Episode 37

With the formalization of the successor for the Orzen family, they are soon to branch off into a separate household.

Among the collateral families of the Drenihan, they will probably obtain a plausible position and leave the duchy.

As a result, the servants who had been played around by Lady Beth couldn’t even lift their heads.

The Duchess passed away long ago, and without even a first daughter-in-law, the household affairs were solely managed by Lady Beth.

Since the servants were naturally filled with her people, I had become accustomed to their disregard as a daily occurrence.

When Lady Beth leaves, the priority of managing the household will be given to me, the only daughter of the young duke.

‘Let’s see. Those who need to be replaced are one, two, three…’

Oh dear. The place was filled with Lady Beth’s people.

It seemed I would need to significantly weed out the servants.

As I walked down the long corridor, I greeted each person with a smile.

Those whose loyalty was questionable, whether they were servants of Drenihan or pawns of the Crea Marquisate, each turned pale.

I was on my way to congratulate my father directly when I encountered an unwelcome face.

“Aunt, good morning.”

I tried to pass by with a casual greeting as usual, but she blocked my way, standing firmly in front of me.

“Is there something you want to say?”

Lady Beth, with a terrifying expression, was suppressing a fierce anger that seemed about to burst at any moment.

“I’ve heard everything. Yesterday, you egged on my husband, who was heavily drunk, and caused trouble as he was trying to go to his room.”

“You’ve misunderstood. Uncle was the one who kept me standing and made a scene.”

“The child who usually ignores him, but yesterday of all days! And why exactly until midnight? I’m curious.”

“Well, I didn’t realize the time had already passed. Uncle has his own thoughts; I certainly didn’t expect him to come home in that state at the exact moment grandfather went out for his walk at midnight.”

“Are you trying to evade responsibility now? You knew everything!”

I approached Lady Beth, who was about to explode with rage, and erased the smile from my lips as I spoke.

“So, what will you do about it?”

“Wha-what?”

“Will hiding it make uncle any less of a drunkard? It’s not something that can be hidden forever… As someone who carries the Drenihan name, I feel uneasy. The idea that such a person could become the head of the family.”

“You, you…!”

Lady Beth raised her hand high, seemingly ready to hit me with a completely lost sense of reason.

She would have surely struck me if I hadn’t cheerfully called out to someone.

“Grandfather!”

“…”

At those words, Lady Beth froze like a stone in front of me and couldn’t turn around.

“Grandfather, what brings you here? Did you come to see me?”

The left corridor on the third floor. The only place he could have come to visit was my room.

Lady Beth had also come here specifically to meet me.

Not long ago, I had noticed the servants becoming conspicuously busy in the distance.

The left corridor on the third floor was always quiet and still.

Besides me, it was a place that members of the duchy rarely visited.

Naturally, the servants under Lady Beth’s control neglected this area.

When I passed by, I could see dust still settled on the window sills, and the carpet had stains on it, not having been replaced with a new one.

My father, who frequently looked for me, wasn’t attentive enough to notice such minor details due to his lack of housekeeping skills.

Nella had always been dissatisfied with the servants’ laziness, but we knew well that confronting them would put us at a disadvantage.

And now they were so diligently cleaning.

I almost burst out laughing at the sight of them frantically trying to remove the stains from the carpet.

It would be more difficult not to guess that grandfather was coming to this place after seeing such efforts.

So I deliberately provoked Lady Beth and was watching the outcome with great interest.

“What is going on here?”

The voice, calm but filled with underlying anger, was especially subdued.

Lady Beth still couldn’t turn around.

She just stared at me with a face as pale as death.

“Am I so old that my eyes are failing? Daughter-in-law, it looks like you were about to hit my granddaughter. Did I see that wrong?”

“F-F-Father…?”

Lady Beth turned around with a trembling voice that seemed to creak.

“Head butler, what do you think? I find it hard to believe…”

“I’m sorry, but as I saw it, the young madam was clearly threatening the lady.”

“So, I wasn’t seeing things, was I?”

He laughed heartily, then quickly erased his smile and became furious.

“How dare you lay a hand on the granddaughter of Thergon Drenihan!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Father, I made a mistake without realizing it!”

Lady Beth immediately bent so deeply that her head nearly touched the ground, begging for forgiveness.

“I hate to think what would have happened if I had been a little late. How could an aunt, Orzen, and you be the same!”

“I’m sorry, please forgive me!”

“Don’t you really know that she is a child who gets bedridden for five days with even the slightest injury?”

He shook his head and issued an expulsion order.

“Leave. Even if you start packing now, it will take a long time.”

“Are you saying we have to leave the house immediately?”

Once the successor is decided, the sibling who loses in the competition must leave the house.

It’s an obvious fact, but she would not have expected it to happen so soon after today’s announcement.

“If you are going to cause trouble every time you see Sierra, it would be better for both of you to leave now.”

“Father…! How can you act as if Sierra is your only grandchild? Both Calik and Jerria are also your grandchildren!”

“Yes, and the eldest goes to the gambling house every day following his father, doesn’t he?”

“That, that is…!”

“Did you think I didn’t know? Calik will ruin the family when he grows up.”

He was spot on.

In the original story, the downfall of the Drenihan family involves Duke Serkhan and his daughter Sierra being executed, and the rest scattered in all directions.

Calik gathers considerable funds by scraping up the Drenihan assets, only to squander it all in a single day at the gambling house.

Then, drunk, he goes to threaten Jenna, the one who ruined the family, and is killed by the Crown Prince’s sword on the spot.

It was a fleeting episode, but it clearly showed what kind of person Calik was.

“And Jerria is no different. Pushing her cousin into the maw of a monster was truly horrific.”

“…”

“The opportunities for you and Orzen have ended. I’ll give you a relatively prosperous and quiet estate, so take care of yourselves from now on.”

Thergon Drenihan had an evenhanded affection for his two sons, left behind by his beloved wife, which he could never express.

But once someone crossed the line, he was ruthless.

Lady Beth, with a devastated expression, bowed and left.

As I watched her trudging away, my grandfather approached me.

“Have you been treated like this all this time?”

“…It was the first time Lady Beth raised her hand. There were a few instances of verbal abuse, but she seemed very angry this time.”

His brows furrowed.

He was very angry but seemed to be restraining himself in front of me.

“I’m sorry I only came to you now.”

At the end of the left corridor on the third floor, for the first time, he stepped into this place, his face seemed filled with regret.

The servants who had hurriedly cleaned the neglected areas had disappeared.

“I will arrange for you to move to the central bedroom on the second floor.”

The central bedroom on the second floor was traditionally occupied by the most favored child of the family head, usually the heir.

Grandfather had left that room empty for a long time, trying not to favor either my father or Orzen.

The fact that he was giving it to me had a special meaning.

“Thank you for caring.”

“Yesterday… you told me I would always make the right decision.”

“Yes, and you did. Appointing the heir was the right decision.”

“Yes. I don’t know why I hesitated for so long. I feel relieved now that I’ve decided.”

“I know you did it out of concern for me.”

“…You knew.”

“I am also working on something to ensure I don’t hold back my father. Please watch over me, grandfather.”

I beamed, and he softened his stern expression and patted my head.

And then, I heard the voice of the person I had been waiting for nearby.