Chapter 32

32

“Marchioness, it’s Daymond.”

“What is it?”

“Sir Hawk has just arrived at the manor with the guests.”

“Is that so?”

Irenea had wondered hopefully whether Leonard might have arrived, and she couldn’t help feeling disappointed, if only for a moment.

Kiri must have seen her face, because she let out a small giggle.

Irenea cleared her throat briefly and spoke in a dignified voice, as if nothing had happened.

“They’ve come a long way and must be tired, so show the guests to the annex we’ve prepared and let them rest well.”

“Tell Hawk to come here.”

“And tell the head cook to prepare tonight’s banquet.”

“Yes, my lady.”

A short while later, Hawk entered Irenea’s office.

“Hawk Nester, reporting that I’ve carried out your orders, my lady.”

“Report.”

“Yes. First, as you instructed, I went to the Mercenary Guild headquarters and…”

At the news that he had hired the Iron Blood Mercenary Company without pay, she pressed a hand to her forehead once, but at the news that he had challenged someone to a duel with his gloved hand, she nodded in approval.

“And as you ordered, I handed over the thirty million Larc as well.”

“Did you? Well done.”

Irenea praised him, but Hawk let out a groan.

“Is it really all right? Even so, it’s thirty million Larc.”

“Of course, for you, my lady, spending five hundred million on a dowry, that’s hardly a dent…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“I’m due to get exactly double back.”

“And while I’m at it, I’ll be rid of that good-for-nothing I can’t stand the sight of.”

Judging by her eyes, sparkling with anticipation, she was clearly plotting something on the side.

Knowing there was no need for him to worry when Irenea wore that face, Hawk merely shrugged once.

“And as you said, the Count’s daughter’s luggage was truly… meager.”

“So on the way here, I bought a few things.”

“Quite a lot of things, actually.”

Hawk held out a bundle of receipts to Irenea.

Kiri, aghast at its thickness, snatched the bundle away.

“Good heavens… How much is all this?”

“You even bought a necklace made of blue diamonds?”

“Isn’t it a bit much to spend so recklessly just because it isn’t your money, Brother?”

Hawk’s shoulders drooped like a scolded puppy’s at Kiri’s glare.

Having wasted so much money that he’d been reduced to living on his younger sister’s allowance, Hawk always shrank before Kiri where money was concerned.

“No, you heard her too, didn’t you? She was adamant that the young lady should never have to read anyone’s face or have her pride bruised because of money.”

“Why? What happened?”

Irenea took the receipts from Kiri.

Checking from the topmost one, a single blue diamond alone had cost four million Larc.

Together with the dresses and everything else, it came to five million Larc in total.

An amount like this couldn’t dent Irenea’s coffers, but it was certainly a considerable sum.

“Well, at the jewelry shop, some noble lady picked a fight with us.”

“What was her name… Schulz?”

“…Schulz?”

“Ah, yes. Schulz.”

“I think she said she was Viscount Schulz’s daughter.”

“She said she’d never seen Lady Jenis’s face before…”

“Lady Jenis?”

“My, have you already reached the point of calling the Count’s daughter by her name?”

Irenea’s deeply furrowed brow smoothed out, and her cheeks flushed red.

Seeing her eyes brimming with expectation, Hawk quickly waved his hands to say it wasn’t like that.

“It just happened that way, it doesn’t mean anything…”

“Anyway, the moment she heard the name Elpiers, she looked down on the young lady something awful as a girl from a poor house, so I told them to give me everything, including the blue diamond that girl had been about to buy.”

“Right, if that’s the case, you absolutely should buy it.”

“Well done. I’ll give you a bonus.”

“M-Marchioness!”

“From now on, do the same whenever something similar happens.”

“Especially if the other party is from House Schulz.”

Irenea gave him the bonus on the spot, using the seal and checkbook he had returned.

Hawk was elated and beaming, but the check went into Kiri’s pocket.

Naturally.

“It must have been a tight schedule, so you’ve worked hard.”

“Get some good rest today.”

“After running one errand for me.”

“What errand?”

Irenea took a sheet of paper from the drawer and quickly jotted down a short note.

“Deliver this to the Shadow.”

* * *

Jenis had been to the capital before, but she had never been so thoroughly dazed by a trip there.

“Welcome. Welcome to the Blair residence.”

“I’m Jane, and I’ll be attending you, miss, during your stay.”

“I’m Maria. I look forward to serving you, miss.”

“You and your companions may use this annex together.”

“Every room on the first and second floors has been cleaned in advance, so please choose whichever one you like.”

“When you wish to go out, please tell us beforehand, and we’ll prepare a carriage, a coachman, a footman, and an attendant to guide you.”

“A banquet to welcome our guests has been prepared for this evening, but if you’re hungry, we can prepare some light refreshments.”

“We’ll prepare your bath. Please wait a moment.”

“We’ll attend you at your bath, miss.”

“If the water is too cold or too hot, please tell us at once.”

“We’ll give you a massage.”

“Which scented oil would you like?”

“Please choose whichever loungewear you like from here.”

“We apologize, we weren’t fully prepared and could only provide ready-made clothes.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll have a tailor called so you can be fitted for new clothes.”

There had been plenty of trouble on the road after leaving home for the capital, but what happened after arriving at the residence dazed Jenis just as thoroughly.

By the time she came to her senses, she was sitting with her languid body sunk into a plush sofa.

Her hair, dried at once and then combed smooth, smelled lovely, and the loungewear they had apologized for as ready-made clung softly to her skin.

What was more, she wasn’t the only one enjoying such luxury.

Not only Madam Sara but Michelle as well had enjoyed the bath and the massage, and now lounged across from her, equally slumped.

Bin and Heath had gone to the dining hall to eat, saying they were hungry.

“Piling up that precious chocolate like a mountain and gobbling it down.”

“The Marchioness Blair really is rich, it seems.”

“Back in the day, the young lady also ate it piled up like this…”

Beside Michelle, who was tossing chocolates into the air and catching them in her mouth, Madam Sara dabbed her wet eyes with a handkerchief.

“The late Countess must be glad as well, I’m sure.”

“The young lady ought to have been treated like this all along.”

“…If it were Mother, I think she’d have told me never to let my guard down.”

“Pardon?”

“Am I the only one who thinks this situation is strange?”

Jenis hadn’t so much as touched the chocolates Michelle praised as delicious, nor the fragrant flower tea.

Fiddling with the hem of her clothes, made of a luxurious fabric that hardly wrinkled, she worked her lips.

“I understand that the Marchioness Blair is marrying Brother.”

“But that doesn’t mean she has to treat us this well, does it?”

“Doesn’t have to? Of course we should treat the family of the person she’s about to wed with the utmost courtesy.”

“Besides.”

Madam Sara glanced quickly around, then covered her mouth with her hand and whispered.

“They say the Marchioness fell for our Count at first sight.”

“Isn’t that what makes it worse?”

“What if she brought me here to use me as a hostage?”

It was Michelle who burst out laughing at that.

“Goodness, isn’t the young lady’s imagination a bit too rich?”

“You needn’t worry about that.”

“Surely someone as grand as the Marchioness Blair wouldn’t stoop so low as to take a family hostage.”

“B-but you never know with people.”

As Jenis blushed, Michelle waved her hand again to say there was truly nothing to worry about.

“If that were her plan, would she have treated even us like honored guests?”

“The Marchioness Blair just wants to win points with the people around Ray.”

“Because she’s fallen in love.”

“Love…”

After the string of events they had been through, Michelle’s trust in the Marchioness Blair had grown considerably.

So her voice came out quite confident, but Jenis only grew more confused.

The wedding hurried through in a mere month, the five-hundred-million dowry, bringing her all the way to the capital and treating her so preciously, all of it because the Marchioness had fallen in love?

‘But even so, no matter how in love she is… isn’t handing over five hundred million as a dowry absurd?’

Even fifty million Larc would have terrified her, and this was five hundred million.

“Hah… I’m going to get some air.”

“Shall I go with you?”

“No. Madam Sara, you should rest too.”

“It’s not a dangerous place anyway… I’ll just look around the garden for a bit and come back.”

“Yes, miss.”

Everyone seemed to agree that Blair Manor was not a dangerous place, so Madam Sara and Michelle readily let Jenis go alone.

Out in the garden, Jenis strolled among the daintily arranged flowers and shrubs and let out a heavy breath.

‘If Brother were here, at least, I wouldn’t feel this uneasy.’

Knowing there was no justifiable reason for it, her heart stayed uneasy no matter how well she was treated.

Even in the same situation, she wouldn’t have felt this way before Mother died.

Only after losing the sturdy roof and walls that had shielded her from every fierce storm had Jenis come to understand.

That the favor and kindness she had always received as a matter of course had never been a matter of course at all.

The people who had been kind to her for a reason coldly turned their backs once the reason was gone.

Even feeling ashamed of pity had become a luxury.

People laughed at her without hesitation as she begged desperately for help.

Even her fiancé, who had confessed his love dozens of times.

‘Ah, right. I truly did love you. But marriage is reality, isn’t it? Jeni, don’t think of dragging me down into the pit of hell with you. Not if you really love me.’

“Talk of love…”

Jenis nudged a small pebble with the tip of her toe.

She chased after the pebble as it rolled without getting far, and nudged it again, tap, tap, tap.

‘The Marchioness Blair fell for Brother at first sight? And what if that love cools? What happens when five hundred million starts to feel like a waste?’

Tap.

‘If she asks for the money back and Brother can’t return it? Wouldn’t we end up five hundred million in debt?’

Tap.

‘However I think about it, it’s suspicious. Something is wrong. At the very least, I have to keep my wits about me…’

Thump—

“Huh?”

A small ball caught at the toe of Jenis, who had been kicking the pebble absentmindedly.

The ball bounced thump, thump and rolled along, a toy made of silk that looked expensive at a glance.

Worried she might have damaged it, Jenis hurriedly picked up the ball and dusted it off.

‘The owner must be nearby… Ah.’

A small child was hiding behind a garden tree a little way off.

More than half of the face and skirt were showing, so it was doubtful whether that could truly be called hiding.