~Chapter 26~
“That’s right. You told me earlier, didn’t you? That as the future Duchess, I should look after a vassal’s daughter.”
“Yes, I did. Was I wrong?”
Henji answered brazenly with a shameless expression.
“I’ll let you have the dress I allowed earlier so you can make your debut. Just the one you chose first.”
Riden’s voice was firm and decisive.
“One dress?”
“Yes, one dress.”
“Are you changing your words now?”
“Yes! Earlier, the tea Baron served smelled so pleasant that I thought three dresses would be fine. But seeing your frowning face now changed my mind.”
She looked at Henji with eyes that said, ‘What will you do about it?’
Henji’s mouth fell open and couldn’t close.
Inside, Riden was trembling but tried her best to state her stance clearly.
“And from now on, prepare for your debut in your own powder room. Do not visit the atelier again.”
“…What?”
Henji froze on the spot. The words she just heard buzzed in her ears.
“That’s nonsense….”
“I pitied a vassal’s daughter struggling to prepare for her debut. But now I see there’s a serious problem with your behaviour.”
“How will I get my dress if I can’t come here? Don’t make unreasonable demands!”
Henji’s voice cracked. Her hands trembled violently.
Riden watched her quietly and then spoke.
“The dress will be completed and sent to your room.”
Hearing this eternal exile order, Henji couldn’t process anything else.
The humiliation and shame made her blood boil, but she was powerless with no way to act upon it.
“This is… there’s a limit to how you treat a vassal’s daughter, this is too much—”
“Baroness Dolomi.”
“…….”
“Just like you said earlier, I should look after you a bit. I expect you to behave as a vassal should in front of the future Duchess. And—”
Riden decided to use the exact term Marick once used about Henji.
“Don’t act so indulgently from now on. You may leave.”
But Henji didn’t move. She glared at Riden with bloodshot eyes.
Unable to control her rage, she roughly swept her hair back.
Finally, the tense servants stepped in and led her out of the atelier.
Riden turned her head away from watching Henji being dragged out.
On her way back to her room, Riden paused and let out a small sigh.
It wasn’t a negative sigh.
It was a refreshing sigh, as if something stuck deep inside her chest had finally cleared.
‘I feel alive. Turns out, I can handle things well when I actually speak up.’
She also felt grateful to the Count for giving her strength.
A faint smile formed on her lips as she continued walking lightly—until her steps suddenly stopped.
“…Huh?”
In front of her door stood a strange man.
As she approached, making her presence known, he turned his head.
He was the visitor she had long waited for.
“Glenn!”
The moment she saw Glenn, she ran up and grabbed his hand.
“Why are you only coming now!”
I missed you so much.
“My Lady!”
Glenn’s eyes grew moist at her warm greeting.
“Glenn, law…!”
She almost yelled ‘lawyer’ but saw servants walking past.
“Law! Nothing happened on the way here, right? No carriage accident or anything?”
“How could I get into an accident when you’re worrying about me like this?”
Riden pulled him into her room.
Seated at the table, her face turned serious as she asked,
“You came with news of a lawyer, right? Please, tell me you did.”
Glenn had contacted every law office in the capital, only to be refused by all.
But he managed to connect with an acquaintance, who introduced him to a rural noble family’s lawyer.
“I found one. You told me not to attract the Duke’s attention, so he’s waiting in the carriage.”
“Let’s go.”
Right now.
Riden stood up.
“If you don’t marry, you’ll have to pay a penalty fee.”
Riden argued that she was underage when the contract was made and her will wasn’t involved at all.
Both parties were minors, and it was an agreement between their fathers.
However, the lawyer didn’t understand.
“What’s the problem? Your father found you a good match before passing away. Isn’t that what good fathers do?”
‘So children’s rights don’t matter… or is it just daughters’ rights?’
The worst-case scenario became reality. She would have to pay a penalty fee.
It infuriated her that she had to pay for a contract she never made.
Still, Riden accepted reality quickly.
How much is the penalty? If I have to pay, I want to pay the minimum.
“If the other party hasn’t violated the contract first, the least you can pay is if you settle by mutual agreement.”
“What if they don’t agree?”
“Then lawsuit.”
Oh… lawsuit? Against the Empire’s greatest family… lawsuit?
The lawyer seemed puzzled why she was refusing such an advantageous marriage.
His conclusion: if she truly didn’t want to marry, she should coax them into agreement.
‘If they don’t agree, do I just have to marry?’
My past life was ruined too. So this one’s ruined as well? But I’ve experienced it once, it’ll hurt less the second time, right? You can endure it, Riden, fighting! Should I just go through it again?
‘Are you insane?’
Riden walked down the corridor, laughing like a madwoman.
You think just because you’ve been dead a while, it’s fine to live miserably again?
‘I will not marry!’
That left one option: pay the penalty and gain freedom.
“Phew.”
Thankfully, thanks to Corel, she now had a way to prepare the money.
She couldn’t be certain how much they would demand, but—
‘Having at least that much is a relief.’
Still, her frustration didn’t ease.
She sighed deeply as she walked through the hallways, when a cool night breeze brushed past her.
‘Should I get some fresh air before going back in?’
She stepped onto the terrace on the second floor.
During the day, she could see the villa’s gardens and wide lands beyond, but now it was all swallowed in darkness.
Riden stood there, inhaling deeply.
Most servants were gone for the night. She enjoyed the quiet stillness—until:
Thud—
Huh?
From far away, she heard the heavy sound of the garden gate opening.
She leaned forward to peek down the stairs.
‘Who would come at this hour?’
She couldn’t see, but she heard it clearly.
The sound of horse hooves approached rapidly.
‘No lantern….’
Whoever it was galloped through the darkness confidently, suggesting they knew the place well.
Likely a knight from the Duke’s household, she guessed.
Then the sound stopped abruptly.
The approaching hooves went silent.
From within the darkness beyond the torchlight, she felt a black gaze fixed on her.
Ethan, who had been riding swiftly, gently pulled on his horse’s reins when he saw a figure standing on the terrace.
He leaned back slightly and applied subtle pressure to his horse’s waist, signalling it to stop.
The horse obediently halted.
There stood a woman in a light blue dress at the villa entrance.
From atop his horse, Ethan caught his breath and quietly watched her.
