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Translated by: Sienna
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
‘Could it be that she went out?’
As Erich hurriedly entered through the entrance, the butler bowed his head.
“Your grace, have you arrived?”
Landon had been watching his master, who had recently been going on frequent trips, with concern.
‘What could be making him so serious?’
After a moment, Landon recalled an important fact and reported it to the Duke.
“Earlier, a letter arrived from the Marquis of Arzen.”
“What did they say?”
“They inquired why you haven’t visited as promised, as the agreed-upon date has passed.”
Only then did Erich remember that he had told Medeline he would visit the mansion.
‘I completely forgot about it.’
Marquis Arzen was a valued customer who ran a jewelry boutique that crafted accessories from refined gemstones. He was an excellent customer who purchased the Blant Duchy’s gemstones at favorable conditions.
This time, Marquis Arzen has made a proposal. He offered to buy the estate’s gemstones exclusively at a fixed price of 10 silver per carat, double the market rate, for five years. In return, he requested exclusive rights to purchase gemstones from the Blant Duchy’s mines.
‘The jade, though highly mined, hasn’t been worth more than five silvers per carat in decades. Offering to buy it at twice the price, with exclusive rights, is undoubtedly a good condition. However…’
<Since when have you prioritized me?>
Erich’s mind became complicated, especially with thoughts of Cornelia’s affairs.
Erich seemed to have made up his mind and spoke.
“Alright. I’ll give an answer within a few days.”
Landon didn’t understand. It was an advantageous matter for the ducal house, so why was his master delaying the response?
“But, Your Grace, Marquis Arzen has already sent people several times. Responding like this…”
Before Landon could finish his sentence, Erich’s face twisted.
“Since when has the Blant Duchy cared about Marquis Arzen’s opinions?”
Landon nervously tried to explain himself, swallowing dry saliva.
“Your Grace, I didn’t mean that…”
But Erich cut him off, not wanting to hear any more.
“You are the butler of my family. And a butler does not question what his master does.”
As Landon, frightened, closed his mouth, Erich warned coldly.
“Don’t you ever cross me like this again.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Having made a mistake in front of the master but getting away with it unscathed, Landon felt relieved, but his chest still felt tight.
‘Madam will surely be furious…’
As he pondered this, he heard Erich’s voice.
“By the way, I didn’t see the Duchess’s carriage. What happened?”
Only then did Landon remember the forgotten detail.
“Oh, the Duchess is out with her slave today.”
“Where did she say she was going?”
“I’m not sure about that.”
Erich clenched his fists tightly.
While Landon seemed well-informed about Marquis Arzen’s affair a moment ago, he responded as if the duchess, Cornelia, wasn’t important.
“I explicitly told you to report any household matters first. Why didn’t you report her leaving first?”
“Well, I didn’t think it was unusual for the Duchess to go out…”
“What if she had an accident while out?”
Landon shook his head vigorously at Erich’s pointed question.
“That’s unlikely, isn’t it? She even took a slave with her.”
“You think a mere slave, not even an escort knight, can prevent an unexpected accident?”
“That, that’s…….”
Erich twisted his mouth as if he couldn’t listen anymore.
“Do you think a pregnant duchess is less important than Marquis Arzen?”
Only then did Landon realize his mistake.
“I made a mistake. Please forgive me…”
Normally, he would have overlooked the butler’s mistake.
Landon was a servant he had known since childhood, the son of a maid who had treated him well.
But Erich did not.
“You have the wrong person to ask for forgiveness.”
Staring coldly at Landon’s apologetic figure, Erich opened his mouth.
“Landon, I am demoting you from butler to servant.”
“Yes? But, Your Grace, I’m…!”
Before Landon could say anything, Erich cut in coldly.
“If you can find the Duchess’s forgiveness, you may consider it a lottery.”
Despair spread across Landon’s face upon hearing those words.
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After finishing shopping and relieving some stress, I planned to return home.
However, a song caught my ear and stopped me in my tracks.
‘This is…….’
A street bard was performing by the roadside.
And the song was very familiar to my ears.
‘Afternoon nap, whenever Demi heard this song, he slept so well.’
Standing there absentmindedly, I found tears streaming down my face.
I missed my child.
I wanted to hold him, sing him lullabies, and fall asleep next to him.
“Master?”
At that moment, Sardin’s voice calling me snapped me back.
‘Yes, indulging in emotions can wait until after everything else is settled.’
I quickly wiped my tears and said coldly.
“We’re going back to the duchy. Let’s go to the carriage.”
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“I will give you a chance to redeem your mistake. Bring the Duchess to me within an hour.”
After reprimanding the knights of the house and ordering a search for Cornelia, Erich moved quickly to the stables.
‘How dare a servant like him…’
He was aware that the estate’s servants kept their distance from Cornelia.
She was a natural born royalty, and her characteristic tone and imposing atmosphere made her a difficult duchess to approach.
But thinking it was merely a matter of social distance was just his ignorance.
Erich hadn’t realized it because he hadn’t imagined that the haughty woman would put up with this kind of treatment.
‘Why didn’t she tell me about this?’
How could someone who used to bully nobles over trivial matters was now being disrespected by a mere subordinate?
Erich couldn’t fathom Cornelia’s actions.
But more than that, what bothered him was that she was nowhere in sight.
‘It should be fine. If there were any issues, Janet would have contacted me…’
Although he convinced himself that she must be safe, ominous thoughts lingered in his mind.
‘I need to find her.’
As he headed toward the stables to inquire, a servant rushed over.
“Master, the Duchess has returned!”
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I smiled as I looked at the large sack filled with jade.
‘I had a proper shopping spree after a long time.’
In the coming months, the opening of the sea route would cause Jade’s prices to skyrocket fiftyfold.
The opening of the sea route would open up direct trade with the eastern continent across the ocean, and they would learn that they treated Jade as a precious gem.
‘I’ve got my emergency fund covered; now I just need to talk to my husband…….’
I chuckled, remembering my husband, who had been traveling a lot lately.
‘Which reminds me, we had a lucrative contract around this time of year, didn’t we?’
It was around this time that the Duke of Blant would enter into an exclusive agreement with the Marquis of Arzen, offering to buy jade at double the current market price for five years in exchange for an exclusive contract for all gemstones.
‘The blow to the Duke was pretty substantial at the time…….’
Selling jade at 10 silver per carat when it became 5 gold per carat was a massive loss.
But he was unsuccessful, and in the end, the Duke of Blant chose not to sell the jade at all, rather than sell it at a loss.
Within two years, Jade’s price had fallen again.
‘Even though we suffered significant losses, the Madam vigorously opposed cutting ties with the Marquis of Arzen.’
Nevertheless, I thought that things had improved between Madeline and me at that time. However, seeing later that he was willing to sell my child and marry her, it seems my perception was mistaken.
‘Now it doesn’t matter to me. Whether they get together or not,’
Unconsciously clenching my fist for a moment, as the carriage came to a stop, I prepared to step out.
Just then, the door flew open.
“Cornelia!”
Erich’s fierce voice calling my name, his face stern, caught me off guard.
“How rude of you to open the door like that all of a sudden…”
“Where have you been?”
“Where I’ve been is none of your concern…”
“Answer me.”
His tone was calm, but unlike usual, it lacked its usual coldness.
Yes, as if he were angry with me.
‘Judging by the way he’s questioning me now, he might be suspecting something. It might be better not to provoke him further by staying silent.’
“I don’t know why you’re questioning me like that, but I went to town to go shopping.”
After my answer, he glared at me for a while and then spoke sternly.
“From now on… make sure to inform the butler and state your destination whenever you go out. And always have a guard with you.”
My stomach twisted at his words.
“Why? Are you planning to keep an eye on whether I get into trouble or not?”
At my sarcasm, his brow furrowed.
“You’re still a member of my family, and if anything happens to you, it’s my responsibility.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
‘A member of the family…’
He still didn’t call me his wife. Yet, he refers to me as ‘a member of the ‘family’ to exert control. The reason is…
‘He doesn’t want his reputation to be tarnished, so he wants me to keep quiet until we divorce.’
At that moment, as he stood in front of the carriage, he extended a gloved hand towards me.
“Take it.”
Por que os homens nunca sabem o que ta acontecendo debaixo do nariz deles 🤡
Thanks for the update 🇧🇷 😸