~Chapter 87~
“Anna.”
I opened my eyes wide.
Ah.
The events of yesterday slowly came back to me. My eyes met Baldwin’s. As if to prove my memory was not wrong, Baldwin’s lips moved again.
“Anna.”
I touched his lips lightly. His unusually low voice seemed to linger in my ears. It felt like a lake.
“Did you sleep well?”
Baldwin nodded. His swollen eyes, left behind like scars from yesterday, bothered me. When I brushed the corner of his eyes, he smiled again.
It felt like smiling without a sound had become a habit for him.
“Does my voice sound like a monster’s?”
Baldwin asked quietly.
“Not at all.”
“……I’ve never really talked with anyone before. Do I sound strange when I speak?”
“Not even a little.”
Baldwin pressed his eyes with the back of his hand.
“……That’s a relief.”
Though it had a rough edge, Baldwin’s voice was quite charming.
A morning that began with Baldwin’s voice felt a little fresher. All the unpleasant things from yesterday were forgotten, and only he remained.
As if yesterday had been a day with only the two of us.
“I hope today will be peaceful, Baldwin.”
I lightly kissed his cheek.
Wishing good fortune would stay with him.
Baldwin thought Anais seemed to want to forget what happened yesterday. She was a clear-headed person, so she must have wrapped things up cleanly with Gwendolyn.
She would have crushed her so she could never again cause trouble with such nonsense.
He trusted Anais.
But Baldwin’s distrust of the world ran deep.
He intended to take back even the mercy Anais had shown.
Marquis Horace should have educated his daughter better.
Once bitten, even the lid of a pot looks frightening.
Marquis Horace came running as soon as Baldwin summoned him.
He carefully watched Baldwin’s cold expression. He already knew that Gwendolyn, who had run away yesterday, had been found at the Constantine mansion and had returned pale-faced.
Something had clearly happened.
‘What have you done again, Gwendolyn!’
No matter how much he asked, she would not answer, which meant it was nothing pleasant.
He had expected he might be summoned today.
Marquis Horace forced an awkward smile.
“Last night, I heard my daughter visited Constantine. Did she act rudely, Your Highness?”
Baldwin stared at him coldly. Judging by his expression, he truly had no idea what had happened yesterday.
He looked like a criminal waiting nervously for a verdict.
Baldwin pulled his lips up coldly.
[Your daughter burst into my wife’s bedroom last night, naked.
The Grand Duchess saw her clinging to me with her own eyes.]
At Baldwin’s roughly written words, Marquis Horace’s heart sank.
His mind went blank.
The Grand Duke clearly loved the Grand Duchess.
Marquis Horace could feel it. And yet his foolish daughter had rushed in to interfere again. That must have triggered the Grand Duchess’s trauma.
The story of Egbert and Sophia was well known.
There had once been gossip about a mad woman coveting even the Marquis’s wife’s bedroom. It was probably not a lie.
And now Gwendolyn had done the exact same thing.
Marquis Horace realized he had nowhere left to retreat.
He flattened himself to the floor.
“I sincerely apologize, Your Highness!”
Then he remembered that Baldwin could not hear.
He raised his head and looked at Baldwin.
“I apologize, Your Highness! I have no face to beg for forgiveness anymore. I will lock Gwendolyn up immediately and marry her off—!”
He blurted out whatever came to mind. All he could think about was gaining Baldwin’s forgiveness somehow.
[The one you should be begging forgiveness from isn’t me, but Rain.
However, I no longer trust your words.]
It meant Baldwin considered the chance he had already given to be wasted. The promise between them was broken. There was no way to mend a relationship that had already shattered.
“Grand Duke, please show mercy……! I will personally beg Her Highness Rain! I will surely obtain forgiveness!”
Baldwin rubbed his face.
[I will be the only one making proposals.]
Marquis Horace quickly shut his mouth.
[First. Abandon your daughter.
Remove her from the family registry and strip her of all rights as a noble lady.
If you do that, you can keep what you have.
If you wish, I can even help that bastard become your son.]
Marquis Horace’s eyes widened.
“A-abandon my daughter? She is still my daughter, Your Highness. She will soon go abroad anyway, so please—!”
[There is a second option as well.]
Baldwin smiled without a sound.
[I am the only one who makes offers, Marquis.]
Marquis Horace bit his lip hard.
[I will destroy your house.
I will leave not a single stone or blade of grass of House Horace behind.]
“Grand Duke……!”
He did not doubt Baldwin could do it. Baldwin was serious now. A chill ran down Marquis Horace’s spine.
[Do you know what your wife has done?]
“……Pardon?”
Why was his wife suddenly being mentioned?
Marquis Horace blinked uneasily. Just like the first time he met the Grand Duke, he felt he was about to hear something completely unexpected again.
His heart felt like it was shrinking from tension.
[You know Lulz Industries went bankrupt, don’t you?
Do you know what money was used to pay off those debts?
I hear even loan sharks were involved.]
Marquis Horace’s face turned pale. Why bring that up now? He had thought it was a trivial matter.
He believed his wife had sold land to help cover it. Since she said she handled it herself, he had not paid much attention.
But if there truly had been no problem, Baldwin would have no reason to mention it now.
[Five billion Karls.]
At Baldwin’s words, Marquis Horace’s body swayed.
[That is the debt your wife owes Hedges Bank.
It seems you don’t even know that His Majesty the Emperor and the Minister of Finance turned a blind eye and allowed all of this.]
Baldwin’s eyes shone coldly.
Marquis Horace felt darkness close in before his eyes. Out of respect for his wife, he had followed her wishes all this time.
He had not registered the illegitimate child in the family, as she wanted, and had even helped her family when they were in trouble.
And yet she secretly took out loans in the name of House Horace?
His vision went black. Five billion Karls! It was an amount impossible to gather even if he saved all the territory’s income for ten years.
And she had borrowed it without telling him.
“……What does that have to do with Your Highness?”
Marquis Horace asked in a tightly strained voice.
[Constantine has deep ties with Hedges.
Even if not officially.
It means Hedges can exercise authority over House Horace at any time.]
So his own daughter really was destroying the family.
He wondered if this was what it meant to ruin a house by taking in the wrong person. How could the wife and daughter he loved so much do this to him?
Marquis Horace swallowed, his face drained of color. His breathing felt heavy and uneven.
The crushing pressure made his whole body feel like it was shrinking.
Baldwin finally gave him some air to breathe.
[Cast Gwendolyn out of the family and marry her off.
Make sure she can never return to Estus.
In return, I will give you one billion Karls.
Clean money.]
Baldwin moved his fingers slowly. At the words “one billion Karls,” a faint light returned to Marquis Horace’s face.
His lips parted.
“One billion Karls……! But wouldn’t that also be a debt?”
It might mean handing the reins to Baldwin.
[Think of it as money without eyes.
It’s my private property, so there will be no issues.]
“Why go that far……?”
[Money may not have eyes, but it stays in the heart of the one who receives it.
I believe you will carve this transaction deep into your heart.
I believe you will not break your promise to me.]
Marquis Horace’s eyes widened.
Money in exchange for casting Gwendolyn out.
“And Hedges……?”
Baldwin shook his head, meaning nothing would happen.
Marquis Horace bit his lip hard.
Then there was only one choice left for him.
The ones who had driven him into this corner were none other than Gwendolyn and his wife.
Grinding his teeth, Marquis Horace answered,
“I will do as you wish. Gwendolyn will no longer be a Horace, Your Highness.”
Baldwin pulled his lips up coldly.
It should have been like this from the beginning.
Then he would not have had to see what happened yesterday.
Mercy should belong only to those who deserve it.
