/
I answered, preventing Dimitri from sitting crookedly and uttering any sharp venomous words at any moment.
“We’ve been hiring sincere people again and managing them well from the beginning, so there won’t be any problems in the future.”
“No matter how good the people you recruited are, it’s difficult to find good employees. I’ve brought in a few good people, so I’ll leave them in Blois and make sure they can do well.”
It seems that those people who came in earlier and were standing in the hallway weren’t Madam Elbas’ personal maids, but her limbs to be replanted in Blois.
I was taken aback.
How many of her people did I take out and leave only the good ones? Holding back my anger a little, I declined with a smile.
“It’s okay. The new employees have already stabilized and are working without problems.”
Grandma Rosanne cut off my words.
“It’s not that I reject human kindness like that. Madam Elbas is experienced and has good eyes, so give it a try with the people she brings. And…”
She spoke quickly so that we couldn’t intercept nor have any objections.
“Why aren’t you having a wedding?”
“Oh, that…”
“While we’re here, start preparing for the wedding. I don’t know if you’re being lazy or need some help. Anyway, Madam Elbas is here so she’ll teach you a lot in many ways. That’s why she came here.”
It’d have been known anyway that Dimitri and I weren’t married for love, but that there would have been some kind of story going on between the two of us. It wasn’t marriage with love, and according to Dimitri, many aristocratic couples who got married by arrangement skipped the wedding and took care of the matter on their own.
Of course, I wasn’t married by arrangement, but I knew anyway that a wedding wasn’t necessary in my case either.
“Still, there will be no one who doesn’t know about our marriage, and they wouldn’t be unhappy about it, so why—”
Grandma Rosanne interrupted me and said,
“I heard rumors that Rowaine had been in the annex for a long time, even after taking the wedding vows, so why on earth was that? Shouldn’t you be doing well so that people don’t gossip about your relationship for no reason? You have to prepare a ceremony and show a smiling face in front of people to be able to close their mouths. By the way, you’re sleeping together now, right?”
If it went like this, I wouldn’t be able to say anything as everything seemed to go according to the wishes of Grandma Rosanne and Madame Elbas.
‘…I can’t be swayed.’
That thought struck me strongly.
The two were testing us. No, it would be me whom they were testing. They must have already figured out Dimitri.
‘Are they trying to find out what a docile daughter-in-law I am?’
I was somehow used to this atmosphere. It was because this was often seen in the morning dramas that my maternal grandmother enjoyed. Over the past ten years, I have watched morning and evening dramas with her, and have seen many conflicts between father and mother.
‘As the first daughter-in-law, who’s kind and gentle, shed tears of blood… The second daughter-in-law, who was cold and capable, was treated with care.’
Even if it isn’t necessarily the composition of the first and second daughter-in-law, the mother-in-law couldn’t cope with the spoiled lover in the composition of the grandmother-in-law vs. the lover.
I made up my mind.
‘I don’t want to bring back the limbs of Madam Elbas that I’ve been trying to get rid of until now, I don’t want to force a wedding with no friends to celebrate, and I don’t want to hear nagging about the marital relationship.’
There’s one thing I always keep in my mind. That was the saying, ‘Let’s just go all out with these kinds of people.’ There was no need to be careful with humans who aren’t even cats.
“Don’t you hear grandmother asking? Did you sleep together already?”
At Madame Elbas’ urging, I smiled. Then, in front of anyone, especially Dimitri, I spat out words that I wouldn’t have said even if I had died.
“Of course. I’m already pregnant.”
For a moment, silence fell in the drawing room as the eyes of the three people were focused on me. Among them, Dimitri’s eyes grew especially large.
Madam Elbas asked suspiciously.
“How long have you been married?”
I replied with a calm face.
“I know. It’s fast.”
“….!”
“Same room…”
“….!”
“One shot, one kill.”
ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ
I’m an introverted and timid person. I’m also very shy… I mean, that was usually the case. However, in a tense situation like now, the words that came out of my mouth were different.
“How skillful Dimitri is and how well he uses his strength. There was no time for us to enjoy the newlyweds, but a child had already stumbled in. How much every night…”
As I praised Dimitri till my mouth became dry for the night I had never had with him, Madam Elbas coughed and stopped me.
“Stop. You’re not even embarrassed but also talkative.”
“What do you mean, ashamed! Since the Madam asked the question first, I thought you’d be curious, so I’m telling you in detail as a daughter-in-law. If pregnancy and childbirth are sacred things that deserve to be blessed, I think the sexual intercourse that causes them should also be blessed. Please, continue to take great interest in our married life.”
Dimitri started coughing next to me. Even though he hadn’t drunk anything, he seemed to have choked.
Although I heard him cough, I couldn’t stop. Right now, I was a runaway locomotive that operated rampantly burning coals full of fuel tanks.
“I can explain how many times I do it a day, how long it takes to do it, and in what posture I do it in like I’m painting it out for you. If you have any questions, ask anytime, anywhere. Don’t imagine yourself, Madam. That’d be a bit of a stretch.”
Madam Elbas shook her body as if she was stunned.
“Who’d think of such a thing!”
“So consequently, grandmother Rosanne and Madam Elbas. The doctor told me to get enough rest for the time being for the child. It seems that I’ve no choice but to omit the wedding. I was waiting to tell you when the baby in my stomach is a little more stable.”
Speechless, Madam Elbas shut her mouth and stared at me.
Meanwhile, grandmother Rosanne pondered for a moment before nodding her head as she stared into the air while holding her armrests.
“If the doctor said so, then you should rest. Is there anything else?”
I thought I might be pushed about it more forcefully, but it seemed that it wouldn’t be as difficult to persuade grandmother than I thought.
I decided to attack grandmother Rosanne and added excuses.
“Actually, I’m worried that I’m getting very sensitive and my body’s exhausted, so suddenly managing and supervising the new hires might become overwhelming, grandmother. In order to increase the number of employees and establish order at this time, there are probably more than one or two things to be concerned about…”
“Well.”
At those words, grandmother frowned. I gazed at her eagerly, waiting for the answer I wanted to hear. However, it seemed like that wasn’t enough.
“Don’t worry about that. That much would be solved if there was a competent maid.”
If I pushed further here, the ability of Lucy, the maid I’ve built, would be devalued. In the end, I’d have no choice but to nod my head, as it might backfire that even the head maid position would be filled with Mrs. Elbas’ people.
“It seems that I was too greedy and tried to do everything on my own. I’ll obey grandmother’s words.”
Just in time, the butler came and informed me that the rooms for grandmother Rosanne and Madame Elbas had been cleaned up.
“I need to rest a little.”
Grandmother stood up from her seat.
Before Madam Elbas could even step out, I hurriedly supported grandmother. Even though the Madam’s gaze made my skin sting, I smiled brightly. At the same time, grandma didn’t push me away.
“Anyway, congratulations on your pregnancy. I’ll see the grandchild soon.”
As expected, grandmothers are soft when it comes to grandchildren.
‘She shouldn’t expect too much from my imaginary pregnancy.’
…A silent tribute to grandmother’s expectations. I’m already a well-known villain in this world anyway, and the villain did just a little bit of evil.
‘I’m going to have to pay for a doctor.’
ﾟ･ : * ✧ * :･ ﾟ
Dimitri paced through the hallway, waiting for Rowaine, who took grandmother into a room on the first floor in consideration of her as she had difficulty moving.
“See you at dinner!”
Before long, Rowaine walked out of grandmother’s room with a friendly greeting. Dimitri, leaning obliquely in the hallway, stood with his arms crossed and stared at her.
Soon, the corner of one of his lips twitched up.
“Why is your smile so mean?”
Rowaine’s eyes widened.
He stood firm with a sullen expression on the words he uttered.
“Pregnant?”
“Ah…”
“Same room?”
“Di-Dimitri, that’s… It’s, it’s an improvisation… haha—”
Rowaine’s face burned as if she was about to explode, unlike someone who had just spoken those things to grandma Rosanne and Madame Elbas with a brazen face. This shyness was the real image of her he had always seen.
He laughed mischievously and made fun of her.
“What are you ashamed of now? I thought sexual intercourse deserves a blessing as well?”
Dimitri’s sense of playfulness, which had never been seen, crept up at the sight of Rowaine at a loss for what to do.
He repeated what she had said.
“I can explain to Madam Elbas how many times a day I do it a day, how long it takes to do it, and in what posture I do it in like I’m painting it out for you. If that’s the case, I can keep my mouth shut, but it’s totally up to Rowaine’s taste, so just tell me.”