Chapter 5
5
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Viscount Sachsen, roaring in anger, swung his hand, brutally tearing off the bride's veil.
"Viscount Sachsen!!!"
At the same time as the bishop's scream-like call, the seated dignitaries rose in unison. Count and Countess Sachsen and Duke and Duchess Taylor could only gape, unable to believe what was happening.
"Seize the viscount, quickly!"
The bishop, fearing violence in the sacred chapel, ordered the priests, who quickly grabbed Jack Sachsen's arms.
"Let go of me!!"
As he struggled with a fierce expression, Grace Taylor calmly rose from her seat.
She seemed serene, like the eye of a storm, having stirred up all the wind and rain. With extremely elegant gestures, she removed the necklace, ring, bracelet, and earrings she had received as gifts, and gently placed them in front of Viscount Sachsen, who was held by the priests.
"……."
Silence returned to the chaotic hall. Jack Sachsen, who had been struggling and shouting, stared blankly at the neatly placed gifts before raising his eyes.
Sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows gloriously enveloped the bride who had ruined her wedding. Although she was a brazen woman who dared to declare her love for another man before God at her wedding, perhaps because of her refined appearance or her upright posture, she resembled a saint in a sacred painting. In particular, her eyes, like new verdure, momentarily captivated him.
And that sight set Countess Sachsen's heart ablaze.
Her precious son was kneeling, his arms held by the priests like a criminal, while that vulgar girl who had ruined the wedding was looking down on him as if judging him!!
Trembling, she shouted with all her might.
"To stand before God and declare there's another man besides her husband-to-be! How dare you present such a vulgar girl as a bride!!!"
Duke and Duchess Taylor, who had been gaping like people struck from behind, finally snapped out of it and rose in a flurry.
"Duchess Taylor!!!"
Countess Sachsen, her eyes flashing like a tiger, poured out all sorts of accusations at them.
"Considering the reputation of the Duke Taylor family, we agreed to the marriage, even forgiving their enormous debt, let alone asking for a dowry!! How will you compensate for the wounds our viscount has suffered and the insults our family has endured!!! Sachsen is a family of great importance! This is tantamount to insulting Her Majesty the Empress!!!"
"Countess, please calm down……."
"How can I possibly calm down??!! I will not allow this marriage!!!”
"You won't allow the marriage!"
"I won't!! I'm calling off the agreement to pay off the debt!!"
"Countess! Count!"
Count Sachsen, his mustache twitching, turned his head away, causing Duke and Duchess Taylor's faces to turn ashen.
No! Then the money we have to repay……!
The sight of countless gold coins flashing before their eyes made the Duke and Duchess Taylor's minds reel. They couldn't understand what was happening.
The dignitaries no longer bothered to lower their voices. They exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming, and began to chatter about this unprecedented event, while the bishop, resigned to his fate, threw up his hands. The round chapel echoed with a dizzying cacophony.
Amidst the uproar, Grace Taylor slowly turned and walked back the way she had come, alone.
"Grace!!!"
Duke Taylor rebuked Grace as if he wanted to kill her. When Grace turned to look at him, the Duke trembled and shouted.
"If you don't kneel down and apologize immediately, I will expel you from Taylor!!!"
"……."
Expel? Me, erase me from Taylor?
Suppressing the urge to laugh out loud, Grace resumed walking. Angry voices poured out like a tidal wave behind her.
"Grace, can't you come back right now?!!!"
"Look at her!! How shameless!! Honey, it's a relief. Let's call off the wedding altogether!! Moreover, the Duke Taylor family will have to take responsibility and compensate for all the damages caused by this incident!!"
"P-Please calm down, Countess!"
Duke and Duchess Taylor, who had tried to grab Grace, were caught by the hysterical Countess Sachsen. Rosette, who had been wringing her hands beside her parents, swallowed her rising anger and quickly followed Grace.
"Grace!!"
At the angry call, Grace, who was just stepping onto the stairs, turned around. Rosette, adorned more lavishly than the bride with all sorts of jewels and lace, rushed over.
Grace felt the wind blowing towards her. Behind Rosette, all hell was breaking loose. Even as her heart pounded as if it would burst, a strange elation surged within her.
"What are you doing!! There's a limit to how much you can tarnish the family's honor!!"
Grace removed the usual docile look from her eyes and retorted.
"Me?"
"Yes!! You ruined the wedding! My family is in trouble because of you!!"
Grace listened quietly to the angry outburst and laughed. Unlike her usual gentle smile, the laughter, tinged with sound, made Rosette blink blankly.
"……Are you laughing?"
A mocking question followed the delayed question.
"'My family'?"
Rosette's face stiffened. Grace, who had been smiling like an idiot just last night, took a step closer and cornered her.
"My family is in trouble because of me?"
Small and slender, with round eyes and a graceful, beautiful face. Just elegant and quiet, like her name……. Grace Taylor, who had always endured any mistreatment, was revealing her true feelings for the first time. As Rosette, flustered, lost her words, Grace whispered in her ear.
"You know, Rosette. When Jack Sachsen was even considered as my husband, the honor of the Duke Taylor family was already buried in the mud."
At that moment, a shout erupted from the chapel. It was clearly Duke Taylor's roar. Rosette bit her lip tightly, glared at Grace with resentful eyes, and shouted as if throwing a tantrum.
"Pay the price for my parents raising you until now!! Go back and apologize, and fix this situation!!! Marry Jack Sachsen!!!"
"Then you marry him in my place."
There was no more time to argue with Rosette. Leaving her hesitating, Grace turned around.
"Just bear with having six bastards and endure being beaten. If you endure for about twenty years, you might become Countess Sachsen. Isn't it right for you, not me, to pay the price for being born and raised?"
Her gentle tone was like a song. Rosette blinked blankly.
Grace… Grace, who had simply nodded obediently even when her dress was taken away and even when she was deprived of the room she had lived in since childhood, what?
But Grace was already moving away across the hallway. The commotion behind her didn't seem to bother her as she walked away with a light and elegant back. Rosette felt a chill down her spine.
Endure for about 20 years and you'll become Countess Sachsen? How dare she tell me, Princess Taylor, to endure a scoundrel like Jack Sachsen?!
Rosette trembled and shouted at Grace's back.
"You……! Were you pretending to be docile all this time?!! Grace!!!"
Rosette's angry shout echoed through the hallway.
"Is there no one here?!! Quickly catch her and bring that bitch back here!!!"
However, the servants who were hiding in various parts of the chapel only stared coldly at Rosette, who was pointing and shouting, and no one responded to Rosette's command.
Meanwhile, Grace, who had reached the end of the hallway, paused and looked back. Grace's gaze, which slowly scanned everything in the chapel, stopped at the man who was looking down at her from the top of the stairs. The man, leaning casually against the entrance, had his arms crossed and was staring intently at her. Grace paused for a moment, exchanging glances with him.
Rosette's shout echoed in her mind.
Acting? What's so special about that. Even if the whole empire pointed fingers at her for the commotion she had publicly caused at the wedding, it didn't matter. No, from now on, she intended to become a femme fatale that everyone would know.
And after plunging a knife into the neck of the enemy who killed her parents, she would definitely return here.
The cornerstone of the empire, Taylor of the Golden Wheat Field. She would reclaim that glorious name.
Grace clenched her fist and turned her back on the place where everything about her was rooted.
