Chapter 14
What Happens After the Consummation?
‘Let’s do something, Yuan. If we become useful people, they won’t kick us out!’
That was before I knew the power of Pellieresse was within me.
My aunt who took over my mother’s bedroom.
Regina who took over my bedroom.
Yuan, who had even her birthday presents snatched away before her eyes, felt keenly that there was no place for her in Pellieresse.
Yuan followed Louise, cleaning the mansion, attending to her aunt, and helping her uncle with his work.
Whether it was because of the peculiarity of Pellieresse, where nobles worked, or because of the desperation to avoid being kicked out of the mansion, she adapted that way.
“Madam, what are you doing?”
“I’m trying to help with the work. Hille and the others in the kitchen seemed very busy earlier.”
“Oh my, please drop the honorifics! I’ll really get scolded by the butler! And what do you mean by helping with the work?”
Henna asked back, her eyes wide.
With slender hands still bandaged beneath rolled-up sleeves, what exactly was she going to help with?
Besides, how could someone who should be ordering the maids around be doing work?
“The mansion is big, but there seem to be few servants.”
“That’s true, but… Madam, are you saying that because you still have a fever?”
Henna placed her hand on Yuan’s forehead and asked worriedly.
Yuan’s large eyes blinked a few times before curving naturally.
“I’m serious. Didn’t His Highness the Deposed Emperor lose his title and become a commoner now?”
Henna’s mouth fell open. She looked as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
To ask, with an innocent face, if that scary Highness had become a commoner.
“The Pellieresse mansion, which isn’t even half the size of this mansion, has over thirty servants.”
“Really?! Is that true?”
The Black Manor had fewer than twenty servants, excluding the guards sent by the Imperial Family for surveillance.
This was because the owner of the mansion didn’t like having many people around, and the financial situation of the Marquis Lev family, which provided support, wasn’t very good.
Moreover, everyone was reluctant to work in this mansion because of the rumors about the Deposed Emperor.
Most of the old servants were people who had worked there for a very long time, or their families or relatives.
If not, they were servants who had wandered from other noble families and had nowhere else to go, considering this place their last refuge.
“Still… it’s a bit much for you to be doing our work…”
“There must be a place where I’m needed.”
Yuan replied firmly.
Dealing with household matters was a very familiar situation for Yuan.
If she could manage the household in place of the mansion’s owner, who never left his bedroom.
Or if she could fill the gaps left by the insufficient number of servants.
Perhaps she wouldn’t be kicked out.
The massive mansion, large enough to be mistaken for the castle of a small Duchy, always needed manpower.
Cleaning all the rooms every day, like in other mansions, was unimaginable.
The land around Klaud’s property sent taxes and crops directly to the Black Manor thanks to the consideration of Marquis Lev, the lord of the territory, but the amount was woefully insufficient due to the poverty of the region.
The servants seemed barely able to cope with the daily task of salting or drying food to survive the cold winter.
Yuan, following Hille’s instructions not to get her hands wet after the expensive ointment applied to her skin disappeared, did cleaning and tidying that didn’t involve water, and gradually helped Hille with her work.
Thanks to this, Hille’s face regained its vitality day by day.
Also, Gustav, the butler, who initially forbade her from working, saying that even if she was the madam who would soon be leaving, it was absolutely not allowed, began to rationalize his behavior as Yuan started helping him with his miscellaneous tasks.
Wasn’t it right for the lady of the house to oversee household matters?
The butler had been taking on not only Klaud’s work, who had given up on everything, but also the household chores, which was killing him.
Yuan helped the maids out of Gustav’s sight, and when he was holed up in his office with his head in his hands, she would go in, saying she needed something, and subtly solve his problems.
“An unwelcome guest in my mansion. Seeing her wandering around, it seems she can walk out on her own two feet now.”
So Gustav was speechless at Klaud’s words, only opening and closing his mouth.
Considering that Klaud’s original intention was to ‘put her on a carriage and send her back to her parents’ house as soon as she recovered,’ he was already far too late.
“Um… Your Highness. I apologize for saying this.”
“Don’t say anything that warrants an apology, Gustav.”
Klaud’s face was cold.
His expression of disinterest in the world remained unchanged, but he couldn’t hide the intense rejection and wariness in his eyes.
Gustav had spent the past few days with Yuan and had seen a working noble for the first time.
It was an absurd act for the consort of a royal like Klaud, but as the lady of the house who mingled freely with the people and eased the rigid atmosphere of the mansion, she was even somewhat admirable.
Her efforts despite her unwell body were admirable and even commendable, so it was easy to develop good feelings in a short time.
However, personal good feelings and official situations had to be clearly distinguished.
No matter how rarely the ninth bride had adapted so well to this mansion, it was right to kick her out if the owner disliked her.
Butler Gustav, reflecting on his own acquiescence to things that would have been unimaginable in a typical royal or noble family, lowered his head deeply.
After Gustav left, Klaud closed his eyes on the rocking chair for a long time, then listened to the affectionate voices seeping in from outside.
“How wonderful would it be if every day were like today?”
“The atmosphere of the mansion has definitely changed since Madam came. That’s why a house needs a lady.”
“That’s right, look at Hille too. She used to complain about feeling like a useless freeloader or a painkiller-making machine, but she’s regained her vitality while treating Madam.”
“She must really like working. Hehe.”
Yuan smiled gently, listening quietly to the chatter of the young maids.
The maids giggled among themselves, making up stories, and as the unkempt dirt floor began to turn red with the setting sun, they hurried away.
“Is it already this late?”
“Madam, please don’t touch the bedding tomorrow morning?”
“That’s right. The butler warned us too, and we’re more comfortable just doing the work ourselves.”
Yuan said she would look around the garden more and bid farewell to the maids who quickly disappeared into the mansion.
As soon as the sun set, everyone disappeared into their rooms.
That was the rule of this mansion.
Yuan now wanted to meet the owner of the mansion, Klaud, and appeal to him.
To ask him to let her live even in a corner of this vast mansion.
She also wanted to express her gratitude.
If he had acted according to his infamous reputation, he would have killed her or kicked her out naked, whether Yuan was sick or not.
She had waited in her room every time, hoping he would call for her, but he still showed no reaction.
With a troubled heart, she looked around the garden when she heard the sound of a window opening above her head.
It was on the second floor, the side where Klaud’s bedroom was located.
Yuan stiffened her spine and slowly turned around to look up at the upper floor.
Slightly faded blonde hair was fluttering in the wind.
Yuan carefully moved back to a spot where his face was visible.
However, the inside of the window was shrouded in shadow, and Klaud did not fully reveal his face.
“Hello.”
Yuan greeted the man who was looking down at her, pretending to be nonchalant.
The man, whose eyes were shining in the darkness, had an indifferent gaze that made it impossible to read his emotions.
“I…”
“You look fine, so why don’t you leave now?”
Yuan hardened the corners of her mouth, which she had been trying to smile, and looked up at him.
His pale and shadowed half-face, which was only slightly revealed, was still pale and shadowed.
Unlike his desolate face, his words were blunt.
“Don’t try any tricks.”
Tricks!
Such rude words.
Yuan paused at Klaud’s much fiercer appearance than she had imagined, then finally mustered the courage to answer.
“I am Your Highness’s wife.”
She felt ridiculous even as she answered.
It had only been a matter of time since she had been told to return to her parents’ house.
It felt like she could hear the sound of someone laughing at her.
“I don’t need a wife.”
Klaud was merciless even to the words she had uttered with all her heart and courage.
Yuan crumpled and clutched the hem of her skirt like paper.
No. No, I don’t want to be kicked out.
“I will definitely be useful. I’m good at cleaning and preparing meals. When my hands are healed, I can do laundry well too. It doesn’t have to be as a wife. Please, just let me stay here. Please…”
“I don’t need any more maids.”
Only then did Klaud’s lips, which had been like a piece of ice, crumble slightly.
It was a twisted and shadowed smile.
“Cleaning. Laundry. Preparing meals… Ha.”
The window closed without regret, as if it had never been opened.
Yuan, who had been looking up with her head craned, was frozen in shock and could do nothing.
She didn’t think she was asking for anything too great.
Over the past few days, she had naturally learned about Klaud’s reclusive nature.
She thought it wouldn’t be bad to secretly annul the marriage and live as a maid in this isolated mansion.
If she was kicked out back to Pellieresse as she was, Yuan would be caught by her uncle and have to endure another terrible hell in the side room.
Not only that, but Louise’s body, which had been temporarily entrusted to the chapel, would have to return there as well.
If Marquis Kompani tried to confirm it, she might have to burn it.
‘This won’t do.’
I need a method.
I have to become more useful somehow.
Yuan stared at the tightly closed window for a long time, biting her lower lip hard.
An unexpected solution came the very next morning, from outside.
Just as the maids were starting to clear the table after breakfast, a presence was felt outside the open door.
“May I come in for a moment?”
Standing in the doorway was Butler Gustav with a dark complexion.
“The attending physician, Hille, says that Madam’s condition has improved a lot. I apologize for saying this to someone who is still ill, but…”
Was she going to have to leave right away like this?
Yuan, not yet ready, listened intently, feeling nervous.
“The Imperial Family has sent word urging you to prove the consummation and quickly establish your relationship as a married couple.”
Henna’s hand, which had been clearing the table, paused, and Yuan also couldn’t hide her bewildered expression.
“The Imperial Family has never specifically urged those who were here before, but did you hear anything separately from Pellieresse? This is the first time this has happened.”
Gustav scratched the back of his neck as he delivered the news, as if he himself was bewildered.
The purpose of a noble’s marriage was to produce an heir, so it was right to prove the consummation and be recognized as a true couple.
She had known this since she was very young, from reading books.
It wasn’t like the Imperial Family was making unreasonable demands.
The butler, noticing Yuan’s momentarily frozen expression, continued.
“In principle, if there is no Consummation Proof, the marriage is invalid. Anyway, it is my duty to give you notice… Please don’t worry too much about it.”
The Imperial Family is urging, so I’m telling you.
But you won’t be able to prove the consummation anyway, and you’ll be going back to your parents’ house, so don’t worry about it.
That’s how it sounded to Yuan.
Yuan cleanly erased the momentarily bewildered emotion from her face and replied.
“What happens after the consummation?”
Gustav’s steps, which had been about to turn away, stopped for a moment.
“If we consummate, even if Your Highness wants to kick me out, he won’t be able to?”
He looked at her with wide eyes, as if wondering how she could think such a thing.
