Let’s Just Make a Child, Your Grace - Chapter 9 Part 1
It was chaos. Shattered glass fragments were scattered messily under Arne’s high heels. A maid cleaning up the fragments hurriedly bowed upon sensing Arne’s presence.
The sound of the Duke and Duchess arguing could be heard from the end of the corridor to where Arne was standing.
“Honey, why are you contemplating something so obvious!”
“The Second Prince is taking successor lessons. I heard he’ll personally choose businesses to invest in as part of those lessons. The tax exemptions and support funds are enormous. It’s an opportunity we absolutely can’t miss for the Ronia ducal family to be reborn!”
“Then we can do it together with the Wayne family! There’s nothing to worry about, why are you like this?”
Despite the sound of Arne’s heels echoing, as if they couldn’t hear it, the Duke and Duchess’s argument didn’t stop. The Duke’s voice grew increasingly agitated.
“If it weren’t for what Bianca did, I wouldn’t have worked with the Wayne family! We might have even had a chance with the Renigrad grand ducal family!”
“How could the Renigrad grand ducal family be suitable for Arne? Cedric’s interest is just momentary, it will soon fade! Maybe things will work out with Bianca later as time passes!”
“You’re the one talking nonsense. The person who proposed the bill that might judge Bianca for a serious crime is Cedric!”
“Honey! Are you saying you’re going to abandon Bianca?”
The Duchess’s sharp voice echoed throughout the hall. As Arne opened the door to the banquet hall, the Duke and Duchess’s gazes immediately turned to her.
Bianca was sitting at the edge of her chair, anxiously biting her nails. Having Arne witness her in such a state instantly wounded Bianca’s lofty pride.
“It seems I’m late for dinner.”
Arne sat down across from Bianca in an elegant voice. Naturally, Arne’s meal wasn’t prepared, but after Arne glanced at the steak in front of Bianca, she gestured to the servant.
“Medium rare, without the potato garnish. And wine too.”
“Understood.”
The servant quickly poured wine and left the hall. Never had the Duke’s residence been enveloped in such tension as today.
Arne leisurely tilted her wine glass while looking at Bianca, who was glaring at her fiercely. Whatever the reason, the Duke and Duchess fighting because of Bianca was a spectacle not to be missed.
“Please continue your conversation. Don’t mind me.”
Arne stabbed her fork into a tomato in the salad. The feeling of it bursting and the juice flowing was pleasant.
Just as Arne was about to put the red tomato in her mouth, the Duke exhaled deeply and gulped down water. The sound of the glass hitting the table was quite sharp, as if he was angry.
“Arne.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The Duke rarely hesitated. He moistened his lips with his tongue, but his mouth kept drying.
Arne had been a good daughter. Afraid of falling out of his favor, she did whatever he told her to. She was a child who listened well and never rebelled, so she would surely gladly listen to his request this time too.
But he felt unnecessarily tense under Arne’s gaze, which was directly facing him.
“It seems we’ll have to say that this incident happened because you had a mana surge. And you’ll proceed with the engagement to the Wayne family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Bianca wouldn’t have had bad intentions. She just put a bit of mana perfume in your glass as a prank, but should a younger sister criticize her older sister for that? Everyone knows you frequently have mana surges anyway, and you don’t have a good reputation in social circles, so adding one more scandal won’t change anything. But it’s different for Bianca. Bianca’s marriage prospects, and of course the Ronia ducal family’s reputation, would be cracked.”
“Father.”
Arne put down her wine glass with a thud. She couldn’t even discern if she had heard correctly. The Duke waved his hand perfunctorily as if to soothe Arne and said,
“Let’s have dinner together from now on.”
Did he really think Arne would nod her head just for dinner? The Duke seemed to sincerely believe so. Because that’s exactly what Arne from her past life would have done. A hollow laugh escaped Arne’s lips. Taking this as a positive sign, the Duke continued,
“The Wayne family has demanded an engagement. It’s probably for the dowry and Ronia’s reputation. Who knows how much more they plan to extort. The good news is that if we’re selected for the support project that the Second Prince will choose, we can recover it.”
“Ha.”
The Duke looked at Arne quizzically. Arne just burst into laughter.
In all the Duke’s long-winded speech, there wasn’t a single apology. To him, Arne wasn’t even someone worth feeling sorry for.
“Father, Sister Bianca almost killed me. If Lord Cedric hadn’t been there that day, I really could have died.”
“But you didn’t die. Don’t exaggerate.”
“……”
Arne slowly inhaled.
‘Exaggerate……’
It felt like her thoughts had come to a complete stop. Despite deciding not to expect anything, it seems she hadn’t anticipated him to be this much of a trash.
“I refuse. I won’t get engaged to the Wayne family, and I’ll tell the truth about what Sister Bianca did.”
“Arne!”
Following the Duke’s shout, the Duchess’s sharp voice rang out.
“What are you doing to your sister! Do you have to make your sister so uncomfortable! If you just endure a little bit!”
“Endure a little…… Aren’t you even sorry to me? How……”
Soon, the Duke cut off Arne’s words as if he was tired of listening to her.
“Arne, just endure this once.”
“You speak as if this is the first time. If I get engaged and even marry, it won’t be just once, but my entire life. To that Kale who is notorious for his cruel methods and womanizing.”
“A man changes depending on the woman. If you do better, his habits will change too.”
Arne stared blankly at the Duke. She had heard these words in her past life too. That’s why she clung to Kale and even begged him.
‘In the end, he had an affair with Amelia after the engagement. I don’t understand why I should change Kale, and I don’t even want to be with him after changing him.’
However, the Duke’s eyes showed no interest in Arne’s opinion or how she would be treated in the Wayne family.
‘Perhaps this conversation is happening now because some agreement has been reached with the Wayne family.’
From the Wayne family’s perspective, whether it’s Arne’s fault or Bianca’s, they just need to clear the suspicion of poisoning the Second Prince.
But they would be angry about the humiliation they’ve suffered so far, so they would have wanted compensation. The Duke probably offered some financial compensation, but that wasn’t enough.
To be selected for the project with the Second Prince, the standing of the Wayne Marquis family alone wouldn’t be enough, so they planned to firmly tie the Ronia ducal family through an engagement.
For the Duke too, if the project goes well, he could strengthen his connection with the Second Prince and not only recover but also gain enormous benefits.
It was infuriating.
‘Not only are you covering up what your daughter did by using me, but you even want to recover and benefit from it!’
“You’re really something.”
If the Duke were to put her and Bianca on a scale, she knew he wouldn’t hesitate for a moment.
She knew, but experiencing it directly was quite bitter and enraging. Arne’s eyes grew increasingly cold. Having finished her thoughts, Arne slowly raised the corners of her mouth.
“To succeed in that project, you’ll need to talk well with the Second Prince. I happen to have obtained an antidote.”
At the mention of an antidote, the Duke’s eyes sparkled.
“That’s good. Let’s have dinner together often for a while.”
The Duke seemed to still not understand the difference between her past self who would give anything just for having dinner together, and the current Arne.
Otherwise, he couldn’t have revealed everything like this without even receiving the antidote yet, without even considering Arne’s feelings.
“Your Grace, if you reveal Bianca’s misdeeds and don’t proceed with the engagement to the Wayne family, I’ll give you the antidote.”
“What do you mean……”
The Duke’s pupils dilated as he belatedly understood Arne’s words. Was Arne a child who could say such things? She not only dared to oppose what he said but even proposed a negotiation.
Anyway, the project is meaningless if it’s not chosen by the Second Prince. The Wayne family is inexperienced in business, so they might even end up losing a lot of investment money.
It might be better to properly win the Second Prince’s favor and work with another family instead.
“Honey, what does she mean by providing an antidote?”
Sensing the crisis on the Duke’s face as he pondered, the Duchess urged the Duke. However, the Duke couldn’t answer easily. Bianca’s eyes also moved anxiously.
Arne just smiled faintly.
Translator
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ianthe
will be virtually on break. no novels are dropped. i will be working on them one by one ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧