Chapter 014: A Wife’s Duty
It was during the time when Roanne was steadily gathering pieces of Alexis’s notoriety one by one. Suddenly, an unexpected guest appeared at the East Annex. This time, even for the considerably thick-skinned Roanne, her mouth fell open in shock.
“Uh… no, well……”
Roanne stammered.
“How did the Young Madam come all the way here……”
It was none other than Francis’s wife, Audrey.
Though they were sisters-in-law, they had barely encountered each other two or three times, excluding the very first dinner at the Count’s main mansion. For her to appear at the East Annex was something Roanne couldn’t fathom the reason for.
“You seem to be living well enough on your own here. It’s a relief to see you know your place and keep to your station.”
“…….”
Audrey stood at the doorway as if she loathed even stepping inside the East Annex, facing Roanne alongside her maid.
Roanne’s mouth hung open at the words of contempt that poured out the moment they met. No, is it really okay to deliver such blatantly villainous lines? Impressive, actually.
Roanne clicked her tongue inwardly.
“Is there some business that brought you here……”
Audrey, standing with her arms crossed and an expression clearly showing she didn’t even want to associate with someone like Roanne, seemed to find it difficult to even speak. However, since facing Roanne like this was even harder for her, Audrey sneered.
“Lord Alexis was brought home last night, heavily injured.”
At those words, Roanne’s eyes widened. Audrey had a look of genuine disillusionment on her face.
“How did he… end up like that?”
To be honest, she wasn’t intensely curious, but he was, after all, her official husband. When Roanne asked out of courtesy, Audrey clicked her tongue.
“He probably got into another scuffle with thugs somewhere.”
“…….”
“Ugh, honestly, I wonder who he takes after.”
Her voice carried a disdain she couldn’t hide. In that moment, Roanne suddenly felt a flicker of pity for Alexis. Regardless of who he was, he had come home injured, and to receive such a reaction.
“Please tell him… I wish him a speedy recovery.”
But it wasn’t as if Roanne had any way to do anything about it. However, upon hearing Roanne’s words, Audrey shrieked.
“What are you talking about right now! You are the one who is Lord Alexis’s wife!”
“Ah… me?”
She hadn’t spent a single day with him and was currently living separately in the East Annex, yet suddenly she was the wife? As Roanne tilted her head, Audrey said with an even angrier face.
“Are you telling me to nurse him? Why should I? You’re the wife!”
“Ah……”
“The doctor treated the urgent wounds. But he said we have to keep an eye on his condition. Mother says I should do it, but why on earth should I?! You are his wife.”
Audrey’s words didn’t just sound like they came from a stranger; it was as if she were dealing with a sworn enemy. It was enough to make Roanne’s whole body turn cold. No matter the circumstances, a family member living in the same house had returned so injured, yet neither his mother nor his sister-in-law wanted to care for him. It was laughable that they were treating her as his wife now, but Roanne didn’t say a word.
“I understand.”
Roanne nodded calmly. Then Audrey lifted her chin as if she had expected as much. Well, of course; what choice would she have—a woman treated as an unwanted nuisance even in her own family, stuck in the East Annex with nowhere to go? It was the natural result.
“Then get ready and come quickly.”
Then, as if she had no intention of going with her, she turned abruptly. Roanne clicked her tongue inwardly once more at that heartless attitude. She seemed to care so much for her own husband, but her feelings toward her brother-in-law seemed to be rooted in intense hatred.
‘Or is she just acting like that because she looks down on me?’
Either way, it didn’t matter. Roanne decided to go to the main building not because of Audrey’s request, but simply to check on Alexis’s condition. No matter what anyone said, he was her husband after all.
* * *
As soon as she arrived at the main mansion, the butler greeted her with a flustered face. Audrey had already vanished somewhere and was nowhere to be seen.
“Just how bad is his condition?”
Roanne whispered as she walked toward Alexis’s room, guided by the butler. Since no one else was around, she felt it was fine to converse with this much familiarity. Then the butler whispered back to her.
“It seems he had a dispute with the eldest son of Duke Eden.”
Roanne frowned at the word ‘Duke’.
“Wait, if it’s the eldest son of a Duke, aren’t they someone you shouldn’t just mess with?”
“Does it seem like Lord Alexis is the type to care about such things?”
While saying that, the butler quickly changed the subject.
“Both sons of Duke Eden are enormous troublemakers, and Lord Alexis is incomparable to them. They say Lord Alexis lives a debauched life, but those people… they have bullied so many people by relying on their influence. They’ve never been on good terms with Lord Alexis, but when a dispute broke out this time, the two sons didn’t just attack him; they brought a group of family retainers they had prepared in advance to commit a group lynch……”
The butler trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish the sentence. Roanne nodded with a face that understood. From her experience working part-time at a restaurant before her reincarnation, she figured the two sons of Duke Eden were the type to be cowardly and violent.
‘I guess they didn’t think they could win by fair means.’
Even this world wasn’t particularly different. Everywhere people live is the same. With those thoughts, Roanne entered Alexis’s room.
It was a very luxurious room, but the air was chilly. Since the owner had been away for so long, it felt as though no human warmth lingered.
Roanne slowly approached Alexis, who was lying on the bed. Alexis, who had lost consciousness, lay there with his eyes tightly shut.
“…….”
Seeing him lying there with bruises and blood on his lips, even the indifferent Roanne couldn’t help but feel her humanity stir. She felt sorry for him, lying there unconscious without a single family member coming to visit.
“Please bring some clean bandages, water, and towels. Oh, and make it warm water.”
Roanne told the butler.
“I’ll be the one taking care of him, so please have a maid bring warm water regularly.”
“Can you… truly do this?”
Knowing their distant relationship, the butler asked cautiously. Aside from a few points of contact, they had no friendship whatsoever. They were truly a couple who were worse than strangers. Roanne sighed lowly and nodded.
“Whether I’m in the East Annex or whatever, my current status is this man’s wife. It can’t be helped. If I don’t even fulfill this kind of duty, who knows what faults they’ll find in me.”
The butler nodded at those words. Roanne was right. Even without this, after Alexis had turned things upside down once, the Countess and Audrey had come to dislike Roanne even more.
At a time like this, there was nothing to be gained by rebelling against them. Roanne felt she didn’t yet have enough funds to leave this house and become independent. Until then, she had to play along to some extent. And for Roanne, who had been harrassed by countless nuisances through numerous part-time jobs in reality, this was a piece of cake.
Soon, maids entered with clean towels, water, medicine, and bandages. they entered and left the room continuously, attending to them. Roanne stayed by Alexis’s side all night, nursing him.
Alexis lay on the bed, drenched in cold sweat, gasping for thin breaths. His forehead was burning like fire, and his lips were parched and brittle.
Roanne silently soaked a clean cloth and carefully placed it on his forehead. The moment the back of her hand touched his forehead, she hesitated for a second at the intense heat, but soon wrung out the cloth again and placed it down.
“Truly… there wasn’t a single person looking after you properly.”
Roanne muttered. I lived a lonely life too, but this person isn’t much different. However…….
Somehow, she felt somber. She had been an orphan, but this man had a proper family. To think that not a single one of those family members was looking after him.
Roanne slowly wiped Alexis’s fingertips. She carefully wiped away the dirt, dried blood, and dust. Though bandages had been wrapped several times, blood was beginning to bead around the wounds again.
“Just how did you get hurt this badly?”
She felt Alexis’s forehead once more and quietly straightened the covers. Seeing him gasping for breath with his shoulders constantly heaving weighed on her mind.
This man, who seemed to think he was the only one that mattered in the world, this man who was so cold and icy—seeing him lying here so helplessly… it made her feel anew that humans, no matter how much they pretend to be strong, are ultimately all equally weak and lonely beings.
‘Fine, I can at least do this much out of duty. A wife in name only is still a wife.’
