CH 6

Chapter 6

I already knew who she was.

Missus Anabelle Seymour.

She was the biological sister of Renée Valentino, Theodore’s mother and the former Duchess. In other words, Anabelle Seymour was Theodore’s aunt.

Even as she had no other connection to the family, the reason why she was acting as the lady of the house was because of the will that Renée Valentino had left.

The gist of it was, ‘Please take good care of my children in my stead.’

And so for that reason, Anabelle Seymour had been taking care of Theodore, and in her forty years, she had never married.

I heard that she continued to cherish Theodore as though he were her own child. Perhaps that’s why she wasn’t looking at me kindly.

I bowed silently while avoiding her eyes. I don’t even expect that she’d think of me in a good light, but I don’t want to be hated more here.

“…Welcome to the Valentino Duchy, Lily.”

“Thank you, Missus Seymour. I’ll be in your care.”

Still, wasn’t it fortunate that she at least greeted me formally? The vassals, knights and many other people weren’t so openly kind to me, so I was relieved.

“Of course. Theo, let’s head to the central mansion.”

“Yes, Aunt.”

Theodore answered politely and glanced back at me. His gaze was, for a moment, complex, but it seemed to be a trick of the light.

As I watched him turn his back on me without a word, I soon hurried to walk as well.

* * *

“This is the room where you will stay, Madam. If you need anything, please feel free to pull the string by the table. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

“No, I’m fine. You can leave.”

“Yes. Then.”

A maid of the Valentino estate immediately guided me to a drawing room connected to a bedroom. I carefully looked inside after she left, and the moderately colorful yet elegant room had a pleasant ambiance.

I was worried about them throwing me into a solitary cell in the dungeon, but I’m glad that they gave me a normal room.

Right next to my room was a smaller room where an exclusive lady-in-waiting can stay, and that’s where Charlotte was unpacking.

Charlotte was originally just a low-ranked maid, but from now on, she’ll be my exclusive lady-in-waiting. When I told the chamberlain of the Valentino estate about it, he didn’t seem very pleased.

‘There’s no one here who’d want to serve me anyway, right?’

The fact that Charlotte was an orphan and a low-ranked maid didn’t matter to me. It didn’t matter if people in the Valentino estate would curse at me, saying that one’s roots can’t be denied.

Even loud words like me being a mere maid’s daughter didn’t hurt me anymore.

So many people have said it already.

‘From now on…’

I lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

‘It would be difficult to get along like other couples.’

Theodore wouldn’t come to me. Tonight, tomorrow, or any other day in the future.

I already knew that he would divorce me someday. No, I even considered a future where my death would be by his hands. But right now, it didn’t seem like he had an intention to kill me.

But you never know. Maybe he’ll change his mind… Or would Missus Seymour or the Duchy’s loyal vassals try to poison me?

But when have I ever not been worrying about my life.

‘I knew it.’

A shallow smile tugged on my lips, and only one corner was raised.

‘Even if I escaped the Everett estate through marriage… I’m still drowning in misfortune.’

I already know.

Where did my life go wrong? I’ve thought about it countless times. If I had to start somewhere, perhaps it was when my mother, a maid of the Everett household, had slept with a stranger wandering through the estate, which led to having me. Foolishly, she didn’t think that the stranger would leave without telling her his name.

Now, I wouldn’t even fantasize about my father turning out to be a member of a royal family of some other neighboring country. The more I imagined things like that, the more I’d be left in misery.

‘…Let’s just stay dead in this house.’

I won’t try anything. I won’t expect anything. Whatever emotions might arise, they must be stopped right away and pressed down.

So it would be wise to get rid of anything like it in my head—like those blue eyes that seemed to be trembling as they looked at me.

And those short, intense memories of that night that never led to anything more than that.

* * *

I sat quietly in the banquet hall where no one welcomed me.

The banquet was intended to welcome the new Duchess Valentino, but of course, I could tell that not one of the people who attended truly welcomed me. Their gazes stung.

Everyone despised and hated me. At first glance, I felt a mixture of curiosity and sympathy from them, but it wasn’t the positive kind.

The Valentino family’s head of the household and his vassals were all inside the spacious banquet hall. I stuck out like a sore thumb, as though I was a stone that had just tumbled in. Sitting next to me was my husband… Theodore, who wouldn’t even look at me.

Do you hate me that much?

…I had such a thought without realizing it, but I soon came to my senses. I laughed in vain.

Of course. He must hate me. Whenever he looks at me, he’d remember the Everett family and he’d recall my father’s face. And it’s not just Theodore—perhaps everyone here…

…How much do they hate the Everett family?

This grand welcome banquet was something unlikely considering the current state of affairs of the Valentino territory, so it might have been under the Everett family’s influence.

After reflecting on this fact again, I felt sick. I wanted to get up and run away right now. But I needed to endure. Rather, I needed to look exactly who I was—a victim, so that I could be seen separately from them…

“The food doesn’t seem to suit your taste.”

At this time, I heard a cynical voice from my side.

“Miss Everett.”

…He didn’t call me ‘Wife’ or my name, but ‘Miss Everett’. I glanced to the side and looked at him incredulously.

“I’m telling you in advance, but I hope that you will not try to call me intimately as well, Miss Everett.”

“……”

“I have no intention of continuing this marriage until I reach my grave. And the same goes for you. We don’t need to deal with each other, so let’s just avoid wasting our emotions. Do you understand?”

Let’s just avoid wasting our emotions, he says.

In other words, he meant that there should be no contact between us. …It’s not anything surprising, but strangely enough, when he confirmed it himself… My heart seemed to throb painfully.

No, it’s just my stomach. I must have a stomachache. Was there anything between us for my heart to throb like this? It must be an illusion.

I answered in a small voice.

“Yes, I understand.”

“…Right. You should understand.”

“……?”

I looked at him suspiciously as he sipped his fruit wine in a silver goblet. Was he just repeating what I said to enunciate a nuance or was it something in his attitude… No, I don’t need to think of unnecessary things.

Because it’s enough of a relief that he won’t kill me.

·

The banquet lasted for less than two hours. When I went back to my room, Charlotte was waiting there with a hot bath drawn in advance. Perhaps because I didn’t eat anything, but I had no strength left in my body. When I stumbled a little, Charlotte quickly helped me up.

“Milady! No, Madam, are you alright?”

“…I’m fine. I just want to take a bath and rest after.”

“Yes, I’ve prepared everything. Please head to the bathroom.”

…Charlotte was the only one in the room. Originally, there should have been two ladies-in-waiting and three maids assisting her with her work, but…

“Charlotte, did you prepare the bath by yourself?”

As soon as I entered the bathroom, I glanced back at Charlotte and asked her, and at this, Charlotte flinched a little. She soon lowered her gaze and smiled awkwardly.

“No, Madam, other people helped me. But everyone said something urgent came up, so I was left in the room alone.”

“You don’t have to lie, Charlotte.”

“……”

“Are the other servants of this estate ostracizing you?”

When I asked this, Charlotte was visibly flustered, and her expression instantly crumbled as though she was about to cry. I thought that Charlotte was feeling that it was unfair because she was being treated as an outcast, but that wasn’t it.

“I’m… I’m fine, really, Madam. I can do everything by myself. It’s just that… The Madam shouldn’t have to hear bad things. Please don’t worry. I’m quite strong.”

Looking as though she was holding back tears, she smiled as she clenched her fist. And in turn, I held back my laughter that was threatening to burst out. Anger rose within me.

“Right. So you’re being ostracized.”

“M-Madam, I’m really…”

Charlotte repeatedly said that she was fine more than ten times. She was worried about me. While there was a power struggle between the servants, Charlotte was afraid that if I stepped in and defended her, I would be vulnerable to their attacks. That’s why she was sacrificing herself.

“I understand why you’re worried, Charlotte.”

“……”

I took off my clothes and went into the large marble tub, and the hot water overflowed.

“Even so, in this house full of people who hate me, I’ll cause a disturbance regardless. And I’ll be hated even more.”

“I’m so sorry, Madam…”

“Why are you saying sorry? I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“No, Madam! Please don’t be sorry either! It’s just… I used to be an orphan… so I just want to say…”

What Charlotte was saying was almost gibberish. She seemed to have already made up her mind about sacrificing herself for me.

But I didn’t want to leave it at that. I couldn’t do that.

Charlotte being shunned like this was all too familiar to me.

I’ve endured it countless times as Lily Everett, too.

We’re in the same situation now, but seeing the person who’s always by my side suffering—for me to turn a blind eye to it… would be difficult.

I planned to do nothing in this house.

“Charlotte, do you want to go back to the Everett estate?”

“Pardon…? That, but, why are you asking that all of a sudden…”

Charlotte’s tears finally fell, and she murmured in a tearful voice.

“I, I like being beside, the Madam. If I go back, there’s no one else who’ll welcome me anyway, there will be no one beside me…”

After hearing this, I realized.

While staying together with Charlotte, I wasn’t the only one who gained comfort.

Charlotte was also by my side, and she took comfort in it as well.

…We were like two injured animals licking each other’s wounds.

“Okay. I got it.”

“Hicc…”

“You care too much about me.”

“Madam…”

“Would it be such a big deal if I’m a little hurt.”

I tried not to do anything for myself. However, for someone who cared for me, it was difficult to just stay still.

* * *