~Chapter 60~
“Don’t bother Baldwin, Duchess! He hates these things. He doesn’t like trouble at all.”
Gwenndolyn spoke quickly, breathing hard. She had a lot she wanted to say.
“Baldwin doesn’t even like going to bookstores. And being in those gossip papers? Of course he hates it. It makes things noisy.”
Ah, so this was about the gossip papers. Ella had shown me one that morning, excited that Baldwin and I were on the front page.
So that’s why Gwenndolyn looked so upset.
She ground her teeth and continued,
“That’s why I want to help. No one knows Baldwin better than me! I’ve known him the longest. Isn’t that right, Dowager?”
“Of course, Gwenndolyn,”
Lady Rosemarlin said, glancing at me, almost hoping I’d feel hurt.
“You and Baldwin were promised to each other since you were young. He was always kind to you, even if he was cold to others. I remember it all.”
Gwenndolyn looked a bit happier at that.
“Right, Dowager. Baldwin even promised to marry me.”
That made me a bit annoyed. Baldwin did?
“Then why am I here? Did something happen to break that promise?”
“Well, now that we’re adults, we have our own circumstances. But we’re still closest to each other.”
Gwenndolyn replied proudly.
Wait. The dowager said ‘when you were children.’ And Gwenndolyn just said ‘now that we’re adults.’ So…
Did the promise break just because they grew up?
“Oh, so it was just a childhood promise, and it broke when you grew up and realized things? Is that it?”
Gwenndolyn’s face turned red.
“We were eight years old! We understood everything!”
“But Baldwin doesn’t even remember. That’s why I’m the one here now, right?”
Gwenndolyn jumped to her feet.
Why? Did I say something wrong?
Meanwhile…
Lady Rosemarlin took off her gloves and threw them on the floor in frustration.
“She never lets anything go, not even a single word!”
Why did Anais have to say things like,
‘You didn’t know, so of course it’s fine’?
Rosemarlin was full of pride, but now everyone knew she and Baldwin weren’t close. Anais hadn’t stopped there, either—she’d made Gwenndolyn look foolish too.
So the day at the salon ended with Gwenndolyn leaving, face full of hurt.
‘Lady Rosemarlin, I’m so angry about the Duchess’s rudeness. She needs to learn about the value of promises first.’
‘I agree, Lady Rosemarlin.’
Rosemarlin bit her lip. Gwenndolyn and Lady Crenbel both looked unhappy.
It made her angry that Anais had caused this, but even angrier that Anais had seemed so proud afterward.
Why had Baldwin picked a woman like her?
Rosemarlin paced in worry. She and Anais had started from the same place—daughters of struggling families.
Even though she’d married for love, Rosemarlin always felt small because of her background. She never spoke up for herself and always obeyed her harsh father-in-law and mother-in-law. She’d suffered through every kind of etiquette lesson, just like today with the dresses.
Her mother-in-law used those lessons to show she disliked Rosemarlin, and every time, Rosemarlin was hurt.
Now Rosemarlin was doing the same things to Anais. She’d wanted to divorce so many times herself. With Gwenndolyn’s help, she thought chasing Anais out would be easy.
But why wasn’t it working?
“Why aren’t you like me?” she muttered.
Anais was bold and said whatever she wanted, even making fun of childhood promises.
Would Lady Horace start to dislike Rosemarlin now, too?
Rosemarlin wiped her face, full of worry.
This was why she’d run away from the capital’s high society before, and why she wished she didn’t have to come back.
There were too many noblewomen here who made her nervous. Even with the name Constantine, she felt out of place, like she was wearing clothes that didn’t fit.
But in the countryside, people always praised her. Just mentioning a new fashion was enough to get attention.
She wanted to go back there.
But if she ran away now, she might never return to the capital again.
She had to defeat Anais, somehow.
In frustration, Rosemarlin jumped up. She needed to have a word with Anais.
At that same time…
Baldwin came home early. He couldn’t stop thinking about Anais going out with the dowager. He was sure it wasn’t just a simple outing.
As soon as he got back, Ella rushed to meet him.
She was the first to tell him what happened.
“Your Grace, the Duchess has bruises.”
Baldwin’s eyebrows twitched. Was it from violence?
“No, it looks like her skin was hurt by a tight corset. She had to try on almost every dress at Enshuber Salon. Six hours, without lunch! I can’t believe it.”
Ella was shaking in anger. Why wasn’t the duke doing anything? She felt betrayed, but coming to Baldwin was the only thing she could do for Anais.
Baldwin’s face was cold and sharp, full of anger. Ella shivered, feeling the coldness underneath.
[Where is the Duchess now?]
“She’s resting after a bath and massage. I put medicine on her bruises.”
Baldwin sighed and ran his hand through his hair. What were the police doing? Luterick should have taken care of this with money already.
He didn’t want to act directly—he didn’t want to hurt Anais’s dignity, and he promised to trust her.
He decided to send Luterick again over the weekend.
Without a word, Baldwin headed for Anais’s room. Ella followed, but stopped when he entered.
She sighed.
“He really is different with the Duchess. He talks more, smiles more. Even his eyes look different,”
she thought.
But Anais was the same. They seemed like lovers, not just husband and wife.
As Ella watched the door, angry footsteps sounded behind her.
It was the dowager.
“Where is your mistress?”
Rosemarlin looked like she would storm into the room.
“In her room, Dowager,”
Ella said, not mentioning Baldwin was inside. She was curious to see what would happen.
Rosemarlin grabbed the doorknob with fire in her eyes. Ella watched with excitement.
“Duchess! We need to talk about today! Do you know who you upset, how rude you were—!”
Rosemarlin shouted as she threw open the door.
But inside, a pale, cold face appeared.
It was the “ice monster” of Constantine—Baldwin.
Ella grinned.
“Please, Duke, scold her properly!”
