanny.

"Won’t you say why he’s crying?" Her question made everyone confused.

The maid froze, then gathered herself.

"What? P-Princess, I told you. I don’t know why he’s crying."

But Catherine had caught her reaction.

Her eyes narrowed.

"So you won’t talk?" Aristia asked. "Fine then."

"What are you saying, princess?" Vasily asked with a frown, finally catching on to something.

Aristia turned to them. "After my history lesson, I wanted to see baby Valen. I opened the door and saw this nanny bending over him while he was playing with his toys."

The nanny gritted her teeth inwardly. Just what was wrong with this princess? And why did she have to enter the room at this moment. She just hoped no one would believe her. She thought with fear.

But on the outside, she smiled helplessness.

"Princess, I already told you. The young master was crying and I wanted to pick him up and soothe him."

Aristia shook her head. "Shh!" She gushed the nanny.

The nanny was speechless.

"And that’s where you’re wrong." Aristia continued, paying her no heed.

She turned back to the others.

"Valen wasn’t crying when I opened the door—"

"You didn’t see it well, princess—" The damn maid actually cut her off.

"Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking." Aristia cut her off, glaring at her with a deadly gaze that had the woman take a step back while feeling a shiver run through her spine.

The nanny took a deep breath. For a moment, it felt like she was being strangled.

Not only her, but Alaric’s tutor’s face had a deep frown.

Was it just him, or did he just feel aura from the princess?

But when he looked at her, the feeling was gone and there was no trace of aura on her body. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Aristia then said. "How could I see wrong?" She finally stopped glaring at the woman.

Then turning to her mother and Vasily, she said. "Listen to Valen’s cries. Does it sound like something that just happened for no reason?"

Vasily and Catherine had already caught on to something, but Aristia’s question was the final push.

Aristia’s words and the way she was speaking to the nanny could only mean that the nanny had done something to Valen.

Valen’s cries had been full of pain, and now that he was being hugged by his mother, his cries had reduced to mere hiccups.

One could only imagine what caused it.

"What is my daughter saying?" Catherine asked the nanny. Her voice was cold and her gaze was piercing.

At this point, the nanny was almost shaking.

Yet, she still insisted.

"Y-Your Highness, I have no idea—!"

"She pinched him."

Two voices said at the same time, one from the nanny and the other belonging to Aristia.

Vasily turned to the nanny with narrowed eyes. "What?"

"Give Valen to me." Aristia said.

Vasily obeyed, putting Valen in Aristia’s arms.

Aristia unconventionally sat down on the floor of the nursery with Valen in her arms.

"Shh... it’s okay. You’re fine, hmm?" She cooed, comforting him.

Valen gripped her clothes, hiccuping and looking at her with an aggrieved look in his large, baby eyes.

Aristia raised his top, repeating. "She pinched him."

Everyone watched carefully, but their eyebrows rose when they saw that... there was no mark.

The nanny became agitated. "I didn’t punch him. Princess, why are you accusing me? I know that I’m just a commoner, but that doesn’t mean you can accuse me." She said with an aggrieved expression.

Everyone else, including the servants still watched on with straight faces.

But Alaric’s tutor was frowning.

There was no mark on the baby. He felt that the princess was going out of hand. The nanny had been saying from the onset that she hadn’t done anything to the baby and that she was only trying to soothe him.

The baby’s mother had also agreed that the baby usually cried like that. Even though the cry did indeed sound unusual, but babies had no reason for acting a certain way.

He thought the princess was different from before, but from what he was seeing, it seemed the news was wrong. Maybe she pretended outside but showed her true self within the mansion’s walls.

Thankfully, he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

While he was still thinking this, Aristia suddenly moved.

The Nanny’s face turned whiter than a sheet of paper as if all the blood had suddenly been drained from her.

Aristia pulled down Valen’s trousers before anyone could say a word.

Vasily’s face changed from serious but confused to shock, disbelief and then anger as her gaze stayed stuck on her child’s rear.

There was a glaring mark on Valen’s buttcheek. It was so red, even merely looking at it seemed painful.

Valen was still a baby and had delicate skin, but it was obvious that this was done with the intention to hurt. The bruise had started to turn purple at the edges.

Everyone’s gazes snapped to the nanny.

She was silent, shaking like a leaf.

Vasily’s eyes were filled with rage, thinking of all the times her son had cried like this.

When they had chosen this nanny, she seemed competent enough.

At first, Valen was normal, but suddenly, he bagan to cry ’for no reason’, and the cries were always louder than usual.

The physician had been called numerous times, but even he hadn’t been able to figure out what was wrong.

Who would have known that it was the maid all along?!

Thud!