Chapter 4
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Aileen laughed several times while talking with Rohan. Time flew by quickly as she laughed joyfully. Rohan, noticing the sunset through the window, stood up.
"I should be going now."
Aileen saw him off at the front door. She was about to go out to the garden, but Rohan stopped her with a stern look.
"The wind is chilly. Please go inside."
Aileen couldn't understand why he thought the early summer evening breeze was cold. However, accustomed to being overprotected, Aileen cleanly sent Rohan off instead of arguing unnecessarily.
"See you next time."
"Yes, Aileen."
At his crisp salute, Aileen mimicked a salute in return. Rohan burst into hearty laughter at that.
"I'll visit again soon with a gift."
After exchanging greetings, Rohan waited until Aileen closed the front door and went inside. Only after confirming the presence of people inside the house did he return to his car.
The smile he had maintained in front of Aileen vanished, his face completely expressionless.
Once in the car, he coldly questioned the driver.
"Where is Lord Elrod?"
"He is currently having an audience with His Highness."
Rohan, thinking of Aileen's father, Lord Elrod, uttered a vulgar curse. It was a curse so harsh that Aileen would have been horrified to hear it.
The driver, observing Rohan through the rearview mirror, carefully added.
"I'm worried that Aileen might be too shocked."
That was Rohan's biggest concern as well. He narrowed his brow and ordered their return.
"Let's go back."
The black car moved smoothly. Rohan gazed at the receding orange trees and small brick house before turning his gaze away.
The Elrod Family was originally a family of moneylenders. They accumulated wealth through usury and bought their way into the nobility.
The family, which had been thriving and expanding its influence, began to show signs of decline during Aileen's grandfather's generation.
It was because of Aileen's father.
He was infamous for his reckless behavior, but he was the only legitimate son to inherit the family. When Aileen's grandfather, who had been the head of the family, died and Aileen's father inherited the title of Baron Elrod, all the tragedy began.
With no one to restrain him, her father ran wild. He squandered his fortune on gambling, and the family's fortunes declined at an alarming rate.
Only her mother struggled to save the family. Her mother begged her own family for help and sold the mansion to pay off debts. Even when they moved to the small brick house, her father was only interested in drinking and gambling.
The decisive moment for the family's downfall came when Aileen was studying botany and pharmacy at the academy. When she returned to the capital after receiving a letter from her mother, everything was already over.
There was not even a piece of bread to eat for tomorrow, let alone tuition fees. They might have to sell the last remaining brick house, but her father was still frequenting gambling dens.
Her mother and Aileen tried desperately to protect the house, but it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit. In front of the frantic mother and daughter, her father nonchalantly mentioned Cesare.
"Why don't you just ask him for help? Why are you struggling so hard?"
Every time, her mother would glare fiercely and warn him.
"Don't even think about asking the Grand Duke for help. I'll kill myself if you say a word."
Cesare was also aware of the Elrod Family's financial difficulties. He would subtly ask Aileen if she needed financial assistance, but Aileen always replied that she was fine.
However, it was for a slightly different reason than her mother, who worshiped the Grand Duke. Aileen didn't want to be pathetic in front of someone she liked. But there were times when she had no choice but to accept help.
'I didn't have the money to hold my mother's funeral.'
If it hadn't been for Cesare, Aileen would have killed herself along with her mother that day.
The day her mother passed away.
Aileen handed over all the money she had to the doctor who pronounced her mother's death and sent him away. After that, all that was left was the house.
She wondered how long she had sat alone next to her mother's body. At some point, Aileen jumped up and headed to the Imperial Palace. She didn't even have money for a carriage, so she walked aimlessly until she luckily ran into Cesare.
He was wearing hunting clothes, as if he was returning from a hunt. As soon as Cesare saw Aileen, who was sweating profusely, he sensed her governess's death.
"Aileen Elrod."
He did not comfort Aileen. He called her name in a cold voice to awaken her.
"Pull yourself together. Where is the Baroness's will?"
Cesare first received the will. Only after handing it over to a lawyer so that Lord Elrod could not touch it did he wipe away Aileen's tears. Aileen held the handkerchief he handed her and murmured blankly.
"We have to hold a funeral..."
"We have to?"
"I don't have any money..."
Please... lend me some money. I'm so sorry. I'll definitely pay you back.
She didn't remember what he had replied to her rambling words. She must have lost consciousness, unable to withstand the unbearable sorrow. When her abruptly cut-off consciousness returned, the funeral was already being held.
Her mother was surrounded by lilies, her favorite flower during her lifetime, and buried in the most precious and expensive cemetery in the capital.
Afterward, Aileen tried to repay the funeral expenses, but Cesare refused, saying it was the last gift he had given to the Baroness.
"......"
Aileen, retracing her memories, put down the book she was reading. All sorts of thoughts swirled around in her mind because of the proposal and kiss, and she couldn't focus on the words. She got up from her chair and approached the mirror.
The woman in the mirror was unattractive. Her unkempt, disheveled hair was an ambiguous and messy color. On top of that, she wore large glasses that half-covered her eyes and baggy clothes that didn't reveal her figure at all.
The ladies of high society were always perfect. Makeup and hair styling were basic. They wore dresses that made their waists look slim and exposed their shoulders and arms. Unlike Aileen, who only knew about plants, they were knowledgeable in various subjects and skilled in dancing and etiquette.
Even though there were flower-like ladies aplenty, she, such a country bumpkin, was to be the Grand Duchess. This was truly tarnishing Cesare's honor. She couldn't possibly leave such a blemish on someone who was more than just a benefactor.
How could she avoid being executed and also avoid getting married?
After pondering for a long time how to persuade Cesare, she suddenly opened the bedroom door with anxiety. The house was quiet.
Her father had not yet returned home.
It was common for him not to come home because of gambling or drinking, but today it was necessary to pay attention.
'Father must have heard the news that the Arch of Triumph has been approved.'
Her father, whom she had seen this morning, was full of smiles. He probably heard the news before Aileen.
She thought that he might be going to Cesare and saying unnecessary things. Thinking that she should firmly interrogate her father when he came, she went to bed first.
But her father did not return the next day either. For a week after that, Aileen remained alone.
It was one of two things. He was either dead, or he had gotten money and was gambling.
Since there was no news of his death anywhere, he must be gambling, and there was only one place the money could have come from.
'He must have gone to see His Highness.'
Cesare does not give alms to her father. Because he was an outsider. If Cesare had given money to her father, he must have received a reasonable price. Aileen could not know what her father, who had nothing, had paid as a price.
She had to find her father, get the money back, and get a promise that he would never do this again. So she came all the way here to find the gambling den that her father frequented...
"Hey there, young master! Come on in. Is this your first time?"
"Cute young master, want to play with me?"
Aileen looked at the street in front of her with a blank face. She couldn't see the gambling den she was looking for, and women who had half their breasts exposed giggled and flirted with Aileen.
It was because she had disguised herself as a man, however poorly, because she thought it would be dangerous to wander the streets alone at night. She wanted to ask where the gambling den was, but if she did, her voice would reveal that she was a woman.
Aileen, not knowing where to look, scurried forward. The women in red shawls burst into laughter at her awkward appearance. Just as they kept trying to grab her, she was walking away as if fleeing.
A man came into Aileen's sight. A man who looked like a thug was leaning against the wall of a store, smoking a cigarette.
