Chapter 31 — The Father’s Return
“What’s that man doing coming into the Marquisate?”
“My lady, he says—”
“Tell him to get lost. Why come back now instead of dying somewhere?”
There are families worse than strangers.
Sometimes, family can be your worst enemy.
I completely agree with that.
Family fights.
A father’s debts.
A life where, no matter how hard I worked, I had to quit graduate school and start unloading trucks before sunrise.
Everything was my father’s fault.
If only my dad didn’t exist…
Do you know what my father used to say all the time?
“Shouldn’t have had you. You’re worth nothing. If I could sell kids like other countries do, I’d have sold you long ago.”
Well, the feeling was mutual.
If I could’ve sold him, I would’ve done it.
And if he’d somehow lived, I’d have hired a hitman to finish the job.
And yet, here I am again, facing almost the same situation.
It’s like fate enjoys making reruns.
I know Aileen’s father isn’t my father.
This was Aileen’s story, not mine.
But now I was Aileen — living her life, suffering in her place.
And just like her, I hated that man who called himself “Father.”
“Marquis, please calm down.”
“I am calm.”
“Your face looks like it’s about to explode. It’s as red as a strawberry.
Take a breath. Inhale… exhale.”
“Huuh… haah… huuh… haah…”
His advice helped. I felt my pulse slow a bit.
***
“Alright. I’m calm now. Tell me.”
“That man hitched a ride on one of our company wagons,” Shark said.
“They weren’t going to take him, but he begged nonstop.
He should arrive at the estate in an hour or two.”
“Hey, Shark.”
“Yes?”
“It’s not Marquis Gillian Dante. It’s former Marquis. I’m the Marquis now.”
“Right… sorry.”
“I’m the Marquis. He’s the runaway. Call him ‘Marquis’ again, and—”
I slid a finger across my neck.
Shark nodded so fast it looked painful.
“You sell information too, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then tell me what that man’s been doing since he left our family.”
I didn’t like this feeling.
The little fairy grandpa in my pocket had been trembling nonstop.
Even when I pressed my hand against my chest, he kept shaking.
“How much are you paying for the info?”
“Five gold.”
“Pretty stingy.”
“Considering we’re digging through garbage, that’s generous.”
Fair point.
He pocketed the five gold and began talking.
“Funny story. Looks like he suffered a lot.
I heard he got caught by bandits and was used as a slave for a while.”
The trembling from my chest grew even stronger.
On the way back, Aileen said nothing.
She just stared out the carriage window, terrifyingly quiet.
Scar drove the carriage, and Tangent squeezed into the seat beside him.
Aileen didn’t like showing weakness in front of others.
Tangent knew that and gave her space.
***
“This looks bad,” Scar murmured.
“Hey, Butler Scar.”
“Yes, Head Maid Tangent?”
“I need to ask you something personal. Can you answer honestly?”
“You?”
Scar gave her a slow look, then smirked.
“I didn’t think we were that close.”
Their relationship was… complicated.
In front of Aileen, they acted like friendly coworkers,
but behind her back, they bickered constantly.
“You treat me like I’m some kind of criminal.”
“That’s because you’re suspicious,” Tangent replied flatly.
“There’s no record of where you worked before.
Even Seba, the head butler from the North, says he’s never heard of you.
And your accent? Definitely northern.”
“Not every northerner knows each other.”
Scar shrugged casually.
“Anyway, let’s skip the small talk.
My gut says you don’t belong here.”
“Was that supposed to be an insult?”
“Depends how you take it.
Insult if you want — or a compliment, because you’re too good for this job.”
Tangent tilted her head.
“If you hate me that much, why not kick me out?
Go ahead and tell the lady, ‘Fire that shady butler!’”
“You’re the only one who’s served her this long,” Scar said quietly.
“You stayed during her worst times. You’re like a sister to her.
I like that about you — you remind me of family.
That’s why I can’t kick you out.
But I do want to ask you something.”
“Ask away.”
“What was the relationship between the Marquis and Lady Aileen like?”
Ah. Just as I thought — about Aileen.
That’s the only thing they ever talked about anyway.
Scar’s tone softened.
“It was the same old story — a bad father and a good daughter.”
“Oh…”
“She was always treated like an outsider.”
At the family dining table, there was no seat for Aileen.
Even when they were drowning in debt, they threw grand birthday feasts for the younger siblings —
but not for her.
“You’re the eldest, you should understand.”
“You were born with everything, now give your siblings a turn.”
When she cried herself to exhaustion, Scar was the one who brought her water.
“I figured,” Tangent muttered.
“The younger ones had tutors, but she didn’t get lessons after childhood.”
“How do you know that?”
“We maids have our own information network. Don’t underestimate me.”
She glanced sideways at Aileen, still staring out the window.
“So that’s why she ended up alone in that collapsing mansion… how pitiful.”
“Yeah.”
“Then whose side are you really on, Scar?”
“…My lady’s. Always.”
Scar said nothing else, flicked the reins, and kept the horses moving.
Then who is your ‘lady,’ exactly? Tangent thought bitterly.
The carriage slowed and finally stopped.
As soon as Aileen stepped down, she saw the uninvited guest.
A shabby man stood there.
His hair had gone white, and he looked exhausted.
Bruised, limping, with a splint around his ankle.
When he saw her, his eyes widened.
“Aileen…”
“Father.”
They’d met only a few times, but instinct told her — this was him.
Gillian Dante.
He stumbled toward her like a drunk man.
“Ahh… it’s really you… I’ve missed you so much.”
He grabbed her shoulders tightly.
She just stared, dazed, as he started talking.
“I worried about you.
I wondered if something bad had happened to the house.”
“…”
“Looks like the mansion’s doing well.
You even called in repairmen. I’m proud of you. Good job!
I was actually planning to come back and fix the place myself.”
He brushed past her, admiring the building.
“Nice work on the garden too. Flowers in the yard — that’s how a Marquis’s home should be!”
“Father.”
“Yes, yes, well done! Now, let’s go inside. I want to see how it looks.”
“Father.”
She grabbed his wrist before he could open the door.
He turned, surprised.
“Aileen. What’s wrong—”
“Why did you leave me behind?”
He fell silent.
The man who’d been chattering nonstop couldn’t say a word.
After a long pause, he finally muttered,
“You… you had a place to go, didn’t you?
You went to Duke Asser’s and paid off the debts, didn’t you?”
“Oh? That’s what you think?”
“Yes. Those merchants were after me, not you.
You, at least, could’ve begged the Duke for help.
I know it must’ve been lonely, but you’re the eldest.
You should understand — you’re an adult now.”
Oh, I see.
I was supposed to “understand,” huh?
After he abandoned me?
I almost laughed out loud.
He watched me carefully and added quickly,
“I admit I made mistakes.
But I’ve paid for them — karma, you know?”
“In what way?”
“I tried to hide at a friend’s place, but we got attacked by bandits!
They captured us! I suffered for months! Look!”
He yanked up his shirt to show scars.
“See? Here, here — all over!
And it wasn’t just me!”
He waved a hand, and more people stepped out from behind the carriage.
“My other daughter, Bari — they cut off her beautiful golden hair to make wigs!
And your stepmother had to cook and carry food for them!
Can you imagine how painful that was for us?”
“Go on,” Aileen said coolly. “I’m listening.”
“When I married her, I promised she’d never work a day in her life —
but look at these hands! Ruined! Do you know how we felt?”
Aileen looked at them one by one.
The stepmother — pale, lips cracked, hair a mess —
was already begging Tangent for food.
The twins looked worse:
Their chopped-off hair stuck out unevenly,
their clothes were rags barely covering their bodies.
One’s leg was swollen, the other kept coughing.
Aileen nodded once.
“So?”
“What?”
“You think I had it easier?
You think I found gold buried in my backyard?”
“You earned it by clinging to that Duke, didn’t you?”
“It wasn’t the Duke’s doing. It was mine.”
“I survived on spoiled soup and wore dresses so old even a maid wouldn’t touch them!”
They had no idea how hard she’d fought to make that first profit —
and they didn’t care.
They’d only come back now to leech off her success.
“When you disappeared, it was winter.
Scar and I only ate once a day.
Just boiled potatoes with no seasoning.
It was so delicious we cried.”
Scar hadn’t even teased her then — just quietly wiped her tears.
Only after the third time did he joke about her being a “crybaby lady.”
“So only your pain matters?
Mine doesn’t count?”
“I know you suffered, but I never meant—”
“Oh, you meant well, sure.
Running away, leaving me behind, and crawling back now that I’m doing fine — what a touching story!”
“Aileen! I couldn’t come back! You know that!”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“There’s no place for you here anymore.”
“Wait, Aileen—”
“Go. Before I have someone drag you out.”
“We’re family! We share blood!”
“You threw me to loan sharks as bait — and now you dare say family?”
Why did my throat tighten?
Was it rage?
“My lady,” Tangent whispered, gripping my trembling hand.
My heart was pounding.
My head felt foggy.
And before I knew it, tears spilled out.
“Ugh… why am I crying right now…”
She wiped her eyes roughly.
It wasn’t sadness — she’d seen too many trashy men to feel sad anymore.
And besides, he wasn’t even her father.
She was just the soul inside Aileen’s body.
Then she realized it.
These tears weren’t hers.
They were Aileen’s —
the emotions that still lingered in the body she now inhabited.
Aileen, I’m sorry.
I’m sorry you had to see this man again.
But this had to be done.
He’s not family anymore, and we both know it.
“Leave.”
That’s what I wanted to say,
but suddenly, something stirred inside my chest.
The fairy grandpa whispered urgently:
“Wait! Wait! Don’t drive him out!
Don’t send him away!”
