HIGOS CH 07

“Come in.”

“M-My lady!”

Paul’s hurried voice reached her, but Cassia simply ignored him and got to her feet.

A demon had been added to her hellish reality, yet Cassia remained perfectly calm. This was one of the advantages of having lived her life twice. She already knew all the people who would meddle in her life without having to personally run into them and learn the hard way.

Although she had been dragged around by that devilish young lady, Vita, for nearly two years in her previous life, she was confident she wouldn’t let that happen this time. No—why settle for merely refusing to be dragged around? She would settle every score from her past, when she had known exactly what was going on between Jester and Vita yet had been unable to properly deal with either of them because she lacked evidence. Cassia’s eyes flashed.

Vita looked exactly as she remembered when she entered the room with a shy smile. When Cassia had first met her, she had thought that if angels truly existed, perhaps one of them would look just like Vita.

Vita had light brown hair neatly braided, and her fair face was dotted with adorable freckles. Her face looked remarkably young for her age, and because she was always smiling brightly, she naturally won everyone’s affection. She wasn’t particularly beautiful or striking, yet she was immensely popular among the men. The “kind and cheerful” young lady of Greze Castle was also quite well-known among the people of the territory.

Yes. Even if I were a man, I probably couldn’t have disliked her.

She certainly was the type Jester, who didn’t seem particularly interested in women, might want to keep by his side. Cassia reluctantly admitted that.

But that has nothing to do with cheating, does it? You already had a lover, yet you hid her from me and married me anyway. You damnable man.

She disliked Jester even more than Vita. A helpless shadow fell over Cassia’s smiling face.

“My lady?”

“Ah, yes. You said your name was Vita?”

“Yes, my lady. I’m Vita Berkeley. The Baron and I were born and raised together in Bohem. My parents became ill, and I couldn’t very well remain in Bohem all by myself, so thankfully, the Baron was kind enough to let me come and stay at the castle.”

If your parents were ill, shouldn’t you have stayed there to take care of them? What kind of ridiculous excuse is ‘I couldn’t very well remain there by myself’?

Cassia had heard countless flimsy stories like this, and every time, they left her speechless. She forced a smile.

Vita added with innocent-looking eyes,

“I’ve been counting down the days until you came to Greze. There wasn’t anyone my age, so I was terribly bored. You and I can become the closest and dearest friends in the castle, my lady.”

Someone my age? Become close friends?

For Cassia, who had spent her entire life as a noble lady, what right did a commoner, barely different in status from an ordinary servant, have to say such things?

I was such an idiot back then. I actually thought, ‘Oh, I suppose that’s how it is.’

Cassia looked into Vita’s smiling face and smiled back.

There was an irresistible charm in Vita’s smiling eyes. In the past, Cassia had been unable to resist that smile and would nod along to practically anything Vita said. This time, too, Cassia nodded.

“If the Baron went so far as to bring you into the castle to live with him, you must be very close indeed. Isn’t that right, Paul?”

Cassia turned around with a bright smile, and Paul hesitated, breaking into a cold sweat.

The oblivious Vita spoke up on his behalf.

“We’re practically like siblings, even though we aren’t related by blood. Please feel free to treat me comfortably as well, my lady.”

Hahahaha. She really says absolute nonsense without batting an eye.

Keeping her true thoughts hidden, Cassia smiled back at Vita’s angelic expression.

Vita Berkeley.

Among all the insane people Cassia remembered from her previous life, she was undoubtedly the worst. Even if Cassia had lived beyond twenty-seven years, she doubted she would ever meet someone as crazy as Vita. She was certain of it.

It had been foolish of Cassia not to suspect the two of them from the beginning. They claimed they had never had romantic feelings for each other, but if Jester hadn’t become a war hero and accepted Cassia as his wife along with the barony that had been bestowed upon him, the two of them might very well have married.

Remembering how Vita had gone beyond simply liking Jester and become obsessed with him, Cassia gave a bitter smile.

Jester had allowed his childhood friend to stay at his castle. The situation was absurd—an unrelated woman who wasn’t even his wife living in the castle in such an ambiguous position—but Cassia could let that much slide.

Jester’s mistake had been failing to properly recognize the line drawn between them as a nobleman and a commoner. Vita would sometimes call him “Jester” affectionately instead of “Baron.” Whenever Cassia reacted in disbelief, Vita would pretend to be startled, lower her head, and apologize.

But she only apologized to Cassia, the “lady of the house.” It was almost as though she believed there was no need to apologize because Jester himself wasn’t offended by the way she addressed him.

Whatever their relationship had been in the past, Jester had married Cassia. Under those circumstances, Vita should have given up her feelings for him.

But she didn’t.

There had been dozens of servants driven out of Greze Castle by Vita alone. Her reasons were always the same.

They had supposedly tried to seduce Jester, the lord of the estate, or looked at him with improper intentions…

Vita had persuaded Cassia by saying that, as the mistress of the castle, she needed to display her authority and make an example of such insolent maids by ruthlessly driving them out.

Of course, from Cassia’s perspective, those maids had been completely innocent. But she had been unable to oppose Vita.

Why, then, had Cassia—the second-most powerful person in Greze after Jester—been pushed around by an ordinary commoner girl?

[“Vita is one of the few people I trust. Managing the servants of the castle is entirely your authority, but Vita isn’t staying here as an ordinary maid, so please don’t treat her the same way. And don’t harbor unnecessary suspicions about her.”]

When Cassia had noticed something suspicious and tried to have Vita sent away, it had been Jester himself who stopped her.

Jester, believing that all the maids Cassia had dismissed one after another at Vita’s urging had been expelled because of Cassia’s own wishes, had sternly warned her with a weary expression.

“Leave Vita alone.”

Cassia, who had no choice but to obey Jester’s words back then, continued suffering because of Vita.

The reason she had been unable to put a mere commoner woman in her place and had endured nearly two years of torment was, in the end, entirely Jester’s fault.

Jester, Jester… Just remembering how she was always going on about Jester gives me a headache.

Whenever the three of them happened to be together, Cassia would become so confused that she couldn’t tell whether she was the mistress of the castle or Vita.

The actual mistress of the castle, Cassia, was seven years older than Vita and treated her difficult-to-approach husband with proper respect, always calling him “Lord” or “Baron.”

Meanwhile, Vita, nothing more than his childhood friend, would frequently pretend to make a mistake and casually call him “Jester” in an affectionate tone.

As this happened repeatedly, the hierarchy within the castle gradually became confused. Naturally, the other servants were intimidated by her as well.

Vita was the only person in all of Greze who spoke informally to Jester, the most powerful person in the territory.

Of course, she never did so openly—it was always supposedly a mistake. But considering she never corrected herself, it was obvious how much worse she must have been when the two of them were alone.

Cassia truly disliked how Jester refused to draw a proper line with Vita.

How could he simply stand by and watch as a commoner girl, no different in status from the servants, tried to place herself on equal footing with his noble wife?

Because of his careless attitude, wasn’t it the people around them who suffered the most, left bewildered by the collapse of the castle’s hierarchy?

But newlywed Cassia had been so timid that one might have wondered what use she had for a mouth at all.

She couldn’t even imagine firmly confronting him and saying,

“Can’t you properly set some boundaries with Vita?”

Whenever she encountered her husband, she usually just hurriedly bowed her head and fled.

At the time, Cassia’s philosophy had been simple: Don’t unnecessarily interfere with what your husband is doing.

Jester and Vita had known each other for almost their entire lives. Cassia had been living in the castle for less than a year, so she felt she had no right to tell them what they could or couldn’t do.

But this time was different.

If Vita was left alone, she would become a dangerous presence who caused nothing but trouble throughout the castle.

It would have taken an entire day just to count all the things she had done.

As the memories of the two-year nightmare she had suffered because of Vita replayed in her mind, Cassia shuddered involuntarily.

Facing Vita was every bit as uncomfortable as encountering Jester in bed.

“Ah!”

“…My lady?”

“I’m a little tired after traveling such a long distance yesterday. Let’s continue our introductions another time. Would you mind leaving me alone for now?”

Cassia spoke with a gentle smile.

Vita nodded awkwardly. Paul and Vita bowed politely before leaving Cassia’s room.

Only then could Cassia finally release the tension that had instinctively built up inside her upon meeting her old adversary again, letting out a long sigh.

In any case, her nightmare with Vita had lasted only two years.

It had ended during the early stages of Cassia’s pregnancy with Rael, when her health had weakened and the physician had become concerned about the possibility of a miscarriage.

Cassia had sincerely pleaded with Jester to drive Vita away, telling him that Vita was the source of all her stress.

In the end, Vita packed her belongings and left.

For someone with such a long history of causing trouble, it was a rather anticlimactic ending.

At the time, Jester probably hadn’t wanted to do it, but he had had no choice.

His wife, already suffering from stress severe enough to raise concerns about her pregnancy, had told him that Vita was the source of it. With everyone watching, how could he possibly continue protecting her?

I should have caught them red-handed when they were cheating back then.

This time, I won’t let them off so easily.

I’ll gather everyone in the castle and make them suffer the humiliation they deserve.

Late one night, Cassia had gone to Jester’s bedroom for a reason she could no longer remember.

That was when she had heard Vita’s voice from inside.

[Jester, I really…]

[How much longer do I have to endure this?]

It was unfortunate that the horrible memories of Vita had begun replaying in her mind again, but Cassia decided not to throw her out immediately.

Instead, she would wait and see.

She would make Jester’s shameless face pay for the humiliation of openly bringing his lover into the castle and acting as though he had nothing to hide.

It was Cassia’s seventh day since arriving at Greze Castle.

On the day Fleurette had promised to teach Jester about marital relations, she sat across from him in his study, repeatedly letting out deep sighs.

Where in the world am I supposed to start teaching him?

Fleurette swept back her red hair and glanced toward Paul, who stood guarding the door to Jester’s study.

She felt terribly resentful toward him.

This was practically the same as forcing her to solve an impossible problem.

“Lady Fleurette?”

At the sound of Jester calling her, Fleurette quickly turned back to him.

“Yes, Baron.”

“Is something wrong? Why do you look so…”

“I’m sorry. I suppose I was simply shocked because I’ve never met someone like you before, Baron.”

At Fleurette’s blunt remark, Jester furrowed his brow.

After having explained in detail what had happened on his wedding night, Fleurette’s reaction was embarrassing.

She looked exactly like someone wondering how on earth she was supposed to teach this hopeless man.

And, of course, she had judged him correctly.

That was exactly what Fleurette was thinking.

“So, you mean… you didn’t use your hands?”

“N-No. I told you. It feels strange touching my wife. She’s just so… Ah, no. And why would I use my mouth?”

“Haa…”

Fleurette sighed toward the ceiling before turning to Paul behind her.

“Paul.”

“Yes, Lady Fleurette.”

“Can I have a cigarette?”

“I understand how frustrated you feel, but I’d appreciate it if you could refrain while you’re here…”

“Haa…”

Fleurette sincerely sent her sympathy toward the mistress of Greze Castle, whom she hadn’t even met yet.

Hang in there.

In any case, she had to do something for the poor woman.

Fleurette looked at Jester, who was sitting there with a completely blank expression, his mouth opening and closing as if he had no idea what to say, and spoke coldly.

“Baron. What you did with the Baroness on your wedding night cannot be considered a proper marital relationship.”

“…What do you mean, it can’t?”

“How could you possibly call that a marital relationship? That wasn’t the beautiful physical intimacy shared between a man and a woman. If I had to put it another way…”

Fleurette smiled sweetly.

“It was closer to animals mating.”