Chapter 48

Instantly, the angry Marquis swept all the decorations off the table.

This caused a commotion once, but Grayson just stared at his father like he was deaf.

"What should I do? Well…Grayson, you can beg His Majesty. No, no. The Emperor is setting distance, so you'd better hold on to the Crown Prince!"

Watching the Marquis babbling nonsense, Grayson got up from his seat as if he was sick of it. It had been a full two days since he had to deal with her father like this. Grayson took a step, leaving behind the Marquis, who was muttering like a maniac.

"I'll be leaving now. Please give my regards to mother."

As soon as the Marquis saw his son leave, he got drunk on his misfortune and grabbed the wine bottle again. Grayson walked out of the parlor without looking back.

"Young Master, the Marquis is in a very bad mood. Why don't you stay a little longer with him before going home?"

As he walked away, the butler hurried to follow. It was a plea for help. The anger of the Marquis at the loss of his honor was directed at the servants of the mansion.

Every day the Marquis got drunk and rampaged through the mansion, destroying it. Many of the servants were unexpectedly badly hurt by him.

The Marchioness also released all her sensitive nerves to those under her command.

The other day, after all the invitations to tea parties were refused, she threw a vase of flowers at them, causing serious injuries to the maid who was near her.

As these days were repeated day after day, the number of servants resigning increased.

In this desperate situation, the only person who could reestablish the family was the eldest son, Grayson.

However, Grayson just kept walking without ever looking at the butler.

"Young Master!"

Grayson's eyes didn't even change when he called out in an urgent tone.

From the beginning, he had no love or respect for his parents, much less for the butler and servants of this rotten house.

One day, he should succeed his father and take over the title of Marquis, but he didn't have the slightest sense of mission to start a family.

"Let’s go"

Soon, the carriage carrying Grayson began to rattle off. He glanced at the mansion over the window.

Then, naturally, he remembered his half-sister, Julia, who disappeared a year ago.

He wasn't close to his sister, and he thought she was living well since she became Grand Duchess.

But it seemed that was not the case.

He guessed it was not easy for her to live a prosperous life because his parents were like trash.

Leaning his back against the seat, Grayson smiled. He didn’t have to guess how much fortune they got from Julia, who became Grand Duchess 

Even for Grayson, his parents were not decent people. His father pretended to be a soldier, but in reality he was a bellicose and violent man, and his mother unleashed her resentment of such a father on her young son.

The daily torment was transferred to Julia when she appeared.

A suitable and appropriate target appeared to take it all out on her.

Maybe she didn't go missing, maybe she escaped on her own.

That was what Grayson thought about Julia. She escaped on her own.

It was also amazing how the young girl had endured so far.

Unlike him, who left home to live and ran away in the name of studying abroad around the age of twelve.

That was why he and Julia weren't close as they spent only a couple of years together when they were young.

Grayson kept his eyes closed and swept his hair in a plaintive manner.

At best, the daughter they had built to be the Grand Duchess was gone, and their heir son had grown up to be a ruffian with not a shred of heart to make the house prosperous.

So in the end, the Marquis and his wife were doing as well as they had sown.

***

Julia had been spending time at the lord’s mansion twice a week these days.

This was because the lady of the mansion, who was satisfied with the reception room Julia decorated last time, continued to entrust Julia with other chores.

It took about an hour by carriage from the monastery to the mansion.

She dozed off during the ride, and before she knew it, the carriage was at the entrance of the mansion.

While Julia opened her eyes and checked the window, the coachman opened the door of the carriage.

“Julia, welcome back!”

The wife of the lord, Marianne, who was just out in the front yard, rushed over to greet Julia.

“Good morning, madam…"

“Oh my god, your face is frozen red! Come in quickly. I'll tell the servant to make some hot tea."

Marianne chatted amicably and led Julia into the mansion.

Marianne was three years older than Julia, but her two children were boys who were already five years old.

Marianne, who had married at a very young age and had been lonely while living in an unconnected estate, had been very fond of Julia from the beginning.

Thanks to Marianne, who did not care about status, Julia soon became comfortable with her.

As soon as they entered the reception room and sat down in front of the tea table, a servant brought them refreshments.

Marianne grabbed her teacup and opened her mouth.

“The children have gone hunting with my husband for a while. I'm sure they'll be back later this evening, so you can chat with me today."

"I see. So you have a hunting ground in your domain?"

"Yes. There is one forest. Sometimes small animals come down there. Rabbits, foxes, and deer. I don't understand why he brings the children to hunt when it's so cold."

Marianne complained in a grumbling voice. Her tone was closer to that of a simple country woman than a noblewoman. Because of that, the present time was more comfortable and enjoyable for Julia.

While actively engaged in all kinds of conversation, Marianne suddenly looked at her servant.

Then she began to whisper softly to Julia.

"Julia, don't get married. No, if you do, let's have all the fun you can before you do it. I wish I had married him a little later. When I was a little girl, I thought I couldn't live without that man, and now I want to squeak and punch him, just him breathing next to me!"

Julia couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the lively voice.

Oh, that said, the lord and his wife were a close couple.

According to the rumors, they were a rare case of a love marriage.

"Hmm, but when I think about it, it's kind of strange. Why Julia isn’t married yet?”

Marianne abruptly changed the subject to her, Julia opened her eyes wide and soon smiled awkwardly.

"Um, I'm actually married. We're in a state of separation right now….."

Sometimes, like Marianne, people would ask why she wasn't married, and Julia would give them a straightforward answer.

She didn't feel the need to hide it too much, since no one here knew  her background anyway.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Is it true? Why did you break up? Oh, it's not polite to ask these things, is it?"

Marianne, who had been listening excitedly, suddenly stopped talking. Julia kept her eyes downcast and replied quietly.

"Just… We didn't get along. My husband didn't love me."

Thinking that spitting out the words would make the atmosphere somewhat heavy, Julia smiled, meaning that it was nothing to worry about anymore.

Marianne, who had been listening with a serious face, nodded and replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard for you. I don't know who it was, but I'd like to see his face to see what kind of an idiot he is."

At Marianne's crisp words, Julia eventually laughed out loud.

She had been trying so hard to be fine, and now it didn't hurt that much when she thought of Fernan. At first, whenever her feelings for him grew, she had to frantically remind myself of the bad moments with him. For example, his cold words and stares, or the painful things she experienced at the castle.

As she did so, her mind gradually calmed down.

"Yes, Julia. I'm planning to have a garden party in the greenhouse soon, will you come then?"

Marianne, who had been fiddling with the cookies, changed the subject again.

"You know. I don't have anyone close to me, and I don't have many people to invite. So Julia must come. Yes?"

Marianne looked at Julia with sparkling eyes, and Julia nodded pleasantly.

"I'll be grateful if you invite me. I'll definitely be there."

"Thank you! I was just getting angry because my husband was scolding me to throw a party that no one was coming to anymore."

As she listened to Marianne's continuous chatter, the evening was quickly approaching.

Marianne kept asking her to stay for dinner, and Julia ended up sitting at the table with her.

Meanwhile, the lord and his children, who had left on a hunting trip, returned. The lord, who put the children down from his arms, spoke to Marianne in a serious tone and left the mansion again.

When Marianne returned to the dining room after seeing her husband off, she looked a little pale.

"Ma'am, is something wrong?"

Julia asked with concern, and Marianne nodded and sighed.

"It seems that some of the knights who went out on border patrol have gone missing. We couldn’t reach them at all. I guess my husband needs to go investigate it himself.”

"I see. I hope everything is fine….”

The mountains surrounding the territory also bordered the border, and the thought that something terrible might have happened suddenly worried her.

Marianne suggested that Julia should stay overnight since it was late.

However, Julia politely declined as she didn’t want to feel indebted.

Julia went out of the mansion and looked up at the sky for a while, then hurriedly got into the carriage. 

The sky was all dark due to the shortening of the day.