Chapter 46

“What, what?” 

“Why… why, Madam?!”  

“What on earth is this supposed to mean?”  

The butler struggled to read the words visible through the back of the paper. The topmost line was the recipient, the bottom line was the sender, and the three lines in the middle must have been the message.  

“Where is the Marquis? Has the Marquis not returned yet?”  

“The master is at the estate. He is scheduled to return the day after tomorrow.”  

“Then fetch the carriage! I need to go myself.”  

“Pardon?”  

She crumpled the letter and abruptly stood up. She even kicked the table as she rose, but what did it matter if she kicked a table when she was already fuming?  

“The children are in the annex, right?”  

“I will send someone to check.”  

“No, no, oh, no, oh fine, I’ll go there first.”  

Viola, unable to collect herself, issued incoherent orders. She commanded that all the doors of the mansion—front, back, and otherwise—be locked and that not even an ant be allowed in or out.  

The servants, clueless about the reason, followed her orders and locked the mansion’s doors. It wasn’t long before the news reached the annex.  

“Marie!”  

Viola’s shout echoed through the annex. It was rare to hear her raise her voice. Her usual composed and dignified demeanor was gone, replaced by a face flushed with anger, which made her appear terrifying.  

But even as she frantically searched the annex, tearing through it like a storm, she found no one—not her son, nor her daughter-in-law.  

Oddly, the annex was eerily empty. It was never bustling with staff to begin with, but on her way from the garden to the third floor, she encountered only one person.  

And even that one person was a maid employed by Escael.  

The people Marie had brought with her were nowhere to be found.  

“Where has everyone gone?”  

The maid, who had been struggling to close a window by herself, practically threw herself to the ground in fear at the sight of the furious Viola. Normally, Viola might have joked, asking if she was going to eat her, but not today.  

“This morning, a carriage came, and everyone…”  

“A carriage? What about the carriage this morning!”  

Viola, unable to wait, cut the maid off. The maid, startled, bit her tongue and swallowed the rest of her words.  

Just then, the butler from the main house arrived and tried to continue where the maid had left off.  

“Marie!”  

One of the annex’s front doors broke with a loud crash. Along with the deafening noise, the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs grew louder.  

“Mother!”  

Kalik, his face pale, ran past Viola and dashed into his room.  

“You!”  

Equally frantic, Viola chased after her son. But when they reached the door, both were left speechless, panting heavily.  

Not only was the room completely empty, but it was also in a state of disarray, with dresses and personal items scattered everywhere. The chair by the window, where Marie always sat neatly, was overturned, and the carpet near the door bore clear marks of being scraped by shoe heels.  

Behind them, the maid, trembling, finally managed to stammer out the words she had been unable to say earlier.  

“Th-they were t-taken to O-Odillia this morning…”  

At those words, Viola remembered the letter she had crumpled in her hand. She unfolded it and handed it to Kalik.  

As soon as Kalik read the letter his mother, trembling in anger, had given him, he reacted exactly as Viola had earlier, struggling to find words.  

“Get divorced.”  

***

“Father, do you think this is a reasonable thing to do?!”  

Marie’s voice rang out in the carriage, causing the man sitting across from her to cover his ears. The subject of her anger, Albrecht, wasn’t even inside the carriage. He was outside.  

He was personally sitting in the coachman’s seat, driving the carriage.  

“And what about you, big brother? Why didn’t you stop him? Are you even human?!”  

Facing her was Aaron Odillia, the eldest son of the Odillia family and Marie’s older brother. He opened his eyes, startled by the sudden accusation aimed at him.  

“I’m a victim too.”  

“What kind of victim acts so brazenly?”  

“The idea that all victims must cry is a narrow-minded and unproductive prejudice.”  

“Ugh, my head hurts…”  

Marie instinctively covered her face with her hands and sank back into her seat. Aaron, who had been lecturing her with a solemn expression, closed his eyes again as if nothing had happened.  

In truth, he was enduring motion sickness. When he had been urgently summoned from the estate, he had no idea he’d be roped into kidnapping his youngest sister. Knowing he wouldn’t have come if he’d known, Albrecht had masterfully deceived him.  

“Try to talk things through. If you speak nicely, he might listen.”  

“Did he listen to you?”  

“No.”  

“…”  

Aaron shook his head firmly. While nothing like this had happened before, as far as he knew, no child of the Odillia family had ever won against their parents. The only exception was Marie, who had occasionally managed to win using her position as the youngest child.  

“I’m not getting divorced. I won’t do it.”  

“Tell that to Father, not me.”  

“I already told him!”  

While it’s often said that parents can’t win against their children, the Odillias were different. The parents always won. Their mother, Elise, won with her silly charm and gentle coquettishness, while their father, Albrecht, simply won by sheer force of will.  

Whenever he raised his voice, everyone would meekly respond, “Yes, Father,” and comply.  

It wasn’t that they couldn’t argue back, but rather that they didn’t want to. Besides, what was the point of winning against their parents?  

Still, meddling to the point of interfering in a marriage was crossing the line.  

Marie racked her brain, trying to figure out how to convey her refusal to divorce more effectively.  

Her father had suddenly brought a carriage, lured her to the front gate under the pretense of going shopping, and then locked her in the carriage with the help of hired workers.  

Even the servants who had tried to help her were overpowered and “collected.” There was no way to resist, as the workers Albrecht had brought were union-certified artisans.  

The Odillia servants, realizing this was one of Albrecht’s schemes, had promptly given up. After all, siding with the more powerful figure was the natural order of things.  

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.  

Marie opened the small window leading to the coachman’s seat and shouted again.  

“Father!”  

“Hahaha.”  

Albrecht’s cheerful laughter greeted her. Aaron, unwilling to get involved in the father-daughter quarrel, gazed out the window. From the moment his father had summoned him until now, he had been calculating when he might be able to return.  

He had a vague idea of why he had been called, but there was no reason to separate a couple who were living well together.  

“Marie.”  

“Huh?”  

Marie, who had been clinging to the carriage wall, turned her head at Aaron’s voice.  

Her eldest brother’s expression had softened slightly.  

“This is a battle of endurance.”  

“Endurance?”  

“The one who doesn’t back down until the end wins.”  

“I don’t get it.”  

Marie shook her head. What she didn’t understand was why she had to hear such advice. Couldn’t people just respect each other and back down while they were still alive and healthy?  

“I like him. Why… why does Father oppose this?”  

“Maybe he has his reasons.”  

“What reasons?”  

“I don’t know.”  

Aaron fell silent for a while. When he spoke again, it was after he’d had enough time to assess the situation.  

Marie, who had moved to sit beside him, listened as her brother spoke.  

“Maybe it’s because you don’t seem happy.”  

“Me?”  

“How have you spent the last three years of marriage?”  

“Three years…”  

Finally, Marie fell silent. She took her time, wanting to give the best possible answer to Aaron’s question.  

It was easy to summarize the past three years: boredom, monotony, indifference. At worst, it had been a constant battle of nerves.  

However, no matter how furious she was or how out of her mind she felt, Marie was aware that she couldn’t just say everything as it was.  

“Whatever happened, that’s all in the past. I’m happy now…”  

“So, perhaps they thought you don’t seem happy now.”  

“No, I…”  

“Or maybe they judged that your happiness wouldn’t last long.”  

Aaron’s words struck the mark. And because he pointed out something Marie hadn’t even considered, she was able to calm down a little.  

Besides, no matter how indifferent or detached Aaron seemed on the outside, Marie still firmly believed that her eldest brother would never betray her.  

All the Odillia children took after their mother, Elise, but Aaron and Marie resembled her the most. Especially their soft crimson hair and sharp, proud facial features.  

Because of this, even though Aaron had participated in their father’s schemes under orders, Marie held onto hope that he would ultimately side with her.  

“Thank you, big brother. So, all I need to do is prove that I’m happy, right?”  

“That’s hardly advice.”  

“Still, if you’re by my side, I’ll feel reassured.”  

“Not sure about that.”  

“What? Why!”  

Marie feared Aaron’s “not sure” the most. Whenever he disagreed with someone, he never flatly said “no.” Instead, he would use “not sure” as a roundabout way of expressing his denial. This time was no different.