Chapter 77
‘I was already thinking it was about time to cut Sasha off anyway.’
Unlike himself, who grew up as a count’s son, she was vulgar and embarrassing. A woman pitiful enough to be excluded and ignored in society. He had never once considered such a woman his wife.
He had only married her because he needed money, but her father-in-law—he was unbearable. All that fuss over lending a little money, using it to shackle him down.
‘Before Odette became a false purifier, how much did he meddle in my life? As if I couldn’t borrow a little of her dowry money.’
Every little thing, he nitpicked at his businesses. Demanding a son, pressuring him to care for Sasha, warning that if he took a mistress, there would be no more loans—
Such a man was the complete opposite of the count, who hated being given orders above all else.
‘A few businesses collapsed, sure, but I still have the casino and the pharmaceutical company.’
After the flood of money that came thanks to Odette, he had repaid the loans from his father-in-law.
And ever since, he had openly ignored his wife as if to take revenge for those humiliations. Even her father seemed to have given up lately; he no longer tried to intervene on Sasha’s behalf.
‘Well, what do you expect from her bloodline? To dare swagger about my estate like this while I’m away.’
“There’s a way, Count. But firing me—that’s the lady of the house’s privilege, isn’t it?”
“There’s one way to strip her of all rights in this household and the territory. Prove that the lady has gone mad.”
“You mean to make Sasha out as insane?”
“She accused you of theft without a shred of evidence, didn’t she? I’ll use that as proof of her madness. A lady deemed unsound can be thrown into a convent.”
That suggestion was tempting enough to stop Mrs. Becker’s sobbing.
“But it wasn’t entirely baseless. My lady received an anonymous letter denouncing me. She even read it aloud publicly before the servants and maids….”
“Damn it. Then pushing the ‘madwoman’ angle gets harder. If someone besides Sasha saw the letter—”
“Surely someone did. Rolf, the head maid, someone must have—”
Mrs. Becker cut herself off mid-sentence.
“Why stop talking all of a sudden?”
She recalled something Odette had said a few days earlier.
‘Well, it’s pointless to dig. Even if you check the handwriting, it won’t matter. My mother was the only one who ever saw the actual letter. And no one else ever will.’
Back then, she thought the girl was just brushing her off to avoid more scolding.
But looking back, that must have been the truth. A chill ran over Mrs. Becker’s whole body.
“No one but Sasha saw it. None of the others present ever laid eyes on the letter. Sasha only read it aloud.”
Could it be—had Odette planned everything this far in advance? She always dismissed the thought before, but this time she couldn’t.
‘If that’s true… Odette, that girl is no ordinary thing.’
Mrs. Becker swallowed hard.
“How do you know that?”
“It’s a long story. Just trust me. I’m certain—Sasha was the only one who ever saw the letter.”
She wanted so badly to tell the count the truth, yet she couldn’t.
If she said Odette had orchestrated this, the count would label Odette dangerous and lock her in the dungeon.
‘Then he’d press me about how I knew. I’d have to confess I was blackmailed. But this man would only think I was colluding with Odette. He’d strip me of my influence.’
And once that happened, she’d lose her grip.
‘I know men too well.’
Mrs. Becker had lost her husband young. By nature, she hated loneliness. She’d never gotten along with women, and had always surrounded herself with men instead.
That was why she was certain.
The moment the count believed she had allied with Odette, he’d lose interest in her completely.
And if she lost both hands to cling with, she’d never seduce him again.
‘I can’t let that happen. I just heard the plan to drive Sasha out. Once that woman is gone, I can take her place as mistress of this estate.’
So, no matter how terrifying Odette’s foresight felt, Mrs. Becker could not reveal it to the count.
At least—not until she had secured the countess’s seat for herself.
‘…She’s shrewder than I thought. I can’t afford to underestimate her.’
Mrs. Becker silently warned herself. To take Odette lightly would be a fatal mistake.
Her instincts screamed: beware of Odette.
No one’s watching, right? Lise took extra care as she made her way down to the cellar beneath the annex.
Creeeak—
She opened the prison door. Inside was a man with black hair.
‘Just as Lady Odette said.’
Lise recognized him.
‘I’ve seen him in the papers. He used to be Crown Prince of Fenrir…’
At the sound of the door, crimson eyes turned on her. His expression didn’t change at all, yet Lise felt as though she were being interrogated.
‘That pressure—like he’s saying, “Who do you think you are to come here?”’
Even chained head to toe, the man exuded fear.
‘Is he even human?’
Lise wondered.
Disaster. Ruin. If such things took human form, they would look like him. A monster in a man’s shape.
“Tch.”
The creature clicked his tongue. Lise’s heart lurched as though it had dropped from her chest.
That… that is no human. It can’t be.
“There’s another woman who ought to be here instead.”
The domineering voice filled the cell, accustomed to command.
“I-I came on Lady Odette’s orders,” Lise stammered, survival instincts forcing the words out.
And just like that, the suffocating aura vanished. The killing intent dispersed, replaced by an indifferent mask.
‘…He’s just a handsome boy…’
The sudden shift unsettled her even more.
‘B-better finish quickly.’
Using the key Lady Odette had entrusted her with, Lise opened the barred door and stepped inside.
The man—Karl—didn’t even glance at her. Lise felt relieved, wiping her sweaty hands before pulling out another key.
‘The key I secretly lifted from the count’s coat.’
As always, the count had handed his coat to the housekeeper.
The moment he went off to meet Mrs. Becker, Lise had “accidentally” spilled coffee on it.
“Oh my, I-I’m so sorry!”
“Lise! Are you out of your mind? Do you know how expensive this coat is?”
While the housekeeper fretted, Lise pretended to blot the stain—slipping the key from the inner pocket.
‘Everything just as my lady said. The key would be in the coat, and it would fit this restraint exactly.’
After freeing Karl, she was to slip the used key into Courtney’s apron, ensuring the maid got blamed.
‘That way, Courtney will be punished.’
Lise followed every order her lady gave.
“‘Karl won’t answer you no matter what you say,’ Lady Odette had told her. ‘But he’ll listen. All you need to do is deliver the message.’”
So Lise repeated it faithfully:
“By Lady Odette’s command… You’re to escape the estate at once, and take the carriage waiting by the rear gate. A man named Goetz will be there… s-sir.”
“…”
“Please go… n-now.”
Though Karl was legally a slave, the oppressive presence she’d felt earlier made it impossible for Lise to speak down to him. She sounded ridiculous instead.
Clang—
Once the last of his chains fell away, Karl walked past her without a glance and out of the dungeon.
“Haaah… what kind of person is that?”
Relief hit Lise so hard she collapsed onto the floor, muttering.
“You owe your life to my lady! Otherwise you’d be dead already—!”
She tried to sound bold after the fact, but her trembling body betrayed her.
Still, she couldn’t linger. There was more to do.
Sighing, she deliberately dropped a hairpin onto the ground with a small clink.
Then, she too left the dungeon.
