CH 18.2

One by one, Lila brought up the things that had been done to her by both of them. Well, she thought they were good memories and didn’t need to keep them for long, but she was surprised by the anger she didn’t even know existed.

“You are no longer my brother Louie. When I think of my father, I want to take your place, but… Yeah, I’m just letting it go because I know you still care about the Este Barony. Just that.”

Parting her quivering lips for a moment to take a deep breath, Lila glared at the two people who widened their eyes in surprise.

“You sent me to the North, treating me like a burden, expecting me to pay for your food, and then you took a handsome dowry. Family? You expect me to be so sentimental?”

Lila couldn’t take it anymore. She hated the two of them for still treating her like an object.

“To send me to the Crown Prince, to do as he pleases, and then pretend to care! You’re such an abomination, you make my skin crawl!”

Becky shuddered at her screaming outburst. Her cobalt-coloured eyes bore deep into his, contempt burning deep into his heart.

“…”

Louie was just as flustered. Lila’s yelling, which he’d never heard her do out loud, made him feel first embarrassed and then angry.

“You’re making fun of me by saying ‘let’s see, let’s see’! Oh, look at you, you’re doing well. It seems like asking for your opinion was silly.”

Louie finally lost his temper and swung his fist. Although he never actually hit Lila, it was intimidating enough.

But Lila didn’t duck. Instead, she faced him with her eyes wide open.

When she was in a hurry to cover herself, that fist couldn’t have looked that big.

So she’d been busy averting her eyes, ducking her head, or worse, cowering.

But not anymore. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. With his face flushed red, Louie looked like a fool. A man throwing his fists at a woman much smaller than he was.

“It’s like…….”

“What! This!”

Louie swung his fist harder, excited by Lila, who, unlike before, didn’t avert her eyes when she saw his fist.

Lila clenched her fists in preparation for the impact that was sure to come. She was prepared to take at least one punch.

CLANG-!

The parlour door burst open and a gust of wind blew in. No, like the wind, Lucas burst in.

Moving so fast that he could barely be seen, he grabbed Louie by the scruff of the neck.

“Ow!”

Becky screamed, wrapping her arms around her head. Lila was instantly relieved to smell Lucas’s rugged scent filling the parlour.

The tension drained from her body.

“Pfft!”

Louie struggled as he was lightly picked up by Lucas. Even though Lucas was so much bigger than him, he couldn’t move.

“How dare you, in my house.”

Lucas chewed the words into a snarl and spat them out.

“You day lay a hand on my wife?”

“No, Duke, no! He didn’t hit her! He didn’t hit her! That’s because he was talking to her…….”

Becky stood beside him and tried to defend herself, but she was frozen in place by the murderous mint-coloured eyes.

“Baroness, who are you referring to as ‘that’ and do you still think my wife is a member of your family?”

The voice was so cold that the temperature in the parlour dropped. Becky was so startled that she began to hiccup.

“Hik!”

“Duke…”

Lucas stared at Becky for a moment, then strangled Louie before he could say anything.

Held up by Lucas’s hand, Louie flailed his legs with a frightened expression.

“Hmm, I didn’t expect to catch the Crown Prince’s spies like this…….”

Still, Lucas’s face didn’t look troubled at all. Rather, he was shaking his head, seemingly unconcerned with what was happening.

“Lucas.”

Lila called out to him, and the harsh scent that filled the parlour softened. His expression, which a moment ago had seemed ready to kill anyone, softened as well.

“How would you like me to handle this, my lady?”

Lila felt the world go round at his gentle words, and she glanced over at Louie and Becky. They were staring longingly at her.

Even the sight of them was exhilarating.

‘I should hope for what you want.’

Lila turned to Lucas with a wry smile.

“After what happened at the Duchy of Montefeltra, who am I to argue with your decision?”

Lucas smirked at her words.

“Then leave it all to me. I’ll take care of it.”

Lila glared at Louie and Becky before rising from her seat, and then said.

“Don’t ever come looking for me again. I don’t even consider you family anymore.”

After she spoke, Lila tried to get up from the couch, but her body was weak. Her body, so stiff with tension, seemed to unwind of its own accord.

Lucas gently wrapped his arms around her as she floundered for a moment on the couch. Tossed to the floor, Louie made a sound of pain.

Lucas lifted Lila with a familiar ease and called to Owen at the door.

“Throw them in jail. They dared to harm the Duchess.”

“Duke!”

Becky’s torn voice sounded, but Lucas had already left the parlour.

Behind him came Owen’s voice, already accompanied by a knight, and the clash of armour.

“Wife.”

Lila tore her gaze from the direction of the parlour and looked up at him at the sound of his sweet voice overhead.

“Yes, Lucas.”

“As expected, the capital is not good.”

Lila let out a small laugh at the thought of him saying the same thing he’d said when they’d first come to the capital together.

“Really. I think the air is really bad in the capital, which is probably why everyone has bad eyes.”

At her sarcasm, Lucas replied with a chuckle.

“It’s because the things the people breathe in and spit out are dirty. It’s not different in the North, but I’ll make it clean for you at least as a Duke.”

It seemed like only yesterday that she had first been taken aback by his manner of speaking, but now she had grown accustomed to his gruff, strange way of speaking.

“Please.”

“Whatever you say.”

* * *

“Don’t open this!”

BANG, BANG. She stomped, but the door didn’t budge, only her feet hurt.

Charlotte huffed, unable to win the battle.

“You madman!”

She sank to the floor, breathing harshly.

“Aren’t you a fucking idiot, locking me in here?”

Despite the harshness of her words, her complexion was ashen.

After the Autumn Ball, she had no doubt that Alfonso would take her home.

So she was not surprised when he placed her in the Marquis of Benière’s carriage, not his own.

The Marquis of Benière’s carriage returned to the marquisate as if it had forgotten to carry Charlotte, and Charlotte screamed at Alfonso in a fit of pain and irritation.

Then Alfonso laughed in amusement and reached out and pinched Charlotte’s cheek. Not just a pinch, but like he was digging for an injury.

After that, Charlotte was dragged by Alfonso and locked in the annex furthest away from the main building.

From then on, Alfonso kept her locked up, only coming out when he needed her. Usually when he was annoyed or bored.

As the days went by, his torture became more subtle and varied. And it began to take on a sexual undertone.

Ever since she’d seen the bulge in the front of his trousers where he’d grabbed her hair, Charlotte had kept her temper as low as possible in his presence.

For the first time, she felt fear, and she hadn’t felt fear since she’d come here.

“It’s all because of her, Lila!”

Charlotte muttered in a venomous voice, her thoughts interrupted by the sound of footsteps. She hurried to her feet, but the door swung open faster.

“Whoa, what are you doing out here, were you waiting for me?”

Sparks flew in Charlotte’s eyes at the sight of Alfonso, still treating her with friendliness. But she didn’t say anything back.

No, couldn’t would be more like it.

“Why don’t you answer me?”

She shook her head like a child, and Alfonso suddenly held out his hand. Charlotte jumped and covered her face with her hands.

“What are you doing? What’s wrong? Come on, let’s go, you’re just going to sit on the floor forever, which is something you would never do…….”

She wondered if he really didn’t know what he was doing.

Charlotte’s lips curled into a small smile at the sudden question, then she shut them.

She had already proven that it was best not to talk.

Taking her hand, Alfonso pulled her to her feet. Escorting her to the couch, he looked like he’d heard something interesting.

“Oh, right. I’ve been in a bit of trouble, and the Duke of Frederick came to see me.”

“The… Duke?”

“Yes. He was looking for you…….”

Alfonso stared intently at Charlotte, who opened her mouth at the unexpected name. The childlike smile from a moment ago was gone, replaced by a strange heat.

“Why, you like it?”

Charlotte shivered, noticing his sudden change in mood, then looked away.

She must get out of this place.