Chapter 6 – Part 14

The Duke of Miles knew she had left with Marie at the Marquis of Grit. He was prepared to bring it up again when she returned, but the capital was abuzz with scandalous news.
 
But the woman across from him, Arlen, whose gaze was lowered, unable to take her eyes off the newspaper, said nothing.
 
Only when he noticed her tightly clenched hands did Duke Miles take a deep breath and wait for her to calm down.
 
“When did this happen?”
 
It was the one sentence Arlen managed to spit out, her mind too blank to form any words.
 
“You’re not denying it.”
 
Duke Miles said it with a sigh.
 
Unable to speak, Arlen bit his lower lip weakly.
 
“Don’t attend any parties for a while. I’ve instructed the butler to decline all invitations. Stay at the mansion until things quiet down.”
 
“We need to find out what happened…….”
 
“Nooo!”
 
Duke Miles’s loud voice made Arlen flinch, startled.
 
“Don’t do anything. Just stay home for now.”
 
Even as a duke, there were too many things he couldn’t understand, and his anger was not easily calmed.
 
But seeing Arlen’s shocked face, he couldn’t bring himself to say harsh words.
 
“Go and rest.”
 
With a long sigh, he reached out his hand to dismiss her from his office.
 
“I want you to find out when this newspaper was published.”
 
Leaving the office, Arlen ordered the butler with a stern face.
 
She crumpled up the paper and headed for his room.
 
* * *
 
“Who would have thought it was all a ruse to provoke His Majesty?”
 
“That’s right. It was strange enough that she came forward to the point where people would think she was the Marchioness.”
 
The hottest topic at parties in the capital lately has been the scandal of Emperor Shannua’s affair with Arlen Miles.
 
“His Majesty hasn’t dismissed it as a rumor, has he?”
 
“If it was just a friendly relationship, would he have remained silent?”
 
“It seems like he got upset. She’s having fun with His Majesty, but she’s planning to marry someone else. But both of them are married anyway, so it’s all the same, isn’t it?”
 
They all laughed.
 
“There must have been a reason why she got along so well with the Dowager Marchioness.”
 
They nodded in agreement.

“She used to pretend to be the Marchioness, but she always stayed out of the marriage talk. Maybe that’s the reason.
 
“The Marquis must have known everything, right?”
 
“Of course he did; we saw how he didn’t even glance at her.”
 
“I’m sure the Dowager was very disappointed, she wanted Lady Miles to marry her son.”
 
Then someone corrected, “Well, she’s not the Dowager Marchioness anymore,” which was met with smirks and laughter from the others.
 
“She is not in the position to think about other people right now.”
 
Almost as hot a topic as the Emperor and Arlen’s scandal was Marie Grit.
 
She, too, was a part of the front page, though she was pushed aside by the Emperor and Arlen.
 
“Can you believe she attacked the Marchioness?”
 
“That’s right. There’s talk that she moved out and bought a separate mansion because of that.”
 
“To hide that fact?”
 
“It’s the most plausible explanation.”
 
Contrary to the previously lively conversation, this time the voices were cautious.
 
“Wasn’t that also when the Marchioness went to Devens?”
 
“But a mysterious woman was always seen in the Marquis capital estate.”
 
“Oh dear, he must have been trying to protect the Marchioness.”
 
“It was a bit different from the usual mistress, wasn’t it?”
 
With a normal mistress, they were at least seen together at least once, walking down the street together, having their dresses fitted, and looking at jewelry.
 
But the rumored mistress of the Marquis of Grit had never been seen with him in any capacity other than as a public figure.
 
This led to speculation that it was all a trick by the Marquis to deceive his mother.
 
“Honestly, aren’t there some young people who like the Marqius but gave up on him because of the Dowager’s personality?”
 
“Exactly. How much did she torture the Marchiones? She’s from a noble family, but she didn’t even know they were spitting on her face.”
 
“Just looking at the Marquis and Marchioness, they seem to like each other, especially the Marquis.”
 
Everyone agreed with this statement.
 
The appearance of the two at the party they attended together was that of an unmistakably happy couple.
 
“Poor Marchioness. No wonder she has so little time for socializing.”
 
The same people who had once criticized Ruby for abandoning her Marchioness duties were now feeling compassion for her.
 
“What’s going on?”
 
Wherever the conversation at this party went, there were two topics.
 
On one side, they were talking about His Majesty the Emperor and Lady Arlen Miles, and if they walked a little further, another group was talking about the Dowager Marchioness.
 
Both men and women talked about it.
 
It was nothing new, as socialites are always on the lookout for a good scandal, but it was surprising that Arlen Miles had become the target. Of course, the content was even more surprising.
 
The uncomfortable feeling Kane felt when he briefly joined the friend group instead of Eli was probably because of this.
 
Ironically, the funny thing was the talk about the Dowager Marchioness Grit.
 
In the newspaper, there was only an article about Lady Marie Grit trying to harm Marquis Eli Grit and ultimately being expelled from the family.
 
Nothing else was added. But as it overlapped with the rumor that Eli Grit was finding it difficult to get the next successor, various rumors about his past actions were circulating, eventually comparing his actions so far.
 
The biggest change was public opinion for Ruby Grit.
 
“My friend is amazing.”
 
Sensing Eli’s intentions, Kane hurried out of the room, lest he be caught again and bombarded with questions.
 
* * *
 
Eli found Marie’s room.
 
The guard at the front of the room recognized him and bowed.
 
“Is Mother in?”
 
“She’s quiet.”
 
When he entered, the room was lit by a single small candle.
 
Marie was sitting in a chair.
 
“How are you?”
 
Eli sat down across from her without asking her permission.
 
“Did you come here to laugh at me?”
 
“Of course not; I came here to say goodbye because we won’t have time to talk tomorrow.”
 
There was no compassion in his voice.
 
“And this will be the last aristocratic treatment of your life, Mother, seeing me like this, the sumptuous feast, everything. So, enjoy it as much as you can.”
 
Eli had ordered the meals to be prepared with the things she liked, even though she couldn’t roam around the mansion during her stay after her exile. Tonight’s dinner would be her final one.
 
“You won’t be able to eat it anymore, even if you want to.”
 
Marie scoffed at Eli’s comment, one corner of her mouth twitching upward.
 
The future, which she knew in her head but could not feel in her body, was of little importance to her.
 
“I saw the newspaper you sent. You’ve been planning this all along, haven’t you?”
 
Curiosity arose instead.
 
It couldn’t have gotten to her so quickly otherwise. And the article wouldn’t have come out so quickly.
 
“Did it turn out to your liking?”
 
Eli didn’t feel like making excuses. There was nothing she could do about it, nothing that would change it.
 
“Does it make you feel relieved to see your mother’s efforts go to waste? Are you relieved now that you can do whatever you want without thinking about your siblings?”
 
“You have to say it right; it was you who ruined it. It’s all you’re doing.”
 
Marie’s face crumpled at Eli’s impatient point.
 
“So, you knew from the beginning that Lady Miles was having an affair with His Majesty?”
 
He looked at Marie as if it didn’t matter.
 
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
 
“What difference would it make?”
 
“At least I wouldn’t have been so foolish as to set her up for you!”
 
Marie’s outburst only made Eli chuckle.
 
“Why, would that have left you with Lady Brayle and Lady Dwight instead?”
 
Marie was taken aback.
 
“Mother, it’s not that I didn’t know; it’s just that it wasn’t important enough for me to care.”
 
The most important thing to Eli in this life was for Ruby not to die and for her to live happily. Those were Eli’s only goals.
 
So when he found out what Marie had done, he was willing to take Ruby away from Grit’s family and away from him for her happiness.
 
Delaying the divorce was driven by selfishness, but his biggest hope was for Ruby’s safety afterward. Not to mention, after meeting Ruby and realizing his feelings for her, he couldn’t bear to let her go, but that’s beside the point.
 
Of course, Ruby’s disappearance has put all of those plans on hold, and meeting her again has only made him more aware of his feelings for her and less greedy.
 
He still believed that, if he hadn’t made up his mind to abandon his title, he would have let Ruby go one way or another.
 
“So, are you satisfied to see with your own eyes the ridiculous sight of the mother you ruined? ”
 
She asked his son, who sat across from him.
 
“No, I don’t. Of course not.”
 
Marie was momentarily relieved to hear that, but then she had a moment of reflection.
 
“If you thought I’d be satisfied with this, you don’t know me at all.”