Chapter 21.2

9-11 minutes 06.10.2021

Translator: Leila

Editor: Onee

Part 1 of the novel is now fully translated on on Patreon!

Chapter 21, part 2

TW: Toxic relationship, mention of abortion, mention of abuse

Clarisse’s violet eyes sparkled with intense light.

“Mother, please tell me everything about the Farenheit family.”

For a brief moment, the Viscountess remained silent, as if she was unsure how to speak.

Jean suddenly realized that Clarisse had the same hair color as her mother, and her face was also somewhat similar to hers, except for the color of her eyes.

“Clarisse, you’re probably aware that my father is a fallen viscount. Before our downfall, I had a fiancé who had pledged his future to me; we were childhood friends, and I always thought I would end up marrying him.”

Clarisse was surprised. She knew, of course, that her mother came from a fallen viscount family, but she had no idea that her mother had previously had a fiancé. 

The couple’s families had known each other for a long time, and the original fiancé was the second son. The young couple had a perfect relationship in which they cared for each other, and although his family was not wealthy, they believed that together, they could build a loving and peaceful home for the rest of their lives. 

The Viscountess’s mother, Clarisse’s grandmother, had died a long time ago, but she was reassured by the fact her daughter would have a happy marriage to her childhood friend.

“It’s just that… My father, deceived by the sweet words of his relatives and impatient to grow his business which ended up failing…by then his family’s finances were in ruins, so he selfishly broke off my engagement and decided to marry me to Viscount Farenheit, who offered to financially support my family… so he and I eloped with the intent of never returning to the capital.

“Eh…?”

‘Father… tried to marry my mother using money…?’

“Of course, my father and Viscount Farenheit immediately sent out their chasers, and we were brought back three weeks later. I heard that he was sent straight to a neighboring country. I told my father I would never marry anyone; it had to be him. But he locked me up in a room and wouldn’t let me out until my wedding day, six months later.”

“Oh no…”

Clarisse had never thought that her mother, who had been hiding in the shadow of her father, would have such a memory, and the story broke her heart.

“And then, in the days leading up to the wedding, I found out that I was carrying his child in my stomach.”

Clarisse gasped.

‘It’s sister Matilda.’

“I couldn’t tell my father because I knew that if he were to found out, he would probably try to beat me into abortion. I really wanted to have his child… but of course… my husband found out.”

The Viscountess pleaded to the Viscount, “As you see, I am a bad woman; please break off our engagement.”

To which, the Viscount said, “I will not play into your hands. You are going to chase after that man if I let you go, aren’t you? I will not allow that.”

Despite her older age, her mother is still a beautiful woman, so Clarisse can only imagine what she must have looked like in her youth. Her father was probably sickly obsessed with her for that reason.

And the Viscount still stood by his words, “You will still be punished for your actions, so be prepared for that.”

Even after her mother was sacrificed and married off to the Viscount to save her family’s finances, her family still went bankrupt and lost their title. By the time Clarisse was born, her grandfather, the source of all this, had died in disappointment.

“I didn’t understand at first… whatever my husband meant by what he said. After Matilda was born, he loved her very much and cared for her as if she was his own, but after you were born, Clarisse, I understood what my husband meant.”

Of course, Clarisse was the offspring of the Viscount, but to the Viscountess, It was nothing but suffering to share a bed with a spouse who was not in love with her, but when the Viscount told her that it was her duty to birth an heir, she could not refuse. Her family had already fallen, and she had nowhere to go, so she had no choice but to do as the Viscount said; however, when the child was born, it was a girl, and the Viscount was quite disappointed.

As soon as he found out that the eyes of the newborn Clarisse were violet, he began to treat his second daughter coldly, even though she was his own child. 

Instead, he spoiled and adored the child she had with her former fiancée even more, as though she were not. Matilda was a very beautiful child, but her appearance resembled her ex-fiancé, so one would expect him to hate the child.

“There were times along the way… when I was wary… that he was actually thinking of getting his hands on Matilda himself…”

They weren’t related by blood, so she wondered if that was the case, but as expected, it didn’t seem to be.

“One day he told me this, fortunately, Matilda had a beautiful face so he would use her as much as he could. From the start, he made it clear that he saw my daughter with that man as an asset to sell. He said that he would spoil her and make sure that she would not have the intelligence to think for herself, and turn her into someone who would never think about eloping like me…. He pretends to be a good-natured viscount on the outside, but on the inside, he’s really a cunning man.”

Clarisse was deeply frightened when she learned of her father’s true nature. It was not that he adored Matilda because she was cute, but that he had hidden such twisted thoughts in his mind.

Jean interrupted coldly.

“You say he’s cunning, but he seems to be lacking in various areas. Well, I suppose he is the worst, the kind of person who gets tough with the weak, and in fact, Miss Farenheit grew up just as the Viscount had planned. As her mother, you could have stopped him, and yet you did nothing but watch.”

“…I know you might think this is an excuse, but I did try to stop him in the beginning… Matilda is his child, and I wanted to take good care of her…. But every time I stood up against him, the Viscount would abuse me physically.. and in the worst cases, he would lock me up inside the mansion… and before I knew it, every time I wanted to stand up against him, my body would tremble and lose the ability to say anything. Besides, I felt that whatever I do will upset my husband, and I didn’t want any harm to come to our children.”

‘It’s true… mother never objected to anything father did… but to know that she went through such a thing…’

Clarisse recalled her childhood.

Come to think of it; her mother was more kind than usual when her father was not around. When her father was around, she would become awkward and uncomfortable. She never imagined that the reason for this was because her father had been violent to her behind closed doors.

Tears began to spill from her mother’s blue eyes. Still, she continued to speak. 

“Around the time I got pregnant with Clarisse, there was a servant in the Farenheit household who had violet eyes… and the Viscount suspected I was involved with him for that reason… even though Clarisse really is the Viscount’s child… and even though I told him many times that children with violet eyes are occasionally born in my family, he didn’t believe me.”

The Viscount thought that it might not be the boy he had been waiting for, but for it to be a child born of his wife’s infidelity with the servant! That thought alone made him begin to see his second daughter as the enemy. 

He was not afraid to state that he did not have any children of his own and that his daughters were merely tools to expand his power. Her mother was frightened that she would be forced to sleep with him in order to produce an heir, but the Viscount said that he had no intention of having anything to do with an adulterous woman and although he had had several mistresses, he had never had a child with any of them.

“I’m sure you’ve done your research, Margrave Gutenberg. Our family’s finances are on the verge of bankruptcy.”

“Yeah.”

Jean simply nodded.

“It was during this time that he decided to marry Clarisse off. In fact, he wanted to marry her off to the Marquis Günther, but I guess he couldn’t disobey a royal order.”

“Marquis Günther’s… to the second son? That loose-head? Well, indeed that family is financially well off, but…”

Jean gritted his teeth. Thank God Clarisse was not offered to Günther as a bride. She was mistreated and had a hard life, and if she were to be sent to that family, it would only worsen.

“My husband was willing to marry Clarisse off to anyone as long as he could make money. I think he carefully looked into which house would pay the highest amount of money, and when he realized that Clarisse wouldn’t bring him anything, he rushed to use Matilda…”

“I see, so that explains the current situation with Marquis McCain’s son?”

longer release as promised╰(*°▽°*)╯

How do you feel after knowing the truth behind Clarisse’s family ?? Her father is disgusting 

Also, I’m thinking of picking up a new Japanese novel, do you have any request or recommendation? I have tons of books in my amazon basket but no idea which one to go for o(*￣▽￣*)ブ yes I choose novels with beautiful covers then move to read the