Chapter 61
When Ada staggered, Zetio supported her and tried to persuade me.
“First, listen to your mother. There might be some misunderstanding, or Ketton could be lying, couldn’t he?”
“You think Ketton is lying?”
“Of course he’s lying. Can’t you tell something like that?”
Ada, who until a moment ago had appeared nearly breathless with terror, suddenly stood tall and confident. Her husband’s backing clearly strengthened her resolve.
The servants’ eyes that had been on me shifted toward Ada. It didn’t take long for the watchers’ suspicion to harden into conviction.
Seeing Ada fumble made the corners of my mouth want to curl up — awkward, because this was not a moment to laugh.
“You dared to defy your mistress? Now I see you take your master’s position far too lightly.”
“That’s right. Considering you’ve leveled such an absurd accusation, you must be truly evil. People like you should be thrown out immediately.”
As the duke and duchess painted him as a villain, Ketton finally seemed to realize the situation and crawled toward Ada on his knees.
“Madam, you would throw me out? I’ve been doing exactly as you asked, watching Miss Elysia diligently — you can’t do this to me.”
His hand grabbed Ada’s dress hem. She reacted as if something vile had touched her; she shuddered and ripped her dress away with a swift motion.
“Are you just going to let this fellow keep spouting nonsense?”
Having lost his hold on the hem, Ketton followed Ada with frantic, desperate eyes.
Each of the pleading gazes was fixed somewhere different. Ketton looked at Ada; she looked at her husband; Zetio looked at me.
And because I stood in the line of those gazes, I was the ultimate victor. When people’s urgent wants collide, the weakest one becomes the victim. Right now, what mattered was not who told the truth.
Everyone silently held their breath, aware that I was the person who could tip their fortune.
‘A perfect opportunity has come my way — better to step on it properly.’
I wasn’t after pointless bloodletting. If I couldn’t thoroughly crush something, it was smarter to loosen my grip and take the benefit. But I didn’t intend to let things go entirely, either.
“Ketton is a groom appointed by my mother. He’s so arrogant he wouldn’t even listen to me.”
“Whose fault is it if you can’t manage your servants properly?”
“How could I manage someone attempting to kill me on my mother’s orders?”
“You expect me to believe you would slander me on the word of a mere groom?”
Ada denied everything with all her strength. For her this felt like a life-or-death moment.
Watching Ada, cornered and panicked, I allowed myself to appear more composed.
“I never slandered my mother. Ketton is accusing her. Shouldn’t we investigate the truth of this matter?”
As everyone held their breath, Ada clutched her husband’s arm and gave him an imploring look.
If this matter leaked outside, regardless of truth, the Marez household would suffer damage beyond tarnished honor. They would be unable to appear in society, face legal punishment, and the family business would be gravely affected.
I didn’t want the Marez name sullied because of those two. Since I wanted a sensible compromise and to get what I wanted, I had no intention of escalating this matter.
“You’d stir up the household over a single servant?” her foster father tried to soothe her now. He would be a better negotiating partner than Ada, whose temper flared.
“There are accusations of hiring someone to murder. Will you just dismiss it as a household quarrel?”
“What do you want?”
“Do you mean to silence me?”
“If you make this bigger, it’ll do you no good.”
He blatantly tried to bargain. Hearing that, I couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
“Raise my assigned budget threefold.”
“Are you joking? You laze about the house and what on earth could you possibly need to spend that much on?”
Ada, impatient for her husband’s response, cut in with a sharp voice.
Her reaction had been expected — and desired.
“If you’re unhappy with my idleness, I’ll work. Your mother can handle domestic affairs; I’ll help my father. Make my budget five times larger.”
“What… what are you saying… that’s absurd…”
Ada stammered and looked at her husband, stunned by my bold demand. They wouldn’t willingly hand anything over — so my proposal understandably displeased them.
“All right. You do need social duties, so I’ll increase the budget sufficiently.”
“Whether you give me work or not, it’s five times. You know full well how meager my previous allotment was, Father.”
“Well, five times is…”
“If I help with Father’s affairs, I’ll learn about the family finances. If it’s excessive, we can cut it later.”
Having little to lose, I didn’t back down and pressed harder.
Ada glared at me as she bit her lip. I had no desire to tarnish the Marez name, but if the foster father continued to insist, I was prepared to roll around in the mud to get what I wanted.
“Let’s handle this later. You should continue your social life, so I’ll increase the budget adequately.”
“Very well. Just don’t be ashamed in front of the servants. Let’s go inside.”
Pulled along by her husband, Ada seethed and shot me a venomous look.
Having secured what I wanted, I flashed a bright smile and waved at her.
Zetio shut the office door and locked it, then turned to look at Ada.
“What on earth did you do?”
“Do you think I did it for myself?”
“Did you truly intend to kill her?”
“We have been walking around this edge for years because of that girl.”
Ada felt hurt by her husband’s interrogation. The order to loosen the reins had been an impulsive command given after Calix’s death, when a sudden sense of crisis gripped her.
“You could have at least used poison.”
“If we had used poison, we would be investigated; how could we do that?”
Zetio said that in a teasing way, but Ada took it seriously and appeared sincere.
He worried she might cause a serious accident.
“If we only adopt an heir, everything will be resolved smoothly; don’t rush. Calix’s absence doesn’t automatically mean everything goes to Elysia.”
“If only she had died young, it would have been even better.”
“Hey! Don’t be ridiculous. If she had died in childhood we would’ve raised suspicion.”
Although everyone agreed that Ada’s clumsy attempt could have caused trouble, she wasn’t the type to give up easily.
“We still have to think of ways to rid ourselves of that thorny Elysia.”
“Please don’t act rashly.”
“Alright, but you hurry up about the foster son issue.”
Marez nodded with a troubled expression. Bringing in an adopted heir was their only hope of preventing Elysia from taking everything.
Kaise entered Tirchen’s study with a mischievous look on his face. He couldn’t resist teasing Tirchen about such an entertaining matter.
“Congratulations, Your Grace. Aren’t you going to be a father soon? Quite the achievement.”
“If you’re here to make jokes, leave.”
Tirchen didn’t look up from his book; he issued a dismissal.
Kaise hopped up onto his desk chair.
“Joke? The whole social circle is buzzing about that.”
“I don’t care for trivial gossip, so cut it out.”
When Kaise entered laughingly, he soon noticed the black aura surrounding Tirchen and stiffened. Whoever started the rumor would be in serious trouble.
“Who’s been spreading that nonsense?”
“I don’t know who, but I heard it came from a fairly reliable source.”
Kaise’s teasing laugh faded as he chose his words carefully. Although he’d come to tease, he now had to watch his step or else be struck.
“How far has the rumor spread?”
“It’s at the point where even if your heir is born tomorrow, no one would suspect.”
“Tch…”
This was growing into a headache.
“You old codger with no sense of decorum.”
“Oh? So you have an idea?”
“I know one old man who’d have his head on the line.”
Tirchen’s headache surged and he clutched his forehead with a groan. There was just one person who fit that description — someone whose life was long and stubbornly clung to.
If that mouth kept wagging, Tirchen wanted to silence it forever.
“Who is that old man? Share the info.”
“Instead of wasting time on nonsense, come up with a way to put the rumor to rest.”
“There’s no way to do that now. Even if you married another woman, the rumor would persist as long as the identity of the girl in the story remains unknown.”
Kaise was right. If the woman in the rumor didn’t emerge, whispers of a bastard somewhere would haunt him forever.
