193 - Chapter 193
Side Story Episode 15.
Along with the implicit intention for her to handle it herself, her aunt-in-law sitting beside Mrs. Actuar subtly opened her mouth.
"Niece." "Yes." "Swallow what's sweet, spit out what's bitter. I understand you didn't want to hear such words, but..." "......" "That thing is rotten, you see."
Mrs. Actuar tightly closed her eyes and let out a thin, suppressed breath.
"...I see, Aunt."
At that moment, perhaps having reached her breaking point from the sight of people completely rejecting me, Mrs. Wilhelm began to spew venom.
"That wench is a thief! She took my son's achievement as her own!!"
Unable to bear it any longer, one of the noblewomen furrowed her brow and said.
"That's enough, there are many listening ears." "Many listening ears? So what? Ah, Noah Astrid? Are you afraid the Prince, who's lost his mind over that pretty face, might take revenge or something?" "Mrs. Wilhelm!" "That man is a thief too! Using his title as Prince, he stole my son's Magic Dome!!!"
Almost as soon as Mrs. Wilhelm's enraged shout ended, Mrs. Actuar tapped a clear crystal glass with a teaspoon.
Ting.
As Mrs. Wilhelm, who had been spewing venom, faltered and looked at her, Mrs. Actuar stared directly at the unwelcome guest and tapped the glass again.
Ting.
Ting. Tingtingting.
Mrs. Actuar's hand movements, fueled by her anger reaching its peak, gradually grew fiercer. As the delicate, thin glass began to crack, the clear sound became duller, and eventually, the glass shattered into pieces with a crash.
The orchestra, sensing the mood, stopped playing, and a brittle silence enveloped the beautiful outdoor salon.
Mrs. Actuar elegantly set down the teaspoon she was holding and commanded in an icy voice.
"Clean this up."
While a fidgeting employee from behind promptly cleared the glass as if waiting for the order, Mrs. Actuar rose from her seat. Then, as if nothing had happened, she smiled very, very brightly and addressed the noblewomen.
"Good day. The breeze is cool, and the weather is warm. Around this time, as autumn approaches, I always recall the rose garden at King Herod's Royal Palace I once visited. It's such a romantic and beautiful place."
At this, Mrs. Wilhelm, who had openly disparaged the Herod royal family, flinched and began to blush.
"I wanted to share the romance and excitement I felt with all of you, even in this small way, which is why I invited you today... I am truly sorry that you had to experience an unsavory incident against my intentions." "An unsavory incident?" "......"
As Mrs. Actuar stared at her with an expressionless face, Mrs. Wilhelm shot up from her seat.
"Are you saying that for my benefit now?" "......" "Ha!!"
Mrs. Wilhelm let out a loud sneer and waved her finger out of habit.
"Actuar, you've grown so much!!! How did your husband enter politics? It was me!! My husband!! Who acted as your and Rickman's Chaperone that you've become this big?!! Back then, you called me your benefactor and all......" "Indeed." "...What?" "How did things come to this?"
Those words had an effect like removing one condition for combustion from a raging fire. Mrs. Wilhelm, who had been explosively venting her anger and spewing venom, now seemed like someone who didn't know what to say at all.
"I, I... What did I......" "I admit it, Mrs. Wilhelm. If you had not acted as Actuar's Chaperone, how could I possibly be in this position? Back in those days, you were truly remarkable. But now, it's tiresome." "...What?" "I wonder how much money has gone to you just this month alone."
The moment money was mentioned, Mrs. Wilhelm's face turned red as if it would burst. Then, flaring up again, she poured out her tedious repertoire.
"Have you no shame, talking about money in a place like this? And were you actually counting gifts of gratitude by converting them into money? That's a very, very vulgar act!" "Several dozen dresses, several dozen pieces of jewelry. Yes. Well, let's say those are gifts......"
Mrs. Actuar smiled thinly.
"...But sending me the bill for the outstanding tab at the grocery store... is this considered a gift too, perhaps?"
Normally, that's called living expenses.
Living expenses are not gifts.
Mrs. Wilhelm's lips were trembling pitifully. One could almost see her aging by the second. Like a cornered beast, she glanced around frantically and finally bared her teeth as a last resort.
"This is utterly, utterly insulting!!!" "......" "I will report this insult I've suffered to the Hilbert Royal Family as well, and I will recite it exactly to my son!!" "......" "Do you think you'll get away with this?! Do you know who I am!!! Who I am!!!"
Who I am.
Her shout was like a gun without bullets—only noisy, with no impact whatsoever. It was so light it couldn't even stir the rose petals in the salon.
Who I am.
Mrs. Wilhelm clung desperately to those words as if they were a lifeline. As she fled the hotel and got into the carriage, she repeated only that phrase.
What kind of person I am.
Her family was one with considerable influence even within the Norfolk Continent. Unlike nobles who fled to Pulder as immigrants because they had no titles or inheritance to succeed, they were different. Especially she herself was a person with the blood of the famous Hilbert Royal Family, no less renowned than the Astrid Royal Family.
She and her husband held a respectable Count title and owned several castles and mansions boasting long histories. They enjoyed a new and free life in Pulder, and whenever they grew tired of the vulgarity of a place without history, they would go on vacation to their castle in Norfolk.
In Pulder, she was a noble of a different class, one with royal blood flowing in her veins. In Norfolk, she was a brave person who embraced new culture. Her only son was brilliant from a young age and eventually created the incredible Magic Dome.
Advanced civilization based on history.
That was Wilhelm.
Therefore, she could not bow her head to those without an ancient lineage. To express gratitude and then go around exposing it to people.
Furious and fuming, she irritably tapped the carriage wall.
Tap. Tap.
"For heaven's sake."
Tap! Tap! Tap!!
"How long have we been arrived that you won't open the door?!!"
The stubbornly seated Mrs. Wilhelm flung open the tightly drawn curtains. The carriage had arrived at the familiar mansion. Yet, she felt an unpleasant sensation as if she had come to a strange place.
The head maid, who usually came out to greet her, was nowhere to be seen. Beyond the square window was only one coachman with a menacing face.
A chill starting from the back of her neck crept up her spine, raising goosebumps. A creeping fear and anxiety formed against the backdrop of her anger and displeasure. The coachman's eyes looked like those of someone who had resolved something. Mrs. Wilhelm instinctively locked the carriage door handle.
Click.
The sound of the carriage door locking echoed thunderously. The coachman, who had been glaring at her, sneered as if exasperated.
"Damn it, really......"
The vulgar words stabbed Mrs. Wilhelm's back like a sharp knife. Mrs. Wilhelm hastily stood up and locked the window as well.
The coachman approached her like a fiend from hell. Mrs. Wilhelm's buttocks slowly slid backward. Then, when the coachman rushed toward the carriage like a bolt of lightning, Mrs. Wilhelm screamed and pressed herself tightly against the opposite carriage wall.
The coachman pressed close to the window, baring his yellow teeth.
"Come out, Madam." "Wh-what is this." "What is this? I said come out, why are you acting like this?" "Why isn't the head maid coming out? Where did everyone go?!!"
Mrs. Wilhelm forced down her fear with venom.
"Tell them to come out right now!!!"
Then, the coachman made an expression she'd never seen before and muttered a curse she'd never heard. He spat with a very vulgar attitude. Then he looked up at the sky once, at the mansion once, and turned his eyes back to her.
"Seems you can't read the situation."
Mrs. Wilhelm began to feel as if this moment were a dream.
Is that it? Is it a dream?
Yes. That seems to be it.
Actuar looking at me like a bug she wants to get rid of, no one stopping me as I leave... no, Wilhelm falling into ruin like that—all of it must ultimately be a dream.
The nightmare in the shape of a coachman stuck firmly to the window. The nightmare that came to strangle me spoke, putting force into each word.
"When are you going to give me my money?"
