The Creditor Is My Husband? - Chapter 53

It was an ordinary, common vow. Just a formality that everyone getting married would make.

Didn’t I make a similar vow to him as well?

But the moment those words of promise left Lucas’s lips, it felt like all other words in the world had vanished.

…As though the only words that existed in the world were those vows I heard.

“…Phew, it’s a bit hot.”

She touched the ring on her finger again and then fanned herself with her hand.

She could see her face flushed red in the mirror.

Wearing a flowing blue dress, her hair adorned with flowers.

“Hmm… Did I make a mistake by asking everyone to leave?”

Giselle stared at herself in the mirror, then feeling somewhat embarrassed and awkward, she rolled her eyes and muttered to herself.

She had finished changing into her dress and getting ready for the banquet that would follow the wedding ceremony.

There was still time before the banquet, so she asked all the attendants to leave.

“No, it’s fine. Everyone worked hard today, so it’s good to let them rest comfortably for a while.”

The burden on the employees must have been enormous for the master’s wedding. They must have worked hard to prepare for a perfect wedding.

Giselle could see the signs of fatigue on the faces of those who had been helping her get ready earlier. It wasn’t because they had shown it outwardly.

She could understand because until very recently, she had been in the same position as them.

The position of an employee.

While Lucas wasn’t a cruel employer, he wasn’t a lax person either.

That’s why working under him always required pursuing perfection. Just like the Taylor family employees who were now serving her.

「I want to be alone until the banquet starts, so please leave.」

「But, Madam…」

「Go and rest. You can even take a short nap if you’d like. That goes for you too, Nanny.」

Giselle sent away all the maids who were hesitating. The nanny was no exception. She didn’t want to be accused of favoritism just because she had brought the nanny herself.

The nanny, sensing Giselle’s intention, followed her instructions without further comment. Seeing this, the other maids who had been unsure what to do also left the room one by one.

And now, she was left alone like this.

“Ugh… Besides, if someone were here, I wouldn’t be able to rest comfortably like this either.”

Giselle leaned back fully against the chair’s backrest and stretched out her legs.

“He must be having a hard time alone. Not being able to rest like this.”

She stretched once more and thought of Lucas.

Unlike her, who was taking a break until the banquet, he would be dealing with the guests who had attended as the owner of this mansion.

In fact, she should probably be by his side, greeting guests together.

「I’ll take care of things here, so you should go and rest for now. Do you know how pale your face is, Giselle?」

Lucas had practically pushed her back to her room. Thanks to that, Giselle was able to finish her preparations and have this moment of leisure.

“Hmm…”

She looked up at the ceiling quietly, then raised her left hand in front of her eyes.

The transparent jewel, without even the slightest impurity, sparkled in the sunlight.

The wedding ring.

She’s just wearing a single ring on her hand, yet its weight was clearly felt.

“Well… I guess it’s natural since I’m wearing something so expensive it’s beyond comprehension.”

Giselle chuckled and clenched her hand again.

It was at that moment.

Someone opened the door abruptly without knocking.

* * *

“You can’t do this! The Madam is resting…”

“I am Giselle’s, no, your mistress’s father! Are you treating me like some peddler now?”

“Baron, that’s not what I…”

Giselle’s brow furrowed involuntarily at the sudden commotion. She stood up and turned towards the wide-open door.

She saw her father, Baron Anticia, berating a maid at the door. She could also see her stepmother and half-brother, William, nodding with seemingly arrogant expressions beside him.

“Father!”

Giselle hurriedly approached them, holding up her dress with both hands. She didn’t mind if the carefully prepared dress got wrinkled.

Instead, she stood in front of the maid as if to protect her and asked the Baron in a reproachful tone.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I was reprimanding the maid for her rudeness. Tsk, I don’t know how they’ve been educating their employees here. This is why family tradition is important. No matter how much money you have, you can’t compare to a noble family with a long history…”

“That’s enough, Father.”

She cut off her father’s words as he was about to criticize Lucas’s background in front of her. Her stepmother belatedly intervened, tugging at the Baron’s sleeve.

“That’s right. There are others watching.”

“Who else is here? Besides, I didn’t say anything wrong.”

The Baron said this but lowered his voice slightly, seeming to realize he had misspoken.

Giselle swallowed a sneer at her father’s cowardly behavior and spoke again.

“I said I wanted to be alone. This maid was simply following my instructions faithfully.”

“Ahem. Even so. We’re not strangers, yet she’s blocking us from entering without any consideration.”

“I wonder about that. It seems to me that you’re the one trying to barge in without consideration, Father.”

If he had calmly approached, the maid would have come to inform her of her family’s visit first. If that had happened, this commotion wouldn’t have occurred.

When Giselle pointed this out, the Baron’s face turned red and then blue. But he didn’t make the mistake of raising his voice while standing in the hallway again.

“…Come in. Mother and William too.”

She had no desire to become a spectacle for anyone passing by either.

Giselle swallowed a sigh and turned around, and the Baron, Baroness, and William quickly followed her inside.

“Madam, then I’ll prepare some refreshments.”

“Please do.”

Giselle spoke to the maid with an apologetic heart, knowing she might have been hurt by her father’s harsh words.

“Yes, Madam!”

Perhaps her sincere feelings were fully conveyed.

The maid, who had been hesitant in front of her new mistress, answered with a slightly brighter face. Then, as if embarrassed by her own reaction, she blushed and left the room to prepare the refreshments.

“Tsk tsk… Look at that now. In what world does an employee raise their voice like that in front of their master? It must be because they have money but no one to properly establish the family’s system.”

“……”

Giselle pressed her lips together at the sight of her father speaking up again as soon as the maid left.

“Just look at the wedding earlier! With me still alive and well, you two entered holding hands. Where in the world is there such a wedding? As expected from someone without proper roots, they don’t even know how to respect traditions…”

“That’s strange.”

She spoke to her father, whose face had turned red with anger.

“I heard that you gladly gave your permission to him.”

“W-Who…”

“If that wasn’t the case, you should have come to the waiting room before the wedding started. To hold my hand and enter with me.”

The Baron seemed at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing. Just as she was about to give a bitter smile at this sight, there was a knock on the door.

Then, the maid who had prepared the refreshments entered the room, pulling a trolley.

While the maid was setting the refreshments on the table, a moment of silence fell. They seemed to realize that this wasn’t a conversation to have in front of others.

“Ahem.”

The Baron broke the silence with a cough right after the maid bowed politely and left the room.

And just as he was about to speak again, Baroness Ireina’s eyes lit up and she spoke first.

“Oh my, is that ring your wedding ring? May I take a closer look?”

“Pardon?”

Before Giselle could give her permission, Ireina quickly pulled her stepdaughter’s hand and looked at the ring with greedy eyes.

“My goodness… This, this is a Talaes Mountain diamond, isn’t it? Right?”

“Well… I don’t know much about jewels.”

Giselle answered a beat late, looking at her stepmother who was questioning her almost aggressively. She only knew it was a diamond, but didn’t know which region it was mined from.

‘Honestly, I don’t understand why that’s important.’

“How can you not know that? Talaes Mountain diamonds are rare gems that hardly ever come to market! They’re worth whatever price you name!”

Her stepmother clicked her tongue and frowned, as if Giselle lacked basic knowledge.

Feeling disgruntled at suddenly being made out to be ignorant, Giselle unconsciously touched the pendant of her necklace. This naturally drew her stepmother’s attention.

“Goodness! How many carats is this? It looks like it’s easily over 10 carats.”

To be precise, it was 12 carats.

Giselle swallowed a laugh, remembering that the pendant of the necklace she had worn with her wedding dress was a 25-carat diamond.

To think that she, who couldn’t even afford a proper piece of jewelry before, was now wearing a 12-carat diamond necklace without batting an eye.

When she first heard about wearing a 25-carat pendant on her wedding day, she had been dazed.

Recalling how she had even imagined an absurd article titled ‘The Tragedy of the Beheaded Bride’ at the time, her face involuntarily flushed.

At that moment, her stepmother’s twisted voice cut through Giselle’s reminiscence.

“How can you be so selfish?”

“Pardon?”