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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Tonight, I'll have to punish you.
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A heavy pressure, as if her entire body was sinking beneath the bed, choked her breath.
‘If he finds out I’m not his wife... he won’t let me live...!’
But... Jane was human too. Though she was one of those who cared for Roje more than anyone, when faced with death, her desire to live surpassed her loyalty to her mistress.
‘I feel like... I’m going to die.’
Now, as she gasped for air, the only thing left in her mind was the will to survive; nothing else came to mind. The fear of Eric discovering her identity was less pressing than the imminent threat to her life. Jane desperately reached out her hand towards Eric, who was behind her. With a trembling, earnest hand, she offered him a plea for help. Save me, help me. Eric watched her, trembling helplessly like a fledgling, with a blank expression. His delicate, fragile fiancée, Roje. She had acted as if she’d do anything for him if only he married her, so why had she been so irritating lately? And because of Roje’s useless testimony, he had even been mocked by Duke Pliche.
‘You have a truly fine wife. Thanks to her, the esteemed Grand Duke Arteum’s life has been extended.’
Eric recalled the events of the day, his cold eyes twitching.
“Do you know what I had to endure today because of you? You did something utterly useless. Thanks to you, that esteemed Grand Duke Arteum safely escaped with his life.”
He cruelly slapped away Jane’s trembling, pleading hand as she tried to grasp his, and simply spoke his mind. If only she had given him a heads-up about what had happened, he wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this. He could have come up with a plausible excuse in front of Duke Pliche!
“Why didn’t you tell me? That you gave that testimony in front of Duke Pliche.”
Jane couldn't understand anything Eric was saying. She wasn't Roje, so she couldn't comprehend whatever Eric was spitting out in his anger. Unable to bear the torment, Jane struggled, pleading for help.
“H-Hngh...”
Her sobbing filled Eric’s ears. Eric hesitated, looking at the frail, trembling maid.
“Don’t cry. I don’t want to hear it.”
Her sniffling was annoying. He had so much more to ask about what happened that day, and she was crying?
“Tears are your weapon, aren’t they? Because if you just cry, I always back down.”
Eric sprang up from the bed. Then, with a fierce glare, he stared at the back of Roje—no, Jane, who was disguised as Roje. Annoyed by Jane’s voice, he threw the gown he had been wearing at the maid’s face.
“It’s been three days, and not a single apology from you.”
As Eric, who had been pressed close behind her, moved away, the maid’s spasms began to subside. She caught her ragged breath and forced back her tears.
“They said you weren’t in your right mind after the miscarriage, and it seems that wasn’t entirely wrong.”
Eric threw out dagger-like words without hesitation. He wanted her to be hurt by his words. He wanted her to look at him with a burning hatred. Jane flinched at Eric’s words and almost turned around to shout. How could he be so shameless, how could he say such a thing...!
‘Madam’s miscarriage was all the Count’s fault...!’
But if she stepped forward now, it would only make things more difficult for the Countess. Jane swallowed her words, again and again, as they rose to her throat. Was he vexed by her continued silence? Eric, who had been watching Jane from a distance, muttered lowly, his eyes filled with lust and rage.
“It seems you have no intention of begging at my feet... In that case, you’ll have to be punished.”
Her body flinched at his rough voice.
“I will thoroughly educate you.”
The hairs on her body stood on end. She had a bad feeling about this. She felt a sticky gaze on her spine. Eric’s eyes gleamed like a beast’s as he pressed in behind Jane.
Eric’s hand slowly wrapped around her waist, and a wave of discomfort washed over her, as if snakes were crawling all over her body. Jane stiffened, cold sweat trickling down her. *Creak—Bang!* Just then, someone opened the door and walked in without a word.
“Oh, Count, you were here?”
It was Doana’s voice. Eric, who was half-dressed, instinctively frowned at the sudden intruder. But when he saw that the intruder was Doana, the anger that had surged to his head subtly subsided. If another maid had entered, he would have roared, but it was Doana, his mistress. He didn’t scold Doana for entering without knocking; instead, he fumbled to pick up his gown and put it on.
“What is it?”
He then got up from the bed and looked at Doana. There was more tenderness in his gaze than when he looked at Roje. Doana twitched her eyebrows, looking at Eric and Roje lying together in the bed.
‘Why else would I be here?’
The sight of the two of them lying in one bed was incredibly irritating. The person who should be by his side wasn't Roje, but herself.
‘...Am I not enough for him? And with such weak stamina.’
Doana’s pride was deeply wounded that Eric had come to Roje even while spending passionate days with her. She already knew he was an unfaithful man due to the maids’ whispers, but knowing it and seeing it directly were entirely different matters. The man she considered hers was about to spend the night with another woman. It was something she couldn’t bear to witness. How ridiculous. Eric’s wife was Roje, and Doana was merely a mistress, yet her actions were exactly like those of a legitimate wife.
‘Still, it seems nothing happened.’
Doana breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Jane, trembling by the side of the bed. Her perfectly dressed appearance confirmed that she hadn’t been too late.
‘Don’t you dare covet my man.’
She would never let Roje and Eric share a bed again. That was her goal. Eric had to look only at her, love only her. Doana rushed into the bedroom where Eric and the maid were. Then, with a dark expression, she grabbed Eric’s arm. She pressed herself against Eric and pulled his hand.
“You have to come out for a moment.”
Her expression was somehow urgent. Eric glanced at the maid, who still hadn’t turned around.
‘To just lie there without any thought of apologizing.’
For him, today was the last chance he would give Roje. If she begged for his forgiveness, he might have reconsidered the divorce.
‘I can’t tolerate it anymore. Get that child out of here immediately.’
Cedric’s voice echoed in Eric’s head. He wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of divorce, but her actions today had given him reason to make up his mind.
‘She’s truly a disappointing woman.’
After begging him so desperately to let her in, she was now engaged in this useless battle of wills. He didn't even consider that Jane was lying there instead of Roje, simply thinking his wife was being stubborn.
‘If I suggest divorce, you’ll surely become clingy, won’t you?’
He stared at Roje with icy eyes. Doana, feeling Eric’s gaze directed at Roje instead of her, subtly turned his face towards herself. Then, her eyes curving into crescent moons, she pressed her body against Eric. The cold lust that had subsided began to boil again. Not for Roje, but for Doana. He didn’t say a word and left the room with Doana. With a click, silence descended. A chilling cold permeated the room. As Eric left the room, Jane could finally breathe. It was truly a stroke of luck that he left with Doana, but at the same time, she felt a bitter taste. Jane’s shoulders drooped forlornly, left all alone. She wasn't the real Roje, but Eric’s actions—not only resorting to violence against his sick wife but also leaving her alone to go off with his mistress—made her blood boil.
**
Meanwhile, Roje almost tumbled backward when a large pet dog lunged at her.
“Finn!”
The Grand Duke’s angry voice echoed through the reception room. He had told Neruan to keep him quiet, but he had barged in here. Finn was quite a fierce dog and didn't readily warm up to people other than himself and Neruan. But to suddenly leap out and charge at Roje. He worried that Finn might bite Roje at any moment. Finn, who had burrowed into Roje’s embrace, suddenly floated into the air before landing on the ground with a whimper.
“Are you hurt?”
Roje, with a bewildered expression, nodded at the Grand Duke, who was looking at her with a serious face.
“Ah... I’m fine. I was just a little surprised.”
But, just now... what was that? It happened so quickly that she wasn’t certain, but she saw Finn’s body lift into the air.
‘Did I see wrong?’
A healthy dog wouldn't suddenly float into the air. Unless it jumped down on its own.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Finn’s booming barks were heard. Finn ran towards the open door. But Finn’s movements felt somewhat awkward. His body was facing the door, but it somehow felt like he was struggling to come back towards her. Finn thrashed his front paws as if being dragged.
“Whine, whine.”
Finn’s whimpers sounded pitiful. Roje tilted her head, pondering the strange situation, and observed Finn’s movements.
‘It’s as if he’s being pulled by something invisible?’
That couldn’t be. There was no leash around Finn’s neck, and no one else was around. Roje couldn't shake the strange feeling.
“Come here, Finn.”
Butler Neruan strode into the room through the open doorway. He effortlessly lifted Finn’s body, which was as large as his own torso.
“I’ll take him, Your Grace.”
His intense golden eyes sharply gazed at the Grand Duke. His gaze was sharp, contrasting sharply with his polite tone. Neruan glanced at Roje and then turned his back to her. Then he mouthed something to the Grand Duke.
‘I told you not to do that!’
Neruan was practically cursing with his eyes, growling internally. But the Grand Duke scoffed at Neruan and ignored him. Neruan’s insides boiled at the Grand Duke’s blatant disregard.
‘I swear, I can’t have a single day of peace!’
His eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at the Grand Duke. Unlike other ordinary noble family butlers, Neruan and the Grand Duke weren’t merely bound by a superior-subordinate relationship. That’s why he could bare his teeth and snarl at his master like this.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Finn, held in Neruan’s arms, couldn't stand it any longer and barked. Finn’s eyes were fixed on Roje, not Grand Duke Arteum or Neruan.
‘Why me...’
Roje was frightened by Finn, who was panting and whose eyes sparkled as he looked at her. Although she liked dogs,
‘He’s just too big. He’s a little scary.’
Finn, with his massive build, was not a size one could simply find cute. Roje broke out in a cold sweat, watching Finn, who looked like he was about to pounce on her at any moment.
“I should take Finn out quickly, Neruan.”
“Then I’ll see you later, Your Grace, Grand Duke Arteum.”
He spoke stiffly to the Grand Duke, his tone thorny, and then left the room with Finn. Roje couldn't help but be surprised by Neruan’s uninhibited behavior towards the Grand Duke.
‘I never thought anyone would treat Grand Duke Arteum so casually.’
And that, from a hired employee of this mansion—a ‘butler.’ It was unimaginable in the House of Wence. While Butler Gwen did speak his mind to Eric, he never did so with such sharp eyes or in such a direct manner. Gwen of the House of Wence always humbled himself and bowed his head.
‘Perhaps Neruan is a distant cousin of the Grand Duke?’
She didn’t know the exact circumstances, but it was clear their relationship was not ordinary. Roje, with a bewildered expression, looked at the door before turning to the Grand Duke and asking,
“Your Grace, wasn’t that a bit strange just now?”
“What was strange?”
“The dog looked like it was being dragged.”
At Roje’s words, the Grand Duke’s index finger twitched. To have caught that fleeting moment.
‘Sharp.’
The Grand Duke’s sharp eyes turned towards Roje. A chilling aura permeated the room. Though it was the end of summer, and autumn hadn't even arrived in the north, the cold energy sent shivers down Roje’s spine.
‘Suddenly... the room feels a bit cold.’
Roje subtly wrapped her arms around herself, chilled by an inexplicable cold. Grand Duke Arteum gazed at her intently. His face hardened, his eyebrows twitched, and he opened his mouth, his voice deep and somber.
