Chapter 145. It Doesn’t Matter Which Family
A quiet night.
This time, when the daytime commotion had disappeared, was the moment Deborah found the hardest to endure.
Because of a person named Lea Parker who had suddenly appeared, the mood that had briefly improved had already returned to how it originally was.
However, there was one thing she realized in the meantime.
That she could no longer remain this pathetic.
Until now, she had been so battered that she couldn’t even stand on her own feet, so she had shamelessly relied on Jade, but now it was time to come to her senses.
It wasn’t a large amount, but she had left all the money she had in Elpengreen.
And since she was in no position to go retrieve it, she was no different from being penniless, and for someone like her, feeling sad was a luxury.
For now, she had to first solve where to stay and what to eat.
Thinking that when morning came, she should first visit the servant registration office she had gone to when she left Elpengreen before, Deborah lay down.
The moonlight that slipped through the gap in the window scattered over the bed with an especially cold sharpness today.
Forcing herself to erase the face of someone she saw beneath that moonlight, Deborah buried her face into the pillow.
Deborah was terribly afraid of how much she would have to toss and turn again tonight before she could fall into that death-like drowsiness.
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“Surely, you’re saying it happened again yesterday.”
At the stiff, hardened voice, Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to answer at all.
But she couldn’t keep silent in response to what the Madam asked, so Charlotte, who had deeply lowered her head, slowly opened her closed lips.
“…Yes, Madam.”
“Until what time.”
At the question that came right back, Charlotte hesitated again.
Eleanor, who caught on to what that reaction meant, furrowed her brows at once.
“What on earth are you people doing— there are so many people in this mansion, and yet you all just stand by and watch as the Duke behaves like that!”
“…We are sorry.”
Bang!
As her fist struck the table, the plates placed on top rattled noisily.
Although she shouted at the innocent servants due to her surging emotions, Eleanor herself knew.
Who in the world could stop her son’s actions?
Something she herself couldn’t do, who else could possibly…
As she raised her trembling hand in frustration and wiped her face, unsure of what to do about this situation—
“Don’t take it out on others, I’m here.”
At the low voice that echoed through the dining room, everyone’s gaze quickly turned in the direction the sound came from.
“…Ray.”
At the sight of him approaching unsteadily, Eleanor’s face sank even darker.
Cecilia, who was sitting across, couldn’t even close her mouth at the dreadful state of her brother.
It was only natural.
For nearly a month and a half, he had shut himself inside his bedroom and poured strong alcohol down his throat day and night, so anyone would end up like that.
The face of Raymond von Cheister, who had been called the most handsome man in the Kingdom of Ruvake, had become a miserable sight.
Staggering as he walked to the head of the long table, he finally sat down in his seat.
In the silent atmosphere where not even a breath could be heard, his unfocused blue eyes slowly swept over the surroundings.
“Why is the atmosphere like this.”
Even though he spoke with a crooked smile, the stiff atmosphere at the table showed no sign of easing.
“If you are uncomfortable, you should have dined separately.”
“Ray. What are you….”
At those thorny words, Eleanor finally opened her closed mouth.
To her, he was a son more precious and dear than anything else in the world, no matter what state he was in.
She was just shocked and heartbroken.
That her strong and proud son, who had never wavered in anything, had gone through something so painful to become like this—it was simply shocking and lamentable.
That day when rain poured down as if a hole had been torn in the sky.
After hearing about the terrible thing that had happened to her son, Eleanor couldn’t rise from her seat for quite a while in shock.
Spending her days in anger toward that lowly woman who had completely deceived her son, there came a day when Eleanor had to experience something shocking that still made her heart race even when she thought of it now.
The enormous sound that echoed through the mansion at dawn.
When Eleanor, who had been unable to sleep all night, rushed at that sound, the scene that unfolded before her eyes was so horrific that even now, recalling it felt like a nightmare.
Her son, who had been shut inside his bedroom for days in an unusually quiet state, was rampaging like a beast.
Where he had gotten it from, no one knew, but the sight of him smashing all the furniture in the bedroom with an axe could only be described as madness no matter how one looked at it.
When Raymond, who had been rampaging for nearly an hour until his entire body was drenched in sweat, finally threw down the axe in his hand, everyone present saw the blood smeared on its handle.
—Burn it all.
After leaving with those words, Raymond had not shown himself even once until now.
Not even to me, who is in the same mansion.
That was why her heart was collapsing at the sight of him now.
Perhaps those feelings were all revealed on her face.
Looking at Eleanor’s face, Raymond picked up the wine glass in front of him and let out a faint laugh.
“You don’t have to look at me like I’m some lunatic.”
“….”
“I should come to my senses now.”
As Raymond swallowed the red wine, his brows slightly furrowed.
Having consumed nothing but strong alcohol on an empty stomach all this time, how could his insides possibly be fine?
And yet, he picked up alcohol again.
“Charlotte, tell the kitchen to bring some porridge.”
She hurriedly turned her head to say it, but before Charlotte could even answer, Raymond cut in sharply.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m not an invalid. With this much food here, why porridge.”
Raising one eyebrow, Raymond deliberately picked up the venison closest to him with his fork.
Everyone watched with great tension as the Duke, with his hollow face, chewed the venison roughly.
But only for a moment, as Raymond’s gaze slowly moved toward the two who still weren’t moving.
“Why are you all like that, not eating. Eat, go on.”
As he struck the plate with the fork he was holding, a sharp sound rang loudly across the table.
At that chilling action, Cecilia finally raised her hand and pretended to eat.
After that, the dining room was filled with suffocating silence for quite some time.
Rather than eating, the Duke seemed to be almost stuffing food into his mouth and chewing.
And the two others who were barely eating in that fierce atmosphere.
As that strange meal continued, a remark suddenly slipped out of Raymond’s mouth, breaking the silence.
“Send someone to the Constant Marquessate.”
At the unexpected words, not only Eleanor but also Cecilia, who was sitting across, turned their gazes upward at the same time.
“Send someone, what do you mean….”
“I mean the engagement.”
At the word ‘engagement’ that came out of Raymond’s mouth, everyone listening wore puzzled expressions.
An engagement.
Although it had not been officially broken, too much time had already passed before the engagement vow.
And no matter how much they had tried to keep it quiet, there was no way the Constant Marquessate wouldn’t know what had happened here.
That made it even more puzzling.
What on earth was he talking about?
Unable to hold back her curiosity, Eleanor finally pressed him for an answer.
“What do you mean engagement, and what do you mean by sending someone.”
“How frustrating.”
“….”
“I’m saying send someone and finish the engagement vow. It will be carried out through a proxy anyway, so what’s the point of dragging it out.”
“Finish the engagement vow… is that what you’re saying right now?”
At the question asked in disbelief, Raymond clicked his tongue and tilted his head with an annoyed expression.
Just what kind of situation this was, Eleanor stared blankly at Raymond.
Ah, as if he had just remembered, Raymond lifted his head and spoke words that left Eleanor even more dumbfounded.
“Tell them to set the wedding date quickly as well. If possible, make it very soon.”
To set the wedding date quickly.
A marriage between noble families, which binds family to family, was not something that could proceed so quickly.
The bride’s dowry agreement, the approval of the Church and the royal family regarding the marital alliance between the two families, and even the detailed procedures for the wedding and reception.
Even if that complicated process were shortened, it would still take at least half a year.
And to convey such words to the bride’s family, who must prepare step by step, was extremely discourteous.
Even while vaguely understanding the intention behind such unreasonable words, Eleanor could not bring herself to agree.
“Ray, even at the fastest, it takes half a year, you know that well—”
“If they refuse, find another match. As long as it’s a place where I can marry the fastest, it doesn’t matter which family.”
“….”
At those absurd words, Eleanor’s face stiffened visibly.
Looking at her, Raymond smiled with narrowed eyes.
“This time, choose someone you like properly, Mother.”
“….”
“As long as it’s not a woman who married another man, anyone is fine.”
At those words that fell from Raymond’s mouth, the faces of those in the dining room instantly froze stiff.
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