Chapter 12
The Duchess glared at Ian with sharp eyes.
“I’ve compromised this much, yet you still refuse to give up that wedding?”
“Mother, how can you call it ‘just’ a wedding?”
“Then, are you determined to disgrace our family?”
The Duchess’s expression was displeased.
She always looked at Belle that way. But now, she looked at Ian no differently.
It made Ian realize once again how much of an outsider he was in this household.
She probably wanted nothing more than to ruin everything Ian did.
Not having a proper wedding wouldn’t be a fatal flaw, but it would be enough for people to gossip about.
“I don’t believe I should give up my first and only wedding just because of my brother.”
Unlike Belle in the past, Ian always spoke his mind.
Of course, the Duchess wasn’t someone to back down either.
“I’m not asking you to cancel the wedding because of Cedric. It’s about the family’s honor—”
“And what about my brother?”
“What?”
“If we’re talking about disgrace, then surely Cedric has done far worse than I ever could. He’s been married three times, and now he’s trying to ruin his younger sibling’s wedding as well.”
“Ian!”
The Duchess trembled with rage and shouted.
Because she knew Ian wasn’t wrong.
“Not to mention, as the eldest son, he’s never been a model of responsibility. The rumors say he spends his days drowning in alcohol and gambling. What do you plan to do about that? That surely tarnishes the family’s name, doesn’t it?”
“…Ian.”
“If we start digging, it’s Cedric who should be worried.”
“You…”
“I will have this wedding, no matter what. So you’d better cooperate, Mother.”
The Duchess shut her eyes tightly, as if refusing to hear any more. Then, without another word, she got up and stormed out of the room.
Cedric, seeing this, was clearly at a loss.
He could tell things weren’t going his way.
“Hah, well, at the end of the day, my bloodline is nobler than yours. You’re just some lowborn—”
He had been about to hurl another insult, likely bitter that even the Duchess had backed down. But when he noticed the Duke’s presence, he hesitated.
“You just wait.”
With that parting threat, Cedric also left the room.
—
For now, Ian had managed to handle the situation.
But knowing the Duchess, she would try every trick in the book to sabotage the wedding.
All she had to do was prevent Belle from entering the venue.
Ian would be harder to interfere with, so the Duchess’s target was obvious.
If that happened, the Duchess would have plenty to say.
See? I let them go ahead with the wedding, and in the end, they couldn’t even go through with it.
No matter the reason, Belle would be the one blamed.
So if the wedding was to happen, she had to attend—no matter what.
From the preparations to walking down the aisle, every step would be a struggle.
“…Will you be okay?”
In truth, it would have been easier to just do as the Duchess wanted and skip the ceremony altogether.
“Yes. You’ll have to participate in social circles in the future. I don’t want you to be seen as a flawed bride.”
“…Me?”
“You know how it is. In Bernou, a bride who doesn’t have a proper wedding is treated as less than a mistress. You experienced it yourself.”
That was true.
When Belle first married into Rothiers, she hadn’t known.
Back then, she had only recently fled to Bernou, and her father hadn’t known either.
Which was why he had sold her off so hastily.
Later, when she learned the truth, she was furious, realizing Rothiers had never taken her seriously.
But by then, it was too late to have the wedding again.
Belle had become a subject of ridicule in high society.
Most noblewomen wouldn’t even associate with her.
“…I thought you were doing this so you wouldn’t be criticized when you became Duke.”
“Who would dare criticize a Duke over something like this?”
Ian let out a small, incredulous laugh.
“…I did. So I thought you would too.”
She had suffered from it, so she assumed Ian would be concerned as well.
But it seemed that was only a concern among noblewomen.
The realization was almost amusing.
Who was really worrying about whom?
“Don’t laugh.”
“What?”
“Don’t laugh when there’s nothing funny.”
“…I’m not laughing because it’s funny. I just let out a hollow laugh because my situation is pathetic.”
Belle had been naïve.
She thought that since Cedric had been married before, it wouldn’t matter. Cedric himself had even said so.
What he really meant was, ‘Do you think you and I are the same?’—but Belle had taken his words at face value.
“I will protect you. So you won’t have to feel this way again.”
“Well, I appreciate the sentiment, at least. But more importantly, don’t you think there will be many obstacles before the wedding?”
“I’ll crush every single one of them.”
Ian’s eyes turned sharp, his expression shifting from his earlier gentle smile.
—
The Duchess returned to her chambers and wreaked havoc.
Until now, nothing in this household had ever gone against her will. But for the first time, Ian had openly defied her.
Fuming, she let out ragged breaths before finally smashing the glass vase in her hand and screaming.
“Mother…!”
Cedric, who had followed her belatedly, quickly rushed to support her and sat her down on the bed, staring at the disaster of a room.
“This is all because…”
“Do you not realize? Ian has all but declared war on us.”
“…What?”
Until now, Ian had lived as if he had no interest in the dukedom.
He had obeyed the Duchess without complaint, as if out of a sense of duty. Even when she had pressured him to renounce his title and leave, Ian had done so without resistance.
Of course, he had still tried to make sure Cedric’s succession wouldn’t be too easy.
And now, Ian had returned—not dead, but very much alive and full of venom.
“Ha…”
Cedric, her thoughtless son, simply blinked in confusion, completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
The Duchess let out a deep sigh, pressing her fingers to her temple.
“Does this even make sense? How can someone with such filthy blood become Duke?”
“If you don’t want that filthy bastard to take what’s yours, you’d better act wisely, Cedric!”
“Mother…”
The Duchess was in a foul mood.
She had never raised her voice at her son, even in jest. But the way things were going, she was seething with frustration.
“…Cedric, you must stay alert. Now that Ian is back, things won’t be the same. You must be wary of him at all times.”
“…Understood.”
And above all, there was the woman Ian had brought back.
She introduced herself as ‘Annie,’ but the Duchess recognized her immediately—she was Belle Agrita.
She might claim she had lost her memory and didn’t know who she was, but she couldn’t fool the Duchess’s eyes.
The two had met again somehow, and now they had conspired to return to Rothiers together.
Hah!
And now, they wanted to have a proper wedding?
Belle Agrita—there was no way in hell the Duchess would let her get married in this lifetime.
She smirked inwardly, vowing to ruin that wedding by any means necessary.
“Cedric.”
“Yes.”
More than anything, the Duchess had a fair idea of what her son was thinking.
She knew that, deep down, he found it difficult to live with the proud Marchioness Dot.
But there was nothing to be done about it.
Divorcing her and remarrying yet again would be nearly impossible.
“Do you… still want her?”
“…M-Mother.”
Cedric faltered, caught off guard. But realizing he couldn’t hide it, he admitted the truth.
“It’s not just that. She was mine to begin with…”
“Yes. She was yours…”
The Duchess had no intention of making that woman Cedric’s wife again.
But she did intend to let her son have what he wanted.
No matter how worthless an object was, she had no intention of letting someone else take what once belonged to him.
“Forget about divorcing Dot. You need to keep everything in your grasp. Why throw away what you have just to get your hands on that woman?”
“…But,”
“I will ruin Ian’s wedding.”
“…Then Belle will be mine again?”
“Find proof that this woman, who so insistently claims to have lost her memory, actually remembers everything. If you do that, the wedding will be annulled. And I’ll make sure Belle stays by your side—even if only as a mistress.”
The greedy Count Agrita would surely turn a blind eye as long as he had a secure place in Rothiers.
And as long as he was given a clear promise of assistance, he wouldn’t care.
‘How dare they bare their fangs at me?’
They would pay the price—thoroughly.
So that they would never dare to do it again.
thanks for the chapter