Chapter 48. Selfishly

Despite her command, there was only silence. As she anxiously checked the address again, someone stepped out from behind a pillar. Recognizing him, Isabelle’s fierce expression crumbled instantly, her face turning ashen.

“It’s been a while.”

He greeted her slowly, stepping out from behind the pillar.

The man, though young, had white hair and pale gray eyes. His entire appearance seemed washed out, as if all color had been drained.

Isabelle called his name in disbelief.

“…Joseph? Are you really Joseph?”

“Yes.”

“How…?”

Isabelle was so shocked she took a step back, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

Joseph smirked and took a step closer to her, muttering.

“You seem surprised that I’m alive. You’re acting like someone with a guilty conscience.”

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Isabelle shouted in a shrill voice, pointing the fan she was holding at Joseph.

Joseph looked at Isabelle with a bitter expression. But it was only a fleeting emotion. He hardened his face and spoke.

“So it really was you. I hoped until the end that it wasn’t true. It seems Alyssa was right.”

“What are you doing here?”

“This is not a place I can’t come to.”

Isabelle swallowed hard at Joseph’s words. With both Alyssa and Joseph in Ahivith, her mind went blank.

She thought she had dealt with everyone that day. It seemed the mercenaries she hastily hired hadn’t done their job properly.

The fact that she had to handle the aftermath alone confused Isabelle. Growing impatient, she frowned and asked in a high-handed manner.

“What do you want? If it’s money, I’ll give you as much as you want, so take it and leave.”

Joseph’s face contorted at the mention of money. The thought that Isabelle believed he had come all this way for money made her feel utterly vile. Joseph stepped closer and spoke.

“Bella.”

“Don’t call me that. We’re nothing to each other anymore.”

“Why are we nothing? I’m your husband.”

When Joseph stepped closer and reached out, Isabelle reacted violently and backed away.

“Stop spouting nonsense! It was just a common-law marriage. Don’t act high and mighty because we lived together for a while.”

“But wouldn’t the Duke think differently? I heard he’s quite a conservative man. That’s why he disguised your background as noble, isn’t it?”

“…Are you threatening me?”

“You started this, Isabelle.”

Joseph muttered self-deprecatingly as he rubbed his face. In truth, he followed Alyssa to Ahivith to stop her from seeking revenge.

He knew better than anyone how hard Alyssa had lived. He hoped she wouldn’t think of revenge and could live happily instead.

On the other hand, he thought that even Isabelle couldn’t have lived comfortably after killing her family.

But facing Isabelle now, he saw that she was far from his expectations. Seeing her still acting shamelessly, he regretted not staying in Kamatie.

As Alyssa had said, Joseph harbored false hopes. He assumed at least that Isabelle would feel guilt, but that was his mistake.

She might even hire more skilled mercenaries to deal with them now. After all, she had the Black Shadow to clean up after her.

‘If you’re really conflicted, you can decide after meeting her. If you don’t want to get involved, you can step back from this. Revenge doesn’t suit you anyway.’

‘But don’t think of stopping my revenge. Even if you’re my brother-in-law, I won’t forgive that.’

Joseph recalled Alyssa’s words and smiled faintly. When he decided to follow Alyssa to Ahivith, he didn’t care about revenge.

He was just curious if Isabelle regretted anything and about the child she carried.

Facing her now, he realized what he truly wanted.

Perhaps he wanted to see Isabelle regret.

But that was a pointless hope.

With a determined expression, he pulled something from his pocket. It was a magical tool to check for pregnancy. It was something she had left behind without dealing with.

Joseph muttered bitterly.

“If you didn’t want me to come looking for you, you shouldn’t have left this behind.”

“That…”

“Paris Blanche, he’s my child, isn’t he?”

“That’s nonsense!”

Isabelle jumped at his direct mention of Paris. She shook her head vehemently, denying it.

“He’s not your son. He’s the Duke’s child.”

“We’ll see about that. If you were already pregnant before leaving Kamatie, he might not be the Duke’s child.”

Joseph spoke firmly, which was unlike him. Isabelle bit her lower lip and asked.

“You’re not planning to go to the Duke, are you?”

“Now you’re scared.”

“Don’t even think about it. If you do, I’ll kill you and then myself.”

“I don’t plan to go to him right away. I’m just curious about my son’s well-being.”

“You plan to meet Paris? Are you insane?!”

Isabelle rushed at Joseph and grabbed him by the collar, her eyes wide with anger.

“Just take the money and leave quietly. You were content living in the countryside! Why come here now and interfere with my life? Are you out of your mind? Huh?”

“Now you’re openly threatening me. Seeing you still unrepentant, I realize I misjudged you all along.”

“Yeah, I’ve always been like this. You were a fool not to see it.”

At that moment, Isabelle pulled out a dagger from her pocket. But Joseph quickly grabbed her wrist. As he applied pressure, Isabelle couldn’t withstand it and dropped the dagger.

“Ugh!”

With a clanging sound, silence filled the stable. Joseph released her and spoke. Unlike earlier, his tone was gentle.

“Don’t do anything rash. I don’t plan to meet the child right away.”

“If you’re trying to drive me to despair, stop.”

“You shouldn’t be struggling with just this. Your sister and I lived in agony because of what you did.”

Joseph took a step back. His demeanor was now cold, unlike his earlier weak appearance. Isabelle spoke.

“Where are you staying? Let me meet Alyssa. She’s more reasonable than you.”

“Well, that’s up to Alyssa to decide.”

“……”

“Take care until we meet again. I’ll contact you soon.”

With those words, Joseph turned and left. Isabelle, left alone, trembled and collapsed to the floor like a piece of paper.

“Haha…!”

Soon, Isabelle’s deranged laughter filled the stable. It was a nauseating encounter, just like the smell of manure.

* * *

After meeting Alyssa, Aster and I returned to Blanche Castle. We decided to discuss the matter further later.

Knowing that she was Isabelle’s sister and that she brought Isabelle’s ex-husband made it easier to pressure Isabelle. The method of pressuring her would just differ.

The stories Alyssa told were so shocking that I still couldn’t fully process them. Back in the bedroom, I lightly scolded Aster.

“If you had such a card up your sleeve, you should have given me a heads-up.”

“I had to be cautious while secretly bringing them into the country. As you know, the Duchess has quite a few spies on me.”

It seemed the reason he had been using the unmarked black carriage was because of Alyssa and Joseph. He would use that carriage when conducting secret operations away from Blanche’s eyes.

The cards he had prepared since Arendt were so impressive that I couldn’t help but be amazed.

“How did you even meet Isabelle’s family?”

“During the last Colt War, I happened to meet them at a refugee shelter my unit was protecting. While checking Aunt’s documents, I found ‘Isabelle Brilly missing’ listed under the siblings section.”

“The name Isabelle is quite common.”

“But you never know.”

“True to your meticulous nature, as always.”

Thanks to his careful scrutiny, we obtained a very valuable card. As I laughed cheerfully, Aster continued.

“Thanks to that, we have leverage over the Duchess. In fact, the decision to involve them was made only recently. I was hesitant about involving Aunt.”