~Chapter 16~
According to the butler, Camilla had collapsed after being forced to drink a deadly dose of poison by the Baroness. She was left alone in her room, with no doctor called.
And now, the Young Duke himself had come to the mansion.
This is not good, thought the Baron as he watched the Young Duke waiting in the drawing room.
How does he know our family’s secrets? Who told him…?
“So, is my companion getting the right treatment?”
The Young Duke narrowed his eyes.
He was still just a boy, but his presence was intimidating. The Baron forced a smile.
“Haha, she is getting treated, but it seems she hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll wait until she does.”
The Young Duke settled into the drawing room and crossed his legs.
“What? Is this a problem for you?”
“…Not at all. It’s an honor, Young Duke.”
That day, the Young Duke sat in the drawing room until evening, waiting for Camilla to wake up—and left only after promising to come back the next day.
That night, loud noises came from the Baron and Baroness’s bedroom.
Furniture was overturned. Candlesticks crashed to the floor.
“Are you kidding me?! Are you trying to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?!”
“I don’t know! I just don’t know!” cried the Baroness, her calm and obedient face now twisted in anger.
“I’m your wife! How could you do this to me because of that lowborn bastard?!”
The Baron was greedy and always looked out for himself. He thought of his wife and daughter as just “possessions.”
“But you said her education was my business!” the Baroness yelled. “She’s just an illegitimate child—how could you treat me like this?”
The Baron glared and sneered,
“Did I say you were my wife?”
He walked up close and growled right in her face.
“Yes, you’re my wife, and I’m your husband.”
The Baroness swallowed nervously.
“Wife. I never asked you to hurt the goose.”
He went on, voice cold.
“I needed something to fight the Everitts, for business, for connections with the Young Duke’s house. And now, you try to ruin our best asset?”
He was almost snarling.
“Did you forget? Our family was almost destroyed fifty years ago by the ‘Witch of Everitt.’”
The Everitt family’s head back then was known as the Witch, and the Mowin family had nearly been wiped out—not by politics or sword, but by poison.
Even after she was thrown out, the Everitts kept attacking Mowin with her leftover poisons.
“We needed a counter,” the Baron said.
So, he found Camilla’s mother—a student of the Witch, begging to leave her mountain village.
He used her to fight poison with poison, and had a child with her to get an even better “asset.”
“I thought she’d just be a shield, but she turned out to be an even better goose. And you try to kill her?”
The Baroness bit her lip, angry and frustrated.
“But that girl calls you ‘Father’ and took Nina’s place…”
“Whatever. Camilla is our family’s livestock, not a person! Don’t compare her to a human.”
“…Forgive me.”
Finally, the Baron patted her shoulder in fake kindness.
“The better the livestock, the fatter you make it and the tighter you tie the leash, got it?”
“…Yes.”
“We’ll rise higher—so high we won’t have to bow to anyone, not even the Young Duke!”
The Baron smiled coldly and told her to stay out of the way for now.
Bang.
After he left, the Baroness shook with humiliation.
Us? He doesn’t really think that.
She’d married down in status to pay her family’s debts. Now, she was trapped and powerless.
If only I could do something… She ground her teeth and called out to her maid,
“Bring Ares to me—right now!”
The next day.
The Young Duke visited again and shut himself in the Mowin drawing room.
And Camilla finally woke up.
I don’t even know what to call this situation, she thought.
But for me, things aren’t bad.
Having the Young Duke on her side was a huge win.
I didn’t expect him to come himself.
Nina had done something amazing.
Camilla told Sonia to inform the Baron and the Young Duke that she was awake. Then she washed up and went to the drawing room.
“…Dane.”
She whispered his name as she entered. The Young Duke, looking bored on the sofa, raised his head.
Seeing Camilla’s pale face, Dane frowned.
“Oh! You’re awake!” said the Baron, arriving at just the right time.
He was about to greet them, but Dane grabbed Camilla’s wrist and pulled her closer.
“Where does it hurt?”
His voice was low and dry, but his touch was careful and gentle.
“Is your stomach upset? Headache? Or just a slight fever?”
Dane checked her pulse, genuinely concerned for a moment. Camilla froze.
His face was so close, she could see her own pale reflection in his blue eyes.
Why is he being like this?
They’d only just agreed to be companions—they weren’t that close. Why was he touching her like this?
“You saved my life and then got sick. I feel like it’s my fault.”
It’s not, but… Camilla thought.
The doctor from the Duke’s estate had already said there was nothing wrong with her.
“Tell me, Camilla.”
“I just have a slight fever. The doctor said I’m fine. Sorry for worrying you…”
Before she could finish, Dane touched her forehead.
“No need to be sorry. Of course I’ll worry about my friend.”
His face was now so close she could hear him breathe.
Camilla blushed.
“Ahem,” coughed the Baron, making Camilla jump. He was staring at them.
“You’ve become very close in a short time!”
Dane replied,
“Sometimes time doesn’t matter in relationships.”
“So, Young Duke, do you perhaps… have special feelings for…?”
But Dane cut him off:
“Baron. I want my companion to stay at the Duke’s estate for a while.”
…What?
Camilla’s eyes went wide.
