Chapter 3 (Part 3)

Once everyone had left, a silence filled the dining room.

‘I’m not in the mood to eat either…….’

Therese also wanted to go up to her bedroom immediately, but the situation didn’t allow it.

‘Did he take my side again?’

What kind of threat is he planning this time?

Already feeling unwell and with a headache, Therese was annoyed by Jeremy Richard’s unnecessary favor.

She definitely felt earlier that the Duke was protecting her.

‘He’s not someone who would do that.’

Although she couldn’t see him often after their marriage, every time they met, he was always cold. Acting as if he wouldn’t give her even the slightest affection, Therese, who once had a crush on the Duke, was twice, three times as hurt.

‘I never dreamed of being loved by him.’

Since they were married, she thought it was okay to dream of a relationship where they respected and cared for each other.

When she glanced up, Duke Richard was enjoying his dinner.

‘How can he eat so calmly?’

His calm demeanor was enough to send chills down her spine. Her mother-in-law had just left in tears, and a small whirlwind had just passed through the ducal residence.

‘I must have misunderstood.’

She thought he was inflexible, uninterested in others, and cold, but now it seemed otherwise.

“Please eat a little more. You don’t look well.”

“……Ah.”

The Duke’s words pulled her out of her reverie. Therese automatically put a small piece of meat into her mouth.

“You’re still lost in thought even with me beside you.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Anyway, it’s a big problem that such ridiculous rumors are spreading.”

The Duke seemed to ponder for a moment. The cause might be the vast difference in their families, and the fact that he went straight to the battlefield right after their marriage.

“There’s no need to worry about it.”

Even if people around her were making a fuss, Therese didn’t care.

“It’s a matter concerning the family’s reputation, so I can’t let it go.”

Watching Therese’s pale complexion through the wine glass, he spoke.

In such situations, most people would cry, get angry, or at least make some excuse, which would be a normal reaction.

‘But she was excessively calm.’

Jeremy knew that look well. When he cut down enemy after enemy and corpses piled up at his feet, the things rushing at him no longer looked human.

‘No, you can’t endure it unless you think that way.’

❖ ❖ ❖

What followed the uncomfortable meal was severe indigestion.

“Madam, why have you been so unwell lately?”

Therese, who had grown up strong without any illness since childhood, strangely became weaker after marriage.

To be more specific, it might have started from that strange day.

Sophia, who had cared for Therese since she was a young child, was deeply worried these days.

She believed without a doubt that once Therese became the mistress of the Richard ducal family, her life would be a path of roses.

‘But what is this?’

It had been just over two months since the wedding, yet Therese was still not recognized as a member of this family.

‘Even Lady Volez is like that.’

The Grand Madame’s intention to call an unmarried lady into a house with a newlywed couple was really suspicious.

“Madame, I brought some digestive medicine.”

“Sophia, it’s late, so go and rest.”

“I’ll leave after I see you fall asleep, Madame.”

Sophia shook her head as she watched Therese’s face. Her lady’s eyes were dark underneath, and her lips were a deep red, giving off a feverish glow.

“No. I just want to rest a bit.”

Pretending to be okay with a forced smile, Sophia reluctantly left the bedroom.

“……Phew.”

Only then did Therese get up and swallow the poison-suppressing medicine hidden in the drawer. She had tried hard not to show her unsightly side in front of Sophia.

“Why is His Grace acting this way?”

More than the poison raging in her body, Therese was more confused by the Duke’s strange behavior.

Therese, wearing a nightgown over her chemise, pushed open the door to the balcony.

“……Ah.”

The beautiful stars contrasting the black sky seemed as if they would pour down on her with just a slight touch.

It was too beautiful a night to suspect the Duke’s changed reason or purpose.

Therese hugged her arms to herself, thinking of the nightscape she would never have seen had she died.

❖ ❖ ❖

Maria Richard was bedridden.

Her neuralgia had always been severe, but this time it was different. The physician examined her and prescribed treatment, but there was no improvement.

‘Grand Madame, this is an internal issue, so you must relax your mind.’

Despite the doctor’s advice, Maria shed tears and sighed whenever she opened her eyes.

She had feared nothing in the world as long as she had her eldest son, Duke Richard, but it was because of him that she was in this state.

“I don’t understand why he’s defending that woman.”

At the time of the marriage, there was no such atmosphere. Her son, who was visibly displeased by the forced marriage, left for the battlefield immediately.

“I’m worried it might be some wicked magic.”

Katrina, who volunteered to care for Maria, suggested a strange suspicion. How could the Duke defend such a woman, lacking vitality, a voluptuous body, or a decent family, like her?

‘I can’t believe it even after seeing it.’

She couldn’t help but suspect love potions, which were said to be rampant in the empire these days.

The magical potion made by grinding mermaid scales and unicorn horns was said to be difficult to obtain, even with money.

But, it was said to be very effective, making the person who consumed it fall in love with the first person they saw.

‘How else can you explain this situation?’

The reason she came to the Richard ducal family this time was because of a letter from Maria Richard.

‘Could you keep this lonely old lady company? I hope we can be like family as we were before.’

Even with the newly married Duchess present, the Grand Madame had asked Katrina to become family.

‘What does this mean?’

It meant that a lady of noble lineage, like her, should replace that position.

It was no trouble to drive out a powerless woman.

Katrina was confident.

‘If it weren’t for His Majesty the Emperor, I wouldn’t have to go through this trouble…….’

Emperor Morciani was an absolute ruler with cold gray eyes. No one in the empire could defy the Emperor’s orders. Just thinking of the Emperor’s face made her shoulders tremble slightly.

‘Who would have thought he’d pair the daughter of Baron Demori out of nowhere?’

But even the Emperor couldn’t prevent a divorce if the Duchess was guilty of something like promiscuity.

So Katrina secretly spread rumors that Therese was having an affair.

‘If she knows what’s good for her, she should leave on her own while I’m still being lenient.’

A cruel, bloody shadow briefly passed through Katrina’s golden eyes.

The feeling of having the man she had waited for all her life taken from her right in front of her was terrible. How much more so when she had to face him every day.

‘Why does His Grace keep interfering when he should just stay still?’

But the Duke was only acting for the family’s honor, and everything was Therese Demori’s fault.

As Maria, who had been groaning, finally fell asleep, Katrina, who had made up her mind, stepped outside.

“Who recognizes such a Duchess?”

Her beautiful golden eyes twisted wickedly, and her red hair flared like flames.

Katrina had never failed to get what she wanted in her life.

Whether it was an object or a person.

A satisfied smile spread across her lips, and her shoes made a cheerful noise as she walked down the corridor.

❖ ❖ ❖

Even though she didn’t feel any better in the morning, Therese hurried to prepare to go out. With Roshan absent, the amount of work she had to do had doubled.

“Madame, I will accompany you today.”

Sophia, determined, packed a lunch and followed Therese.

“But Sophia, you don’t even like that place.”

“Is this the time to be picky? If it’s for you, Madame, I’d follow you to hell.”

At the moment Sophia made an overly solemn face, a crow flew into the window, making a thud, and cracked the glass.

Sophia’s face turned pale as she watched it. There was a superstition that breaking glass or mirrors was unlucky.

“My goodness! Madam, it seems like bad luck from the morning.”

Sophia, a firm believer in superstitions, shuddered as she looked at the broken window.

“Sophia, a window can be fixed by replacing the glass. Stop with the nonsense, and let’s hurry.”