Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As he stepped back, the sound of people’s whispers reached his ears.

“Heaven punished us! Where did a sense of noblesse oblige that was protected and developed by the preceding nobles go?!”

“I heard that woman was so vicious? They took in a petty little rootless beggar and raised her without any lack of affection…”

“Oh, I hear you. Ptui-! their kindness was all for nothing since she repaid them by blocking off all the money. Their debt snowballed because they couldn’t do business.”

Then a woman who started talking hit the bull’s eyes.

“I heard they took out a loan from Pennus’ headquarters out of all places, which is famous for their bad attribute, no? Those bastards were mentally and physically harassing them night and day, and just two days ago, they brought mercenaries and broke one of their youngest son’s legs.”

“Really?”

“I told you so! They must be unable to withstand it anymore and ended up having a nighttime getaway….”

The man who was explaining it shuddered and stayed silent for a while.

People around him were all sighing as they were anticipating his next words.

“That’s not all, though? She has always been gloomy since she was a child. She created accidents everywhere she goes. The blood can’t lie, thus she stole and killed the animals since it’s hard to break one’s bad habits, perhaps. Anyway, the whole family must be a saint.”

“That’s right. I heard she was also on drugs. Heaven punished us. They don’t take that devilish woman, and only take angelic people.”

Usually, at funerals, people would display sympathy toward those who were left behind, but all he heard today was all kinds of curses directed at her.

As a result, Caligo learned more in less than half an hour than he had learned in four years with her.

“I should’ve killed it.”

“….Did something happen to the Baron by any chance?”

“No, nothing happened.”

Suddenly, he remembered her cold voice that he heard in the carriage.

It was monotonous and plain, but he could feel the killing intent stronger than anyone he had ever seen on the battlefield.

That was why she only shook her shoulder when he asked her.

‘Isn’t it just a bad family relationship?’

Caligo slowly closed his eyes as he fell into deep thoughts.

It didn’t feel short nor long, but the 4 years they had spent together wasn’t enough to unravel a woman named Hilia.

When he was with her, he felt like he was going back to the days when he was unable to break through the western frontier.

‘I didn’t even think you were on drugs.’

Caligo lightly pressed on his stuffy chest.

“The Baron’s all four limbs were handicapped and The Baroness also became limp…now the barony is going to be handed down to that woman while the surviving Baron and Baroness were living in hell.”

Caligo leaned against the tree and lowered his gaze.

In this empire, those who were not in a situation to continue their peerage title due to accident or other circumstances were forced to hand over their titles.

At that time, the first person to have the right of succession were among those who already had their coming-of-age and a listed descendant on paper that had no ineligibility.

Their son died in this accident, and Hilia was the only descendant left on their family register.

Although they had cousins, as long as Hilia was listed as the direct descendant on paper, they had no right to inherit the title.

The Baroness couldn’t fight for succession because she did not have the Baron’s blood in the first place.

‘It all went in her favor.’

If the successor was young, they could use the chance to exercise the authority to become Baron’s substitute, but Hilia was an adult.

‘She’s going to be so powerful.’

If she gets her nobility title, he has nothing to be disappointed with.

It was four years ago that he and she, who didn’t match each other at all, had a contract marriage.

Around that time, there was a lot of pressure to get married.

But Caligo didn’t want to have a serious relationship with anyone.

Caligo was obliged to produce a successor on behalf of his weak brother.

But at that time, his body and mind were in a mess and he couldn’t afford to do that.

And around that time, the source of trouble came from his mother who suggested that it was common to have contract marriage in this case.

Pretend to be married for a reasonable period of time and then naturally go through a divorce. It was such a sweet method.

In addition, if a child is born between the contract marriage period, he wouldn’t become a successor nor be tied up to someone forever.

Why did that sound so attractive back then?

If he had known five years would go this slowly, he wouldn’t have given it a try in the first place. He would try to find another method for sure.

In fact, it was Hilia who came first. The first meeting with her went better than he thought, and he felt like love would suddenly blooming between them.

He was quite skeptical of the request that he asked from the information guild to find a contract marriage.

They coincidentally stood on the terrace, drank champagne together, and accidentally talked about contract marriage, and by chance, they agreed to give it a try.

Yes, his meeting with her was so coincidental. When he thought about it now, it was somewhat strange that everything went well. At that time, he was just glad that all the conditions matched up, so he didn’t think further about it.

Although there was a brief opposition from his father, who couldn’t accept the young lady from the Barony, the work went faster than expected thanks to his mother’s support.

It was a contract marriage that was carried out at such a rapid pace.

The conditions he wanted were to have children within five years and to have a clean divorce. And there were only three conditions she wanted.

Of course, under common conditions, it was more about keeping each other’s honor and fulfilling their marital obligations while they were in a contractual relationship.

The deal must have been more detrimental than beneficial for Hilia, but she strangely didn’t ask for anything.

He was a little uneasy, but it was a perfect contract, so Caligo signed the contract without a hitch.

At first, they did not avoid each other this much as it went smoothly, just like flowing water.

But one day she changed. As the day went by, she became scarier and vicious.

There were frequent accidents or fights in the banquet hall, and oftentimes she used her power or money to suppress people.

Rumors had it that her nickname was “Crazy Fox”

Furthermore, at a banquet hosted under the name of the duke, she yanked the hair of a noble lady and made her kneel down.

Her faint smile disappeared completely and she often got angry.

He heard a lot of complaints coming from the servants and maids that were treated badly such as getting hit and even getting fired by her.

She didn’t even give a penny to her parents. She told him to not give them any support, so that was all he knew.

However, it seemed like she didn’t stop there.

Caligo rubbed his arms with both hands.

It was unknown whether this was simply because of the weather or because he got goosebumps after learning about her character that had changed these four years.

‘It was a relief that she stayed faithful to the contract.’

If she said she refused to get a divorce because she was so into power and money, it would be difficult for him.

Of course, the original contract was kept in a safe, so he could hire a lawyer and took legal steps if things went south.

How frustrating.

Caligo rubbed his eyes with a tired face, reflexively biting the cigar, but then he realized what kind of place it was.

He sighed deeply and pushed the cigar case back into his inner pocket.

Even until the people who stayed out of courtesy left one by one and until there was no one left, Hilia stood there like a statue.

Contrary to what she uttered earlier, that she wanted to kill them all, she stood there as if she had some lingering feelings left.

She didn’t budge until Caligo approached her, covered her with an umbrella, and forced her back into her house.

***

At first glance, the mansion, which seemed to have been neglected for a long time, emitted a gloomy feeling.

Hilia looked at the mansion dryly. For her, this place could be defined in a single word.

Hell.

There was no other word to express this place except that word.

“You there, bring some towels. Don’t you know how to serve your own master?”

Hilia blinked slowly as he heard the voice from her side.

‘Why are you here?’

She swallowed a smile inside when she recalled that Caligo had forced her to go in.

This was familiar to Hilia. The servants of this mansion did not treat her as a person.

She was just a disobedient dog. The worst of the worst.

A lucky orphan.

Most of the servants thought so. They didn’t even know what she went through.

‘Why on earth is no one coming?’

Caligo saw the silent Hilia and immobile servants.

The Baron couple’s limbs were not intact anymore and she just lost her brother, but they didn’t even say a single word of comfort.

“Can’t you hear me!”

Caligo couldn’t stand it anymore and raised his voice.

Only then did some of the servants start to move around. Among them, a maid approached Hilia and handed over a towel.

But Caligo couldn’t help but be shocked by the way the maid handed it.

The maid held the tip of the towel as if she was handling something dirty, or to a dirty person, and distanced herself by stretching her arms out.

The towel, which had been rolled up and folded well, was loosened like a mop.