The Villainess Enjoys Her Married Life
Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Episode 13. Marshall and Bolan
2023.12.13.
Marshall of Alhemits—she was one of Riona’s closest friends.
Beside Marshall stood Countess Bolan of Palmania, who was much the same.
Riona, Marshall, Bolan. The mere combination of those three had once made the previous Eshika shudder with dread.
Their ill-fated ties had begun on Riona’s first birthday after the wedding, when Eshika had been thoroughly humiliated by the three of them.
“To present a blue pearl as a gift—do you even know what that signifies?”
“I… In the Freehats region, blue pearls are a symbol of beauty and longevity…”
“Now I finally understand the Dowager Duchess of Klaus’s distress. Your daughter-in-law clearly requires much discipline.”
In the capital of Torres, a blue pearl meant ‘jealousy.’
Riona had briefly enlisted Marshall and Bolan to oversee Eshika’s instruction.
Instruction in name only—in truth, it was nothing short of torment.
“It’s too cold… Please let me go inside…!”
“My word, going inside when you cannot even walk properly as a duchess?”
Under the pretext of drilling proper posture, Marshall had bundled herself in thick furs while forcing Eshika to practice walking outdoors for hours in little more than a nightgown.
“I’m hungry. If you could give me just a little more…”
“Maintaining one’s figure is the most fundamental virtue of a noble lady. Though I suppose you never learned such things in the Brigitte household, commoners as they practically are.”
With a waist twice the size of Eshika’s, Bolan had made her subsist day after day on morsels of bread no larger than a thumb.
It was obvious where their cruelty originated.
Dowager Duchess Riona Klaus.
In the early days of her marriage, subjected to their abuse, Eshika had lost even the will to resist.
If she did not do as they commanded, harsh corporal punishment followed…
To survive, she had no choice but to obey.
“Now you look at least somewhat presentable.”
Marshall and Bolan had cackled as they said those words at the final lesson.
“Though you still hardly suit Klaus. Ho-ho-ho-ho!”
The once-lively glow on Eshika’s cheeks had grown rough, and dark shadows clung beneath her eyes.
Only when every trace of the sweet-dreaming young duchess had been thoroughly stripped away did they bring their lessons to an end.
Even afterward, the two women frequently visited the duchy to see Riona, and on days when Eshika caught so much as a glimpse of their shadows, she would retreat to her room and tremble.
“…”
A pale, terror-stricken woman turning tail and fleeing—that was the last image of Eshika Klaus they remembered…
Yet in Marshall’s eyes, the Eshika standing before them today looked entirely different.
Her expression was dignified and imposing, not even flinching from eye contact.
Bolan’s brow also twitched at the sight of Eshika standing without the slightest sign of cowering.
“On behalf of the Dowager Duchess, I have come to offer congratulations on Count Alhemits’s conferment of the Imperial Order.”
Her voice was flat and dry, without a shred of fear.
‘What is this?’
Marshall furrowed her brow slightly, turning over the jarring incongruity.
Upon hearing that Eshika would come in Riona’s stead, she had looked forward to seeing just how frightened the woman would be.
“…And yet.”
She was entirely composed.
“Where should I be seated?”
At Eshika’s words, a murmur rippled through the noblewomen as they turned toward Madam Marshall.
Caught off guard, Marshall flusteredly gestured toward an empty seat for the maids.
“…Show the Duchess to her seat.”
Failing to offer a seat to a guest at a tea party was a grave breach of etiquette.
The embarrassment of suffering an unexpected strike quickly curdled into fury within Marshall.
Riona had always declared that Eshika was merely a ‘temporary’ match for Kalian.
The Brigitte house was indeed far too low in rank to marry into Klaus, and Eshika, cherished neither by Kalian nor Riona, seemed barely able to cling to her place in the household.
Thus, tormenting a wretched provincial noble girl who was destined to be cast out of the duchy anyway had been a convenient way to curry favor with Riona while venting their own frustrations.
Yet a creature like her dared to challenge her?
Marshall’s insides boiled with rage.
‘To think she was tormented by mere creatures like these.’
Meanwhile, having taken her seat, Eshika let out a faint scoff.
The previous Eshika had suffered daily urges to end her life because of women no better than these.
They, too, were among those who would one day pay the price for their misdeeds.
“Greetings, Duchess.”
Just as she sat and reached for the refreshments, someone beside her offered a brief greeting.
With brown hair and brown eyes, her dress appeared modest compared to those of the two countesses.
Yet unlike the others, who treated Eshika as invisible while cautiously watching the two countesses… whether out of sheer tactlessness or innocence, she was striking up conversation.
“Ah… I am Helenia Merhin. The wife of Baron Merhin.”
When Eshika gazed steadily at her, the woman seemed to realize her omission and introduced herself.
Only after recalling the list Sella had prepared did Eshika understand.
The Merhins were local nobility from Sainan, an outskirts region much like the port city of Freehats.
“His Grace, the Duke of Klaus, is renowned even in Sainan… so meeting Your Grace like this is truly an honor…”
She had reportedly come up to the capital not long ago to expand their cheese business.
Naturally, she was ignorant of the noble customs and social atmosphere of Torres.
“…?”
Someone seemed to have nudged Helenia Merhin in the side, causing her to flinch visibly.
The woman seated next to her whispered something into Helenia’s ear, and Helenia’s face drained of color.
Seeing this, Eshika spoke no further with Helenia.
Afterward, pleasantries and lively chatter flowed among the guests.
Eshika did not take part in the conversation, nor did anyone address her.
Helenia was the only one even casting cautious glances toward Eshika.
Though even she could not muster the courage to speak further.
Yet the sight of Eshika calmly enjoying her tea and confections—far from being intimidated by this blatant ostracism—displeased Bolan.
“There is something I wish to ask the Duchess of Klaus.”
Thus, Bolan addressed Eshika.
Eshika, who had been focused on a cookie, raised her eyes to look at Bolan.
The moment their eyes met, Bolan felt her heart sink.
‘Was her gaze… always like that?’
It was surely an illusion, yet she felt like a mere mouse cornered before a lion.
Though devoid of overt hostility, an inexplicable, crushing pressure radiated from Eshika’s tranquil eyes.
‘I am merely out of sorts today.’
Denying the feeling with all her might, Bolan parted her lips.
“I heard that the Dowager Duchess intended to send a gift to the Count of Alhemits’s estate through you.”
At those words, the eyes of every noblewoman turned toward Eshika.
Bolan anticipated Eshika’s face flushing with confusion and distress.
The Eshika she knew would immediately tremble.
She would break out in a cold sweat, stammering, ‘I… I was never told of such a thing.’
Then, Bolan could corner her by demanding if she meant to accuse the Dowager Duchess of lying, forcing Eshika into submission.
Instead, Eshika let out a dry smirk.
Moments later, she spoke.
“Countess Palmania, it seems you intend to insult Klaus.”
A chilling voice drifted from between her lips.
Her words cast a cold dampener over the entire tea party; stunned, not a single person dared open their mouth.
Bolan, too, doubted her own ears at what she had just heard.
As Bolan flared in indignation a moment later, Eshika cut her off with ease.
“Wh-what do you mean by that…!”
“The Dowager Duchess has been confined to her bed for three days with a severe illness. The Count received his medal only the day before yesterday; do you truly believe she was in any state to prepare a gift?”
At Eshika’s sharp reply piercing straight to the truth, Bolan’s pupils wavered violently.
Now, all the ladies gathered there were looking at Bolan.
“I was aware that Madam Palmania shared close ties with Madam Alhemits, but to brazenly demand a gift from the ducal house using a decoration bestowed by His Majesty as a pretext…”
It was an act of insubordination.
“I… I was merely repeating what I heard from the Dowager Duchess. A… a week ago, it was mentioned that the Count of Alhemits stood a high chance of receiving the decoration, and at that time…”
“Conferments of the Imperial Order and all imperial announcements are strictly confidential. The standing rule dictates that not even a ducal house may know prior to the official declaration—and even if known, none may speak of it openly.”
At Eshika’s words, Bolan’s hands began to tremble.
Naturally, Riona had said no such thing.
Yet Riona, who loathed her daughter-in-law with a vengeance, was the sort of woman who would gladly and amusedly endorse any lie fabricated to torment Eshika.
Her ‘instruction’ of Eshika had been conducted in precisely that manner.
“Is Countess Palmania now exposing that the Dowager Duchess of Klaus disregarded protocol and acted indiscreetly?”
“N-no! That is not it!”
Leaping from her seat, Bolan waved her hands frantically, her face darkening.
In attempting to harass Eshika, she had suddenly been cast as someone who slandered Riona and committed insubordination by demanding a congratulatory gift from the Klaus ducal estate.
Though most of the women present hailed from families close to Alhemits or Palmania, rumors spread swiftly and grew wildly with every retelling; she could not let this stand.
In the end, Bolan apologized to Eshika in a quavering voice.
“My apologies, Duchess. It seems I was mistaken.”
Marshall’s complexion had turned just as grim.
‘What on earth happened? How has that foolish, pathetic Eshika Klaus changed so completely?’
