Chapter 4 – Part 10

Arriving at the location Lady Starlet mentioned, Marie entered the mansion.

Despite having brought a few employees, there was no one even at the entrance to greet them.

She angrily walked into the mansion.

For the first time, she opened the door herself instead of someone else, and once inside, Marie couldn’t help but stop.

“Ah, ahhh!”

An embarrassing sound echoed through the mansion’s first floor.

Half in doubt, Marie’s expression turned pale. With an incredulous expression, she slowly approached the source of the sound.

Standing in front of a door on the first floor, the clear moans indicated that this was the origin of the sound.

As she stood there, the moans seemed to confirm that the sound was coming from here.

“Ah, ugh!”

A pitiful groan was audible, and with a face that expressed disbelief, Marie slowly approached the source of the noise.

“How did I raise you……!”

With an uncharacteristically fierce voice for her age, Marie opened the door with a bang. It wasn’t locked, as if saying it didn’t matter, and a woman was on top of a man, shaking her waist, seemingly startled by the sudden opening of the door.

At the sight of the n*ked couple, more than embarrassment and anger overwhelmed Marie.

“How dare you… over my son?”

“Ahhh!”

Mari approached, grabbing the woman’s hair. Then she dragged her out of bed.

“Aaah!”

In pain from her scalp being torn, the woman screamed. She tried to pry Marie’s hand away, but Marie’s grip was beyond her age.

Marie, still holding the woman’s head with both hands, whimpered as she dragged her out of the room.

Once a bit farther from the door, she let go of the head as if tossing it aside.

Just as the pain of having her hair pulled seemed to subside, her cheek stung sharply.

“Did you think I would let another lowly thing into my house again?”

Before the woman could acknowledge the pain, her other cheek was slapped.

“Not again!”

This time, it wasn’t a slap on the cheek but a strike to the earlobe.

With all her strength, Marie continued to hit the woman, who was gasping for breath.

“I’m not going to see my son like that again……”

“My Lady.”

Leton interrupted Marie mercilessly, beating the woman with a stern voice.

“Get out of the way. This is none of your business.”

Leton was technically a nobleman, but he didn’t seem any different to Marie than the woman in front of her.

“I can’t do that, I’m sorry.”

“Get out of my way!”

Even in the face of Marie’s strong determination to hit anything blocking her, Leton stood his ground. At that moment, Marie was ready to break anything that stood in her way. She raised her hand.

“Mother.”

A familiar voice echoed from the second floor.

Surprised, Mari looked up at the staircase. There, at the top of the stairs, Eli stood.

“You…”

She clearly saw him inside the room.

However, Eli’s neatly dressed appearance, looking down at her, was as impeccably arranged as ever.

“You seem to be making a wonderful face, just as expected.”

Eli chuckled leisurely. A servant, hastily dressing, emerged from the room.

“Did you… deceive me?”

Marie finally grasped the situation.

Eli didn’t say anything affirmatively, not in the sense of denial either.

Rather than saying he deceived her, it was more like he didn’t stop the woman from playing with the estate’s servant in his place. However, he was just aware of the possibility of such a situation.

Eli gestured to Leton.

In response, Leton, holding a large garment, wrapped the n*ked woman’s body and led her out of the mansion. Soon after, a servant, haphazardly dressed, hurriedly followed.

“Did you deliberately create such a scandal? Why! Why would you do such a foolish thing! Do you know how much our family’s honor has been tarnished?”

Considering how she had never paid attention to such things, it was beyond something she could dismiss as a mere prank.

“What I expect is precisely this.”

Eli, descending the stairs step by step with a relaxed smile, seemed uninterested in her anger. It made him look immature in Mari’s eyes. She assumed it was because he didn’t know how hard it was to regain honor once it had fallen.

“Why on earth would you do such a thing? Why!”

“Well, who knows why?”

Eli remained calm, as if he had no concerns. It looked to Marie as if he were saying these things without truly understanding the gravity of the situation.

“Why do you think I did it, mother?”

However, the casual smile he wore while questioning Marie was not lost on her.

“Mother would surely know.”

“No way…….”

Suddenly, Ruby came to Marie’s mind, and Marie’s face froze.

That b*tch was the problem. The one who had stood in Eli’s way and ultimately harmed the family name.

Mari glared at her foolish son.

“I’m sure you have your own ideas.”

Marie said, unwilling to give her son the answer he wanted before Eli had even reached the first floor.

He stopped mid-step. Her easy smile faded in an instant. Eli had sensed her intentions.

“Fine, continue doing what you want to do.”

The intense gazes between the two clashed in a silent battle.

“I’ll do what I can, too, as long as it doesn’t go against the truth.”

She intended to properly fix the foolishness of her son, who did such things because of a lowly person.

“Haha. Mother, you truly are remarkable.”

Eli laughed confidently at her assertive attitude.

“As you wish, Mother, watch closely. See how far I can go.”

Upon hearing the response, Marie turned around and left the mansion.

Not long after she left, Leton entered.

“I confirmed that the lady has boarded the carriage.”

“Well done.”

“…Is it over now?”

Leton asked as he led the woman out, unaware of what was happening behind him.

“We need to make the party even bigger.”

Eli gave an order instead of a direct answer.

“What?”

“Mother seems to have plans.”

“Then…”

“Organize a grand ball. Make it very splendid.”

The statement wasn’t neatly concluded, and nothing was settled.

“…Understood.”

Leton sighed quietly in response.

“Let’s see how long you can maintain this grandeur.”

Eli’s expression as he said this was exceptionally cold.
***

Comfortably dressed, the three of them gathered near the lake. Instead of formal dresses, they opted for more casual attire that allowed for easier movement.

“I’ve always wanted to try this.”

With excitement in her voice, Iana sat on the prepared chairs. Three chairs were set up by the lakeside, each with a fishing rod in front of it.

In this mansion, every game and activity from the entire Luben Empire was available, a slightly exaggerated version. From table games like cards and chess to outdoor activities like boating, fishing, and simple fox hunting, the possibilities were vast.

So, they decided to try fishing this time, a new experience for the three, who were mainly into table games. After learning the basics of fishing from someone who knew how, they grabbed their fishing rods and gently lured the fish.

“Oh, I think I’ve got one.”

“Really? Reel it in more!”

At Iana’s words, Ruby followed the instructions she had learned from the instructor, pulling the fishing line. The fish, resisting all the way, seemed to give up as it approached the shore.

“Okay, okay!”

Once all three of them successfully caught a fish, they decided to end their fishing adventure.

***

“Baroness Blora, may I come in?”

Iana knocked on the door of Lynn’s room.

“Come in.”

Lynn, who had not been sleeping in her opposite room, responded.

“I wanted to talk.”

“About the mansion, right?”

Lynn asked before Iana could speak.

“Do you feel it too?”

Iana nodded in response to Lynn’s question.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? There’s love embedded everywhere here.”

“Yes, as if it’s inviting us to live happily here forever.”

But the two of them raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other. It meant they shared the same thought.

“But is it really true that he’s meeting other women?”

Lynn remained silent, unable to give a direct answer.

Honestly, no matter how reliable and credible the rumors were, Lynn didn’t believe them until she saw them with her own eyes.

But she had seen it.

The sight of Lord Grit leaving the mansion and the maid in a slip greeting him with the curtains open, as if bidding him farewell.

“It’s strange, even though I saw Marquis Grit come out of the mansion with the courtesan left behind, I don’t doubt…… Marquis Grit’s love for Ruby.”

“Why?”

“Because I got a wedding present from the Marquis, and he sent someone to deliver it to our honeymoon destination, and he wrote a handwritten letter in it…… and it was all about Ruby.”

Lynn recalled Eli’s letter.

Thank you for taking care of Ruby, I will always be grateful. Ruby has a special place in her heart for Baroness Blora. When she returns to the capital, he hopes she’ll join Ruby, and so on.

It’s not much, but it’s very affectionate.

He wished for me to remain good friends with his wife until the end, and if the two of them were to travel together, the Marquis of Grit would be happy to support them. But he hopes it’s not too long.

He also said, perhaps humorously, that if she was gone too long, he would miss Ruby and be unable to bear it.

The gift was a diamond-encrusted necklace and earring set that was too expensive to give as a favor to a wife’s friend.

In addition, Marquis Grit said that he was well aware of Lynn’s love for Ruby and that he was always grateful. He said that he hoped she would accept the gift as a token of his gratitude.

Regardless of the gift, it was clear that he cared about Ruby, and so Lynn was relieved that her friend had made a good choice in marrying him.

So when they returned from their honeymoon and heard the rumor about the Marquis and his affair in social circles, Lynn thought that Marquis Grit was indeed an odd person.

“That’s what I thought.”

Iana, who had been listening, agreed.

“For the record, I really don’t like the Marquis of Grit.”

“What?”

She didn’t mean it as a compliment. Lynn stared at her in confusion.

But she continued.

“Honestly, Marquis Eli Grit is an asshole. He’s annoying because he’s so full of himself, and he was born with an extraordinary talent for making even the people he likes hate him.”

“……”

“But the way his eyes changed at the mere mention of the Marchioness Ruby’s troubles, and he ran off without looking back, it was hilarious.”

Iana smiles wryly as she recalls the moment.

It was the first party the Marquis and his wife attended together after their marriage. It was the same night that the other ladies were embarrassing her by mentioning an article that had been deliberately written about her in a malicious way.

“At least I know one thing: Marquis Grit truly loves his wife. This man has really found his match. So, he’s receiving everything he’s done back in return. It’s quite entertaining to see him running to her without hesitation.”

It was more of an epiphany than an accusation.

“It’s probably the first time I’ve ever heard the Marquis of Grit like anyone that I know of, so there’s got to be a reason for all these rumors, and being here today makes me even more certain of that.”

Lynn quietly nodded in agreement.

Even from Lynn’s perspective, who knew about their impending divorce, the rumors spread by Marquis Grit seemed more likely to incite Ruby’s divorce than provide a means to hold onto her.

“What on earth could it be?”

Lyn muttered with concern.

“…”

Worried that their conversation might be interrupted and thinking about whether there were more things left unsaid, Ruby, who had sent away the maidservant and quietly entered the room, stood silently, listening to their conversation.

After a while, she discreetly left the place, making sure nobody noticed.
***

“Oh my, Dowager Marchioness Grit, thank you for coming.”

Marie responded to the gratitude with a slight nod, as if it were only natural.

“It’s a splendid party.”

She complimented her, acknowledging the party she organized as if it fell short of the one hosted by the Dowager herself.

“Obviously, it’s not up to the Dowager’s standards, but I hope you enjoy it.”

After the praise, the hostess, who would have been busy introducing herself to Marie not so long ago, quickly turned away from her.

Marie was quietly furious at such subtle dismissals and maintained her composure and elegant smile, though underneath she was quietly seething with anger.

Ever since Viscountess Starlet’s declaration of war, most of the party has secretly ostracized her in this way.

Marie, who had never experienced such humiliation before, found it rather amusing. No matter how these insignificant people treated her, the fact that she was the Dowager Marchioness Grit would not change. It was that unwavering truth that allowed her to endure such humiliations.

Marie remained in her spot, guarding her composure, until the end of the party.