Just then, the butler, who happened to be passing nearby, came rushing over at the sight of Illia’s arrival.

“Miss Illia!”

“Butler! Perfect timing. I’m going to sort out this whole absurd situation today. Take my attendants and bring Mother out. I’ll drag this madwoman out myself.”

She was bold in a way she hadn’t been last time, like someone who had come fully prepared. The butler, who had been living with his head down and watching her every move, looked at her for a moment before shifting his gaze to the side behind Illia.

“Understood!”

“Butler. You’ll regret it if you move.”

“Absolutely not. I’ve had enough of this too. I’d rather do this than go quietly to the villa!”

In the meantime, her sister-in-law grabbed her arm tightly to keep her from moving.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m taking back my household from whatever madwoman got her hands on it.”

She had expected some resistance, but not to this degree, and her body gave a small flinch. So it had come to this.

“Why? Scared now, are you?”

“Not at all. But are you sure about this? If Dertosse finds out you’ve gone this far, he won’t stay quiet.”

“I’ll make sure he sees it clearly. He can watch it with his own eyes. Just how wicked you are. What you were trying to do to our household with that rotten heart of yours. And on top of that, I’ll make sure we confirm whether the child in your belly is actually Dertosse’s.”

“And how exactly do you plan to confirm that?”

“I don’t know. I’ve called for a very skilled physician, so they’ll figure it out. If not, I’ll kill the child in your belly to find out. Even if it really is Dertosse’s child, there’s absolutely no way I’ll let it be raised by something like you.”

Her eyes were consumed with madness.

“Why… why are you doing this to me? I’m trying to save this household.”

“Don’t make me laugh. It’s all for yourself!”

“No. Why can’t you see it. That everything has gotten better since I took things in hand here.”

“Listen to the dog bark. You took everything from me and have the nerve to say things have gotten better?”

“I simply cut off the money going to people who didn’t need it.”

Illia’s face, which had been wearing a smile drunk on victory, hardened in an instant.

“What?”

“There’s no point smiling like you’ve accomplished something. Nothing will change just because you do this. Do you really think Dertosse will listen to his sister?”

“Ha. You can just be divorced and that’s that, but we’re family!”

“Then… precisely because you’re family, you should have known when to stop. You shouldn’t have pushed things so far that Dertosse came to resent both you and Mother. Either way, don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s too pitiful. In the end, you won’t get anything out of this.”

Illia, who had been flaring her nostrils and about to fire back, curled one side of her lip.

“If nothing else works, I’ll just drive you out. Right. That’s a perfectly good idea. If I say you left the house on your own, what can Dertosse do? If I say you confessed that the child in your belly isn’t real and walked out yourself.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?”

“It’s the truth.”

“I see. That’s a fine idea. But tell me, do you really think I came here without any preparation?”

“What…?”

“I’m asking whether you think I would just walk in here knowing full well you’d cause a scene like this.”

She smiled brightly and shook her head at her sister-in-law.

“Talking like you’ve prepared something when you haven’t! You must be quite frightened after all?”

“Of course I’ve prepared something.”

“What could a fool like you possibly have done!”

“If I were a fool, I wouldn’t have been able to cut off every bit of support going to you.”

When she refused to back down even slightly, her sister-in-law fumed and squeezed her hand hard enough to hurt. But she showed no sign of pain and laughed, her shoulders shaking.

“What a fool.”

“What, what! Hey!!”

And at that very moment, a voice she had not wanted to hear in a long time reached her from a distance.

“Good heavens. What is going on here!”

“Mother! I’m going to expose everything about this woman today and throw her out right now. Do you know what kind of person she is?!”

“Grab onto a rotten rope all you like, you’ll only end up in the pigsty.”

Maids and attendants swarmed around them. Those who hadn’t yet decided what to do hesitated, and only Karla came running toward her, her face drained white. Of course, she couldn’t get within a certain distance because of the menacing energy Illia was giving off.

“Ha. Let’s see how long you can keep that chin up.”

“I’m always like this. Unlike some people, I haven’t been pocketing money on the side. And if you’re going to drive me out, you’d better do it properly. Because if I’m still here, Mother will be the one getting driven out. And if that happens… you won’t ever set foot in this house again. I’ll have a restraining order issued.”

“Who do you think you are! You madwoman!”

“Who am I? The mistress of this household.”

The grip of her hand grew stronger and stronger, to the point where it felt like her wrist might snap. The pain was tremendous, but she ignored it and looked at each person around her one by one.

“The servants of this household are ignoring the Marquis’s orders, bringing Mother out, and on top of that, standing by while this woman runs rampant. Do you think Dertosse will let that go?”

For a moment, she saw a few people flinch, but they were so cowed by her sister-in-law’s force that they held each other back from moving.

“What will you do? It seems no one is following you. Mistress of the household? The mistress is my mother.”

“Will Dertosse feel the same way when he gets here?”

“You won’t still be here by the time Dert arrives.”

She took her hand and pulled her downward.

“Rather than waste time checking what’s in your belly, it would be better to just throw you out entirely. Good. Come out! I’ll throw you out right now. I’ll make sure you never set foot in our household again. If you don’t want that! Then start doing as I say from now on.”

“That will never happen.”

She had thought this might be a little fresh, but true to form, Illia didn’t stray from her expectations, to the point of being dull.

“Then get out! Get out!”

She had deliberately started the confrontation with her on a low part of the staircase, but even so, the five steps in front of her felt genuinely daunting.

But Illia pulled her forward with force, and in that instant, the center of her body lurched forward.

“Ah, ahh!”

Illia quickly let go of her wrist, apparently not having expected her body to tumble, but she had already released the banister herself in order to roll on purpose, and she ended up tumbling down.

She even had a fleeting thought wondering if this was really necessary, but by the time she felt that, she had already begun rolling down what were only five steps, very slowly.

She held tight to the medicine bottle in her hand, making sure not to drop it. After her body hit the floor, she had to use it at exactly the right moment.

Crash!

“Oh, oh no!”

At the same time, she saw the faces of the people who had crowded around her and Illia. She had expected it to hurt, but the pain came rushing in as she even twisted her ankle slightly.

“Ugh…!”

“S, so you should have just gone quietly!”

She was grateful, if that was the word, that she didn’t lose consciousness. She simply couldn’t get up for a long while.

“Ugh…”

“M, my lady!”

Karla came running to her and dropped down in front of her, looking startled.

“A, are you all right…? Good heavens… good heavens…”

“Hah…”

With Karla’s help, she barely managed to sit up, and sat there in a daze before turning her gaze to Illia a beat too late.

“W, what are you staring at! It’s, it’s not my fault. You… you!”

As she braced herself with her arm near her hip to sit up, she broke the medicine bottle. The red liquid soon soaked through the fabric beneath her, leaving it wet.

Just as she was about to say something to Illia, who was turning the situation around on her, Karla screamed.

“B, blood!!”

“Oh…?”

She stared at Karla blankly, as though she hadn’t known, and her lips trembled.

“B, blood…!”

“G, good heavens… b, blood!”

Everyone cried out in shock and alarm. But not a single person came close to her. Only Karla looked at her with eyes on the verge of tears.

“Oh…”

“W, well, good riddance. Th, throw her out right now. Just like that!”

“Illia! W, wait a moment.”

“Mother. Don’t worry. I’ll handle what comes next…”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Don’t worry. As long as we stay quiet, it’ll be fine. What’s done is done, and honestly, everyone standing by in this situation right now is probably of the same mind, aren’t they?”

Illia must have come with a hardened resolve before she even arrived. Unlike her mother-in-law, she would have known that if she didn’t get what she wanted this time, it would all be over. She must have felt that she could only keep what she had been enjoying if she drove her out.

In reality, she had cut off all the funds that had been flowing out of the household to her sister-in-law, and had made it impossible for the name Illia Chenples to be used to buy things on credit at salons, jewelry shops, or even ordinary stores.

She had even told her that the house she lived in, the house she paid a monthly sum for, would be taken from her as well.

‘So she would come rushing here in desperation. So she would resort to extreme measures.’

Illia herself hadn’t realized it, but she had moved faithfully according to her scenario. How obliging of her.