Chapter 12

Chapter 12

“Richard, take your medicine.” Before going to bed, Elisha, who had finished taking a bath, handed a cup of medicine to Richard. Coincidently, Ann was bringing the medicine as Elisha finished her bath.

Richard looked disapprovingly at the bluish liquid. “I’ll get better soon even if I don’t drink this.”

“You don’t want to drink it, do you?” Elisha took a fruit-flavored candy out of a glass bottle in a drawer and handed it over to him. “Here. Drink the medicine and then eat this. I am specifically saving it, but I’ll give it to you.”

She looked as if she was persuading a child who didn’t want to take medicine. Richard muttered his refutation and drank the medicine in resignation. And he returned the candy to Elisha as if to refute that he was not a child.

Elisha smiled contentedly at Richard. “You are so nice and listen to me well, husband.”

Richard’s sullen look eased a bit at the word “husband”. Then, he hardened his face again as if he had thought of something. “Are you going to the banquet?”

Elisha was puzzled as she didn’t know what Richard was talking about. Ah, she remembered as she saw Ansel’s invitation on the bedside table. “I have to go. The Duke seemed to look forward to it.”

After Count Arden and Ansel returned, Albert called Elisha to join him for dinner. Richard couldn’t join along because he couldn’t use his left arm. Albert praised Elisha for the first time.

(t/n: […] means the dialogue happened in the past)

[You did well in helping Young Master Arden. Count Arden’s land is located along the eastern sea, so he has been actively engaged in trade with the eastern continent, and consequently, he can easily get the supplies that are difficult to obtain. So, it is beneficial to build a friendship with Count Arden.]

[I see.]

[In life, there will be inevitable moments when you need to choose which one of the opposing sides will be your enemy. At that time, it’s better to judge which side will benefit you more to be your ally and turn the other one to become your enemy. Like this time.]

Even meeting people and building relationships were thoroughly planned based on the benefits and loss. It was the most prominent idea in Arencia. Elisha didn’t want to agree with his way of thinking, considering what he had done to Richard, but this time, she decided to follow his will.

[It will be good to get along with Ansel, so use this opportunity.]

It was inappropriate to judge a person’s value like Albert, but Elisha was quite tempted by what Ansel could offer if they became friends.

[You can buy and distribute the supplies that are hard to obtain at a lower price, and you may even get land to build a small villa near the beach.]

Of course, she planned to get a divorce and live independently in eight years. But, it would be better to prepare for it in advance, so Elisha decided to accept the invitation of Count Arden.

However, Richard frowned in disapproval at her decision. “Don’t get along with him.”

At his words, Elisha looked at Richard. “Richard, you shouldn’t hate a friend for no reason.”

“…What?”

“Did Ansel do anything wrong to you? Or do you think it’s his fault that he was bullied by the Crown Prince?”

Richard was dumbfounded and became speechless. Elisha seemed to misunderstand that he held the same opinion as Christian.

“No, it’s not because of that, you said you were on my side…!” Richard, who tried to refute, saw Elisha’s eyes staring at him and closed his mouth again. It hurt his pride to childishly argue about taking sides in front of his clueless wife.

“Nothing… Just go to sleep.” Richard swallowed the rest of his words with a sigh and lied down on the bed first as he turned his back on Elisha.

‘My side?’ Elisha was puzzled as she looked at Richard’s back.

*****

The day of Count Arden’s banquet has come, both Albert and Richard attended the banquet alongside Elisha.

‘I thought you weren’t coming.’ In the carriage, Elisha glanced at Richard, who was sitting next to her. She was surprised that he came along although he didn’t like Ansel. Of course, his expression was indifferent as usual.

Soon, two carriages of those three people stopped in front of Count Arden’s mansion. The Arden’s knights skillfully opened the carriage door. Richard got off first. As Elisha was about to follow him, he reached out his hand. When Elisha looked at him confusedly, Richard held out his hand closer to her. “Escort.”

“Ah.” Only then Elisha realized the meaning behind his action and put her hand on Richard’s hand. The warmth around her hand was unfamiliar yet quite reassuring. She felt a little relieved as she felt nervous attending the banquet for the first time.

Along with Richard, Elisha followed Albert into the mansion. The hall was already full of guests. ‘There are a lot of people.’ Not just the guests. It was full of delicious food and glittering chandelier lights.

As they were entering the hall, Count Arden, who saw them, hurried over instead of welcoming the other guests. Ansel and Countess Arden also rushed over.

“Welcome, Duke of Rubelin. I feel honored by Your Grace’s attendance.”

“Happy birthday, Count.”

Behind Count Arden, who was greeting Albert, the other nobles also slowly gathered. All their attention was directed towards Albert.

“I’m glad to see Your Grace more often these days. We are having a banquet at our mansion next month, so would you come and grace us with your presence?”

“Oh my God, is this Your Grace’s granddaughter? She is wonderful. She is certainly a perfect match for Your Grace’s successor.”

“I think so too. With such a wonderful granddaughter, Your Grace must have felt reassured.”

The interest of those who wanted to impress Albert was naturally directed toward Richard and Elisha too. It was a very different reaction from the formal greetings at the royal hunting ground.

Elisha noticed why their reaction had changed, they were wary of Richard’s power. She didn’t want to admit it, but Albert’s intention worked perfectly.

“Hello, Countess.” Elisha greeted Countess Arden with a smile and responded politely to the surrounding nobles.

After a while, as the banquet hall was filled with guests, Count Arden walked toward the center of the banquet hall. “Thank you for attending today. Let’s start the banquet now. We’ve prepared this banquet earnestly for our precious guests, so please enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

The banquet began with the thanks of Count Arden. After the Count’s greeting ended, a maid who was waiting nearby approached Elisha and Richard. “I’ll take both of you two to the annex.”

Elisha and Richard headed into the annex of the Count’s mansion. Usually, tea parties for children were held at a different place from adult banquets. The nobles thought it was a degrading act for children to run around in the banquet hall.

Thanks to the separation of places, adults were able to communicate freely among themselves, and children were able to play freely, so this practice benefited both generations.

“It’s the smell of cookies!”

Arriving in front of the annex with the maid, Elisha’s eyes twinkled at the smell of freshly baked cookies. The knights guarding the annex opened the door for them. There were a lot of delicious refreshments and several noble children who arrived before them.

The chattering children saw Elisha and Richard entering the annex and became quiet. It was Ansel, the organizer of the tea party, who broke the silence. “Welcome, Elisha. And…Lord Richard.”

“Thank you for inviting us, Ansel.”

Ansel couldn’t talk more to them since the other noble children also arrived at the annex. As Ansel went to greet the guests, Elisha and Richard were left at one side of the annex.

The other children were gathered in twos and threes, none of them came near Elisha and Richard. Sometimes, they were just glancing at Richard and Elisha. Elisha could easily guess why. ‘It’s because of the incident at the royal hunting ground.’

Most of them were the children who obeyed Christian’s orders and forced themselves to laugh, even though what Christian did wasn’t funny. Although he wasn’t present today, his influence still affected those children.

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’ Elisha shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t care. If it was a friendship driven by power, it would incline toward the one with more power.

‘Ahhh, I’m bored…’ Elisha, who had been standing still for a long time, found cookies at a nearby table and brought them over. She put one in her mouth and the other one in Richard’s mouth.

“Sweet things don’t taste good…”

Before Richard could finish his words, Elisha put cookies in Richard’s mouth. “But it’s still delicious because I give it to you, right?”

As Elisha grinned and asked, Richard frowned and ate the cookies quietly. After that, Richard just accepted the cookies she handed over readily. Elisha, who was busily eating cookies beside Richard, suddenly felt pain in her feet and stopped eating.

‘My heels hurt because of these new shoes.’ The new shoes were a bit tight so it hurt Elisha’s feet. Elisha looked around and decided to leave for a while.

When Richard noticed her leaving, he looked at Elisha in wonder. “Where are you going?”

“Shhh. It’s rude to ask something like that to a lady.” Elisha came out into the hallway, leaving Richard, who was looking at her as if he heard something ridiculous.

Unlike the banquet, which was full of music and chattering sounds, the hallway was quiet. As soon as Elisha stepped out of the nearby balcony, she took off her shoes. Sure enough, her heels had peeled off and turned red.

Just in time, the Count’s maid asked when she saw it. “Would you like to wear slippers for a while?”

“Yes, will you get them for me?”

The maid said she would be back soon and left the balcony.

Being left alone, Elisha gazed at the Count’s garden from the balcony. ‘Pretty.’ The Duke’s garden was beautiful, but the Count’s garden was lively and pretty. In particular, the lighting from the lamps accentuated its charm. At that time, only the sound of the wind could be heard as she enjoyed the calm scenery.

“Rose, why didn’t the Crown Prince come today?”

“My father said that he’s been very ill for a few days.”

From the balcony, she heard the children’s voices. The hallway was quiet, so their voices were clearly heard. Elisha, who unintentionally overheard the children’s conversation, tilted her head. ‘Christian has been ill? He was fine during the hunt at the hunting ground though?’

He was not someone who would die easily. In the original story, Christian was alive until the male lead, Leon, turned ten. So, there was no way he would die soon. While she was thinking about Christian, a familiar name came out of the children’s mouths, so Elisha listened intently.

“Isn’t it because His Highness was shocked by ‘him’?”

“Who?”

“Richard. Didn’t you remember what he did at the hunting ground last time? He is just a half-blood yet he dares to challenge the Crown Prince.”

“Hall-blood?”

“His mom was a prostitute. She sold her body. He was a guy who wandered around the streets until he entered the Rubelin Dukedom. He doesn’t even know the proper etiquette.”

“That’s right, he was a mercenary of a guild before. My mom said that it’s a place where people, who only have good strength while being stupid and ignorant gather.”

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Elisha’s expression gradually hardened as she listened to their conversation. ‘These kids! How dare they talk like that about someone else’s husband…!’

I’ll protect my husband! Elisha went out into the hallway impulsively and glared toward the children. The children’s voices ceased as they looked at Elisha with perplexed eyes. Elisha stared at the children coldly and turned around.

It was then.

“Hey, how do you feel about living with your monster husband?”

When one of them asked, the other bewildered children began to giggle. Elisha, who had stopped her steps for a while, turned around and strode toward the children. They were startled by her reaction. Elisha’s gaze was sharp as she faced them, causing them to feel chills.