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Chapter 172
The Fool
Translated by AmaLynne
Yolanda Reinbach couldn’t hide her frustration amid the worst days that had followed after her husband brought a new woman into their lives.
Her son Manion had been excluded from the line of succession, and she had gone from being the legitimate wife to becoming a concubine.
“After all the effort I put into snatching the position of the legitimate wife from Melanie, to have it stolen by some country girl!”
The new legitimate wife of the Reinbach family, Harriet, was a simple and modest girl who seemed to be just the type her husband Calius would prefer.
Looking back, she even had some resemblance to the late Melanie.
That alone was aggravating, but Harriet’s son, Harry, was the child who had taken away the position of successor from Manion.
Yolanda couldn’t forgive this.
She believed that her anger was justified and never questioned it.
“Manion, what a fool you are! To be defeated by such a brat!”
Her son’s incompetence was a significant factor in Yolanda’s frustration.
Just as she had once taught herself to take what she desired, she had taught him the same.
However, instead of dealing with Harry as a threat, he failed twice.
As a result, Calius had broken his arm to prevent him from ever doing the same thing again.
As a punishment for her son’s instigation, Yolanda herself was subjected to a life of confinement and lost her freedom.
“Those foolish servants… Instead of poisoning Harriet, they betrayed me and informed my husband. I should have taken my time like I did with Melanie.”
She remembered how she had driven Melanie to suicide.
Despite giving birth to the inept Sam, Melanie had still been favored by Calius, which was inconvenient. So Yolanda had tormented her.
Daphne, who supported Melanie, had been an obstacle, but the maid hadn’t been by her side constantly.
Yolanda had exploited that opening to bully Melanie relentlessly. She had laughed heartily when Melanie had left behind a letter and disappeared.
She had managed to secure the position of the Baron’s legitimate wife and eliminate the nuisance.
She had intended to do the same to Harriet, but due to Manion losing his position as heir, she had acted hastily, failing.
If it weren’t for that, Yolanda could have taken out her frustrations on Harriet by now. She bit her lip irritably at the thought.
She wanted to somehow bring Harriet down even now. Annoyingly, the woman was carrying Calius’s child in her womb.
Calius had treated Harriet so well that it was as if he didn’t even care about Yolanda and Manion.
“I am the legitimate wife of the Reinbach family. My son is meant to become the next Baron of Reinbach… and to achieve that, I must eliminate anyone who stands in my way.”
She had secretly written to her father, asking for his assistance, but there had been no response.
Her husband might have prevented her father’s letters from reaching her.
She longed to see her father, but under house arrest, Yolanda was unable to step outside freely.
The maids also seemed to be ordered by her husband, ignoring her every command.
As she pondered what she could do, the door to her room was rudely pushed open without a knock, and two maids entered.
They were carrying a tray.
Realizing that they were bringing food, Yolanda sighed, wondering how much longer this kind of life would continue.
The confinement to her room and the requirement to eat there instead of in the dining hall was suffocating. And she had to feed her son, whose arm was broken and couldn’t feed himself.
She felt an impulse to scream, wondering why she had to endure such inconvenience.
She briefly considered the idea of escaping the mansion and directly seeking help from her father.
“…Such a nuisance. It would be great if the master would just throw this pair out already.”
A young maid muttered audibly enough for Yolanda to hear.
“What did you say! How dare a mere servant!”
“Oh, did you hear that? But I’m not scared of you anymore. Look at you, stuck in this room, and your so-called son is useless. You should experience firsthand what kind of treatment Sam endured from you! How about that!”
“Y-You!”
Here it was again. These servants of the house were always so obsessed with Sam, Sam.
“Don’t you dare compare that inept child with me!”
Yolanda couldn’t hold back her outburst, and for some reason, the maids began to laugh.
“Why is that so amusing?”
“Oh, you don’t know. Sam-sama is engaged to Stella-sama.”
“What?”
“He’s also engaged to the daughter of the Earl Walker. Sam-sama holds the position of Court Wizard and has even been granted the title of Earl by His Majesty. So, where exactly is this『inept』quality you speak of? If anyone’s inept, it’s probably your son.”
With that, the maids spat out those words and roughly placed the dishes down before leaving the room.
“W-Wait! What is going on here!”
Yolanda tried to chase after the maids, but the room had been locked, and she couldn’t get out. She pounded on the door, but no one responded.
“That’s… unbelievable. Samuel engaged to a princess and a noble’s daughter?!”
Unthinkable. Unthinkable.
“Even though Manion had his engagement broken off and was stripped of the heir’s position, how can that useless brat, who can’t even use a sword properly, have such good fortune? I should’ve cornered him to death just like a mother would! He’s repaying the favor I did for him as a child with this!”
Yolanda shouted something that would make anyone doubt her sanity if they heard. She grabbed a nearby chair and slammed it onto the floor.
“Huff, huff… That’s it, that’s it!”
Despite being out of breath, Yolanda’s face lit up as if she’d had a brilliant idea.
“Why not have Manion replace Samuel as the princess’s fiancé! The princess should prefer Manion, who excels in swordsmanship, over the inept Samuel!”
Heh heh heh. Yolanda imagined the future she had envisioned, and she writhed with excitement.
“Once that’s decided, we’ll head to the capital with Manion. Father should be able to provide us with travel expenses and accommodations. No, he’ll probably give it willingly. If Manion marries the princess, we can easily crush the Reinbach Baron’s house. I’ll make Harriet and Harry taste despair before killing them! Ahahaha, ahahaha!”
That’s right. Neither she nor her son were meant to end up like this.
After all, they weren’t insignificant enough to be content with being the wife of a rural baron.
Her son would prefer a glamorous princess over a rustic woman.
Yolanda continued to cackle in high spirits, lost in her unattainable dreams.