Edited

42.

Philip’s choice was so absurd that I wasn’t even angry.

With an expression that seemed to say.
‘He chose to die. Is he really serious?’

I turned to Erica. She seemed to express the same disbelief with her eyes.

“Lord Norma Diazi. I’m sorry, but I’ll be leaving first. Let’s meet at dinner.”

Feeling a bit rushed, I stood up and addressed Norma. A grand dinner was prepared daily for Norma, who stayed briefly.

“Yes, Lady.”

Norma nodded slowly in response. His slow reply was somewhat awkward, but before I could turn back to him, he had already swiftly moved away, leaving me no chance to look back at him.

“Kano, you’re just in time. Follow me.”

I quickly passed by Kano, gesturing for him to follow. Kano’s network of information was superior to mine. Moreover, since both Kano and I had roots in Romdak for our information networks, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had come to the capital for the Morfolk issue.

As Kano, whose name was called by the Lord, smiled triumphantly at Norma, it seemed as if he had won in the end, with a smug expression as if to say, ‘You’re just an outsider after all.’

Despite Kano’s provocation, Norma showed no reaction. He simply concealed his gloomy thoughts and pondered inwardly.

‘I want to go out too, following Lady Aisa.’
T/N: Aww My puppy

* * *

Philip Morfolk was incredibly aggrieved. With a groan of pain, akin to that of a wounded beast, Philip suddenly collapsed to the ground, rolling over and over as he let out a mixture of cries and sobs.

“Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong? Why is this happening to me… It’s so hard!”

Waaaaah!

On the other side of the table, Petra Landry, who had been sitting facing Philip, simply looked down at him with an expressionless face. Her expression and gaze were excessively cold. Her face seemed as if she were looking at a struggling bug.

After watching Philip wail for a while, Petra spoke up.

“My dear Philip. Oh, my love. Think carefully.”

She whispered in a terrifyingly firm tone, like a stage whisper of a seasoned actor. Despite her voice being as angelic as ever.

“You only have one option anyway.”

Philip, with his face buried in his hands, looked up at Petra through his fingers.

His eyes were filled with fear. Fear of the notorious cruelty of McFoy, fear of his father, Lord Morfolk, who was famous for living and dying for honor, and fear of the trial.

“That ‘pact’ you were so adamant about to me. You said that if a bastard child were born, you would repay that sin with your very life.”

Petra continued, with only the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.

“Ah… Isn’t it like a dream? To be able to escape from that dreadful pact. Since we’re still before the wedding ceremony, even if things go wrong, it’ll probably only go as far as being expelled from the family.”

Philip squeezed out tears as he lowered his head. Just by looking at him, he seemed like a great victim.

“Now, my love. So, this is actually an opportunity. The last chance.”

Petra elegantly rose from her chair. Philip continued to sob sorrowfully as if he were about to pass out on the floor.

“You love me, don’t you? I have your child. It’s something we did together, so you have to take responsibility.”

“Huh, huh, huuuuaaaah!”

“Choose me, Philip.”

Philip writhed as if trying to escape from reality.

“Is the choice difficult? It shouldn’t be. You have no choice but to take my hand anyway. If you don’t take my hand, I’ll directly tell Lord McFoy that I have your child.”

Petra chuckled compassionately as she sat by Philip’s head, which was soaked with tears, mucus, and sweat.

“Don’t think you can silence me, my love. Before coming to see you, I also made sure to take out some insurance.”

“Huh, huu, huh!”

While gently stroking the pitiful face smeared with tears, mucus, and sweat, Petra glanced out the window for a moment. The sun was setting outside. Petra stared blankly at the scene outside before speaking again.

“This opportunity could lead to receiving a large estate or a mine as alimony from that woman.”

Petra’s voice as she spoke was sweeter than ever.

“With just that, we could live wealthy and happily in the Morfolk domain with you, me, and our baby.”

“Oh, Petra. Just… Just you―.”

Morfolk looked up at Petra with tears in his eyes.

‘Can’t you just stay quiet? Stop acting and secretly give birth to the child and live hidden somewhere, like in the Capital Manor or anywhere else? Then everything would be happy and normal, wouldn’t it? Why make the situation so difficult? Why make me suffer? You’re a good woman.’

Facing Petra’s red eyes were incredibly cold. Flustered, Morfolk swallowed the words he was about to say and bit his lip.

“Is it really necessary to marry that woman? She actually disappeared for about a month. During that time, who knows what happened with those fanatics. Right now is the only chance you have to declare a divorce against the McFoy family.”

“Well, that’s, uh. But that’s not certain―.”

“When has the Empire ever spread rumors that were certain? People just talk even when they know it’s not true.”

“…”

“My beloved Philip. I’m saying all this for your sake. Are you really going to spend your whole life as a scarecrow next to that woman?”

“Well, but―.”

“Don’t miss this opportunity, us.”

Petra whispered as she firmly held Philip’s hand with both of hers.

“If you miss this opportunity and try to let go of my hand, I might really get angry.”

Then, leaning her cheek against the back of Philip’s hand, she murmured.

“If you betray me, I don’t know how I’ll turn out…”

For a moment, Philip’s mind was filled with fear of McFoy, his father, and the scandal.

“If you abandon me, I’m finished. An actress, Petra Landry, giving birth to a bastard as a commoner in this empire? My life is over. How did I end up like this? Do I look like I’m going to end like this?”

Petra’s murmuring voice gradually intensified. At the same time, she straightened her stiffened neck.

“Get a divorce, right now! Make me your wife! Otherwise, I’ll reveal everything! Then you’ll get divorced and be exiled from the Morfolk family!”

“…”

“Then what will you have left? Your family name, your honor, if you don’t have them anymore!”

“…”

“You’ll become nothing!”

With a ghost-like face, Petra screamed like a banshee. She was so agitated that her breath hitched.

Philip trembled completely with fear, unable to utter a word. She wasn’t the Petra I knew, who always said only good things to me, who was lovely and sweet.

After a while, Petra, having composed her breath and expression, smiled broadly.

“Come on, my love. Please seize this opportunity with me.”

She finally showed a face that Philip recognized, but reflexively, Philip shrunk back.

“This is a path for both of us to become happy.”

She smiled as charmingly as ever.

“We will be happy.”

With that, Petra buried her face in Philip’s dry hand once again.

“Ugh…”

Philip began to cry again, starting to writhe on the ground like a child.

Sitting on the ground, Petra with her distorted face turned her gaze out of the window. The sun had already set outside, and darkness had fallen.

“…”

Petra tightly closed her eyes.

‘McFoy family, that woman joins hands with pirates and deals in alcohol. She’s already a person with plenty of bad rumors. There’s even rumors of dealings with pirates and a bad reputation.’

Female lord. Noble upper class. Cooperating with pirates.

Yet, Aisa McFoy wasn’t branded a witch. Because she was the ‘McFoy’ heiress leading the fight against fanatics.

Moreover, in the empire where four regions are ruled by noble families excluding the central authority, the McFoy family was like a king in the west. Unless the McFoy heiress herself revolted or committed serious religious sins, her position would not falter.

‘So, it’s fine. A person like me might have their life ended by a scandal, but for the McFoy heiress, this is just a passing storm. Even if she can’t marry because of the scandal, she’ll be fine, right?’

So it’ll be okay.

At the end of endless self-justification, Petra opened her eyes again.

‘We just need to make it to the temple trial. Once we’re at trial, we can’t lose. As long as the pregnancy doesn’t get discovered until then.’

Petra was confident that her pregnancy wouldn’t be discovered.

Her red eyes sank into darkness. It was an unbearably gloomy day.

* * *

I was well aware of Philip Morfolk’s audacious behavior. Nevertheless, I needed a son-in-law for the family, and in many ways, he was the best candidate with my nephew as a successor.

In the empire, especially in noble society, marriage was expected. Unmarried noblewomen didn’t receive favorable treatment. Even in my case, as one of the few female lords that are hard to come by in history books, there were many interested in my marriage.

But sometimes, I felt like I didn’t need to marry like this.

In the empire, especially in the west, the power of the McFoy family was absolute. There was no one to gossip nonsense in front of me, even though I remained unmarried.

Of course, if I remained unmarried, there would be new rumors associated with me.

It didn’t matter to me, but the problem was that those rumors could affect the legitimacy of my successor. I didn’t want Archie to be plagued by false rumors, so I tried to stay within the acceptable range of what people talked about.

It was about fitting the desired form of a family in the empire. And the result was Philip Morfolk.

I looked down at the letter stamped with the Morfolk emblem.

“So, is this Morfolk’s answer?”

“Yes,” Erica answered timidly.

“As for the Landry side?”

“From the trends, it seems that Landry indeed wrote it. We found evidence that she recently spent money to find someone to interpret imperial law, and she’s been seen visiting the temple a few times.”

“Why would Landry suddenly rush?”

I murmured, leaning back in my chair.

“It’s not like Philip and I are scheduled to marry right away. Did Philip suggest breaking up? So, did she threaten him? With what?”

“While that seems most realistic, their relationship has been very good until recently.”

“Did he perhaps regret it when he thought I was dead and then suddenly returned to life? Did he briefly dream of social advancement?”

“It doesn’t seem likely to be a motive for rash action. We looked into whether he incurred any debts, but we couldn’t find any anomalies in his movements.”

“No changes at all?”

“No. In fact, he was recently chosen to play the lead role in a famous play. And he’s occasionally invited to literary gatherings and social events. …Playing the role of Morfolk’s host.”

“He played it smart. The word of a Mehera is above imperial law; the nobles of this country can’t even compare. Religion holds such power.”

I clicked my tongue sharply and waved my hand.

“Ah, forget it. Just sweep it under the rug. Find out why Landry rushed and why Morfolk accepted her proposal. It’s suspicious that they suddenly rushed.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Oh, and as for punishment for them…”

McFoy’s revenge is cruel and relentless.

“Completely destroy what is most precious to them.”

For Morfolk, it was a sense of belonging and honor to the family. For Landry, it was the hope of someday returning to noble status.