98 - Evil Husband (15th Anniversary Edition) Chapter 98
98
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Ornella let out a short, hollow laugh at the timid retort. Aileen's courage, which she had mustered with all her might, dwindled at the frostbitten laugh.
Ornella stared at Aileen with an expressionless face. At some point, Ornella twisted her lips. It was an unmistakable sneer.
"Do you know why I hate you? Your head is so pure, Aileen. You're sitting in a position that others envy so much, and you should be grinding your bones as the Grand Duchess, but you're doing useless things."
She leaned in slightly. And she said, making direct eye contact.
"I'm disgusted by the way you act like you can have everything you want, Aileen."
Ornella had always shown that she disliked Aileen. But she had always acted under the guise of a 'kind and elegant Parbellini Duchess Young Lady'. She had only sneered with a smile, never pouring out such blunt insults.
The reason she was so angry might have stemmed from the newspaper article, Aileen thought.
As Lucio's crimes were widely reported in the newspapers, the fact that Aileen had studied pharmacy and botany at university became widely known. <The Truth> praised the Grand Duchess's outstanding intellect, and also hinted that the Grand Duchess was preparing to launch pharmaceuticals.
Ornella was right. It was greedy to want to be recognized as both the Grand Duchess and a pharmacist. It was impossible without the help and sacrifice of others, and even with the support of others, there was a high possibility that she would not be able to do both properly.
Ornella must have been angered by the fact that Aileen was not properly fulfilling her duties as the Grand Duchess.
'Moreover, I don't know what happened, but Cesare took soldiers to the Parvellini Dukedom...'
She could understand why Ornella would be angry. Aileen, who had been contemplating her answer, carefully opened her mouth.
"...His Grace the Grand Duke visited the Dukedom not because of me."
She swallowed the words that she had heard this for the first time today. It would not be good to give the impression that she, the Grand Duchess, knew nothing.
"And... I know it's greedy to make medicines. But as the Grand Duchess, and as a citizen of the Traon Empire, I want to contribute to Traon."
"Get a grip, Aileen."
Ornella, who had interrupted her, burst into a sharp laugh. With the nervous laughter, her eyes sharpened. Even the pupils in her light green eyes narrowed.
"Are you the only one in the world who knows how to make medicine? There are pharmacists and scientists everywhere. Those people can replace Aileen enough..."
"No."
Aileen was startled and flinched, surprised that she had retorted. But she did not stop what she was about to say.
"No one can replace the topic I'm researching now."
The Traon Empire strictly prohibited the manufacture of narcotics, making research itself difficult. Unless she looked ahead ten years, there was no one else who would risk researching Morpheus right now.
"It's hard to just wait for a new person to appear. The sooner a new drug is developed, the more people can be helped."
The war was over, but the pain of those who had been hurt by it was not over yet. She wanted to be a little comfort to the soldiers who had worked for Cesare's victory.
"I know it's idealistic, but His Grace the Grand Duke has promised me support, and I..."
As she spoke to Ornella, Aileen realized her true feelings. She had thought that the reason she had been researching Morpheus was to be recognized by Cesare. She thought that her desire to be a useful person to him was the most absolute.
That feeling certainly accounted for a large part, but she realized at this moment that it was not the only reason. Aileen wanted to make medicine. She wanted to use her lifelong knowledge to contribute to the world as a pharmacist.
'I've always been helped.'
So she wanted to be of help to someone. Aileen, who fully recognized her heart, slowly finished her words.
"I want to try without giving up."
Ornella said nothing. In the lengthening silence, Aileen belatedly added excuses little by little.
"Of, of course, I'll do my best as the Grand Duchess, too."
As she spoke, she felt like she was going around in circles, unable to escape from what Ornella had said. She even felt like she had spoken impudently in a lecturing manner. Aileen, who was struggling to figure out how to fix what she had said, finally quietly closed her lips.
While Aileen was suffering from all sorts of thoughts alone, Ornella was also going through an uneasy moment.
"No one can replace the topic I'm researching now."
"I want to try without giving up."
She was a stupid woman. Her status was low, and she didn't even have the qualities of a proper aristocrat. She also had a weak personality, as if she would burst into tears and slump to the floor if she was scolded loudly.
And yet, seeing her resist, saying that she would never give up even when she was being fiercely driven, made her stomach churn. She felt so nauseous that she felt like she wanted to vomit.
Aileen made Ornella recall the old things she had thrown away in the past.
"You are the only daughter of the Parvellini Dukedom."
The things she had given up in order to live as the daughter of a noble family, and to repay her father's love. The moment when she was young and innocent, when she took a poem she had written herself to her father and asked him to become a poet.
"Get a grip, Ornella. What good is it to be able to write a few lines? There are so many great writers in this empire who can replace you."
"The only daughter of the Parvellini Duke is someone who can call those writers to write poems for her. Do you want to kneel in front of other women and write poems for them?"
"You are a daughter more proud than a son. Become the noblest woman in the empire. So that no one can order you."
It would be a lie to say that she was not hurt by her father's words. But she knew that he was saying it out of concern for her, so it was okay.
Ornella loved her father. She knew that her father cherished and loved her as his only daughter, so she had tried to repay his heart.
She endured even when she felt like she was going crazy every moment. If she was not satisfied with screaming, breaking things, and acting violently, she called a man. Once she killed her mind with the pleasure of the flesh, she felt alive again.
Outside, she lived as the perfect lily of Traon. Her father accepted Ornella's abnormal behavior as if it were a cute cat throwing a tantrum.
"It's abnormal to think that you can live the way you want."
Ornella opened her mouth, feeling the urge to strangle Aileen.
"I am a member of the Parvellini Dukedom. I must take responsibility for it, right? But Aileen doesn't seem to be like that."
She was disgusted by the way Aileen acted as if there were other options. She wanted to kill Aileen, who had taken the glorious position that everyone yearned for and was acting without knowing her place.
"Do you know why I wanted to marry His Grace the Grand Duke? Because there's nothing I can do as I please in my life. I have to marry a predetermined partner, so if that's the case, I wanted to marry the most outstanding man. He will make me the noblest woman in the empire."
She wanted to kill herself, who was tormented by her father's affection, but could not give up until the end for fear of losing that affection, and eventually lived only according to her father's will.
Swirling emotions boiled inside her. Ornella even blurted out words that she would never have said normally.
"I lived as my father ordered, and I will continue to do so in the future."
