If I was Going to Regret It Anyway

Silence flowed in the office for a while. Only the low breath that Moore exhaled with smoke was heard.

 

“…Why are you telling me this now?”

 

“That was Frederick’s will. He asked me not to say anything until you marry Townsend as per his will.”

 

“What about the letter?”

 

“It’s a letter left by Frederick. Why your father left such a will, and why he sponsored Miss Townsend and her mother, everything is written in it.”

 

“……”

 

Daryl looked into Moore’s eyes as if to gauge the truth of his words.

 

It’s probably true. He wasn’t the type to joke about such lies, and it was hard to think that he would benefit from it.

 

“Can’t you just tell me now?”

 

“I can’t. It’s the last request left by a friend.”

 

“Then why are you telling me this now? Did my father ask for it? On my wedding day, you reveal that you know all the inside stories, but don’t tell me the content?”

 

At Daryl’s sarcastic words, Moore kept silent for a moment, then opened his mouth again.

 

“The rumor between Frederick and Miss Townsend is not true.”

 

“…..”

 

“Your wife  has nothing to do with Frederick. I came to tell you that.”

 

Daryl stared at Moore. Moore seemed to avoid his gaze, slightly lowering his eyes.

 

“Did you need to tell me that? I thought you saw me as a guy who doesn’t care whether the woman I’m going to marry is my half-sister or not.”

 

“If you felt bad, I apologize. It just meant that you might prioritize succession to the dukedom even if you have doubts in your heart.”

 

“Is there anyone who wouldn’t?”

 

Moore quietly smirked.

 

“Anyway, rest assured. Frederick has never had any immoral relationship with Sylvia Townsend.”

 

“Wasn’t that just my father’s claim?”

 

“Daryl.”

 

“Whatever my father told you, it means nothing without evidence. He could have made up a lie because he didn’t want to leave a stigma even in death. He might not have been sane due to his illness in the first place—”

 

Moore slammed the table with a bang. His face was slightly red and trembling with anger.

 

“Do not insult the deceased. Frederick, your father, is not such a person.”

 

“…..”

 

“You will know when you receive and read the letter. Why Frederick had to make such a choice despite the suspicion and disgrace of the world. From today, exactly one year. It will arrive in front of you on the day specified in the will.”

 

The day specified in the will. The day this contract marriage ends, and the day Daryl finally succeeds the Duke of Griffith.

 

I couldn’t understand. Why a year later? If so, couldn’t he have written it in the will? Couldn’t he have told me before he died? During that long period of time, he stubbornly shut his mouth and forced his family to suffer and sacrifice, and made his son marry a woman suspected of being his illegitimate child with the dukedom as collateral, but he didn’t even have the courage to explain the reason for his behavior?

 

He was disgusted with the cowardice of the man called his father. Daryl struggled to swallow the curse that was about to burst out.

 

“Just know this. Your wife is not at fault. She and her mother were just victims of baseless rumors and unfair criticism.”

 

At that, something snapped in my head. Daryl’s pupils sank darkly and shone eerily.

 

“So what?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Why are you defending those women? I don’t understand why you’re doing this. You said she has nothing to do with my father. Or, do the women of the Townsend family have the blood of a succubus that bewitches old men?”

 

“Daryl! Watch your mouth!”

 

Moore shouted in a loud voice. But Daryl stared at him without blinking an eye.

 

“Or is that also a word my father told you to convey? Was there anything else? A word of concern for the family who were victims of the same baseless rumors? An apology to my mother, Layla, and me?”

 

“……”

 

Moore’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed. Looking at him with his mouth tightly shut, Daryl sneered coldly.

 

“How stupid people really are. They didn’t know that Frederick Lloyd was such a nobleman who had no interest in my family, and they suspected that woman was his illegitimate child.”

 

“…Daryl.”

 

“If you have nothing more to say, please leave now.”

 

Moore looked at Daryl with a gloomy look, and then got up from his seat. He looked back at Daryl just before leaving the office door.

 

“…You will know when you read the letter. Postpone judging your father until then.”

 

Daryl smirked.

 

“I’m looking forward to it.”

 

After Moore disappeared, Daryl went to the desk, opened the cabinet door, took out whiskey and a glass. When he swallowed the full glass of alcohol at once, he felt a tingling sensation in his dry mouth and throat.

 

Daryl clenched his teeth slightly. The fingers that twisted the glass tightly made a squeaky sound as they rubbed against the glass.

 

****

 

Anthony was tilting a glass of alcohol alone in the corner of the reception hall. If anyone who knew him normally saw this, they would have thought it was a very rare scene. Anthony had always been at the center of people since he first appeared in the social world, and he was always with a group of followers wherever he went.

 

Of course, that was only limited to those of similar class to him. In recent years, Anthony’s reputation in the social world had been on a decline, and now that the rumor that he was a poisonous flower had spread all over the capital, there was no longer a case where young nobles who did not know the world approached him.

 

In fact, it’s been a long time since he’d come to such a grand and bustling party. Now Anthony’s main stage was only the night party where only the prodigal sons who were addicted to alcohol and drugs gathered at home. Here, where there were only high-nosed people regardless of gender, he missed his rowdy friends who were drinking and taking drugs..

 

That’s not to say that Anthony was just having a boring time here. Anthony was immersed in his own pleasure even here.

 

‘The more I see, the more I think she’s a woman who’s a waste to my brother.’

 

Anthony was observing Eleanor from a distance. Even without the fact that she was the heroine of the day, she was beautiful enough to monopolize the eyes of the people passing by.

 

However, no one approached Eleanor first. In this wide and crowded reception hall, she was isolated alone.

 

She tried to look calm, as if nothing was wrong, but it was clearly visible that her complexion was getting worse every moment. It got worse after a brief conversation with a woman who seemed to be an acquaintance.

 

Of course, Anthony could have approached and talked to her. Even though his reputation was bad, since it was clear that he was Daryl’s brother, it wouldn’t be a flaw for her to get along with him.

 

‘But it’s still too early.’

 

His brother had dug his own grave, so there was no need to rush. It was enough to step forward after Eleanor was cornered more and more, and the resentment and hatred towards Daryl would be firmly engraved in her.

 

With a pleasant smile on his lips, he tilted the glass, and his eyes met a woman who was passing by in a hurry.  It was Eleanor’s chaperone, Marianne Donnelly, Viscountess Jennings.

 

“Hey, Marianne.”

 

When he raised his hand holding the glass, Marianne approached.

 

“Lord Jericho. Have you seen the Duke?”

 

“No, I haven’t seen him. But your address is too stiff. Call me Anthony. Like old times.”

 

Marianne was a woman who came out in the social world around the same time as Anthony, so to speak, she was a classmate. She was fun to hang out with because she laughed well and was good at flirting. Especially her unique seductive atmosphere that was very attractive to men, and many men, including Anthony, had their eyes on her.

 

‘But she never gave in, unlike her appearance.’

 

‘I wondered how great a man she was aiming for, but the man she chose for marriage was a boring saint like Arthur Donnelly. The old saying that you can know ten miles of water, but you can’t know one mile of a person was not wrong at all.’

 

(t/n: Even though it is possible to find out what is inside below the water which is deeper than 10 miles, it is impossible to find out what is inside the human (mind) which is not even one mile deep. Or people are difficult to predict.)