The Ruthless Circumstances of the Monstrous Duke - Chapter 26
“……”
“It seems I’ve come at the wrong time.”
Adam raised his voice, trembling with a sense of betrayal.
“Aren’t you worried about Mother? Aren’t you curious about how much she’s suffering? I’m not saying what Mother did was right, but she raised you with such hardship… You’ve changed. You’ve fallen into a luxurious life and want to forget about us.”
Marienne, who had been listening silently, took out a pouch from the refreshment basket and pushed it towards Adam.
It was money she had prepared to give him along with words of gratitude when they met.
Adam’s face contorted with bewilderment and relief as he opened the pouch.
“What does this mean? What is all this?”
“It’s all I can give you. There’s also a box of money I saved from selling herbs under my bed in my room. Use it. It’s payment for taking care of me all this time.”
“Marienne!”
“I don’t know if that money will solve everything, but please use it. However, healing… I won’t do it. I’m not in a position to do so, and I don’t want to deceive the Duke. I feel sorry for the people who waited, but since it wasn’t a promise I made, I won’t feel guilt or responsibility. That’s for Mother to bear.”
Adam glared at Marienne and clutched the pouch.
It wasn’t the reaction he had expected.
He thought she would cry and cling to him, asking what to do about their poor mother and brother.
Adam was perplexed by the coldness of his sister, whom he thought would willingly share in her family’s pain. And he felt deeply hurt.
“Do you know how much anguish I went through to come here?”
“I know.”
“And yet you’re giving me this?”
“It’s strange. You demand sacrifice as if it’s natural, but why are you uncomfortable with money?”
“I didn’t come here to receive this!”
“It would be nice if I could ask the Duke for mercy to ease your mind, but he’s not the type to allow it, and I don’t want to. Secret healing in the forest? Who will take responsibility if we’re caught? It’s problematic even if it succeeds. Is there any guarantee that Mother, having found a way, won’t do the same thing again? Will you stop her every time?”
“Are you really my sister, Marienne Rose? I never thought you, who always put Mother and me first, would change to be so heartless.”
Marienne smiled faintly with pale lips.
“Take the money even if it’s pitiful. Use it while pondering what I might have done to earn it, left alone in the castle with nothing.”
“What?”
“That… is your share for not understanding your sister’s feelings. I’ll bear the pain of hurting you. Well then, goodbye.”
“Marienne!”
Marienne stood up and walked away, leaving Adam behind.
Her eyes grew hot, and tears flowed. Trying to hold them back by gritting her teeth was useless.
Her steps quickened as she left the garden. Raindrops began to fall from the gathering dark clouds, but she ran into the forest without care.
* * *
“What should I do?”
Marienne’s maid, Bell, paced the central hall anxiously.
Avoiding the head maid’s gaze, she peered at the path leading to the Bernac Forest beyond the fountain.
The young miss who had run into the forest hadn’t returned even as night fell.
When she saw off the dazed guest, she thought the miss would return soon.
But the miss, who she expected to return before sunset, before moonrise, before the rain intensified, didn’t appear.
Could she have lost her way in the dark?
What if she collapsed in the rain?
As she fretted, a thunderclap violently shook the sky.
Deciding that waiting wasn’t the best course of action, Bell entered the Duke’s office.
As usual, the master, absorbed in his work, didn’t even look at his sweating servant.
“Master, the young miss went into the forest and hasn’t returned. I’m worried she might be drenched in the rain. What should we do?”
Nigel’s quill pen, which had been moving quickly, stopped.
As silence fell, the sound of rain hitting the windows became more prominent.
Bell clasped her sweaty hands together and waited for orders.
But there was only the sound of the quill scratching parchment again, with no instructions from the master.
“Master.”
“If you’ve finished your work, return to your quarters.”
“But the young miss is still…”
When Nigel raised his cold eyes, Bell immediately lowered her head. Though he was beautiful like a painting, when faced with those eyes that seemed devoid of light, it sent chills down her spine.
“Th-then I’ll take my leave. Rest well, Master.”
After the unwelcome visitor left and the door closed, Nigel continued writing the mining rights agreement to be sent to the Rampton family.
But the sentences that had been flowing smoothly suddenly became blocked.
His thoughts wandered, and the ink pooled on the quill pen ended up making a stain on the parchment.
Boom! Thunder struck, and the sound of rain intensified.
Nigel leaned back in his chair, staring at the ruined parchment.
Carelessly dropping the quill pen, he began tapping the armrest with his index finger. The candle flame flickered helplessly.
As the night deepened, the lights illuminating the castle went out one by one.
When the melted wax dripped down, unable to withstand its heated weight, Nigel stood up.
He put on his cloak, left the castle, mounted his horse, and rode towards the Bernac Forest.
It was a night of divine wrath.
Lightning flashed, splitting the night sky in various places.
The horse, raising its front legs at the rumbling thunder, refused to go deep into the forest.
Nigel sent the horse, pawing the ground in fear, back to the castle. Then he walked alone towards the lakeside.
With each step his boots sank into the muddy forest path, he regretted.
About his rashness in rushing out, leaving important matters behind. About whether this was even necessary.
Every time a bitter laugh escaped at the pouring rain, he chewed on curses.
She wasn’t a child; she would find shelter from the rain on her own, and if he was worried, he could have sent a servant.
Brushing back his hair, he glared at the forest path where he couldn’t see an inch ahead. And he admitted his petty inner thoughts.
He wanted to see her. He had hoped.
To see that woman, despairing, stuck in the rain-drenched forest.
Would it be similar to the bitter pain he had tasted here in the dead of winter? Would she have the same expression as him?
Or was she already cold, floating on the water? How trivial.
But at the lake, there was only angry raindrops hitting the water surface; Marienne Rose was nowhere to be seen.
She wasn’t grotesquely hanging from a mahovi tree either. Regrettably, or perhaps fortunately.
Nigel frowned at his conflicted feelings and thought about places she might have gone.
How long had he been wandering?
His whole body had cooled in the pouring rain.
“Hah…”
As he wiped his wet face, he laughed bitterly at his drenched appearance.
At this point, he almost wished he’d find her dead in some corner.
“Damn it.”
His fierce eyes caught sight of a cabin. It was the old house of the forest keeper, who now lived in the servants’ quarters.
But wasn’t that smoke rising from the chimney of the long-abandoned house, and light leaking out?
A sigh of relief, or perhaps disappointment, escaped him.
To Nigel, Marienne Rose was as ambiguous as the boundary between a duke and a monster. Murky and unclear. She was an enigmatic existence that couldn’t be easily classified or defined.
Now that he had confirmed she was alive and well, it was time to turn back.
Nigel turned his back on the cabin and took a few steps without hesitation.
Then he stopped.
His head, which hadn’t budged even in the fierce rain, tilted crookedly.
He had seen that detestable bastard who called himself her brother without a drop of shared blood hugging what was his. But he hadn’t confirmed if he had left.
Nigel slowly turned back towards the cabin.
Was there another reason why she was stuck in the forest despite the downpour, why she had knelt and begged, pulling down his pants like a lewd witch?
Nigel’s ashen gaze flew towards the cabin as he raised his chin.
“Marienne Rose.”
The rain streaked down his face.
His ominous smile rose and fell.
Nigel strode forward and burst into the cabin, kicking down the door.
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 - ˵ ) ✧