If I Disobey the Duke

Lily de Winter (1)

TW: verbal abuse

The sun was bitter. Golden shards scratched the edge of Shylock’s vision.

He crossed the hallway and stopped in front of the central staircase. His hand holding his cane trembled. He saved Crocus’s life, but the upper part of Isles was taken away by the duke, despite the meaning of preserving his assets.

Everything that he has been viciously protecting from the vultures that had been around him for the rest of his life was futile…

It was a disgrace.

Shylock clenched his teeth. He was not used to defeat. He didn’t want to let go like this and collapse.

The duke’s weakness, I have to attack it…

His thoughts stopped when he heard a noise from down the stairs. The sound of someone in shoes running from the front door. The sound of heels hitting the marble floor stood tall in the center of the hall.

“Father…”

Lily looked up at Shylock from the bottom of the stairs.

It was like folding a piece of colored paper in half and unfolding it. Two people who looked alike stopped as if stuck in time.

As the clouds passed over the sun, the spring sun was roaring. A long shadow fell on the stairs from Shylock’s feet.

He narrowed his long eyes and looked down at his eldest daughter.

She was completely well.

In the midst of that, it was obvious that she was treated well in all aspects of her appearance. It was like Shylock’s stomach, which was still messed up, turned upside down.

Even her fine hair, which was slightly disheveled by the rushing wind, was elegant. Shylock, a jeweler, knew the value of jewelry that lit up her ears and neck better than anyone.

“You seem to be in good shape, Madam.”

It was a cold, sharp voice, like the edge of thin ice.

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is only one pair of those dazzling earrings and necklaces on the continent. Aren’t you dressed like you would attend an imperial tea party?”

Shylock’s stomach churned even more.

In fact, all of his defeats were due to his eldest daughter.

Pretend you don’t know anything.

That girl with a sickly face was terrified.

To meet at this moment when everything was taken away… It was against his temper to just pass by like this, but…

“Unfortunately, this father of yours will have to leave. It should be well known to you… I have a lot of urgent work to do, so forgive me for being rude.”

This was the duke’s territory. Now was the time to step back and come up with a countermeasure.

As Shylock stepped down the stairs, Lily grabbed the hem of his dress shirt and ran up the stairs.

“W-wait.” Lily bit her parched lips laboriously. She’d thought she was confident.

Her father, who had climbed the stairs, was still too tall.

A feeling of helplessness imprinted on her soul kept grabbing her ankles. It was carved by her father with a chisel all her life.

She remembered her reason for running here once again. She clenched her fists as if to encourage herself.

“Have you met Vlad?”

“…Otherwise, would I have ever come this far without Anton?”

When she confirmed that her father had met Vlad, there was a raging inside of her stomach.

He knew who her father was. Now that Vlad did some damage to the Isles, he must have been furious. Because her father was a person who did not tolerate damage.

Something swelled in her chest and burst.

To imagine that Vlad had suffered even a single ounce of the painful helplessness she had felt all her life, a great passion arose that surprised her herself.

“If you did anything to him, I would never forgive you.”

Shylock’s patience shattered. “If you don’t forgive me…  What more do you plan to do with this father of yours?”

She glared. She felt pitiful. She wasn’t an easily agitated person, but things weren’t quite good today.

Shylock gripped his cane.

The pride he had built up over the course of his life was shattered. His eldest daughter was now a spark in front of the detonator. Just by touching it, it exploded in all directions.

“I commend you for your ability to extort me after a lifetime of bullshit asking if you can join the Isles’ management. Furthermore, using your husband as a weapon. What more are you going to do with my money, Madam?”

Lily frowned. She climbed one more step. “Are you selling me like that again? I’m not easily fooled now. Now I know how many lies my father told me.”

“Ha.” Shylock laughed. It was not a pretense to gain the upper hand. It was a sincere joke.

“Actually, Madam. You didn’t know anything.”

His smirk turned into a cold expression. Let her husband smash him while she sat on a pile of jewelry without any worries.