CHAPTER 72…………………
00072 Ailhardt Snain
Thanks to all this, the ducal house had suddenly become quite busy. Because I was a foster daughter and supposedly very frail, marriage proposals—which had been quiet until now—suddenly poured in. I hadn’t known it, but after the banquet, quite a number of offers had come for me. Still, since Pionero knew very well who I liked, he must have handled them all before they ever reached my ears. Only now, hearing of it, I looked sourly at the mountain of gifts piled up before me.
Marriage… Honestly, I had never once thought about it seriously. In the past, it simply never crossed my mind, and now that I had become a demon, I couldn’t see why I would ever need such a thing. I ordered all the gifts sent back without even touching them with a fingertip. I simply couldn’t follow the thinking of nobles who could so lightly speak of marriage with someone they had never even seen. Weren’t books always describing it as a noble and beautiful eternal vow?
As I hesitated over what to do with the letters, Lupian threw them all into the fireplace. Colored envelopes blackened, then went up in hot flames, and as I stared silently at them burning, my lips parted.
“Marriage…”
Hadn’t I just said I didn’t feel the need for marriage? Why was I bringing up the word? Could it be that I wanted to marry him? But no—that still felt… not quite right. After a moment of thought, I corrected myself. It wasn’t that I was dismissing marriage—it was rather that I had been harboring a secret ideal about it.
Before he could say anything, I hurriedly insisted it was nothing and ran out of the room.
Leaving proposals aside, the first to react to the rumors swelling day by day was Haula. He had disappeared like the wind right after learning I had once been Ailey White. Perhaps that was why, when he returned to the castle this time, he was with Ulysses. Seeing the two of them approach from afar, I could only stand there blankly for a while.
But why was Ulysses here? Could it be Haula had told him my secret? I knew he wouldn’t, but still I couldn’t help but feel anxious. As I stood frozen, Haula ran up and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me.
“Sis, sis, are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. More importantly, why is Ulysses here?”
“Grades came out. That means vacation soon.”
“Soon?”
“Well, technically it’s not vacation yet, but since grades are out, there’s no reason to bother with classes anymore.”
This brat. Pinching his cheek hard, I looked over at Ulysses as he caught up. I’d thought Haula had dragged him here by force, but strangely, I couldn’t see any dissatisfaction on his face. Had he simply become resigned to Haula’s antics? Taking in the sight of my younger brother for the first time in a while, I finally managed to greet him.
“It’s been a while. Um… Uly.”
“I trust you’ve been well.”
“Yup. And little cutie Haul came too. Pff—ack!”
Trying to break the awkwardness, Haula made a ridiculous show of affection, only to be smacked on the back of the head by Ulysses. With a calm expression, Ulysses put his hand down and turned back to me.
“I’m glad to see you safe.”
“Eh? Oh, nothing happened. Luckily, they caught him before he could even get inside the castle.”
At my casual answer, he frowned slightly, as if confused.
“But the rumors…”
“Rumors always get exaggerated.”
“But it was said your life was in danger…”
Stopping mid-sentence, Ulysses turned toward Haula with a thunderous look. From his expression, it wasn’t hard to guess who had told him what. No doubt Haula had made up all sorts of things to drag him here. Fortunately, it seemed Ulysses still didn’t know I was Ailey White, which was a relief.
Sighing, I said:
“Haul forced you here, didn’t he? Sorry. You know him better than I do—he’s so headstrong.”
“…That’s not it.”
“Hm?”
“He didn’t drag me here.”
Then why? I waited for him to continue, staring intently. But he only stared back just as intently. When we’d been silently looking at each other long enough, Haula finally spoke up.
“Why so dishonest? Just say you were worried about sis.”
“Anyone would’ve been worried after what you said. You made it sound like she was on her deathbed!”
“Who told you to believe me? Well, you are so serious about everything you’d probably fool even a monkey.”
Unfortunately for Haula, this time Ulysses had a sword at his side. He couldn’t draw it inside the castle, but just touching the hilt was enough to shut Haula up. Switching my gaze between the two of them, I finally couldn’t help but laugh softly. Haula pretended otherwise, but he’d been restless from the start. Clearly he’d wanted to help me but hadn’t known how—so he’d dragged Ulysses here by any means.
Finding his concern rather endearing, I refrained from scolding him and instead gently stroked his curly platinum hair. Haula made a drowsy, catlike expression, while Ulysses looked surprised, watching us like we were something strange and unfamiliar.
A pang of old guilt resurfaced—how, in that cold household, I had always stood by and never reached out a hand. Even if Haula had tricked him, Ulysses had still come here out of worry for me, even skipping his remaining classes. I clenched the hand that longed to reach out and ruffle his hair too, hiding it behind my back. I still couldn’t forget him once saying, “She’s not even my sister.”
After a moment, Haula, his face a bit flushed, coughed lightly and began.
“There’s a girl I want to introduce.”
I froze in shock, then nodded. Well, kids these days are precocious. Nobles sometimes had arranged marriages at a young age, and meeting a lady at the academy wasn’t unusual. Maybe they’d even fallen in love and promised marriage.
Perhaps because marriage had been on my mind lately, I found myself more flustered than expected. Carefully, I said:
“But shouldn’t you tell Father or Mother first?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you mean you’re dating a young lady?”
“That’s not it, silly sis.”
Haula shook his head with a mischievous grin. He looked like a mischievous prankster—but also strangely cold, almost chilling.
“She’s a cute girl, and I think she’ll make things… interesting.”
“What do you think? Want to hear more?” he whispered, leaning in close to me and Ulysses.
Not long after, the Snain family sent a mountain of gifts and people.
“The Duke wishes to formally apologize.”
But Pionero returned them all without exception. He made it clear there would be no settlement: their son would be sent to trial no matter what. So this time, the Duke of Snain himself came to Cabré Manor. Unlike his son, the duke seemed at least a little sensible. Repeatedly apologizing as if mortified, he finally got Pionero—who had been as cold as the northern wind—to show the slightest softening.
“Perhaps it was inappropriate to keep the young master confined in our house. We’ll return him at once. But the fact remains that my daughter has suffered an irreparable wound from his actions.”
“Of course. You must have suffered terribly because of my foolish son.”
I didn’t know when I had supposedly received such an irreparable wound, but I stayed quiet and eavesdropped.
“As it stands, I’d like nothing better than to send him to trial immediately. But the decision on his punishment will rest not with me, but with my daughter.”
“I understand. But as you know, Ailhardt is the only heir to succeed me.”
“So you’re asking us to overlook this?”
When Pionero shot back coldly, the duke protested.
“Never—I won’t sweep this under the rug. I’ll reprimand him severely to make sure it never happens again. Still, isn’t it true that public opinion has pushed him too far into a corner?”
Leaning against the wall in my room, I frowned faintly. True, Ailhardt hadn’t managed to do anything to me that night—but if he hadn’t been caught, who knows what he would’ve done? And his long string of past misdeeds was certainly no less than the rumors, perhaps worse.
Surely the duke himself knew of his son’s deeds. But protecting the family’s reputation came before everything else. I calmed my thoughts and waited for Pionero’s reply. I already knew what it would be—we’d agreed beforehand, after I spoke with Haula.
With thinly veiled displeasure, Pionero said:
“Take your son and go. I hope nothing like this ever happens again. That is also my daughter’s wish.”
“…! Of course.”
The duke, overjoyed, showered me with praise, calling me a kind and gracious daughter and saying he didn’t know how to thank me. In truth, he must have been seething inside. Though slightly weaker than Cabré, Snain was still a ducal house—yet here he was bowing so low. If Ailhardt were actually sent to trial and convicted, their proud family name would be permanently scarred.
Looking out the window, I saw their carriage waiting outside the gates. The duke stomped ahead furiously, while Ailhardt followed behind with a face like he’d bitten into dung. They looked anything but harmonious. No matter his crimes, the duke didn’t even ask his son how he had been while confined.
As I continued watching, just as the gates closed, there came a sharp crack of sound, followed by a thunderous roar that reached my ears.
“You insane fool! You’ve ruined everything! If you were in heat, you should’ve gone to the brothel—not climbing castle walls, castle walls!!!”
“……”
So the first words out of his mouth weren’t “Why did you do this?” but rather pure fury at the consequences. In his voice, I heard deep distrust. To him, hearing his son had caused trouble didn’t spark “Why?” but instead “How do I fix this?”
