Chesterfield Mansion: The House of the Man Who Hates Me - Chapter 27

Following the woman who immediately turned right at his words, Owen tried hard to hide his rising smile.

‘A date.’

He really didn’t mind that she had lost the brooch he had given her. Right now, this time he was spending with Celian was much more important to him. Walking around town alone with the woman he liked, this situation that anyone would call a ‘date’!

His father had allowed him to be friends with Celian. Though he had subtly passed on news about which family’s daughter was looking for a husband.

But unfortunately for Dr. Caleb, Owen Caleb’s standard of beauty had long been Celian Berienne. How could the portraits Dr. Caleb showed him satisfy him? To exaggerate a bit, Owen didn’t see those women as anything more than current patients or potential future patients.

He thought, following her suddenly more lively steps, his mood much improved.

‘Why does she keep getting prettier…… It’ll be troublesome if other guys notice her.’

Until seven or eight years ago, Celian had been a lady he couldn’t even dream of. The eldest daughter of the general commanding all of Treven’s military, heir to the Berienne Marquis family, a likely future princess consort. All these were Celian Berienne’s titles.

Then in just one day, that woman fell to commoner status. The general’s eldest daughter was pointed at as the daughter of a war criminal. The Berienne family was erased from the noble almanac. Instead of the long-gone position of princess consort, there were rumors of her marriage arrangement with the Winston Count family, but even that fell through.

‘Still, I’m glad she’s doing well. I wonder if she knows that makes her even more attractive.’

Owen was a doctor. Dealing with life and death was his main job. Naturally, he was drawn to those with strong life force. In that sense, it was only natural that he fell for Celian, who stood up resiliently no matter how much she was trampled.

Owen, who had been closely following Celian, stopped. It was because Celian had stopped first.

“Lian?”

“It doesn’t seem like much. Let’s just go to the cafe we were heading to.”

Owen stretched his neck to peek over Celian’s shoulder. Royal guards armed with guns and swords were surrounding an area with curtains.

Owen whistled.

“Whew, look at that tight security. Wonder if a prince came out or something?”

Celian’s answer was small.

“I’m not interested.”

“……”

If nothing had happened to Celian’s father, she might have become a princess consort. Owen grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him.

Her raised shoulders drooped again. Her sky-blue eyes looked only at the ground, and her mumbling voice sounded unnecessarily sorrowful.

“I’m thirsty, I want to drink coffee.”

“Okay, let’s go to the cafe.”

Owen turned back as well. Not realizing whose gaze Celian had pulled him away from.

* * *

“……”

The man shook his head, not bothering to hide his annoyed expression. His glossy black hair became a mess.

On the mahogany desk lay a document stamped with the Chesterfield seal. It was a contract evidencing the deal with Montes Trading Company that Harris had forcibly pushed through.

A curse slipped out.

“F*ck……”

He didn’t do drugs or smoke. The only thing he indulged in was alcohol, but in this mood, if he touched alcohol, he would obviously suffer from a hangover the next day. He didn’t want to suffer physically just because of Montes.

And now, didn’t he have a substitute to quench his thirst other than alcohol?

The butler appeared after the bell rang.

“Bring Miss Berienne.”

As soon as he spoke, his brow furrowed unconsciously. He was looking for Celian Berienne, but a man’s face popped into his mind. It seemed to be etched deeper in his mind because it was a familiar face.

His brow furrowed even more as he recalled the hand that had hurriedly pulled away the brown-haired young man, as if he shouldn’t be seen by Izer.

The butler’s dry voice added to his displeasure.

“That’s not possible. Miss Berienne has been granted permission for an overnight stay today.”

“You mean an outing. Who gave her permission for an overnight stay?”

“The Madam gave permission.”

“Mother did?”

He thought she had turned a blind eye and ear, but apparently not. Perhaps she had noticed that her son was tormenting the young lady who was his first love.

Did she want to remove the innocent young lady, worried that her outwardly proper but inwardly twisted son would hurt her?

Izer dismissed the butler with a word of understanding. Left alone in the room, the stress he had been trying to ignore rushed in.

He shoved the unsightly contract into a drawer. The envelope of money that had sneakily come along with the contract went in too. He closed the drawer with a bang, and suddenly finding himself with nothing to do, he paced around the room thinking,

Where might the woman who had been granted permission for an overnight stay have gone?

The first person that came to mind was Doctor Owen.

‘An overnight stay at a man’s house… Anyone who undressed that woman even once would immediately realize she’s not so clean.’

Izer recalled the memory of the previous night.

Yesterday was similar to other days. Celian had given up resisting and let herself be held in his arms, but she remained stiff as if she had no intention of behaving as he wanted. To open her mouth and hear the sounds he wanted, he had bitten and sucked hard on her tender skin. Once she let out a scream-mixed moan, everything went smoothly after that.

‘She must be quite a sight, all red and bruised. How did Doctor Owen come to have feelings for that woman….’

As he was thinking, there was a knock on the door.

“Izer, are you in there?”

It was Renée.

“Yes, Mother. You’re not asleep yet?”

Izer opened the door for Renée. The man’s gait was infinitely aristocratic and elegant as he supported his mother’s arm, who was dressed in a long indoor dress that dragged on the floor.

“If you have any business, you should have called for me.”

“There’s nothing in particular I’d call business. I just wanted to see your face a bit.”

Although they shared most meals together, they rarely actually conversed.

In front of Harris, Renée refrained from speaking to Izer. Even now, she had come secretly while Harris was absorbed in work, because if she spent too long in her son’s room, who knew what kind of retaliation Harris would inflict on Izer.

“Izer, the servants are saying strange things.”

“When have they ever said anything that wasn’t strange?”

“…That you and Celian……”

Her pale lips quivered. She didn’t know how to describe the eccentricity her son had begun.

An infinitely polite voice continued her words.

“That we’re sleeping together, you mean?”

“Izer…?”

Renée called her son in disbelief. She didn’t expect him to admit it so easily.

“It’s not strange. It’s the truth.”

While servants don’t usually gossip about the affairs of the ducal family members, it’s different when talking to fellow servants.

There had been a stream of reports about seeing the governess stumbling out of the young duke’s room in the middle of the night, clutching the front of her dress with torn buttons.

This had been going on for over a month. No one doubted what she was doing in that room.

Like many young noblemen, women he met through friends’ introductions occasionally entered his bedroom, but never with such frequency. Moreover, he had never called for the same one for so long.

Izer smiled elegantly at the bewildered Renée.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Percy doesn’t find out.”

“……”

Renée collected herself. Her son was an adult. And it was common for young noblemen to have mistresses.

Though she couldn’t think it was right. Trying not to dwell on the fact that Celian was once a young lady from the family her husband worked for, Renée changed the subject.

“I heard Ophelia has returned to the country.”

“……”

“You can’t keep postponing the marriage. Harris wants you to marry before this year ends. So does Lord Montes.”

“Getting caught in a scandal with the governess and having the engagement called off might be one way.”

“Izer!”

“I’m joking, Mother. Don’t take it so seriously.”

The joke delivered with a cold face was far from light-hearted.

Ophelia Montes was Cain Montes’s younger sister.

Heinrich Montes, judging it would be troublesome if his daughter was caught living intoxicated with alcohol and drugs like Cain, had sent her abroad long ago.

This happened a year after Izer became a Chesterfield.

Their engagement ended with just a piece of paper. No one was dissatisfied with how casually it was handled. Izer was glad he could tear up papers instead of people — of course, what he tore was a copy, not the inaccessible original — Harris was satisfied he could hastily conclude his adopted son’s engagement ceremony, and Lord Montes breathed a sigh of relief thinking Izer hadn’t caught Ophelia in a drug-induced state.