Chapter 15
“…….”
Wow, what an outrageous load of trash talk…
I lightly covered my mouth. Otherwise, my expression might give it away, or a curse might slip out before I knew it.
Of course, this old man wasn’t such a good person either. Good people didn’t bind others with debt. At least he seemed to care for his granddaughter, so that was something.
“Hmm, well, regardless, it was a good call ripping out that lady’s hair.”
Cough! I barely managed to stifle the cough that nearly burst out of me. What? What did this grandfather just say?
I’d clearly said it wasn’t hair-pulling, but his face hadn’t shown even 1 percent belief. I could understand that much.
“Wait a moment…”
“Thanks to that, we’ll be collecting more interest, haven’t we?”
“Pardon?”
I froze. Grandfather stroked his chin as if he hadn’t even heard my question.
“I wasn’t satisfied lately since they’d been paying the interest so promptly. I was wondering how to raise it… and then you came up with a brilliant idea.”
“What do you…”
“Of course, you deliberately let that guy push you down, didn’t you?”
My lips flapped open and shut.
What on earth was this grandfather saying right now?
“Of course, the fact that he dared to push my precious granddaughter makes him a scoundrel without a doubt… but he’s still useful, so I can’t just let him keep paying interest so diligently like this. You must have had your reasons too, right?”
“……”
“Since you want to possess that man.”
I clutched my face. Calm down. Calm down. Answer carefully.
Fortunately, I had Charlize’s memories, along with the habits and mannerisms left in her body.
I answered with a smile.
“……Yes, of course.”
At the same time, I thought: This is bad. This family… it’s even crazier than I thought!
Whether it was the villainess Charlize or this grandfather who cherished Charlize but treated people as tools without mercy.
I swallowed hard.
It wasn’t that I wanted the engagement broken, but teaming up with this grandfather would surely lead to a dead end—I had a strong feeling about it.
Above all… a man like Askin Remute wasn’t someone who could be possessed through oppression and restraint.
He’d clearly held back inwardly all this time, but the anger he’d bottled up must be piling up layer by layer.
I’d already seen it with my own eyes in the Remute Territory—what this grandfather’s methods would do wasn’t just provoke it; it would make it explode.
It was definitely not a positive direction.
Excuse me, my life is on the line here?
Oblivious to that, Grandfather laughed heartily in front of me, clearly in a good mood.
After flattering him appropriately, I finally left his study.
I let out a deep sigh of relief, patting my chest.
‘I guess… in this world, none of my family are truly on my side.’
Even the male lead tyrant, whom I thought got along well in the book, and the grandfather called a granddaughter fool—they were both like ticking time bombs.
As I sighed, the door creaked slightly open.
“Charl.”
“……Grandfather?”
Grandfather stood in the gap of the open door.
He frowned as he looked at me.
“……Is your cold not fully gone yet?”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll call the priest again.”
“……”
A strange feeling washed over me. Though I thought it odd, I shook my head.
And so, I returned to my room from the study.
* * *
The next day, my body felt completely light.
As soon as I sensed how light I felt in the morning, I prepared to head out.
“Let’s go to the Remute Territory.”
The maids all wore worried expressions, but lacking the courage to object, they faithfully followed my orders.
The road to the Remute Territory wasn’t far, but there was a problem.
“U-um, Duchess… the knights say they’d like to speak with you briefly.”
“What’s the matter?”
The carriage came to a stop midway. Apparently, due to the heavy rains a few days ago, the road was blocked, and people were out repairing it. They’d had no choice but to halt the carriage.
At those words, I stuck my head out the door to check the situation.
‘It’s real, alright.’
The people who looked like territory folk were busily shoveling dirt, looking utterly frantic.
The houses of the territory folk on either side had collapsed roofs or walls—total wrecks.
They’d said it was a flood close to a disaster… It must be bad news for my fiancé.
He already had plenty of financial worries to deal with.
I gathered my skirt and stepped down from the carriage.
At that, the maids and knights all startled and came rushing after me.
“Duchess, the dirt on your dress—!”
“It’s fine.”
“Eek, i-it got on the limited-edition shoes too, D-Duchess!”
“I said it’s fine.”
I liked pretty, shiny things too.
But Charlize’s wardrobe and shoe closet had over a hundred similarly expensive, high-quality items.
“Duchess, please forgive my rudeness.”
“Hm? What are you…”
Before I could say anything, one of the knights extended his hand to me.
Without thinking, I instinctively took it—a habit left in Charlize’s body.
‘Whoa!’
My vision spun, and my body floated lightly into the air. Startled, I looked at the person who had lifted me.
Ah, this guy…
‘The knight who carried me at the Remute Duke’s Mansion during the rain?’
Right. He was the one who’d picked me up right as Grandfather appeared in front of the Remute Duke’s Mansion.
He was huge, yet he carried me with the calm expression of someone fulfilling an obvious duty.
His firm face was quite handsome.
Sorry, but after seeing my fiancé’s face, no other handsome man stirred me. Still, he was good-looking enough to catch the eye.
“……I never ordered you to carry me?”
“……My apologies. I prioritized the previous order not to let even a speck of dirt touch your dress and shoes. I’m sorry for being slow to act.”
No, that’s not what I meant to apologize for.
I patted the shoulder of the nameless escort knight and told him to put me down.
The knight hesitated briefly, then fell into thought.
Soon after…
“We’ve brought it.”
I was seated in the palanquin loaded at the back of the carriage—a palanquin carried by four knights.
A weird feeling came over me. What was this?
“You should be comfortable now.”
“No, no… that’s fine. Put me down quickly.”
Fine, I get it—this villainess sister had used taxis… no, knights for more than three steps plenty of times.
Pressing my temples, I stepped back onto the ground.
The escort knights watching me had mixed expressions.
Precisely, all except the first one who’d picked me up were looking at me with unease and fear in their eyes.
The first knight who’d lifted me… was gazing at me like an abandoned puppy.
What’s with this guy? I looked closely, but nothing came to mind from Charlize’s memories.
And he wasn’t even an original character.
Anyway, that wasn’t the issue right now.
‘I need to see my fiancé first and clear up the misunderstanding.’
These things couldn’t be delayed any longer.
Some cautiously suggested turning back, but I was lost in thought.
Soon, I raised my hand and spoke to a nearby knight.
“Call some laborers.”
The knight panicked. Today’s outing had more attendants than last time.
After the previous incident, Grandfather had assigned even more people. So there were servants along with the knights.
“U-um, Duchess… if you’re calling laborers to clear those logs and debris, no one will come to the Remute Territory, so it’ll cost a fortune.”
The Remute Territory wasn’t a wealthy one.
That’s why the lead knight tried to carefully persuade me that laborers wouldn’t bother coming all the way here from the capital, which had plenty of work—better to come next time.
He clamped his mouth shut the moment I slightly furrowed my brow.
“Say that again. So you’re saying I can’t go there because of that?”
Instead of raising my voice, I spoke sharply and pointed toward Remute Castle.
“The road I need to take right now is blocked—does that puny amount of money matter?”
The knights exchanged glances, then bowed their heads.
I brushed back my hair. I threw a fit, insisting I had to go there right now, today.
“……W-we’ll call the laborers!”
In the end, the frightened servants and knights went to fetch them.
Fortunately, the laborers arrived much faster than I’d expected.
“What are you lot doing?”
And for clearing the debris in front of us, not just the laborers but the knights and servants were mobilized too.
‘Whoa… this… unfortunately, it won’t be cleared by tonight?’
I had no idea what had caused it, but the road was a mess, and even if we hurried today, it didn’t look like the carriage could pass through.
And Askin wasn’t the kind of man to come just because I called.
I considered walking in a huff, but this wasn’t an outfit suited for it.
As I stared toward the castle, lost in thought for a while, I felt a gaze from somewhere.
Turning toward it, I saw children.
They seemed to be the territory folk’s kids.
They were standing fairly close to where I was, peeking at me from behind a cart, as if trying to hide.
The moment our eyes met, they flinched.
