Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The letter wasn’t at all what the duke had expected. He’d assumed that Deborah had been reading the poem as it was written in the letter, but in actuality, there simply weren’t enough words written on the page for that to be true.

Then why did she recite that poem? Surprised and confused, he skimmed the letter, then chuckled to himself pleasantly. So that’s what she was up to.

“My love, I’m currently reading a poem by Rantz Schubert. He’s one of my favorite poets these days...”

“...I sometimes close my eyes and think about the soft scent of the white flowers.”

Deborah had searched out the poem referenced by his wife in the letter and read it to him so that he could better understand what Marienne was thinking and feeling when she wrote her letter. I wouldn’t have felt her words so deeply if I had simply read the letter without first hearing the poem.

Deborah had done something very thoughtful for his sake. The duke suddenly felt apologetic. Up until now, he had continued to peevishly nag at her, asking if she was only bringing him the letters because of the diamond, implying that he wanted her to just quickly hand over all the letters.

Deborah, on the other hand, had waited patiently night after night without falling asleep and appeared with a letter only when he most needed rest. His daughter hadn’t been lying when she said she wanted to be the link between him and his wife.

As evidenced by her actions only moments ago. It couldn’t have been easy to find the exact poem referenced using only the information given in the letter. She likely had to read through every poem written by Rantz Schubert to ensure it was the right one, and what was more, he was known to be a prolific poet.

I’ve been such a narrow-minded father. Finally understanding just how thoughtful his daughter had been, the duke stared down at the letter for a while, an unidentifiable emotion coursing through him.

* * *

“Why has Deborah been spending so much time in my father’s office recently? I’ve been informed she’s even been allowed to leave her room now,” Veleque said peevishly.

His retainer bowed to him apologetically. “The servants employed at the mansion are all quite taciturn and it’s difficult to know exactly why. It wouldn’t look good for us if we appeared to be prying.”

“Have you tried finding out directly from Deborah?”

“The only information I have is that she’s recently bought many romance novels and poetry collections that are popular among young ladies these days.

Because Deborah had hidden the letters she’d found in the garden under her long shawl and kept them close to her body, nobody had any idea that such an important object had been hidden among the flowers. Everyone assumed that the hot-tempered Deborah had just thrown another tantrum.

She’s getting on my nerves. Veleque crossed his legs irritably. Not only was she ruining the family reputation with her atrocious behavior, the brainless girl still had the audacity to go about proudly reminding everyone that she was a Seymour.

He was a man who judged people based on their abilities, and to him, Deborah was just an ungainly deadweight that had to be disposed of. Her behavior hasn’t improved one bit. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.

She’d demanded that the duke buy her a horribly expensive diamond, attempting to squander the family’s wealth on her ridiculous whims. Suppose I ignore the fuss about the diamond since it’s hardly surprising behavior coming from her. But Deborah had also made a mess in the flower garden that his mother had cared for so much.

The moment he’d heard this, Veleque had been certain that his father would punish Deborah far more severely than just confining her to her room. This was not the case, however—in fact, there was an absurd rumor going around that she had been meeting with him for tea recently.

Veleque’s blood pressure had soared when he saw Deborah confidently leaving his father’s office. How was it that she was being allowed to roam free within the mansion after what she’d done? Whatever the reason might be, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his father seemed to be growing more partial toward her. The duke was a cool-blooded man when it came time to weigh Rozard and Veleque’s abilities, but he was showing endless generosity to Deborah, who was the least talented of them all.

I can’t understand his actions of late. If I were the head of the household, I wouldn’t let such a stupid girl even set foot within the Seymour mansion… Veleque sat stewing in his thoughts, eyes glowing darkly. Then he smiled grimly to himself.

Well, she won’t be sticking around for much longer, anyway. All young girls in the Asteia Empire had to marry after coming of age, and there were no exceptions to this rule. Deborah could marry after debuting in the fall and he planned to quickly arrange something for her so he could send her somewhere far away.

Veleque disliked Rozard, who was always in his way at every step, but they were twins and their way of thinking was eerily similar. Rozard also wanted Deborah out of the Seymour mansion as quickly as possible. In fact, he’d even picked out a potential future husband for her. Louie Gazelle, was it? I suppose I’ll cooperate with Rozard just this once, for a change of pace.

Her surname would no longer be Seymour after she married, which meant the family name would no longer be dragged through the mud every time she stirred new rumors. He wouldn’t be forced to endure seeing her face anymore, either.

It was killing two birds with one stone. Veleque smiled wanly to himself, pleased.

* * *

What’s his problem this time? Veleque had stepped into my path as I rushed to the annex after my morning lessons, eager to finish the romance novel I’d been reading.

“What business do you have with me?” I asked.

“What business?”

I stared at Veleque’s narrowed eyes nervously. I was getting goosebumps all over my arms, a reminder that Deborah herself hated the sight of the nasty smile on Veleque’s face.

“Hilarious. You are so clearly beneath me, what could I possibly want with you? I was merely on my way to see father, to report some of my research. I don’t have free time to squander as you do.”

Wow, he has such a forked tongue. He spoke just like my siblings in my previous life had so his nasty words didn’t come as much of a surprise to me.

“If you have no business with me, please be on your way then. I don’t want to start anything with you,” I said as calmly as I could, trying to mask my displeasure.

Whenever Veleque had snubbed and mocked her, Deborah had thrown a fit and taken her anger out on her retainers. This had been her undoing in the end. What a waste of energy. I don’t want to get mixed up in his nonsense, so I’ll just ignore him.

I was about to dart past him when he snatched my arm. “Since you’re my sister, I’ll be generous and give you some advice.”

“No, thank you.”

“If you didn’t want anyone giving you advice, you should have f*cking behaved yourself. I’d have liked nothing more than to pretend you don’t exist and that I have no sister, but people’s tongues have been wagging.” He gripped my arm tighter, eyes narrowing. “I heard you caused a huge racket over a mere jewel recently. I sincerely doubt any man would want such a greedy, ill-mannered woman as you. In fact, thinking about how impossible it’s going to be to marry you off keeps me up at night.”

“You don’t need to worry about me. Let go.”

“Hey now, I’m generously giving you some guidance, here. You can’t use magic, you’re not particularly intelligent, and the only things you do have going for you are your looks and your age. If I were to introduce you to a nice man, purely because I was concerned about your future, I would think that you would get on your knees and thank me.”

“What are you talking about?” Was he trying to set me up with someone?

“Louie Gazelle. You’ll meet him soon, so remember his name.”

Louie Gazelle? That sounds familiar. I suddenly remembered him from the novel. He was the sleazy man who’d spent most of his time pestering the female protagonist. An unimportant side character, he acted like a pervert and his name reminded me of a Thomson's gazelle, so I remembered him regardless.

Goddamn it. I shook his hand off my arm, glaring.

He smiled mockingly and shrugged. “You need to be reeducated, starting with basic etiquette. Don’t worry, I’ll help you so you don’t make a fool of yourself, at the very least.”

This whole conversation was getting more absurd by the minute, but if I lost my cool, Veleque would only laugh at me more. He would ask me mockingly why a noblewoman couldn’t even control her emotions.

I clenched my fist and recalled the way my older sister used to speak to our relatives when fending off their meddlesome comments. “You’re one to talk. Do you have any idea how rude you sound? You’ll need to be reminded what constitutes appropriate language if you’re ever to get married,” I said, throwing his words back at him.

The mocking smile he wore abruptly slid off his face and he glowered coldly. “You’re a mere daughter of the Seymour family. How dare you talk back to me, the heir of the house! You seem to think that we’re equals, but remember this… Given your current position, you should be grateful that a young man from a respectable family is even showing any interest in you at all.”

“I never asked you for your help. You’re out of line.”

“Deborah. If you’d behaved like a proper lady even once, I wouldn’t have bothered involving myself. Tell me I’m wrong.”

“I’ll be conducting myself differently from now on, so kindly don’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. If you’re so worried about my life, why don’t you start by giving me some money.”

“Ha! What makes you think you can begin acting like a lady now, after all this time? Don’t tell me you’re still clinging to the delusion that Pilav Montes will one day accept you?”

What a son of a b*tch. He was going as far as throwing his sister’s crush in her face. Veleque’s mocking abuse only continued from there.

“Wake up, Deborah. Why in the world would Pilav Montes want you for his wife? Haven’t you heard? I hear he’s fallen for another woman recently.”

He must be talking about Mia Binoche.

“I’m not interested.”

“Hmph! Don’t pretend like you don’t care. Or… Is it just too hard for you to accept reality?” He tutted mockingly. “Realistically speaking, the prestigious houses equal in status to ours will still never choose you. Your disgusting behavior has made certain of that. The sons of the Houses of Montes, Orgo, and Bisconti all—”

“I’m not going to marry,” I said.

He stopped short. His expression instantly crumpled into a scowl. “Wh-what did you say?” he said, thin lips quivering.

“I’m never going to get married.”