“I had to be dragged into a room and beaten. Until his mood improved completely.”

“Exactly how were you beaten?”

“Well, sometimes I was hit with a whip and sometimes with a leather belt. At those times, I deliberately screamed and cried.”

“……Why?”

“Because I knew it would improve the Duke’s mood at least a little faster.”

Though it was already in the past, her hands trembled uncontrollably throughout the recollection. The areas that had healed into scars seemed to burn with pain.

Jürgen continued his questions.

“Did you beg for forgiveness while crying?”

“Yes. I begged. The Duke enjoyed it when I pleaded.”

At that, Jürgen put down his teacup, furrowed his brow, and rubbed his eyes.

“……When he wasn’t beating you.”

“He was…… unpredictable. Even after beating me nearly to death, the next day boxes of clothes made for me would arrive. I could eat delicious food too. As if he was trying to compensate me.”

She remembered having to stand before the Duke whenever she wore new clothes. She also remembered his touch as he stroked her lovingly while looking at her, prettily adorned with the help of the maids.

Of course, Diez trembled with fear even in moments when she received his affection.

The Duke’s mood was like summer weather. The man who seemed to be in a good mood just a moment ago would suddenly drag Diez to a room to punish her.

So it was inevitable that Diez could never relax for a moment in his presence.

“Clothes.”

Jürgen, who had been muttering to himself, asked in a subdued voice,

“Do you still have those clothes?”

“Yes. They should still be stored in the wardrobe.”

“I will order them all to be thrown away, so keep that in mind.”

“……Yes.”

Of course, she had no attachment to those clothes. She didn’t feel the slightest regret about the clothes. Rather, she was even grateful that he would dispose of them for her.

However, Diez still couldn’t grasp his intentions.

Is he asking what I went through out of simple curiosity?

“Is there nothing else you wish to tell me?”

“That’s all. Being doted on, sometimes beaten…… Apart from being treated differently depending on his mood, there’s nothing particularly……”

“Miss Schleicher.”

Jürgen looked directly at Diez for the first time. When their eyes met, Diez unconsciously held her breath. Jürgen’s gaze was as sharp as it had been yesterday in the office.

“Answer truthfully to what I’m about to ask.”

What is he trying to ask? She had no reason to lie at this point anyway.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Besides the beatings, did you experience anything worse?”

“Worse…… things?”

“I’m asking if he ever ordered you to spread your legs.”

Diez’s face turned deathly pale at the unexpected question.

“That never happened.”

Despite her mind going blank, the answer came out immediately.

“Really. He never gave such orders.”

“Did he ever expose himself in front of you?”

Diez froze completely and couldn’t say a word. Jürgen’s expression as he asked was colder than ever. She thought she might get slapped if she answered incorrectly.

Fortunately, Jürgen didn’t force her to answer. His expression softened slightly as he observed her reaction.

“If it never happened, then that’s fine.”

“Why…… are you asking such things?”

“Because he was the kind of man who would commit such acts, that’s why I’m asking.”

He said in a somewhat irritable tone. Of course, Diez hadn’t lied to him. Though she had been beaten by the late Duke, she had never engaged in s*xual acts with him.

But what did that have to do with Jürgen?

‘Even if I had experienced such things, it wouldn’t concern him.’

“You won’t have to experience such things anymore.”

Jürgen said in a still rigid tone.

“That man is dead and no longer in this world.”

Diez nodded slightly. Though it still didn’t feel real that the late Duke was dead, whenever she saw Jürgen, who had become the new master of the Klaus duchy, the fact that he was no longer in this world would suddenly hit her.

Still, Diez’s life had improved somewhat. As he said, she would no longer have to be beaten by the Duke or face his base desires.

It was true that the late Duke had never taken Diez to bed.

But there was one fact that Diez couldn’t bring herself to tell Jürgen.

The Duke’s trousers that she had accidentally glimpsed while being beaten were clearly…….

“Is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

Startled, Diez immediately shook her head.

“There was nothing else. Really.”

“I apologize for calling you at such an early hour.”

Of course, he didn’t look sorry at all, but Diez decided to be grateful for his words alone.

“You may go now. Rest for the time being. I’ll be considering how to handle the issues involving you.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Diez straightened her skirt and left his side. Accustomed to being cautious for a long time, she closed the door more carefully than even the maids. The sound of the door closing was barely audible.

After confirming that the door had closed, Jürgen moved the teacup far away from himself. Though he wasn’t in the mood to drink tea, he had held onto the cup because it seemed to help him maintain his composure.

He too was aware that his father had mercilessly beaten Diez. But what Jürgen really wanted to know was something else.

He was captivated by the thought that he needed to know whether his father had touched her body in other ways, even though he didn’t want to know.

Fortunately, Diez said the late Duke had not made s*xual demands of her. She didn’t seem to be making up lies, so Jürgen decided to believe her.

But why should I be curious about such things?

Even if my father had taken her to bed, what would that have to do with me?

At this point…

For a brief moment, Jürgen imagined the late Duke mounting Diez Schleicher’s n*ked body, and feeling suddenly nauseated, he covered his mouth.

Barely suppressing the urge to vomit, he leaned back against the backrest, breathing deeply until his stomach completely settled.

Haa.

After letting out a breath, Jürgen realized he hadn’t offered Diez even a cup of tea.

Of course, whether to treat her well or not was entirely up to him.

Diez Schleicher was the most difficult and troublesome homework his father had left him.

Should he send her away from here? Whenever he saw her, who had once been the object of his clumsy crush, Jürgen’s mind became more tangled than ever. How ridiculous. As if his crush on her was still valid…….

I want to treat her well.

The thought suddenly occurred to him. Diez was a lovely woman, and he didn’t want to deny that fact. The first love he had never dared to confess was staying right here in this mansion.

But Diez Schleicher was also the woman Jürgen should desire least.

She was his father’s most cherished mistress.

He didn’t want to desire such a woman. He already found it disgusting enough to share the same bloodline as his father; he had not the slightest desire to create another commonality between them.

After realizing that his father was a filthy and vile human being, Jürgen had spent his entire life trying to become a distinctly different person. His life goal was to avoid following in his father’s footsteps.

Of course, Diez was not at fault. She had only been sold for money because her family had fallen. She was a woman who, though intimidated, had not lost her loveliness, and that made her all the more dangerous.

He was confident enough not to follow in his father’s footsteps. Jürgen did not doubt his own qualities. He never had, and there was no reason to.

Only the existence of Diez Schleicher kept catching on his heart.

His father’s most cherished mistress. The girl he had secretly had a crush on when he was young. Diez was precariously walking on the boundary Jürgen least wanted to cross.

Though he knew he should ignore her, it wasn’t easy to do so.

It was maddening.

If she bothers me so much, I could just throw her out of here and be done with it.

Sitting on the sofa with a serious face, Jürgen stood up and picked up the receiver. After dialing the internal phone a few times, the servant in charge of managing the mansion answered.

— Yes, Your Grace.

“I need to give an instruction……”

Speaking through the receiver, he suddenly stopped as if something had caught in his throat.

— Your Grace?

I will send Miss Schleicher away. Have her pack her belongings and throw her out of here immediately.

In the end, he failed to utter the words that had been circling in his mouth several times.

“……Burn all the clothes Miss Schleicher has.”

— Understood.

“Instead, give her some banknotes and send her out. Tell her to buy whatever clothes she wants.”

— I will do so.

Jürgen put down the receiver with rougher movements than usual.

He felt like sh*t. Why am I being so stubborn about this?

He had failed to control himself. It was all because of Diez Schleicher. Though he didn’t want to admit that he had lingering feelings for her, he had just proven to himself that he couldn’t deny it either.

That was, beyond expectation, a very unpleasant realization.

* * *

“The Duke…… gave this to me?”

Diez asked in bewilderment as she received the leather wallet containing a bundle of money. The servant who handed her the wallet conveyed the Duke’s instructions in a businesslike tone.