Chapter 47
Facing his visibly tense adoptive father, Tirzen looked like a predator cornering his prey for amusement.
“The Mares family’s villa was completely neglected.”
“T-That place hasn’t been used in a long time, so I hadn’t paid much attention to it…”
“It’s the Mares family’s property, so it’s your responsibility, Duke.”
There was a subtle sharpness in his tone, and the adoptive father seemed to notice—it made him flinch.
“Thanks to that, I had a lovely time with Elysia.”
“What?”
The unexpected comment startled the adoptive father so much that for a moment, I genuinely wondered if I should reach out to catch his eyes in case they popped out.
I was also caught off guard. I hadn’t expected Tirzen to make our relationship public so soon—but even more surprising was that he came to personally inform my adoptive father of it.
“I’ve made a promise for the future with Elysia.”
The Duke clutched his chest and began breathing heavily.
To my knowledge, he had no asthma, yet his breathing grew short. At this point, I was beginning to feel a little sorry for him—until Tirzen delivered the finishing blow.
“We haven’t officially announced it yet, but she’s essentially my fiancée.”
“……”
“From now on, I will hold full authority over every matter concerning Elysia.”
“Full authority…?”
I tilted my head to glance up at Tirzen. He was wearing a terrifying smile.
I never knew a smiling face could look so scary. It was the expression of a predator wondering how best to devour its caught prey.
If he’d been wearing that face the entire time, I now understood why my adoptive father looked so frightened.
“Exactly as I said. I won’t tolerate a single scratch on Elysia’s body without my permission.”
“……!”
“……!”
It was hard to tell which of us was more shocked—me or my adoptive father.
He must have remembered how I used to be beaten when I was younger. The way he indirectly brought it up made my shoulders square with confidence.
If Tirzen’s visit today was meant to empower me, then it was a complete success. The feeling of having someone truly on my side—a feeling I had never experienced in my past life—was indescribable.
On the way back in the carriage, Roena was fuming as she recounted what she had seen at the Mares estate to her brother.
“That woman is really strange. I’m sure even Elysia unnie is being deceived by her fake kind behavior.”
“It’s acceptable to discipline a servant if they misbehave, but if she’s being two-faced, that’s certainly a problem.”
“Elysia unnie is an only child, so who even is that woman? Do you know, oppa?”
“I’ve heard there’s a woman living in the estate, but that’s all I know.”
“I don’t like having someone like that around Elysia unnie.”
It wasn’t just dislike—Roena wished she could permanently remove the woman from Elysia’s side.
Tirzen found his sister’s passion for Elysia rather endearing and smiled.
“It’s not good to interfere in other people’s business so casually.”
“But this is about Elysia unnie! Why can’t I speak up? We’re practically sisters.”
“That’s just how you see it. But in reality, you’re still a stranger.”
Roena’s shoulders slumped at her brother’s brutal truth.
Tirzen felt sorry for his discouraged sister. He wondered how happy Roena would be once she learned that Elysia would become part of their family. It wasn’t the right time to reveal everything yet, but he still wanted to offer her a sliver of hope.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if we became one family with Elysia?”
“Don’t bring up impossible things.”
“It’s not entirely impossible. If I marry Elysia—”
“Don’t even think about it. I’ll have to wash my ears as soon as we get home.”
Roena’s firm rejection shut Tirzen up. He’d expected her to welcome the idea with open arms, but she wouldn’t even let him finish the sentence.
What she mumbled afterward only confused him further.
“I’m a very conscientious person. I’ll have to soap my ears twice today to make sure they squeak clean.”
Roena covered her ears with both hands and shuddered, as though she had heard something utterly vile.
After Tirzen left, Jethio called his wife in to share what he’d just heard. His heart was still pounding uncontrollably.
“They say the two of them are now in that kind of relationship. I don’t know what to do moving forward.”
“If Elysia becomes Crown Princess, isn’t that a good thing for us? Even Duke Sheeton won’t dare treat you lightly anymore.”
Although she was the Duchess, Aida lacked proper noble etiquette and wasn’t well regarded in social circles. But if she became the mother of the Crown Princess, her social standing would reverse overnight.
The very thought of those haughty women, who once looked down on her, now flattering her with praise and desperate to befriend her—just imagining it made her giddy with excitement.
“It’s not that simple. The Grand Duke’s comment about not allowing even a scratch on Elysia wasn’t just an offhand remark.”
“You don’t think he’s going to bring up the punishments we gave her in the past, do you? That would be absurd! Even the Emperor doesn’t interfere with each family’s disciplinary practices!”
Aida’s voice rose in a panic. It wasn’t like they’d mistreated Elysia just once or twice—if that became an issue now, it would be disastrous.
“Maybe we should’ve just pushed through with the marriage to Gustavo instead.”
Her dream of ruling the social world as the Crown Princess’s mother now felt like it might vanish entirely.
If she’d known things would become this unstable, it would’ve been better if Elysia had died at the villa and returned as a corpse.
“That man was only after our wealth. Duke Sheeton planted him to infiltrate our family—making him our son-in-law could’ve caused serious issues later.”
Neither option was desirable, and Aida’s irritation grew.
“How long do we have to keep walking on eggshells like this?”
“There’s no choice. The Grand Duke is even more dangerous than Duke Sheeton. We absolutely must not incur his wrath.”
“So now I’m supposed to live under that girl’s thumb?”
“I’m saying you must never mistreat Elysia again. No hitting her—no matter how angry you get.”
“I don’t care! I hate that girl. Why is she so hard to get rid of?”
Jethio had to spend a long time trying to calm Aida down, who kept muttering that it should’ve been Elysia who died instead of Calix.
As soon as she got home, Lucille went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Her older brother, Brielle, had said he’d be home late today due to work.
“Lucille, is that you?”
“Yes, Mom. I’ll have dinner ready soon, so just wait a little longer.”
Their kitchen wasn’t divided by walls, just some cloth hung to create a makeshift separation.
Lucille’s mother had been suffering from a chronic illness for years and couldn’t leave the house. Normally, Lucille would first check on her mother, asking how her day was and if she needed anything—but not today.
Both her cheeks still stung from being slapped by Letisa.
Her mother would be worried and heartbroken if she saw her bruised face, so Lucille decided to prepare dinner quietly until it got darker outside.
“I’ll dim the lights in the house tonight. That way, my face won’t look so swollen.”
Even while cooking, Lucille’s mind was on how to spare her family the burden of her pain.
Just as dinner was nearly done, her brother Brielle arrived.
Lucille carried a tray of vegetable soup, a large loaf of bread, and some ham out of the kitchen.
The only reason they could afford ham tonight was thanks to the head maid, Beada. She had seen Lucille’s swollen face and, guessing what happened, had clucked her tongue in sympathy and handed her a fresh loaf of bread.
Saving on bread money allowed Lucille to buy a small piece of ham on the way home.
“Lucille, what happened to your face?”
Brielle grabbed the tray from her and placed it on the table, then carefully examined her face. Even in the dim light, the redness was clear.
“It was that woman again, wasn’t it?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Don’t lie. That’s obviously a handprint!”
Lucille gently removed her brother’s hand from her cheek. No matter how unfair the beating was, there was no one to complain to, and no one would take their side.
“You had a long day. Let’s just eat dinner.”
“Even Lady Elysia doesn’t treat people like this. Who does that woman think she is, hitting you?”
“Brielle, stop.”
“Don’t you feel angry, being treated like this?”
“If you hate it that much, we can always quit working there.”
That shut Brielle up completely. The harsh reality was too great a wall to climb with mere emotions.
Their mother, who had been listening from her bed, got up and gently touched Lucille’s face.
“This is all my fault. I need to go.”
“Mom, don’t say that. Things like this happen in every noble household.”
Lucille jumped up at her mother’s words.
After their father died and their mother fell ill, Lucille and her brother had gotten jobs at the Mares estate. Though the pay was decent, most of it went toward medical bills and medicine, so they still lived in poverty.
“Lucille’s right. I just got carried away. Don’t worry, Mom. Most people there are okay—especially Lady Elysia. She’s always very kind.”
Brielle quickly covered up the incident to ease their mother’s worry.
Delina returned to the capital from Rederé Beach, but spent days sulking in frustration and indignation.
When she got back to the Sheeton estate, her father, Duke Sheeton, was away. He often disappeared for days on business, and no one in the household knew where he went. Only his loyal aide, Surden, knew—but he never revealed it, even to Delina.
The moment she heard her father was back, she ran down the stairs with a loud clatter.
“Father! What took you so long? Do you know how long I waited?”
Seeing him step through the door, Delina’s pent-up anger burst out in her voice.
“Things didn’t go well with the Grand Duke?”
“It’s not His Grace’s fault. That wretched Mares woman ruined everything with her sly tricks!”
“You mean Elysia Mares? She was there?”
“She was staying at His Grace’s villa.”
“Come inside. We need to talk.”
Realizing this wasn’t something to brush off, Duke Sheeton led his daughter to his study.
Though Delina’s account was distorted and self-serving, what mattered most to the Duke was the key takeaway.
He immediately ordered Surden to summon Gustavo.
I had asked Mervelle to look for competent people within the estate, but selecting the right person wouldn’t be done in a day or two.
Still, I had no intention of sitting around waiting for the opportunity to fall in my lap.
In my previous life, I hadn’t known much about Gustavo’s work, but I did know one thing—his financial pipeline.
He had invested in a small trading company. Right now, it was insignificant, but after a few major deals, it would rise to become one of Netor Empire’s top trading firms: the Jekin Company.
I planned to pay them a visit today.
I chose a dress easy to move in and added a hooded cloak.
“Mervelle, get ready to go out.”
“Me too? Where are we going?”
“I have business on Dreze Street. There’s something I need done there.”
“Understood, my lady.”
We stepped outside and boarded the carriage.
Aida would likely ask the coachman Kettun where I had gone today, but I had no intention of giving her a straight answer.
As the carriage rolled toward Dreze Street, I explained the task to Mervelle.
Once she realized where we were headed, she leapt up in alarm, protesting loudly.
