Chapter 64

In the meantime, my maid, Liddell, soon approached cautiously.

“…The-the Duke is waiting at the door, what should I do?”

While groaning, I opened my eyes.

I hadn’t said anything to Dimitri/Dimitri about this because he would think it was reckless and opposed. Besides, if he saw me now, he would tell me to stop doing useless things and recover my body with my healing ability immediately.

Also, I didn’t want to worry him by showing him my blistered body. Even though I had instructed in advance through Agwen to stop Dimitri, I was still uneasy.

“Grandmother…”

As I thought so, I grabbed grandmother Rosanne’s hand, and she lifted her body and bowed close to me.

“What’s the matter, Rowaine?”

“Not Dimitri, he can’t…”

​​

“He can’t?”

“I don’t want to show him this… It’s going to be pretty ugly, and I would worry a lot…”

When I spoke pitifully, grandmother let out a deep sigh and nodded her head.

“All right. I won’t let him in.”

Then, grandmother Rosanne turned to the door and said, “Stay there, Dimitri. Rowaine is naked, so you’d better not come.” Dimitri’s protesting voice was heard outside, but he couldn’t come in. Instead, Madam. Elbas, who had been called by grandmother Rosanne, came in with a displeased voice.

“You make mother walk because of allergies, you have a knack for making a fuss in the house over trivial matters, Rowaine.”

Grandmother Rosanne, who had been covering my body until then, turned around and yelled at her in that high-pitched voice.

“What do you mean, little thing? There’s nothing trivial about a person being sick? It’s only natural for family members to look for each other when they’re sick, so what kind of words is this? And, come and see with your own eyes, Cayetana. How is this trivial?”

Madam Elbas uttered in a slightly surprised voice at the sudden angry behavior of grandmother Rosanne.

“Mother, why are you raising your voice…”

Then, her voice was cut off as if she had found me lying behind grandmother.

I opened her eyes thinly and looked at Madam Elbas, who lost her words, wondering what kind of face she was making. Frowning at me, she had a half-disgusted and half-exasperated expression. It seemed that she was slightly puzzled.

It was a face that, if thought in a vulgar language, would be ‘Sh*t.’

“Mother, do you think it makes sense for her to be like this just because of a pollen allergy?”

She spoke as if defending herself. However, those words seemed to turn grandmother Rosanne’s stomach upside down.

“Is that what you mean when you see a child lying down like that?”

“….”

“Tell me. Is it true that even after knowing that Rowaine was severely allergic to lilies, you acted on your own like that?”

“….”

“If I lose even my great-grandson because of your noble taste, how will you take responsibility for this?!”

“Mother, would she have a miscarriage because of pollen allergy—”

“Look at the state of this child! Do you think the child in her stomach is going to grow up properly?!”

“….”

“It’s already her first pregnancy, but what about Rowaine’s condition? You need to know how to change your mindset. Don’t you know that even a drop of drinking water during pregnancy is bad for the child?”

“….”

Grandmother Rosanne stopped yelling for a moment before glancing around at the surroundings.

“What are you looking at? I’d be affronted if there are people out there who are skeptical about today’s incident. Let everyone leave except for the person involved.”

When all of my maids, Madam Elbas’ people, and even Tyra went outside, grandmother lowered her voice and scolded Madam Elbas in earnest.

“Cayetana. As an adult in Blois, be wise and admit your faults. You were careless this time.”

“But, mother…!”

“…But? What do you mean, but? Go ahead and apologize to Rowaine.”

At that moment, I seemed to know what I should do to further upset Madam Elbas.

“Uung… grandmother…”

As I let out a groan and called for grandmother Rosanne, grandmother glanced at me with a pitiful face.

I spoke in the softest voice I could.

“Don’t criticize Madam Elbas too much. It was because there were too many lilies. I didn’t know it would end like this, but Madam Elbas couldn’t have imagined it any more than me. I’m… I’m fine. As long as my child is okay, I…”

What I said was an angel version of the saying that Madam Elbas was the culprit, and if anything happened to the child, it was all her fault.

It was not even a matter of shedding a tear because her body was already in so much pain that it flowed down itself. Meanwhile, in response to my tearful kindness, grandmother Rosanne sighed and said firmly.

“Don’t cry, Rowaine.”

‘She’s not someone who’s swayed by emotions.’

Pushed by grandmother Rosanne’s charisma, I quietly shut my mouth. Compared to me, who immediately lowered my tail, grandmother glared at Madam Elbas more fearfully, probably because she still seemed quite dismissive.

“What are you doing? Apologize.”

Despite grandmother Rosanne’s urging, Madam Elbas stood still and glanced down at me like a statue. Her irritation and anger could be seen in her eyes. It was a look that clearly thought I was putting on a show.

With her eyes opened slightly, she carefully examined my skin closely as if trying to gauge whether this was like makeup or not.

‘Even if she dies, she wouldn’t want to apologize to me.’

In the first place, she was the one who regarded Dimitri as filth. She was delusional with the thought that her children had died at the hands of Dimitri. So, she must have hated me for being Dimitri’s wife, and that was why she continued to quarrel with me.

Nevertheless, she had dug her own grave.

‘Dimitri’s birth mother and Dimitri are weak people who only fell into her hands, so it would be unacceptable for the strong to bow to me, who’s Dimitri’s person.’

Served her right.

The pain seemed to go away as the coolness inside easily suppressed the pain in my body. Was it because of catharsis? It felt like my endorphins were running wild. Because of that, I could open my eyes a little more clearly and look at Madam Elbas.

‘Why are you still standing stiff without apologizing?’

Unbeknownst to grandmother Rosanne, I gazed at her with that look and smiled, and Madam Elbas widened her eyes.

“I need to call a doctor I can trust. Could it really be because of a pollen allergy? She may have gotten sick after eating something foolish on her own.”

Saying so, her breathing became a little rough. It must have been stimulated by me. Meanwhile, grandmother Rosanne glared at Madam Elbas like a ferocious beast.

“You couldn’t apologize right away?”

“Mother!”

“I thought you were wise. Don’t let me down, Cayetana.”

Grandmother Rosanne approached Madam Elbas menacingly.

“You know that I pressed Rowaine without saying anything despite your insistence earlier in order to stand on your side. The rules of a house are decided by the owner, it’s not a matter for others to discuss. Still, you broke the rules by being pushy, which resulted in this trouble.”

​​

Then, she turned towards me.

“Rowaine, if Madam Elbas doesn’t apologize, tell the conduct guidance committee to hold a trial. You can request mediation in this matter under the pretext of ignoring the authority of her daughter-in-law, who inherited the title of Duchess by preceding her mother-in-law’s authority.”

At those words, a scream-like voice flowed from Madam Elbas’ mouth, who had been calm without ever raising her voice.

“Mother! Why are you doing this with such trivial things?”

As if she hadn’t expected grandmother to bring up such things, Madam Elbas stared at her with a resentful face.

Still, grandmother Rosanne turned her head away from her. So, in the end, Madam Elbas, who read her willingness not to let go of grandmother’s attitude, said to me as if she had made a big decision in the end.

“Please forgive me for my careless mistake, Rowaine. I’m so sorry. I went too far.”

I could see her jaw muscles contracting as she clenched her teeth tightly. Her pride seemed very wounded.

‘She must feel like she wants to die to bow her head to the wife of the child born by a concubine.’

Still, I didn’t feel any sympathy for her.

Because this was the price she paid for abusing and taking out her resentment by scapegoating the weaklings.

Dimitri’s mother was a slave. She was raped by the former Duke and made his concubine, where she had no will of her own. At the same time, Dimitri, who inherited hatred for his biological mother, was a child when he was abused by Madam Elbas… A child who wasn’t even born in his own right.

And today, Sasha, who almost fell victim to the hatred for Dimitri, was also an innocent child…

​​

In other words, the anger, resentment, and vengeance that Madam now felt towards Dimitri and Dimitri’s people were actually feelings that should have been directed at the predecessor Duke. Regardless, as long as she turned her eyes away from the assailants and decided to harass other weaklings as venting, she ignored others’ feelings and became the same villain as the duke who cheated on her.

‘It’s a matter that should have been put to an end by confronting the previous Duke. So, if Dimitri’s real mother had been sent away from Blois, Dimitri would have lived as an ordinary prisoner without knowing Blois. I guess Madam Elbas couldn’t dissuade her husband until he obtained the right to succeed the title.’

It was a pity, but that didn’t mean she should take that anger out on Dimitri instead. So now, to me, she was just an assailant who could never be understood or forgiven.

“I’m tired.”

​​

Because of prior reasons, I chose not to accept her apology, which she struggled with. I didn’t do all of this to accept her apology, I did it because I wanted to get revenge for Sasha by crushing her pride.

“Everyone, please leave now. I want to rest.”

I’ve achieved my purpose.

Realizing my intentions, Madam Elbas trembled. Her face was as if she had been made a mockery of.

__

Thank you so much for always supporting the novels I work on, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot.