~Chapter 85~
Yuna, who had been begging and saying she was wrong, was dragged out as well.
She was thrown out without receiving even a single coin of severance pay, and without even getting a letter of recommendation.
Since she was expelled from the Grand Duke’s household, it would not be easy for her to find work in another noble family.
Lastly, the judge’s gaze turned toward Gwennolyn.
“Do you have anything you want to say, young lady?”
Anais asked quietly.
Gwennolyn lifted her pale face. There was nothing in her eyes except fear.
Gwennolyn had been trembling the whole time. It seemed she had hit her head when Baldwin pushed her away, and a bruise was forming on her forehead. It was truly a pitiful sight.
Anais let out a dry laugh.
Gwennolyn looked around. After confirming that the two of them were alone in the room, she spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Y-you… you heard it too.”
“……”
“B-Baldwin… s-saying it. Y-you heard it too.”
“……”
Anais frowned slightly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Y-you already knew. That’s why you wanted Baldwin… and stole him from me.”
Gwennolyn muttered. Then she nodded violently.
“That’s right. That’s it. That must be it!”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Lady Gwennolyn Horace. Can you take responsibility for what you’re saying right now?”
Anais asked calmly.
Gwennolyn laughed intermittently.
“How shameless! G-give him back. G-give Baldwin back to me!”
Gwennolyn shouted, trembling with unfocused eyes.
Anais sighed.
“I already told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Y-you bitch! Y-you ruined Baldwin! You knew everything, and you tried to swallow Constantine because you were greedy for the property!”
Gwennolyn rambled incoherently. Anais’s expression slowly hardened.
“You already have a fiancé. I really don’t understand why you’re acting like this.”
“I-I was going to have a child and come back! Baldwin would definitely wait for me! Because Baldwin only has me!”
Gwennolyn nodded hard.
Yes!
‘Just because Baldwin says something doesn’t mean he suddenly gains fertility!’
It felt like she had found a way out. Gwennolyn spoke with a face full of joy.
“There’s no one who thinks about Baldwin like I do! I said I’d give birth to an heir for Baldwin, who can’t have children! This was all planned! Huh? You ruined it. Do you know that?”
Anais blinked. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Give birth to what, how?
“And Baldwin agreed to that?”
“No! We don’t need words! We understand each other! We’re that special! Just by looking into each other’s eyes, we know what the other is thinking! We’re on a completely different level from someone like you!”
Gwennolyn shrieked like a goose. Her breathing was rough, making her look unstable.
Anais pressed her forehead.
‘Isn’t this mental illness at this point?’
Gwennolyn shouted.
“So get lost! Bring Baldwin back!”
Anais shook her head. It was a good thing she stopped Baldwin and stepped in herself.
This kind of crazy leech does not come off easily.
‘They say lunatics should deal with lunatics.’
Anais’s eyes gleamed. She placed both hands on the table and leaned forward.
Gwennolyn flinched and stepped back.
“I understand your plan well, Gwennolyn.”
Gwennolyn blinked.
“From now on, I will do my best to ruin your plan.”
“W-what?”
“If you come back, Baldwin might be taken from me, right? I won’t allow that. That man is mine.”
“So you finally show your true colors!”
“Yes, my true colors. You know what? People like you, born into good families and raised on only good things, don’t know. You don’t know how far people like me, who grew up at the bottom, can go.”
Anais opened her eyes as wide as possible.
“All obstacles must be removed. I should start with the Horace Marquisate. Since you already know my true intentions, I need to make sure you can’t spread them. Does Hedges Bank hold the Horace family’s bonds? Do you know your mother took on debt not long ago?”
“That’s nonsense!”
Gwennolyn jumped up.
“Why would my mother—!”
“Your father probably doesn’t know. Fifty billion Karls flowed entirely to your maternal family. Your uncle failed his business, didn’t he? Your mother took out a loan under the name of the Horace Marquisate to cover it. I know the financial world better than anyone.”
Gwennolyn trembled.
It was true that Lulz Industries had gone bankrupt recently, and it was also true that her mother had been visiting the Elise Count’s household because of it.
It was believable that her mother borrowed money to save her natal family.
Gwennolyn’s eyes widened.
Fifty billion Karls.
It was an amount that could destroy an entire noble house. If such a debt had to be repaid at once, even the Horace Marquisate might have to sell off all its assets.
“I-it’s impossible.”
Gwennolyn’s voice grew small.
“How could you possibly buy bonds worth that much?”
Anais tilted her head.
“True. I don’t have that kind of money. But what about Graham Bank? Buying that level of bonds would be easy if they skipped one quarter of investment. So what? They can just collect everything from Horace.”
“H-Hedges would never agree to that!”
“Is there a bank that hates money?”
Anais asked, narrowing her brows.
“And is there any bank that can stand against Constantine? Don’t worry about me. I’ll handle it. How about we worry about you instead?”
“M-me?”
“Yes. What do you think will happen to you if the Horace Marquisate collapses? Will your debt-ridden maternal family support you? The decorations in your hair, the clothes you’re wearing, the shoes on your feet. Everything you enjoy. What you eat, what you wear, where you sleep.”
Anais spoke clearly, one word at a time.
She was pointing out everything Gwennolyn stood to lose.
“You’ll lose all of it. You might end up wearing clothes commoners wear. Do you really want that?”
Anais sighed.
“Or maybe I don’t even need to buy the bonds, Gwennolyn. Does the Marquis of Horace know about this? It’s a rumor quietly circulating in the financial world.”
Only the heads of major banks knew, because such a huge amount of money had moved. Hedges could not cover all of it alone.
In the end, they applied for debt restructuring with the state and had part of it written off.
Since it was to save a noble house, the Ministry of Finance and the Emperor cooperated to some extent. It was possible because Elise was not a small family.
Only the Minister of Finance and the Emperor knew.
“What if I tell the Marquis of Horace? That there’s such a massive debt in front of your family. I heard the Elise Count’s family promised to repay it within five years. Do you think that’s possible?”
Gwennolyn thought of her maternal family.
“Your uncle doesn’t have that kind of ability. He’s barely getting by as it is. Even if all the assets under your mother’s name were sold, could it repay even half?”
Reality returned, and Gwennolyn’s face turned pale blue.
“Your father can’t stay ignorant forever. When he finds out, your mother will be expelled. And will that make the Horace family’s debt disappear?”
Gwennolyn swallowed.
“Wouldn’t it be better to quickly marry your fiancé and leave Estus before that happens?”
Gwennolyn collapsed back into her chair. Her whole body trembled like an aspen tree.
Living like a commoner? Eating, wearing, and surviving like one?
Impossible.
Gwennolyn Horace was not someone who could endure that. She was born noble and meant to live nobly.
When she imagined herself digging sweet potatoes in a field, Gwennolyn sucked in a sharp breath.
She made her decision.
She had to run away.
She needed to escape Estus and Horace and carve out a new future. Now was not the time to think about Baldwin.
There was a venomous woman clinging to Constantine—it was dangerous.
Her thoughts raced.
It would be better to quickly have her fiancé’s child and live as the mistress of that household.
Her fiancé’s family had overflowing wealth.
It might be best to ask her fiancé to settle her mother’s debt.
Or she could marry him and secretly use her husband’s assets to fix everything—before her father found out.
The name of Horace was not something she could throw away. It was her pride itself.
Instead, Gwennolyn would never be able to escape that place.
That would be her life.
