Chapter 32
Cayente leaned crookedly against a nearby workbench, pressing his thigh against it, and tapped it with his fingers at regular intervals. With every sharp tap, the tension in the air grew thicker, as if each sound held the silent question of what should I do with you all?
“It seems I should be offended, shouldn’t I? That you all thought I would be the kind of man to fall for a woman’s seduction so easily.”
“N-no, my lord!”
“That’s not it at all. It was just such a sudden marriage that everyone started to assume—”
“Assume?”
At the word “assume,” Cayente stopped tapping and turned to look at the maid who had spoken. She turned pale as if she might faint on the spot, holding her breath.
“So all that talk, said as if it were fact, was just an assumption?”
“P-please, spare me!”
“We were wrong, my lord!”
Faced with Cayente’s icy interrogation, the maids dropped to the kitchen floor in unison, pressing their foreheads to the ground. The times might have been changing, but a noble’s name still carried power, and commoners slandering a noble’s honor was not something to be tolerated. It was no wonder Yulia had tried so hard to protect Dake last time.
“Who did you hear that rumor from?”
“At the grocer’s…”
“Who at the grocer’s?”
Now Cayente was determined to trace the source of the rumor spreading everywhere. If this kept up, even the maids or workers who had repeated it just once could end up being punished. Realizing this, one of the maids hurriedly blurted out an excuse.
“It must’ve been out of jealousy… Yes, that’s it! Everyone was jealous and started spouting nonsense!”
“That’s right, my lord! After all, you’re the kind of man who makes the hearts of many young ladies flutter!”
Another maid tried to flatter Cayente with those words, though it did nothing to soften his expression. Still, he fell silent for a moment.
“And the lady you are to marry is beautiful as well, which must have played a part.”
“Yes, exactly! It was just baseless talk out of jealousy because she’s the kind of woman worthy of marrying you!”
“What do you think?”
They wanted to grab onto his trouser leg and beg, but knowing it would only make things worse, the maids stayed crawling on their knees as Cayente turned to the kitchen door and asked beyond it. As Yulia slowly stepped out from behind the door, the maids finally burst into tears.
“We’re so sorry, madam!”
“Please, forgive us just this once, madam! We won’t do it again!”
The maids turned to Yulia, bowing and begging desperately. Yulia looked down at them, letting out a sigh as she asked,
“How long have you two been working in this household?”
“P-pardon? If you mean how long…”
“We’ve been here since the count bought this estate, so about two months now, madam!”
“Exactly. My brother returned to the empire only two months ago, so when exactly did I have time to seduce him and get pregnant?”
Anyone with a bit of sense would know how ridiculous the rumor was if they just paused to think. That was why Yulia had assumed it would die out on its own. But since it hadn’t, she had to clarify the truth, even if adding explanations to a rumor already spread might not change anything.
“As you all know, the Duchy of Esacudia and the Empire of Lesican are the farthest apart on the continent… I have never once in my life left the Lesican Empire.”
“Sob… I’m so sorry, madam, so sorry.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
But the two were too busy crying to really listen. Still, Yulia decided this would be the way to end the matter.
“Make sure you explain this to everyone. If anyone else spreads such rumors, tell them that my brother—the count—is not the type to fall for such seduction easily, and that we only reunited two months ago.”
“Y-yes! Of course! We didn’t fully believe it, honestly!”
“That’s right! We found it hard to believe as well, since we’ve never seen any trace of you in the mansion even though they said you visited daily!”
At least letting them know it was an outright lie would help.
“Do we have lemons? Could you prepare some cool lemonade in glass bottles with ice and water? The workers outside must be hot.”
“Right away, madam!”
The maids, relieved to have gotten off lightly, hurried to prepare, while Cayente, standing nearby, looked unconvinced. Ignoring his suspicious gaze, Yulia began gathering the glass cups she could see.
“Once it’s ready, could you bring it out to the garden? I’ll go out first.”
“Yes, madam!”
* * *
“If you weren’t going to call the guards, the least you could have done was dismiss those maids on the spot.”
Cayente followed Yulia out of the kitchen, throwing in a comment as he caught up to her. Without stopping, Yulia let out a weary sigh and replied,
“I’ve heard rumors that His Majesty the Emperor has had over a hundred men besides his consort. Rumors are just that.”
“Even so, wasn’t the punishment too light?”
“What, are you upset because it hurts your pride that people think you could fall for a woman like me, and that’s why you wanted a harsher punishment?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
Yulia finally stopped walking, turning to face Cayente. She wanted to hear which part he thought was so serious that it shouldn’t be overlooked. But even as he met her gaze, Cayente couldn’t immediately voice his thoughts.
Still, Yulia could see that his eyes were checking the tear stains on her cheeks. She didn’t believe he was suddenly worried about her, but she felt it was necessary to clear up the misunderstanding.
“I wasn’t crying.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t crying. My eyes watered a little, but I didn’t cry. Even if you hadn’t stepped in, I was going to confront them myself. I doubt you were worried about me, but if you were bothered thinking I was crying, don’t be.”
“I wasn’t worried. I was just considering your position.”
That was the truth. Cayente hadn’t asked out of concern or because he cared. He was simply curious about how she could handle the matter so lightly when, if it were him, he wouldn’t have let it slide.
It was definitely supposed to be like that…
“I know.”
For some reason, that answer left a bitter taste in his mouth. Her words, implying she never even expected comfort from him, echoed in his mind again and again.
She said she didn’t cry, but that was a lie. The tears were still wet around her eyes. And aren’t tears that well up on their own still tears?
“You need to fix that habit.”
“What habit?”
“You have a habit of staring people down too intensely. Don’t you think that’s why those rumors about you having many men started so naturally?”
Everyone knew how the baroness had ended up marrying her husband after preparing for the emperor’s wedding in that very garden. Her eyes had shone brighter than the stars, and once he saw them, no other eyes could satisfy him.
Yulia, with her calm nature, had inherited her father’s eyes entirely, even brighter gold than his brownish ones. When she looked at you so directly, it made you feel as if you would be swept away no matter what you were thinking.
“So in the end, you’re saying it’s my fault again.”
At the same time, when those eyes grew clouded, it made you feel like you had committed some grave sin, even if you had done nothing wrong. Cayente was sure any man would feel the same when looking into Yulia’s eyes.
Even that scoundrel, Viscount Mullen, if he spent enough time with Yulia, would likely sort out his life and become a devoted husband just to avoid seeing her cry.
So, both last time and now, Cayente couldn’t help but feel rattled when Yulia’s eyes welled up.
“At least, it’s not my fault.”
But he also thought that he couldn’t allow himself to be shaken every time Yulia cried, knowing she would have many more reasons to cry in the future. He would have to build up immunity to it.
“I’m not done with what I was saying earlier. Go fire them yourself. Any maid who can’t show proper respect to the future countess has no place here.”
As soon as Cayente finished, Yulia let out a hollow, empty laugh.
“And yet, the count they serve doesn’t show even a shred of respect to the woman who will become his countess. Isn’t it only natural that the maids would follow his example?”
Her laugh was so empty it was almost frightening, and even Cayente felt a hollow ache inside hearing it. Biting his lip for a moment, he let out a sigh as he looked at her.
“…I’ve never considered your existence to be insignificant.”
“What?”
He had been indifferent, yes, but he had never tried to disregard her. Yulia might think those two were the same, but at least to Cayente, they were different.
“Two million gold—even for someone as wealthy as me, that isn’t a trivial amount. The money I’m spending on this wedding, the money to make you worthy of being the countess, it’s money I wouldn’t spend on any other woman.”
But as soon as he brought up money, Yulia’s clouded eyes cleared instantly, and instead of crying, she gritted her teeth.
“Oh, so because you spent so much money, I’m valuable now? Is money the only standard you judge worth by?”
“And what if it isn’t?”
“Should I thank you for spending so much money on me?”
“I’m saying—”
“You’re saying?”
They could never get close. They weren’t allowed to be close. That was why he kept his distance. If he treated her kindly, she might once again love him without knowing anything, and he didn’t want to be so cruel as to accept that love, even if a part of him wanted to see her tears.
What did it matter now, after all the wounds he had already given her?
“My father is preparing a new business. He said we would be able to pay you back. I’m sure you’d be pleased if that happened. After all, you could easily find a cheaper woman if you looked.”
Cayente fell silent, but he was firm on this point.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not? If we pay you back—”
“I said it won’t happen.”
Perhaps Yulia was holding onto a tiny hope that she could free herself from him if she could just repay the debt.
But that would never happen.
“It won’t. That possibility doesn’t exist. You will marry me, and you will live as Countess Clou until the day you die.”
Because he would never let it be otherwise.
* * *
“My lord, when did you arrive? I didn’t see you come in.”
“I left some documents in the study, so I came in through the back entrance.”
As Cayente followed Yulia out into the garden, Henry’s eyes widened in surprise. Cayente had planned to come in quietly, grab the papers, and leave without speaking to anyone, but it seemed he had spotted Yulia by chance.
“And what’s all this?”
“It seems the baroness has many plans she wants to carry out.”
Realizing there was no sneaking out quietly now, Cayente looked around with clear displeasure. What bothered him most was seeing the garden being damaged by the pillars being erected. Clicking his tongue, he kicked at one of the pillars near him, looking displeased, and then clenched his jaw tightly.
“There’s not a single thing I like about any of this.”
He considered telling his mother to stop everything even now, but just as he was about to speak, the pillar he had touched lost its balance and began to fall toward him.
“Brother!”
