CH 43

“It’s not surprising. No, wait. Why was Blanche’s name mentioned…? You mean Blanche, not Mariette?”

The Marquis quickly raised his upper body.

“Are you sure Blanche did it?”

“Yes! I’m still not sure what’s going on, but I am sure it’s her. Besides…”

“What else? What else do I need to know!”

Sauveur’s voice lowered.

“Last night. A thief entered the underground treasury in the Count’s castle!”

The Marquis’ face darkened in an instant.

“How? How much money did Count Juan lose?”

“This may be hard to believe, but… They said that all of his property had been taken.”

“What? Sauveur! Why are you so frustrating? You should have told me from the beginning that the Count had gone broke!”

The Marquis got out of bed and wiped his face.

“I can’t do this. I need to meet the Count right now!”

“You can’t.”

“Why? Did Count Juan die just within that short amount of time?”

“How did you know?”

“What? Oh… Yes, it seems Blanche killed the Count after all.”

“Huh? So did Lady Blanche really marry Count Juan instead of Lady Mariette?”

“Is that what’s important right now?”

“… I’m sorry.”

Sauveur coughed awkwardly.

The Marquis asked.

“Where is Blanche now?”

“She seemed to have safely escaped.”

“That’s a relief. If that kid had been caught, I would have looked ridiculous. We’ll somehow make it look like what happened last night was done by ghosts.”

[T/N: Ghosts: I think he just meant unknown people]

“Oh, but, my lord. It was not the lady who killed the Count, but Viscount Anuk of the Ramsay Empire.”

“Are you saying that the Viscount committed murder in someone else’s kingdom?”

“Oh no, the Viscount. Viscount Anuk is the eldest son of the Duke of Odilon.”

“Ah, it must be that famous illegitimate child.”

The Marquis snorted.

“Huh! If you look closely, wasn’t the deceased Count such a great man? To invite not only the high-ranking nobles within the kingdom to a wedding, but also powerful men from the empire. Even though he was a mere loan shark.”

He clicked his tongue and groaned.

“How the heck could he have such good connections?”

“I don’t know…”

“What the hell do you know!”

Sauveur answered, embarrassed by the Marquis’ outburst.

“I’m sorry. My lord. If you give me a little more time, I will do my best to satisfy the lord.”

“Oh, my head. No, I have to meet the people involved in this matter as soon as possible and collect the information in person.”

The Marquis rubbed his throbbing forehead.

Sauveur hurriedly tended to the Marquis and arranged his clothes.

“Besides, this was not the only problem. It seemed that Count Juan had borrowed large sums of money from the Empire and some imperial nobles.”

“What a failure! Fortunately, Count Juan is dead. Oh! Were there any traces of the first night on the bed in his room?”

“As far as I know there was none.”

The Marquis patted his chest.

“There is no law for people who died. I have to insist on the nullification of the marriage. We can’t go into debt like this.”

“If that happened, wouldn’t the debt to the Count remain the same?”

“I have my eldest daughter, Mariette, What are you worried about? There are many men on this continent who would spend huge sums of money to welcome her. If it hadn’t been for Count Juan’s threats, would I have given Mariette to him?”

The Marquis laughed out loud.

“It was rather good. Wouldn’t her marriage to the Count add pity to Mariette’s fame? Mariette’s new husband will be credited for saving her from her misfortune, and soon, a lot of money will fall in her hands.”

“Then I think you should run to Lady Mariette as soon as possible, sir.”

“Why again?”

At last, it was revealed why Sauveur had awakened the Marquis this early morning.

“Well, at the moment Lady Mariette is asking Viscount Anuk to take her away.”

For a moment, the Marquis’ face turned red, then blue. He breathed heavily and was furious.

“Why do they make me angry! Do all the daughters despise their fathers?”

The Marquis immediately ran to Mariette.

She was in the dining hall. However, his eyes first went to a young man with knights behind him and seemed more capable than his own daughter.

The man in his early twenties was having an early breakfast, looking down at the pleading Mariette who was kneeling on the floor.

The man’s voice, which was not very pleasant to hear, echoed throughout the hall.

“Certainly, a beautiful woman has a lot of use.”

The man had silver hair flowing down, tied together as if it was made from melted winter sunlight. He also seemed to be a man who liked colorful clothes, enough to gather eyes around him. However, oddly enough, the man who was covered in high-quality fur and jewels had a neat and elegant atmosphere like a priest.

Even the luxurious clothes could not hide the ascetic aura emanating from the man’s delicate features.

His appearance was so unique that even his unusual amethyst eyes were clean and beautiful rather than decadent. However, this atmosphere only remained if the lips of the man, Kirillos Odilon, were closed.

He was a b*stard with a dirty mop for a mouth.

“Besides, b*tch. You’ll be fine as long as your breasts, your arms and waist are nice to hug. Can you roll up your skirt for a moment?”

“What?”

Mariette asked blankly at the completely unexpected request. But Kirillos’ audacity did not waver.

“Well, a sl*t  should have thin ankles and her thighs should be full.”

Embarrassment flashed across Mariette’s face, which was pitifully wet with dew-like tears.

It was natural. Just five minutes ago, he had been kind to her, saying he knew her brother Pierre well!

But he changed his attitude like flipping his hand?

Mariette finally realized that Kirillos might not have been close to Pierre. But she couldn’t back away like this.

Because Mariette, just like Blanche, knew very well what her biological father, the Marquis, was like.

‘I can’t be sold in lieu of debt again!’

She vowed again.

‘I’ll stay by Kirillos’ side somehow. You’ll see. I’ve never met a man who didn’t like my beauty.’

Mariette intended to be the wife of the young and handsome Kirillos. Besides, even if he wasn’t handsome, he was the eldest son of a long-established Duke.

‘It’s difficult because he’s an illegitimate child, but it doesn’t matter because this man will surely be the next Duke of Odilon anyway. I’m far better off becoming a Duchess than marrying an old man who only had money! Besides, this guy wouldn’t have a fiancée until he turned twenty-two.’

The continent’s most beautiful woman, Mariette, was full of confidence.

‘Now the Duchess position is mine!’

She pretended to be the most pitiful girl.

“My lord. Please stop joking around and do not cross the line. I lost the Count, who was supposed to be my husband, overnight. I’m not in a position to take the Viscount’s pranks lightly.”

“B*llshit.”

“…What?”

Kirrilos got up and stood in front of the table with a bright smile and a loud, deliberately dragging sound.

Then, standing in front of Mariette, he leaned down and grabbed her chin with one hand. It was rough and violent.

“You. Why are you pretending you don’t understand me? Do you really want the seat beside me so much?”

“I-I have no idea what the Viscount is talking about…!”

“Hey chick. I hate liars. And I despise people who wield their appearance as a weapon to use men.”

Mariette was astonished when her innermost thoughts were revealed.

She had never seen a man like this before. A man who was not swayed by her beauty and coyness, and judged the situation in a composed way.

Tsk. Kirillos clicked his tongue with a straight face.

“Anyway, Pierre was also suffering a lot. All the people he called family are holding him down.”

“My lord! That’s too much!”

“Why are you angry? Did I say something wrong?”

Mariette couldn’t back down like this. She bit her lower lip.

“I think the Viscount already forgot! The fact that the Viscount took the life of the man who was supposed to become my husband!”

“Look at this? So you’re saying I should have saved the garbage that stole my money?”

“Why didn’t you let him live? Wasn’t it strange that a creditor, who needed the debt paid somehow, killed the debtor so easily?”

A faint light lingered in his purple eyes.

“…You must really have no idea.”

It was a secret that the kingdom and the empire’s military funds were in Count Juan’s underground treasury. For this reason, the imperial family pretended that Kirillos and several imperial nobles lent money to Count Juan.

As such, Kirillos could not keep the Count alive, who had lost all his military funds. From the moment he lost his military funds, Count Juan was no longer considered an ally.

Moreover, he was a usurer from Digitalis. There was no guarantee that he would not make money off of the Empire’s secrets.

Kirillos’ eyes narrowed.

“Well, good. So, just so you could tell me to take responsibility for you, you interrupted my breakfast?”

“Do you really have to say it like that?”

“Then did I have to say it in consideration of your feelings?”

Mariette, who was firmly offended, decided to change her course. From a pitiful girl to a girl with a bad temper.

Mariette knew that men were as fond of men of the former just as the latter. She reluctantly pushed his hand away from her chin.

“Let go! Learn to be considerate of other people’s feelings!”

“What are you talking about now? Be considerate? Those are virtues only the weak possess. W*nch. Do you not know who I am?”

The problem was that she didn’t know. That Kirillos was no ordinary illegitimate child.

He was the Duchess’ illegitimate son, not the Duke’s. Moreover, the Duchess of Odilon was the Emperor’s sister.

In other words, the blood of the imperial family flowed through Kirillos’ veins.

Mariette’s eyelids trembled.

“How can you not know?”

“Hnng.”

He snorted and straightened his bent back.

He returned to his seat.

If Mariette hadn’t suddenly grabbed the hem of his robe, he would have been able to eat breakfast again.

She added earnestly to his displeased expression.

“Sir. If you help me now, one day I will surely help you.”

“Help? You b*tch. I don’t want to collect rice that had been thrown away.”

Mariette seemed to have been stabbed in the back at his unexpected words.

“What do you mean thrown away? How was I thrown away?”

“Because there’s nothing a wh*re can do, other than warm a man’s bed.”

Mariette had said something that came up without her realizing it.

“If I learn, I can do anything! If you teach me, I can do it!”

Kki kki.

Kirillos laughed.

“What are you talking about now? A lowly girl could only learn from a courtesan.”

In an instant, Mariette had a strange feeling, it was as if the ground she stood on was about to crumble. But as a woman who was not allowed to get an education or a job, she did not know what it was.