Translator: Nox

Chapter 70

“We will handle that ourselves.”

— …Fine. I shall trust the two of you to discuss it well and prepare. Ah, look at the time. I must hang up now to prepare for my departure. While I am away, you are the head of the household, so take good care of your mother and Rosalyn.

“Yes, Father.”

Father. That word, which he had spoken so casually his entire life, now felt snagged on the tip of his tongue. It grated like a pebble before embedding itself like a painful thorn. The call was about to end. Blair, who had already lowered the receiver halfway, gripped it tight, unable to overcome a surging impulse.

“Did you know? That we… are not your biological children.”

He didn’t know why that single sentence made his palms break into a cold sweat. His eyes burned red as if they might pop out, and the extreme tension brought a ringing to his ears.

It was only natural, for these were words that shook the very foundation of his life. And what he had lost because of it…. Blair stopped thinking and let out a slow, weary breath. He had lost everything, so now he had to gain at least one thing.

A union with the Bronte family was the greatest show of respect he could offer ‘Father.’ Since the man had willingly taken them in and raised them as Winchesters despite not being his own, it was also a vow that Blair would spend the rest of his life living only for the sake of the family.

— Hah.

After a suffocating silence, a sigh as cold as frost reached his ear.

— Did Louise tell you that?

“…So you already knew.”

— I told the maids several times not to leave a bottle within her reach. It seems they’ve been negligent in their supervision again. What exactly did Louise say to you?

Blair bit his dry lips hard. He spoke before too long.

“She said she never wanted us. That it was forced.”

— …Becoming reckless when drunk is an old habit of Louise’s. She causes trouble she can’t take responsibility for and spews whatever words come to mind when she’s intoxicated by her own emotions. It is, indeed, just like her.

It started as a faint sense of dissonance. His father used to be almost obsessively sensitive regarding anything involving his mother. For such a man, his tone was far too cynical for someone mentioning an ‘unfortunate accident’ suffered by his wife.

— Do not dwell on whatever you heard. Do not expect your mother, who is drunk more than half the year, to be in her right mind.

“Father.”

Blair exhaled a heavy, stifled breath. An anxiety that he might be missing something crucial crawled up his spine. Thus, his plea sounded agonizingly desperate.

“I… want to know the truth.”

The longest silence since the call began followed. The dignity of his wife versus the despair of the son he had raised with his own hands to be his successor. It was an impossible dilemma. Could the cruelly intertwined ill fate be explained in just a few words…?

After a fierce internal struggle, the Marquis swallowed a heavy breath. Then, he finally opened his mouth.

---

Mary skillfully smoothed out her rumpled clothes and stood up. Her hand was cautious as she picked up the money left on the table. Three pounds and seven pence. It was far less than the amount she was supposed to receive, but she held her breath, careful not to provoke Wyatt’s temper.

The Earl seemed rather fierce today. However, she couldn’t back down now. If she didn’t state her business now, there was no telling when she would see the Earl again. Lately, Wyatt had been away from the mansion more often than not.

“What is it?”

When the maid, who usually left the room immediately after finishing her duties, remained standing there, the Earl frowned, his forehead wrinkling as he gestured again.

“Leave now. I won’t be calling for you again today.”

“…U-um, Master.”

Mary gripped the fabric of her skirt, her face pale. She tried to speak with her usual stoic expression, but maintaining her composure was no easy feat.

“Do you happen to remember promising to help me find my father, who ran away a while ago?”

“Ah, that.”

Wyatt looked at her as if she were saying something trivial, but then he nodded as if he remembered.

“Did you say he fled to the New World? What about it?”

“I don’t think he ever left Ingram. When I attended the ship commissioning ceremony with Lady Vanessa last time… I saw him clearly on board. I followed him immediately, but I lost him.”

“…….”

“If my father is still in Ingram, I must find him. He ran away with all my savings and everything of value in the house, so between the debts, my brother’s hospital bills… even the rent is tight now. Since you know so many people, My Lord, I was wondering if you could look into it one more time….”

“Mary.”

A sigh of exasperation drifted out along with a puff of cigarette smoke.

“Are you saying I lied to you about your father’s whereabouts? Is that it?”

“…I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I’m busy enough as it is. A few measly coins or your pathetic father aren’t important right now.”

A few measly coins. To someone who had cheaply sold even her pride for those few coins, his words were devastating. Mary bit her trembling lips and looked down.

“What is Vanessa doing?”

“She should be resting in her room.”

“You didn’t let her go out for no reason, did you?”

“She went out briefly once to buy writing supplies. I accompanied her.”

“Who did she meet?”

“No one… in particular.”

Wyatt made a thoughtful sound.

“Well, don’t stifle her too much anymore; just leave her be. Especially when she meets the Duke, do not interfere with whatever she does.”

“She hasn’t even met the Duke yet.”

“That is quite strange.”

“…….”

“Well, for now, it’s best to leave things as they are rather than meddling. Her value has risen thanks to the scandal with the Duke, so there’s no rush. The problem is these troublesome matters right in front of me….”

Mary followed Wyatt’s gaze and glanced at the mortgage documents scattered on the desk. Even to her untrained eyes, it was clear that a significant portion of his assets had been mortgaged.

Lately, the Earl’s spending had gone beyond all reason. It was as if he had found something reliable to lean on, or perhaps it was a backlash from having restrained his spending recently…. Regardless, it seemed he had lost what little caution he had left and was now driven to a dangerous brink. Wyatt irritably pushed the documents aside and blustered as if making an excuse.

“I lost quite a bit of the shares I received as investment this time, but there’s plenty left to use as seed money. If I just hit the jackpot once, I’ll literally be sitting on a mountain of gold.”

“…Was that rumor surrounding Lady Vanessa really true? The one the gossip rags were shouting about?”

“If you believe it’s true, then even a lie becomes the truth. That’s the beauty of gossip rags.”

A shadow of shock momentarily crossed Mary’s face, which had barely been maintaining its composure.

“…Could that scandal have been intentional on your part, Master?”

“You naive girl. Of course it was. There might be some bottom-feeders who heard information elsewhere and latched on, but what gossip rag would dare wield their pen against a noble without permission? Especially regarding something like this?”

“But.”

Mary licked her parched lips.

“Will it be alright? Setting the Lady aside, the other party is a Battenberg….”

“Naturally, I did it because I have someone to rely on. After we finalized the contract, they asked me not to proceed with Vanessa’s marriage for the time being, saying they wanted to add one minor condition. So there must have been something between those two.”

“…….”

“Well, what does it matter? I just need to actively use whatever I can to squeeze out more money.”

Wyatt hummed a tune happily as he opened the safe and swept the documents inside. It was as if he had already forgotten the maid’s desperate plea. Mary stood there quietly for a moment before slipping out of the room.

She walked with steady steps through the hallway and down the stairs. Passing the pristine East Wing and entering the neglected West Wing, a bleak landscape was the first thing to greet her. There was no hesitation in her hands as she threw open the double wooden doors at the end of the familiar corridor.

“My Lady.”

Mary raised her voice as she crossed the dim drawing room. The Lady, who usually would have acknowledged her presence, was unusually quiet today. An ominous feeling suddenly gripped her.

“Lady Vanessa?”

Just as her confusion was about to deepen, Mary looked around and found Vanessa asleep, buried in a high-backed chair. It seemed she had fallen into a deep sleep while reading a book with a blanket over her lap. Only then did Mary let out a sigh of relief.

Mary slowly knelt at Vanessa’s feet. Vanessa’s sleeping eyelids looked incredibly fragile, and at the same time, so beautiful she felt she didn’t dare approach. Like the statue of Vedice featured in a magazine once. A statue in that wonderful city she had always wanted to visit at least once….

‘A girl born under a lucky star.’

That was her first impression. Even living in a shabby castle, she was a Lady. Mary judged her, thinking that while she herself was miserable day and night, this girl had met a good family and lived being treated like a precious gem.

‘A fool who craves people’s affection.’

Her next impression wasn’t great either. A woman so simple-minded that even though she was shunned and openly ignored by the servants who feared Wyatt, she never forgot to bring back treats every time she returned to the castle. And now….

A certain strength entered Mary’s hands as she pulled the hem of the blanket that had slipped down back over Vanessa’s knees. It was the moment she was about to lean her tired body and head just a little bit against her Lady’s lap. At that instant, Vanessa’s eyes snapped open.

“…Mary?”