Chapter 6
“That’s because you…!”
Because you killed me.
I barely managed to swallow the words that were tickling my throat, threatening to come out at any moment.
“Yes, I am of common birth. However, it seems my lowly status can be compensated for with gold coins.”
“I’m not talking about status. It’s just that simply because you like me, I find it hard to accept this proposal.”
“Why on earth is that so hard to accept?”
“…Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
Even if he holds no ill feelings toward me now, before I married Lucas, at nineteen, I was nothing but a long-standing nuisance in the Dartion mansion. A letter of proposal to someone like that. There was no way I could readily accept it.
Moreover, since he had worked as a servant in this very mansion, he would know very well how much the cursed youngest daughter troubled others, and sometimes even frightened them.
‘It’s such a hassle having to watch her every moment. I don’t even want to be near her, let alone monitor her. It’s driving me crazy.’
‘When Lady Vivian stares at me blankly, I have nightmares that night. She’s no different from a witch.’
‘They say the youngest lady’s nanny only gave birth to daughters while caring for her. It was only after she quit that she had a son.’
The memory of accidentally overhearing what the maids of Dartion mansion said ten years ago was still as vivid as yesterday, yet he continued to gaze at me for a long time with an expression that said he still didn’t understand.
Unable to bring myself to continue, he rose from his seat and picked up the jacket I had shaken off. Then, he took a step towards me.
His rock-like muscles, not even hidden by his suit, seemed ready to devour me at any moment.
His figure overlapped with the memory of him charging at me, gripping a longsword, and my mind grew so hazy I felt like I might faint.
“…Please, please! Stop right there. Don’t come any closer. I beg you.”
Taking advantage of the fact that Theodor had finally stepped back, I tried desperately to regain my composure through deep breaths.
The Count looked at my actions as if they greatly displeased him, and said with contemptuous eyes.
“Vivian, if you’re feeling that unwell, stop acting strange and just go to your room. Theodor and I will continue the remaining discussion regarding your marriage.”
But I only caught my breath; I didn’t rise from my seat. If I left like this, I might end up marrying Theodor without any say in the matter.
Gathering my courage, I spoke a little louder.
“No, no! You don’t need to do that, Father.”
Then, both the Count and Theodor’s eyes turned towards me simultaneously.
“I want to make it clear. I have no intention of marrying for the time being.”
Marrying a man other than Lucas. Not even for a moment had I ever entertained such an improper thought. And if that man were Theodor, who betrayed Lucas and ultimately killed me, even more so.
With a voice trembling violently like a leaf tossed in a typhoon, I barely managed to say to him.
“You heard me. Please go back now. As for today’s conversation… I’ll pretend I never heard it.”
As I managed to lift my stiff, wooden body, the Count beside me jumped up.
“Hey! Do you even know what you’re saying?”
He shouted, filled with rage, and roughly grabbed my neatly coiled hair. Before I could offer any resistance, his other hand struck my cheek.
“Ah!”
“You cursed wretch, born after killing your mother! I took pity on you, didn’t abandon you, spent my own hard-earned money raising you all this time, and now what’s this?”
The Count, his hand redder than his own face, grabbed my throat and shook me violently.
The impact felt like my eyeballs would pop out and my eardrums would burst, and my vision slowly faded to yellow.
“Where on earth do you think you’ll get this much money again that you dare to act so high and mighty!”
My light, nineteen-year-old body, which had lost all will to live in a life where I could neither laugh nor cry, was easily lifted by my father’s hand.
I hung my head, wishing I could just die again.
Just then, the Count suddenly released his grip on my throat. Unable to steady myself, I collapsed helplessly towards the floor.
My body was already in bad shape from riding all night and even falling off the horse, and now it felt like every bone in my body was breaking.
As my eyes grew heavy, on the verge of fainting, Theodor’s silhouette loomed over one side. Turning my head very slowly, I saw him grabbing the Count’s wrist and twisting it mercilessly.
The Count, overwhelmed by the sheer force, couldn’t even scream, his facial muscles contorted in agony.
He looked like a ram that instinctively knew that resisting would only bring greater harm, like encountering a lion in the jungle.
“Didn’t I already give the Count the entire five million gold coins?”
“Th-that’s right. Let go of this first, and then…”
“Then, isn’t your daughter already mine?”
His words and the hand gripping the Count tightly pierced through my dizzy mind.
Should I be angry that the one who killed me was referring to me as if I were his possession? Or should I be grateful that he was restraining the enraged Count?
Theodor, who seemed unable to contain his anger, picked up the glass in front of him and slammed it onto the table with brutal force.
The solid glass shattered with a sharp clang. Soon, murmurs from the maids outside could be heard.
Terrified at the thought of not knowing what he might do, I curled my body tightly and squeezed my eyes shut.
“…”
But strangely, after a long while, no other commotion was felt.
Cautiously, I opened my eyes towards where he was standing.
Contrary to my expectations, he was holding the sharply broken glass up to the Count’s face, speaking in a low, beastly voice.
“Why no answer? Does what I say not make sense?”
“Ah, ah! Of course it does… I’ve already received the money…!”
The Count, his face pale with fright, avoided Theodor’s gaze and barely managed to answer.
“Seeing you mention imperial law just now, it seems you know something about the law, Count.”
“Wh-what’s this about law all of a sudden…”
“Then you probably know that it’s legal to inflict the same harm on someone who damages another’s private property.”
Theodor turned his head, gazed at me lying pitifully on the floor for a long moment, and then spoke loudly enough for the Count to hear.
“If you don’t quite understand, I’d be happy to explain. What happens when someone touches what’s mine.”
While calmly uttering such chilling words.
Why does he look at me with worried eyes? As if concerned.
The glass he was holding now hovered dangerously close to the Count’s wrist, as if he were about to slash it.
“It seems cutting this off first would be best to fix your dirty habit of using your hands.”
“Is anyone out there! Is anyone outside! How dare you throw your weight around just because you’ve earned some money? You, who were just a servant wiping my feet in my own house! A lowly thing like you, and I’m willing to accept you as a son-in-law, and this is how you act?”
A distinctly trembling voice seeped from the Count’s outburst.
Theodor, with an utterly dry expression, casually wiped the glass shards splattered on his own face with his shirtsleeve and said.
“I’ve forgotten that your problem starts with your tongue. I’ll tear it out from the root.”
“What? You little… I’ve seen enough of you! You think you’re all that, huh?”
“Ah, you might not know this one either. It’s also legal to demand twice the dowry when breaking off an engagement after receiving it.”
As soon as Theodor finished speaking, he grabbed the Count by the collar and lifted him effortlessly.
“Will you pay ten million gold coins and have your wrist and tongue torn out? Or will you apologize to her and me without paying anything? Choose.”
The Count, gasping for breath, barely managed to force the words out of his twisted neck.
“I’ll stay quiet from now on, so please just don’t talk about coughing up the money…”
“You have clearly promised to apologize to both of us.”
“Y-yes.”
Only then did Theodor throw the Count down onto the sofa as if discarding him.
With that last image, I finally lost the faint hold I had on my consciousness and blacked out completely.
