Night of the Abandoned Duchess

Chapter 4

“The Duke is busy with work. He agreed to come with me next time.”

She hastily added the last words, as if she were making an excuse.

In fact, he will never come again.

Rosalind tried to ask if he could accompany her before she left today, though she couldn’t get the words out, and just came up with another story. She probably wouldn’t be able to encourage him to go to her parent’s house in the future.

[ “My mother said she wanted to see my face, so I’m going to visit her for a while.” ]

[ “You don’t have to say that at all.” ]

After nodding her head in embarrassment, she carefully spoke her words out again.

[ “Is it okay if I stay longer?” ]

[ “As you like.” ]

She was disappointed. She said these words in the hope that he would regret it even a little if she said she would be absent. Though Kyle didn’t even care about her, let alone regret it.

Rosalind opened her mouth as though she had made up her mind as soon as he touched his lover’s hair every single time.

[ “But, just in case you need me…” ]

[ “I’ll be back soon!” ]

She spoke brightly on purpose, but in fact, she knew that the moment he needed her would never come. At this point, it seemed that it was time for her to become dull, but her heart ached yet again.

A bitter smile formed on Rosalind’s lips, a new one she didn’t even know.

“How is your married life?”

She looked at her mother, startled by the sudden question.

“I mean child.”

“I’m trying…”

As if to turn her words around, she smiled a little, yet her heart was heavy.

“A couple must have children, you must know that? That way, it will be more affectionate and stronger.”

The words her parents used to say to Rosalind were mainly about the child… Couples should have children.

From the moment she got married, it was a word that she had constantly been hearing as if it were brainwashing. She was the one who always listened, and she would have passed it on as usual, though today, she didn’t do it that way.

Flicking her fingertips, Rosalind slowly opened her mouth.

“…Can having children really make you more affectionate? For example, a couple who are a bit estranged from each other, even in such cases.”

“Is your marriage estranged?”

“Yes…?”

Startled like a thief with their feet numbed, she broke and shook her head with exaggerated movements.

“How is it possible? You don’t know how good he was to me! Last time, I was embarrassed by how much he complimented me at the party… He said that I look pretty no matter what I do.”

She wasn’t all wrong, so Rosalind didn’t feel guilty about lying.

“Then, you’re lucky.”

“Don’t worry. I am doing well.”

“A man values a woman who has his own child as lovely and precious. Likewise, a woman realizes her affection and preciousness for her husband as she raises her children as well. In the process, they became more affectionate.”

Lovely and precious, affectionate…

Those were the words that made her feel tickled just by putting them in her mouth—words that seem to have no relationship with her for the rest of her life.

“That’s right. I need to work harder, in many ways…”

She knew he didn’t like her, or to be precise, he hated her. Because everything he said and did was clear.

Nevertheless, she decided to try a little harder.

So, even a little…

“If you have a child to pass on, your status becomes more certain.”

At that moment, Rosalind turned her head at the sound of a voice from behind. She could see her father stride towards her.

As soon as her father opened his mouth, her mother lost her words in an instant. He was a very authoritarian person, and her mother obeyed his authority.

Her father began giving full speeches about successor and power relations. He, who was diligently teaching what a woman should do in order to inherit the power, added with a smile at the end.

“A woman’s job is to have children. Wouldn’t that make the family even stronger? Look at your mother and me. We get along well.”

‘What do you mean you get along well?’

For a moment, she remembered her father having a prostitute and she almost burst out laughing without realizing it.

Though Rosalind bit her lower lip tight to hold back her laughter.

Just because she had grown up and married, didn’t mean she was free from her father’s violence.

 

* * * 

“Today, Madam skipped breakfast.”

He turned his head away as if he was puzzled by the servant’s voice who spoke calmly. Kyle glanced at the servant to ask for more explanation, but the servant just smiled awkwardly without saying anything.

Rosalind never once did not show up for breakfast.

It was because it was the only time she could have a face-to-face conversation with her husband, whom she would never encounter.

Of course, he didn’t participate much at breakfast, and although it’s one-sided talk from her, Rosalind cut down on her drowsy sleep and was always there for breakfast.

As she ate her meals, she would tell stories of what she did yesterday, what she would do today, the flowers outside, the wind that blows, and the sunshine. She said that she would see and hear all the small and beautiful things so that the busy Duke does not need to worry about it.

There was a lot of noise in her sincere voice, yet without it, he felt a little empty.

“What the hell is she doing in her room…?”

She had been to her parents’ house not long ago, and since then, she has locked herself in her room and started doing something.

It was suspicious that she was hiding so she wouldn’t be seen, although he didn’t care enough to ask a question. So, Kyle just pretended not to know. But, he was a little surprised that she skipped breakfast like this.

Did something happen in her family?

He did not go to Rosalind’s home. He didn’t even want to go.

Rosalind’s father, Baron, was an evil and sly man. Not only did he sell innocent people into slavery, but he only worked for his own benefit. He blinded the Emperor’s eyes with his sweet words, trampling on and sacrificing those less than him mercilessly. How easy it was to find him behind the great and small evils of this country.

Rumors spread all over the country that Baron loved his daughter so much.

She is the daughter of such a wicked father. Since there was no reason for him to accept her, of course, Kyle adamantly rejected the proposal from him over and over again.

He knew that it would be easier for him to have the enemy by his side, though he believed that the day would come when he would punish all of Baron’s evil deeds without having to do so.

He had that power, and all that was left was to gather more accurate evidence.

However, eventually, even the Emperor began forcing Kyle to marry her. He didn’t even want to know how the hell that happened.

In the end, he couldn’t stand it anymore and ended up confronting Baron separately.

[ “I don’t really like Marquis Baron. So, I don’t want to marry your daughter, nor do I have the confidence to care for and love her. Of course, I have no intention of doing that.” ]

[ “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you don’t love my daughter. You don’t have to spare it. All the Duke needs to do is marry.” ]

The answer he heard was spectacular, and he laughed out of frustration.

Kyle wanted to tell that man how he hated his daughter, whom he loved so much, but his daughter, Rosalind, loved him so much. His daughter probably said she likes him, so she must have pushed him.

“Shall I ask if the Madam will come down?”

He nodded his head briefly, then cut the meat into small pieces and put it in his mouth. There was no voice that had been heard for a long time every morning, so it was a quiet mealtime after a long time.

…It’s nice to be quiet, but what the hell was he doing?

He thought he should not worry about it.

As Kyle continued to eat while pretending not to know, the servant who came down from the upper floor spoke politely to him.

“She will skip breakfast this morning. Shall I recommend it one more time?”

“…I will go up.”

He simply wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and got up from his seat. As he climbed the familiar stairs to the second floor, he saw a heavy door on the left side of the long hallway. Kyle, who was standing in front of it, quickly knocked lightly.

“Can I come in?”

“…Wait, wait a minute.”

An urgent voice was heard from inside the door blocking Kyle. He stood still in front of the door, breathing for a moment.

And, not long after that, Rosalind’s voice rang out again.

“You can come in now.”

When she opened the door, he saw her smiling face as usual. And yet, she still had an awkward expression on her face.

He gazed at Rosalind, who was acting suspiciously, as though hiding something from him.

“Why do you skip breakfast?”

“…Actually, I have something I want to give to the Duke.”

Soon, she took something out of one side of the room and held it to him. The outstretched hand hesitated without confidence, but there was a vivid expression of anticipation characteristic of a person giving a gift in her eyes.

“What is this…?”

However, as if he had never expected it, Kyle only asked Rosalind in a rather puzzled voice.

“I did some embroidery on the clothes the Duke will wear. You said you’ll be on an inspection for a few days from today. So I thought it would be nice to wear it, so I finished it in a hurry.”

Embroidery…?

Upon closer inspection, the clothes were embroidered with more luxurious patterns than usual. He always wore neat and monotonous clothes, though when she added embroidery to the luxurious fabric, it looked even more glamorous.

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“When did I ask you to make this?”

‘Why would she do this?’

Rosalind flinched at the nuance of being frustrated and pathetic.

She was not very good at embroidery. Nevertheless, she stayed in her room for several days, stabbed by a needle, and starved until morning to make it for him. Just for Kyle, her husband.

But, he didn’t seem to be happy at all.