Daphne Burton was quite a haughty woman. However, the moment she saw Khalid, she rushed to this place regardless of whether he was a good match or not.
The Walsh Count family had wealth, but their title was lower than that of a Marquis. Naturally, Daphne’s parents wanted to send her to a better Duke’s family or another Marquis family, but Daphne was so adamant that they decided to do what she wanted.
Daphne, who had just turned 20, stared intensely at Khalid.
‘That blonde hair and blue eyes. And that ascetic face. Sigh. Just looking at him makes my underwear wet!’
Daphne was quite a promiscuous virgin. She enjoyed pleasure every night with handsome servants with good bodies. In contrast, Khalid had so few scandals with women that rumors circulated about him being homosexual.
‘If he’s a virgin, I can teach him all he needs to know!’
Daphne sat next to Khalid and reached out to lightly touch between his thighs.
‘I wonder how big his thing is?’
Already experienced, she couldn’t be satisfied with a small member. However, she couldn’t dare ask to see it before marriage.
Her hand grasped something large and hard.
‘Gasp. What is this! Huge?’
“Ouch.”
Khalid firmly grabbed Daphne’s wrist and placed it on the table. The Countess spoke to Khalid.
“My, what’s wrong? Khalid.”
Daphne blushed and spoke before Khalid could.
“I’m sorry. I thought the pepper was there.”
Khalid glared at her and said coldly.
“You thought the pepper was between my thighs?”
“I thought I dropped it there.”
Marchioness Burton cleared her throat and glared at her daughter. Daphne silently looked back at the plate in front of her.
While eating, Khalid thought of Alice who would be alone at the villa. His mother had instructed her not to leave the mansion while Daphne was there.
Marquis Burton looked at his troublemaking daughter and said.
“Ahem. Anyway, we’ll announce the engagement at today’s party. Daphne. You need to behave properly. Understand?”
“Yes. I understand.”
Count Walsh was very pleased that a Marquis family would become his in-laws. He thought his wife might be losing her charm, but she was still good at supporting him.
Next to the Count sat Leah, a slave. With her swollen belly, Leah smiled brightly throughout the meal.
“Count. So that young lady will be my daughter-in-law?”
With those words, the atmosphere at the table turned as cold as ice.
Marquis Burton saw the silver necklace around Leah’s neck, indicating she was a slave of the Walsh Count family. His eyebrows rose slightly.
“…What is the meaning of this? Are you saying my daughter will become the daughter-in-law of a slave?”
Count Walsh wiped his cold sweat with a napkin.
“Haha…. She’s an uneducated slave who doesn’t know any better. Marquis. Please don’t mind what a slave says.”
Leah became angry.
“What are you saying? Why am I a slave? I’m the Count’s concubine! I’m even carrying the Count’s child.”
Countess Vanessa sighed.
Having a concubine seated at such an important occasion made her not want to associate with her husband, despite being married to him.
She called a servant and whispered in his ear.
“Take Leah to her room.”
“…Yes. Understood.”
When the servant dragged Leah away, she flapped her arms.
“No! Why do I have to go? My son has inherited the blood of the Walsh Count family! Kyak. You’ll regret this! Let go!”
“Oh dear. Leah….”
Count Walsh could not stop Leah from being dragged away. Daphne spoke with disbelief.
“A child born to a slave is a slave, what kind of foolish dream is she having? Seriously…. This is why uneducated people don’t know their place.”
“…”
Khalid stared at his father’s slave. He had always thought his father was pathetic for constantly changing concubines and had also despised slave concubines. However, for a moment, Leah’s image overlapped with Alice’s.
He clenched his fist.
‘I made her a slave.’
Khalid’s selfishness had done that. Just because he wanted to keep her by his side, he had made her, who had become a commoner, a slave again. He could have just freed her family and brother, but he didn’t.
Countess Vanessa poked her husband’s side.
“Are you going to keep Leah by your side even after this?”
“Hmm.”
“Tell me. Are you going to let her have the baby?”
Although rarely, in cases where nobles had no heir, they sometimes adopted even a slave’s child. Countess Vanessa had always been bothered by Leah’s swollen belly.
Count Walsh shook his head.
“We don’t need the child, so handle it as you see fit. Just don’t hurt Leah. Understand?”
“I understand.”
It took just a moment to decide Leah’s fate. Marquis Burton frowned.
“I don’t understand, Count Walsh. Such an insolent slave should just be beaten and driven out.”
“Haha. But you see, she’s quite pretty for a slave, isn’t she?”
“Her face is indeed pretty. Hmm.”
When the Marquis agreed, the Marchioness muttered quietly.
“Men….”
The Marchioness smiled gently at Vanessa.
“Our son-in-law would never do such a thing, right? Hoho. Our Marquis family has forbidden concubines for generations. We don’t use female slaves at all.”
At the Marchioness’s words, Marquis Burton’s expression turned sour. Everyone had concubines, but the Marchioness never forgave it.
Countess Vanessa’s face fell.
“Hoho. Yes, of course…. However, our Walsh family is… somewhat lenient in that regard.”
“Lenient?”
The Marchioness’s eyes sharpened. Vanessa flinched.
“Well, that….”
Of course, she would eventually drive out Noel who was at the villa. But for now, she couldn’t because of her promise to Khalid. At this rate, Khalid might refuse both the engagement and marriage.
“I will take a concubine.”
At that moment, Khalid made his bombshell declaration.
Crash! The wine Countess Vanessa was holding fell to the floor and shattered. Everyone’s face turned to shock, especially those from the Marquis Burton family.
The Marchioness’s hands trembled. She immediately stood up and said to Daphne.
“What are you doing? Let’s go! My goodness. Even though they’re below our status, we tried to arrange this marriage considering our daughter’s feelings, and what did he say? Daphne! Come out.”
“Oh, Mother.”
Daphne looked at Khalid in confusion. Khalid was leisurely drinking his wine.
‘Sigh. That unintimidated appearance. So cool. We could just drive out the concubine, why is Mother making such a fuss?’
Daphne followed her mother while grumbling inside. The Marquis sighed, received Count Walsh’s greeting, and boarded the carriage.
The servants who were preparing for the party looked at the Countess with puzzled expressions after all the people from the Marquis family had left.
The Countess’s face showed dismay.
“Khalid….”
“Yes, Mother.”
“How could you say that! You’ve ruined the engagement because of you! No, can we even have an engagement now? We’ve lost the Marquis family. We need to find a better match.”
Count Walsh patted Khalid’s shoulder.
“The Marchioness is being strange. Everyone keeps concubines. Don’t they, Khalid?”
“Yes, Father.”
Count Walsh laughed loudly and entered the room where Leah was.
It was fortunate that Daphne, who was supposed to stay for several days, had left. Khalid wanted to see Alice at the villa and was about to get into the carriage, but his mother blocked him.
“Khalid. Given the situation, shouldn’t we find another young lady at today’s party?”
“…Another person?”
“Yes. Count Hudson’s daughter would be fine, or Baron Porter’s daughter would be good too.”
“…”
“Come on, get ready. The party will start soon.”
“…Yes.”
The party would last for a whole week. Khalid was worried about Alice being alone. Vanessa, looking at Khalid, thought of the elderly maid she had planted at the villa.
‘She must be doing well, right? Well, I paid her a lot of money, so she should.’
Khalid was healthy now. Recently, he hadn’t been drinking, had been attending external events well, and had been listening to Vanessa. There was no need to keep that slave by his side. Just like the Marchioness was shocked, no one would want the existence of a concubine.
Translator
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sahari
God, how I hate Khalid’s mother, that despicable, ungrateful woman. I wish her the worst. Lea, on the other hand, I adore her. I hope she takes the old witch’s place. She’s my favorite character. I love her charmingly cheeky attitude and her words, which are unfiltered and fearless.