The maids who had subtly disrespected Barbara even before her confinement completely lost their minds. They gradually began to cross lines.

Food that wouldn’t soak the bed started appearing for meals. Naturally, as the meals became inadequate, Barbara found fault with them.

“Do you think you’ll get away with this? When my son finds out, he won’t stand for it!”

Such retorts did make the maids feel uneasy. They huddled together and whispered among themselves.

“Well, she does have a decent relationship with the young duke.”

“He might be completely infatuated with his lover now, but once he comes to his senses…”

“Ah, this is really exhausting.”

Eventually, the maids resumed serving proper meals. Emboldened by this, Barbara took her revenge by eating her fill and then overturning the leftover food.

The maids were nearly driven insane.

The doctor couldn’t bear Barbara’s spiteful behavior either. Whenever he tried to examine her, she would complain that this hurt, that hurt, making all sorts of groaning noises.

“Madam, you are physically healthy. It seems your discomfort stems from your situation. I’ll prescribe something to calm your mind…”

“Get out, you quack! I need to recuperate before my illness worsens. You’re just going to give me sedatives?”

Barbara wanted to be diagnosed with an illness too severe to be treated in the annex. For now, that was her only way out.

To achieve what she wanted, she needed to cajole the doctor, subtly pressure him, and persuade him.

But Barbara lacked both the skill and the peace of mind to do so. The anger and despair of being imprisoned by her husband had turned her into an animal.

Eventually, she did something she shouldn’t have.

She threw whatever she could grab at the doctor. Still not satisfied, she scratched his face with her fingernails.

The doctor went to Fred before the blood on his face had even dried.

“She’s healthy enough to inflict such wounds. I think I can stop coming now, right?”

The good-natured Fred apologized profusely and gave the doctor a generous bonus. Then he summoned the maids attending to Barbara and instructed them:

“It must be very difficult for you all. Thank you for enduring it. From now on, if she gets too angry, don’t foolishly tolerate everything.”

“Chief butler, if I may… how could we possibly do that?”

The maids seized the opportunity to complain extensively. They exaggerated what had happened, conveniently omitting their own wrongdoings.

Fred had never liked Barbara even before.

‘And yet I took extra care of her because I felt sorry for her…’

He concluded that it had been a waste of effort.

“Hmm, when she gets too extreme, avoid her, and if that’s not enough… Anyway, handle it as you see fit.”

Fred gave the maids full authority and indicated that he would look the other way.

After that, Barbara could no longer even express her anger.

“We don’t want to do this either. The Duke heard about your bad behavior, became angry, and ordered this. We have to follow orders.”

She couldn’t even catch a glimpse of fatty meats or foods with high water content. Instead, she received dry bread made without even butter.

Barbara naturally became even more furious. In response, the maids served her food that was either completely dried out or occasionally moldy.

When she screamed, they gagged her, claiming it was harmful to her health, until she calmed down.

Finally, when the enraged Barbara began harming herself by banging her head against the bedpost, they even tied her hands and feet.

Amid everyone’s indifference, the improper treatment worsened day by day, ultimately reducing Barbara to this state.

Just then, Leonhardt appeared. It seemed like a miracle had finally occurred. But after hearing his story, she realized her son’s situation was even more desperate.

Since lashing out at Daphne at the marquis’s residence, her eyes had barely been dry from tears.

“Ah, these insufferable people.”

She gritted her teeth thinking of Daphne and Christine.

But the one she truly needed to hate was someone else.

Recalling her mistake with the former Emperor, she fell into despair.

⁕⁕⁕

Barbara was the daughter of a count who lived in a territory far from the capital. She followed her father, who had ambitious dreams of making it in central politics, to the capital.

She attended a victory celebration where she fell in love with Werner at first sight. But he was already a married man with a son.

An unattainable person.

Barbara discovered her dark inner self at the same moment she discovered love.

She approached Werner’s wife.

At first, it was a simple desire. A desperate attempt to visit that house just to see Werner one more time.

Barbara frequented their home. On the rare occasions when she encountered him, she felt like she could fly with happiness even without exchanging a single word.

But as Zenos was born and Ludwig grew to resemble his father more and more, watching them became painful.

Being friends with the wife of the man she adored was like drinking seawater when thirsty.

Then one day, hope finally came to Barbara. The wife, who had been suffering from postpartum complications after giving birth to Zenos, finally died.

Before a tombstone was even erected on her grave, Barbara urged her father to propose a marriage to Werner.

She was rejected, of course.

People pointed fingers at her for proposing marriage right after her friend’s death, but Barbara made excuses that it was the dying friend’s last wish.

“She asked me to take care of her children.”

Of course, no one believed such a flimsy excuse.

Yet people gossiped about how shameless she was, still visiting Werner’s house and caring for Ludwig and Zenos as if they were her own sons.

‘They’re just jealous. Do they think I’ll let this opportunity slip away?’

The more people talked, the more defiantly Barbara visited Werner’s house.

Consequently, the chief butler Anton suffered tremendously. He politely declined her visits, but Barbara pretended not to hear.

Moreover, Ludwig had grown quite attached to her and threw tantrums, so Anton could no longer stop her.

After his wife’s death, Werner spent even less time at home. This only made Barbara more zealous, acting as if she were already the lady of the house.

During this time, she even missed her prime marriage years. But Barbara considered even that a sacrifice and gladly embraced it.

Moreover, since Werner was rejecting other marriage proposals too, she resolved to be patient until the ice-cold man melted.

‘No, he might be testing how long I’ll devotedly care for his children.’

She indulged in pleasant fantasies, waiting only for his return from his sea voyage.

But what a huge misconception this was…

Even when she heard that he had fallen head over heels for a princess from the Kingdom of Gael, she thought it was just a baseless rumor.

“Werner? Impossible. Whoever is saying that doesn’t know what kind of person he is. No one knows him better than I do.”

But as if mocking Barbara, Werner returned with a fairy-like woman with black hair and purple eyes.

It was Christine.

Barbara wailed.

“How could you do this? How could you…”

She threw whatever she could grab and even went so far as to tear at her own blonde hair.

“Why isn’t my hair black?”

Of course, Werner hadn’t fallen for Christine just because of her glossy black hair. That was merely Barbara’s strongest first impression of Christine.

The next day, Barbara dyed her hair black and went to Werner’s house. But only Ludwig welcomed her. Christine was slightly embarrassed, and Werner’s face hardened.

He called Barbara to his office. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to have a private conversation with Werner.

‘Finally my efforts have paid off. So black hair was his preference!’

She entered the office excitedly, but the words that came from his mouth were an order to leave.

“Lady Barbara, I’ve heard you’ve been taking care of my children. However, I cannot express gratitude for that.”

“…Werner, why are you doing this to me?”

The moment he heard those words, Werner looked at Barbara with a gaze close to murderous intent. When she flinched in surprise, he reluctantly softened his expression.

“I have never given you permission to use my name. And now that I have a wife, I forbid you from visiting anymore.”

“Y-you’re too cruel. After all the devotion I’ve shown!”

“As I’ve said repeatedly, I never asked for it.”

“Lies! You’ve never even spoken to me!”

“I clearly asked you several times through Anton to refrain from visiting.”

By Werner’s typically indifferent standards, this was a strong protest, but it had fallen on deaf ears for Barbara, who was blinded by love.

Thus, Barbara’s years of effort came to nothing.

Her father, formally reprimanded by Werner, was furious. He ordered her to stop embarrassing the family and get married quietly.