Chapter 18
How Could You Do That Last Night?
Feeding, housing, and clothing her. Even using a maiden of marriageable age for important tasks. There was a limit to repaying kindness with malice.
"I wonder what that crow, Yuan, stole to make him act like this."
"Don't just lie there, do something, dear. I'm even getting letters asking if Pellieresse has gone out of business."
The mother and daughter were full of worry as they looked at the Count, who was lying in bed, not moving an inch. The Count only groaned, "Oh, my head."
Regina, whose eyebrows had been twitching, finally spoke the words she had been holding back.
"Father, I'll help with your business now, instead of that crow."
Regina slyly sat on the edge of the bed where her father was lying and whispered.
"Honestly, I'd do much better than that weakling, wouldn't I? My handwriting is much more beautiful than hers."
In reality, she had never properly seen Yuan's handwriting, but Regina was convinced that she was much better and began to cling to the Count's arm as he lay there.
"Father?"
"......"
"Father. Fa-ther-!"
"Can't you be quiet!"
Before Count Pellieresse could push away his daughter clinging to his arm, Countess Pellieresse sharply pulled Regina's arm and shouted.
It was already a sensitive time, and to make matters worse, his immature daughter was being stubborn, making him feel like he was dying.
"Why! Yuan has left, so the research assistant position is vacant, right? I definitely heard it. That she was an essential child for the family business? Why does it have to be that half-breed crow who mooches off us, instead of me? She's gone now, isn't she? Frederick is just big, his handwriting is terrible, and he has no brains for studying! Of course, I should help Father! Who knows? If word gets out that the Pellieresse Count's daughter is helping the family business well, maybe someone who needs a capable mistress will send a marriage proposal!"
"Get out, Regina."
"Father!"
"Get out."
Count Pellieresse, who had been covering his eyes with his arm and listening to the mother and daughter's squabble, pulled his arm away from Regina and turned his back.
His flabby back, heavy with fat, looked lonely.
Regina was about to throw another tantrum, but seeing her mother's fierce eyes, she shouted, "Just try hiring someone else as an assistant besides me!" and stormed out of the room.
Priscilla, who was about to yell after her, took a moment to catch her breath and then carefully shook the Count.
"Dear, dear, wake up. The guests are in the side room of the lab again..."
"Didn't I tell you not to receive guests?!"
The Count, who had only been swallowing groans, suddenly sat up and got angry.
"I can't do it without Yuan!"
"Then what are we going to do? They brought several times more gold than last time, are we going to send them back?? We need money for Frederick and Regina to marry well! When did you start badgering me, saying we'd remain court nobles without any land! Where does the money come from, then? Does the family fall apart without Yuan?"
"It falls apart! It falls apart! Even if they bring a wagon full of gold, it's useless without her!"
"Talk sense! You're the head of the Pellieresse family! She's just an assistant!"
Seeing Count Pellieresse getting angry and even spitting, the Countess finally took a step back, folded her arms, and squinted her eyes.
"Tell me honestly. Yuan, that girl, isn't she your illegitimate child? 'The only link between you and your brother' is ridiculous. Since when have you followed your brother so closely? You came out saying you didn't want to associate with a family that ignored people and were going to become a merchant! Isn't she the only link between you and your mistress, not your brother? I've been suspicious since a long time ago. You subtly take care of that girl and don't like her doing hard work other than lab work! You made Louise do errands outside, but you always called Yuan to the lab to entertain guests."
The Countess, who had been pacing around the bedroom, clenched her fists and shouted fiercely.
"Now you're lying sick like this! What is it! What is that girl to you that you made such a fuss when she left and now you're lying here in bed? I went along with it then, but I need to know for sure. Tell me! Tell! Me!"
Eventually, Countess Pellieresse grabbed the Count's shoulders and began to shake him.
The Count was shaken so much that his flesh jiggled from his hysterical wife's touch, but he couldn't open his mouth until the end.
That child, who brought gold to the family, had the real power of Pellieresse.
The legitimacy of Pellieresse came from the power she possessed.
Shedding the stigma of being a half-Pellieresse and hearing the reputation of 'as expected' Pellieresse in academia, the academy, and the capital was all thanks to Yuan.
How could he say such a thing?
He had barely established his authority as the head of the family with gold, and he couldn't afford to lose even that.
"Has this woman gone crazy!"
Even while shouting loudly, Count Pellieresse felt like crying.
He hadn't even been able to open and postpone the letters from the great nobles asking when they could visit again.
Even when he explained the situation to First Prince Bolonico as much as possible and asked for help, there was no reply.
The most important thing was.
He was someone who couldn't conduct research alone.
And he was now desperately realizing that.
"Don't think I don't know you made Yuan do all sorts of chores?! You needed her too, so you caught her that day, didn't you!"
The Countess, who had been pushed away by her husband, began to shed tears with a shocked expression.
"Oh, my fate. Oh, my fate! I married the second son of a family without a title because he seemed to have a strong sense of livelihood, but he brought back an illegitimate child from outside! He even humiliated me in front of others by calling that crow the heir to the family! And now he's pushing me away! How can you do this to me, Geret Pellieze!"
"She's not an illegitimate child, so don't write novels! Take care of the children! Don't let Regina get any vain hopes and prepare her for her debutante! Don't receive guests for the time being! Keep that in mind!"
"What are you going to do now! You've even incurred the First Prince's displeasure!"
"I'll have to go to Cielo and negotiate directly!"
First Prince Bolonico was scary, but what Geret Pellieresse feared most was that his bottom would be exposed as it was and he would lose the identity of Pellieresse.
How hard he had worked to seize the title of Count!
He had to send away the guests who were flocking in right now with expensive medicine and bring back Yuan, the goose that laid golden eggs, no matter if he had to divorce her or break off her engagement, and lock her up in the side room.
"What negotiation! Don't tell me you're going to bring that girl back! Are you going to incur Prince Bolonico's hatred because of that girl! You'd rather step on me! You'd rather kill me!"
No matter what misunderstandings he faced, the secret of Pellieresse had to be protected.
Even if Geret Pellieresse thought that gold was the greatest value, he knew that everything would be over the moment he revealed the existence of the goose that laid golden eggs to anyone else.
A secret that everyone in the Pellieresse family kept silent about.
The golden goose of Pellieresse.
He couldn't stand the thought of anyone monopolizing it. Whether it was the Deposed Emperor or his wife barking in front of him.
Geret Pellieresse got up with his head in his hands and scribbled a letter.
All or nothing.
Since he had already incurred displeasure, he would go all the way.
The destination of the scribbled letter was, of course, the capital Cielo, where First Prince Bolonico, whom he had been backing, was located.
***
Yuan, entered the bedroom and saw Klaud sitting crookedly.
Klaud sent her a gaze as if he were facing a insignificant creature, and Yuan calmly gathered her hands politely.
He had forced her into the bedroom, saying he would remind her of what had happened last night, but honestly, she hated showing her ability directly in front of him more than death.
What was fortunate was that the man's sensitive face, which had been full of hostility, was subtly twitching, and the man's ears, with a stiff expression as if he were imagining something, occasionally turned red.
And, perhaps with the thought of what if... the man was watching her as if she were a criminal about to be hanged, but his long legs under his nightgown were tapping once in a while.
It was proof that he was anxious.
'I mustn't let my ability be discovered.'
She had to become a useful person in this house without revealing this ability.
She was used to nursing.
Besides, as long as such a fierce man was her husband, even if they barged in to take her away from Pellieresse, she wouldn't be dragged away.
Yuan absolutely, never wanted to go back to Pellieresse again.
The people at Black Manor were somewhat taciturn and rigid, but if she gave them even a little bit of a chance, they were so eager for affection that they couldn't help but be kind to her.
The warm people of the desolate mansion.
As Klaud Euphris's legal wife, she was qualified, and that meant that even if Klaud was the owner of this mansion, he couldn't kick Yuan out arbitrarily.
Especially if they had completed the Consummation Proof and received imperial approval!
'I deserve to live in this mansion.'
Yuan struggled to calm her racing heart and stared intently at Klaud's face.
'You might have killed my sister. It's not me who has to leave, it's you, who might be a criminal.'
Be confident. I deserve it too.
"What are you doing? Are you regretting looking at my mangled face? Looking at a face like this, do you wonder how you could do that last night?"
"?"
Yuan's momentum, which had been mustered with all her courage, was rendered useless, and Klaud's gaze was not as angry as it had seemed from the outside.
Seeing her confident yet wronged attitude with his own eyes, and seeing that she didn't avoid him until the end, he seemed to have some certainty that they had consummated their marriage.
"!"
What was even more surprising was that when a question flashed in Yuan's eyes, Klaud couldn't stand it and turned his gaze away first.
His white face, close to perfection, was hiding his hideous half-face in the shadows.
His long eyelashes were trembling slightly, facing downwards with a hint of shame.
