BOPE 45

Chapter 45

“You’re saying I can’t use the guest room?”

Eileen raised her voice as she stood before the firmly shut door. It was the room she always used whenever she visited Grace Castle.

It had furniture and bedding arranged exactly to her taste. In a place she already didn’t like much, this room was the only thing she could tolerate—and now she couldn’t use it?

“Why on earth not? You know perfectly well I’ve always stayed here!”

Eileen spoke as though she were making the most natural, reasonable request in the world.

“I’m sorry, my lady. This room is currently under repairs and unavailable for use. Instead, we’ve prepared a room for you on the third floor.”

The young servant, whose face carried a slightly dazed look, answered politely while sneaking glances at her.

“Repairs? Why?”

For a fleeting moment, Eileen wondered if Chloe was redecorating the room just for her.

“They said it would be used for another purpose.”

“Another purpose? Who said that—Chloe?”

“Yes, by order of the lady of the house.”

At Eileen’s sharpening tone, the servant hunched his shoulders and bent deeply at the waist.

She rattled the doorknob again, though the door wasn’t just firmly shut—it was locked. It didn’t budge an inch.

So that’s why she’d been feeling irritated ever since she arrived—only for this to happen in the end.

Eileen wanted to leave this wretched place immediately, but her father’s expectations of her were far too high for that.

And since she, too, wanted to live up to those expectations, she clenched her jaw tight, forcing down the anger that threatened to burst out.

“My lady Eileen, please follow me.”

When she noticed the woman now standing behind her, Eileen’s expression grew even more severe. It was the insolent maid who always stood by the dim-witted Chloe, looking at Eileen with disapproval.

“Where’s my father?”

“He’s speaking with the lord.”

“Then take me there. The study, right?”

After taking the family’s ancestral desk from the Grace marquisate, her father always made a point to visit the study whenever he came here—as if to savor his sense of victory.

Not waiting for Delma’s answer, Eileen strode off toward the study. But the older maid didn’t follow.

Feeling no footsteps behind her, Eileen turned sharply, irritation written all over her face.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

“The lord said he had matters to discuss privately with the baron.”

“Chloe?”

Eileen looked even more baffled. The Chloe she knew would never have the nerve to speak alone with her father. She both liked and feared her own father, Baron Patrasche.

Clearly, that stupid girl must have misunderstood and thought it was her father who wanted to speak privately.

“Yes, that’s what the lord said.”

“In that case, it’s fine. Chloe will like it even more if I’m there.”

“But—”

Delma tried to object, but Eileen didn’t listen and simply marched toward the study.

Every time Baron Patrasche saw the empty spot where the desk used to be, he felt like the victor.

“That space is still empty, I see.”

Donghui couldn’t decide what to say to that, so she simply smiled faintly and sipped her tea.

“Still holding a grudge against me?”

What kind of question was that? There were far too many grudges to count—why bring it up now?

She set down her cup and regarded him calmly, trying to read his intent.

On any other day, his niece would’ve been unable to control her emotions, tearing up at the slightest prod. But now, she was meeting his gaze with composure. Baron Patrasche was momentarily thrown off.

Had her mindset changed along with her attire?

“What grudge could I possibly hold against you, Uncle? I’m only grateful for all the care you’ve shown me.”

Donghui forced a sweet smile, swallowing the urge to curse him to his face. Pretending to be a docile, virtuous niece? That, she could do all day.

“No need to thank me. We’re family, aren’t we? Taking care of you is only natural.”

He smiled leisurely, pleased with her compliant demeanor.

“Running the territory alone must be difficult?”

“Thanks to your help, I’m managing somehow.”

“I heard you distributed grain to the townsfolk.”

“The drought’s gone on far too long.”

“And how much interest are you charging?”

“I didn’t lend it to them. I just gave it away.”

He’d asked on a hunch, but at her childishly straightforward answer, deep lines formed on his brow.

No one knew Grace’s financial situation better than he did. The castle’s granary must already be nearly empty, and she’d simply given away what little they had—without compensation?

After a moment’s disapproving gaze, his smile slowly returned.

If Chloe was marching toward her own ruin, there was no need for him to step in and stop her.

“I’m sure the townsfolk were delighted.”

“Yes, very much so.”

Donghui tried to keep her tone bright.

Patrasche nodded as though satisfied, then set a prepared document on the table.

“What’s this, Uncle?”

“A deed of sale for the Morta lands.”

“…What?”

She hadn’t once mentioned selling Morta Village, so her voice shot up before she could stop herself.

He seemed pleased by her reaction, as if he’d been waiting for it, and went on smiling.

“Since it borders the Black Forest, I couldn’t offer as much as for Opark land. Most of it’s useless anyway, but for your sake, I’ll pay generously. We are family, after all.”

He invoked the word “family” as if it were something she cherished, his smile full of feigned warmth.

Donghui stared silently at the contract in front of her.

“Use the money to put out your immediate fires. Buy what you need. You should get married soon, too—Ray, was it? That young man you’re engaged to?”

He prattled on, but none of it reached her ears.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands… 3,000 gold?

He was offering a mere 3,000 gold for Morta Village?

By her rough calculation, that was about three billion won. Once, it might’ve been a staggering sum that made her hands tremble. But not anymore.

Besides, Morta Village was hardly a worthless plot. It came with vast tracts of undeveloped land in the surrounding area, and the untapped resources of the Black Forest alone were worth far more than that.

When Patrasche saw her eyes widen, he nodded, satisfied.

“Surprised that I’d pay so much for such worthless land? But what can I do? I’m your uncle. It’s only right I help you in hard times.”

Donghui was so dumbfounded she was beyond words.

If he could spout such brazen nonsense now, then the lands he’d already taken from Chloe must have been acquired for an even more outrageous pittance.

What an absolute, rainbow-colored piece of work.

“Oh! Father, you’ve already started the paperwork? And without calling me? Chloe’s terrible with this sort of thing—I should be helping her!”

Eileen bustled into the study and plopped down beside her.

Donghui’s head was about ready to explode with rage, and hearing the foxy girl’s voice only made her want to scream.

“Chloe, just sign here. You’ve done this before, so you know how. And Father, 3,000 gold? Make it 500 more! Chloe needs plenty of dresses, you know.”

She whined at her father, then threw Chloe a conspiratorial wink.

As if to say, See how helpful I am?

Donghui just stared at the father–daughter swindler duo, wondering how far they’d take this. Eileen, who had been beaming, suddenly changed expression as if she’d remembered something.

“Oh, right—Chloe, why are you suddenly repairing my room? I actually liked it as it was. You bought all that furniture and bedding for me, remember?”

Ah, so all that high-end furniture had been bought by the gullible Chloe.

“I’m staying there tonight, so put it back the way it was. You know I can’t sleep in other rooms.”

Eileen ignored her entirely and kept talking.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Sign already.”

She shoved the contract toward Chloe.

Knock, knock, knock!

A hurried knock echoed.

“Come in.”

At Donghui’s voice, a flushed and breathless Scrooge rushed into the study.

“What is it?”

The voice dripping with irritation belonged to Eileen.