CH 159

Stunned, Giselle stared at Jubelian. Why… Why was she laughing? An eerie atmosphere permeated the room until Jubelian suddenly stopped her outburst and turned to Giselle. Soon, the lady’s coral lips turned into a smirk. “There’s no point in arguing given her foolishness,” she muttered to herself, to which Giselle stared blankly into space. She belatedly realized who Jubelian was talking to and began to tremble from the humiliation.

‘How dare she call me a fool?’ Having grown up as the daughter of a marquis, Giselle had never had to yield to anything or anyone. Regarding status, there were the royal princess and the daughter of the duke—Jubelian—but the princess led a reclusive life and Jubelian had never dared to talk back to Giselle. Such was the reason why she believed she did not need to surrender anything to the young ladyship. In fact, Giselle thought she possessed a higher status than that of Jubelian, and this reckless conviction caused her to raise her hand to inflict harm on the lady.

“How bold for a halfwit like you to mention such a thing as foolishness! You should—”

Jubelian grabbed Giselle’s wrist, hindering her from executing her movement.

“W-what do you think you’re doing? Let go of me!” Jubelian was stronger than her appearance belied. Embarrassed by the unexpected situation, Giselle looked Jubelian in the eye and screamed, “Let go!”

The lady finally let go of her hand. Giselle began to think of a punishment for the atrocity committed, but in an instant, her head was forcefully turned to the right. The impact was followed by pain that numbed her cheek. In disbelief, she scowled at the psychotic woman, but her cold unfamiliar eyes caused Giselle to be rooted in place.

“A mere daughter of a marquis mustn’t interfere with the business of her superior.” Her voice frigid, Jubelian insulted in a domineering manner. Giselle couldn’t believe this was the same lady she once knew. Frightened and humbled, the young girl ended up bursting into tears. The marchioness, who had been watching the argument from the side, gritted her teeth.

“Girl! Do you intend to antagonize us?” she glowered.

“Your Ladyship,” Jubelian smirked, “you must understand you have already done such a thing to me a long time ago.”

***

“What?” the woman scoffed. “What must you mean by that?”

“You laid your hand on one of my people,” I revealed the reason behind the mess before us.

Furrowing her brows, the marchioness retorted, “When have I done so? I have no knowledge of your acquaintances.”

I frowned in disappointment. Then, scanning the estate’s maids before me, I questioned, “Are maids not humans to you?”

“You… You must be joking with me. Was this all because I slapped that girl of yours?” I could infer from her tone that she did not think of her maids as human beings. In fact, it seemed she valued the objects I destroyed more than those who diligently waited on her. “Ha! I can’t believe you caused this chaos because of a measly maid!”

Dumbstruck, I began to laugh. I was a ball of trouble until now, but I still considered those who attended to me as humans. They were the ones who took care of me when I was young.

“Ask for forgiveness now, Jubelian, and I will forget about this,” the marchioness suggested in response to my silence as if she thought I had shrunken from her mockery.

“I will forget about this”—such a tempting phrase, but the meaning of it was saddeningly so illogical. Only the deities could take back what had already been done. Besides, the woman had already become my enemy after she touched Merilyn. “I’ll think about it once you beg for reconciliation, first,” I said sincerely. It seemed that I had touched a nerve as the lady began to tremble like she was having a seizure.

“You rude wench. Is that your response to my generosity? I would have gladly accepted you as my daughter-in-law if you hadn’t acted like a—”

Cutting her off, I ridiculed, “Well, it seems you are not ready to tame a disobedient woman like me yet. How do you plan to take care of me if you’re shocked by such a little event like this?”

The woman gave up as if she decided there was no merit in conversing with me any longer. Still quivering in anger, she menaced, “You will regret this.”

“The only thing I regret is having spent my life in self-hatred until now because of a pathetic man,” I grinned.

“What did you just say? ‘A pathetic man’?” She threw one of the tattered handbags on the floor. It was clear my comment about Mikhail made her upset. I was contemplating whether I should get hit by the bag and demand compensation for her rash act. The accessory, however, made a strange turn that most likely didn’t align with the law of physics. Bewitched by the phenomenon, I observed my surroundings only to notice that a window was open. I was wondering if I should head to the opening to identify a possible witness to this disaster when I heard the marchioness’ voice.

“Jubelian Eloy Floyen, you will pay for what happened today!” she howled.

Empty laughter escaped my lips. Frankly, I was slightly afraid that my careful behavior so far had turned to nothing. But given that she was my adversary now, I didn’t have to hold back. “I would pay more attention to teaching your kids some manners, Marchioness Hessen.”

Her eyes tinged red, the woman yelled, “You, you lowly…!”

“And from now on, you should buy your own items. It’s unsightly to see a lady use her son to get what she wants.” As I stepped out of the room, I could hear all kinds of insults directed at me. Perhaps my life was going to get a little more tiring from now on, but I felt extremely refreshed after what I had done. Laughter bubbled from inside of me as I crossed the gigantic gate. Although I hadn’t been able to do anything to this annoying door, I felt accomplished with what I had done.

As I made my way out through the garden, a voice called, “Jubelian!”

I turned around reflexively only to end up cringing. It was Mikhail who had yelled my name—his face was much thinner than I remembered.