Ha, ha?
As if in disbelief, Laura's mouth, eyes, and nostrils widened in shock.
I wanted to ask if her ears were also wide open, but I held back and continued speaking.
“Right now, to me…”
“No. You don’t need to kneel. Even if you do, I won’t listen.”
Laura seemed about to say something, so I quickly interrupted her.
“No matter how much you kneel, bow down, or even roll around on your knees, I won’t do anything for you. I won’t give you money, and I won’t introduce you to the prince. So, don’t waste your effort and just get lost.”
As my words dragged on, Laura’s face grew redder and redder.
Just when I thought she might explode at any moment.
“This is really, I let you off easy!”
She screamed and lunged at me.
Wow, how petty, grabbing my hair first?
I couldn’t just take it, so I grabbed her hair too.
A noblewoman and a noble lady pulling each other’s hair. Anyone who saw would be shocked.
“Hey, are you not letting go?”
“You let go first! Hey!”
I was doing it, but honestly, it felt disgraceful.
Soon, hearing the commotion, the servants rushed in.
“L-Lady!”
“What should we do? Should we cheer them on?”
“What are you talking about? We need to stop this!”
Among the flustered crowd, Sienna quickly stepped forward.
“Both of you, let go and talk! What if someone gets hurt? Please let go…”
But I saw it.
Pretending to mediate, Sienna was subtly pulling at Laura’s hair.
Sienna, you sly thing…!
“Ah! Ah! You really…! Let go! I said let go!”
Just as we were caught up in a one-on-one that turned into a two-on-one fight.
“What are you two doing!”
A voice boomed in the room, sounding as if it had swallowed a couple of train whistles.
“Uh, Mom…”
Seeing Laura on the verge of tears, the Countess approached with a fierce expression.
Laura and I quickly straightened our postures.
The Countess, who had been glaring at me as if she wanted to tear me apart, suddenly turned her back and swung her hand.
Smack!
“Ah!”
The sharp hand landed on Sienna’s cheek.
“How dare a maid lay hands on someone! Truly, if the master is vulgar, the servant is just as vulgar!”
Caught off guard, Sienna was slapped and fell to the ground, having to endure the Countess’s humiliation.
“Sienna!”
“Oh my.”
“Ugh.”
Amid the gasps from all around, I momentarily lost my senses.
What is happening right now…
The Countess was fuming, and Sienna was sitting on the floor, tears welling in her eyes.
Everything felt excessively alien yet vividly real.
Yes, it was so vivid that…
It felt as if I had been slapped. The powerless version of me from the past overlapped with Sienna’s tear-streaked face.
My fingertips began to tremble involuntarily.
Damn it. Shit. Goddamn it.
As I chewed on all sorts of curses inwardly, I clenched my trembling hands into fists.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean? I’m teaching this insolent maid a lesson!”
“She’s my person. Not your person, mine. Who do you think you are to slap her while talking about teaching?”
The Countess’s lips curled into a sneer at my furious shout.
“A cowardly dog barks loudly. That’s exactly what you are right now. Aren’t you afraid of me?”
Her whisper pierced through me, and I froze.
Yes, I am afraid.
I know in my head that I shouldn’t be afraid, but the fear etched into my body wouldn’t easily fade.
My head drooped involuntarily.
Perhaps due to the chaos, my vision was blurry.
As I struggled to find my words, the Countess poked my shoulder deliberately.
“Even if you pretend to be brave, you haven’t won. Even if you act like you’re not afraid, you are afraid.”
“…”
“Not knowing that, I was worried about how to educate you again. In truth, you haven’t changed at all.”
“…”
“Now that you’re a duchess, you strut around, and because you’ve connected with the royal family, you hold your head high. You’ve been arrogant, insolent, and despicable, but in the end, your essence is this. Filthy, vile, and pathetic…”
“…”
“You shouldn’t have been born…!”
At that point, the Countess’s words ceased. Simultaneously, I no longer felt the sensation of her nails digging into my shoulder.
…What is this?
I lifted my head in a daze.
In my blurry vision, I saw someone’s face.
“How dare you.”
Black hair and blue eyes.
“What are you doing right now?”
The person I had longed to see so much.
“What are you doing to my wife in my house?”
Dante Richter.
He was my husband.
* * *
Dante felt the sensation of his eyes turning for the first time in a long while.
It was the first time he felt such clear anger since Julia’s betrayal.
‘I rushed over as soon as I heard there were uninvited guests…’
While he was surveying the northern forest, he received an urgent message from Barhan and was on his way back as quickly as possible.
But to face such a scene.
“...Dante.”
The terrified maids and the maid sprawled on the floor.
That maid was even one of Serafina’s favorites.
Moreover, Serafina was somehow staring blankly, her head drooping.
It was similar to when she suddenly panicked at the hunting festival.
In that moment, he felt blood rushing to his head.
How dare they touch someone.
Someone so precious that he was afraid to even lay a finger on her every day.
Even being careful not to wear her down or lose her was not enough.
And yet, how dare they.
Dante felt an overwhelming urge to break the fingers that were poking at Serafina’s shoulder.
Not doing so and merely grabbing the wrist was an immense display of self-control for him.
“Ugh, M-Master. Please let go of this…”
However, even that seemed unbearable, as the Countess pleaded with a pale face.
“What are you doing? Let go of that hand!”
At Laura’s horrified shout, Dante replied in a flat voice.
“What do you mean? I haven’t done anything yet.”
“W-Well, my mom is your mother-in-law. How can you treat someone you should respect so harshly?”
His cold blue eyes scanned Laura and the Countess alternately.
Soon, his head tilted slightly.
“What to do? I’m a monster, so I don’t know about respect or hierarchy.”
His voice, devoid of inflection, was chilling to the bone.
Laura felt a shiver run down her spine, and tears threatened to spill.
I’m scared. So scared.
I shouldn’t have come to this house.
〈He’s a so-called monster duke, can he really just barge in like this?〉
〈Don’t worry, Laura. You saw him at the ball. No matter how much of a monster he is, he’ll be gentle in front of women.〉
Gentle? What nonsense.
Laura was at a loss, pacing back and forth.
In the meantime, the Countess’s pained groans grew louder.
Just as I worried that her wrist might break.
“Let her go, Dante.”
The quiet words were what stopped Dante.
What was it about those words that made him release the wrist he had been holding onto mercilessly?
“Uh, Mom!”
As soon as the Countess was freed, Laura rushed to her side.
“Have you treated my wife like this all this time?”
Laura replied defensively to Dante’s murmured words filled with anger.
“It was just discipline! She’s an ignorant nuisance, so it’s only natural to educate her.”
“Ha.”
His laughter came from her brazen attitude as if she had done nothing wrong.
Thinking of Serafina, who must have endured all sorts of disdain and contempt under such people…
“Discipline, huh? Then, does warning an intruder fall under the category of discipline?”
“D-Do something about that monster, Serafina!”
At the words that could be interpreted as either a plea or a threat, Serafina glared at Laura.
Dante held his breath for a moment, worrying that Serafina might genuinely fear him.
This was the first time he had shown such a side, so perhaps Serafina was just as surprised as they were.
In the early days of their marriage, she had been the one most afraid of him.
Dante looked at Serafina with tense eyes.
As if she had expected this, her green eyes were already directed at him.
In the sudden meeting of their gazes, Serafina smiled slightly.
“Watch your words, Laura. Don’t speak carelessly to my husband.”
With that, Serafina slowly moved to stand beside Dante.
As always, she crossed her arms and leaned her forehead against his arm, then straightened up and smiled.
Dante responded with a gentle smile.
The Countess, who was huddled in the corner, clutching her sore wrist, gritted her teeth at the sight of the two looking so friendly.
She couldn’t contain her frustration and resentment.
This was all Serafina’s fault.
She couldn’t bring herself to blame the duke, so all her misplaced anger fell on Serafina.
“Get both of them out. Never let them into my house again.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
At the shameful order, the duke’s knights moved swiftly.
“Let go! Can’t you let go of this?”
“Let go! Get your filthy hands off!”
Despite the fierce resistance, the Countess had no choice but to have her arms held by the knights.
Just before she was dragged out, she shouted in a fit of rage.
“You ungrateful wretch! How dare you repay the kindness of feeding, sheltering, and raising you like this!”
“Then do you want to live here?”
“What?”
“I’ll repay the kindness of raising, feeding, and sheltering you, so you can live here.”