VGHA Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The air in the estate froze.

All around them, the servants and maids, who had been quietly watching, visibly tensed.

Even Faylon, whom Erina often considered dull and clueless, seemed to sense the shift in atmosphere.

He turned around.

At the top of the grand staircase, Rose had been quietly observing the situation.

The moment she realized that all eyes were on her, she stiffened.

Erina nearly laughed.

It was as if Rose had been waiting for this moment—peering down like a thieving cat—only to be caught red-handed.

“Rose…?”

Faylon’s uncertain gaze was filled with confusion as he looked at her.

But Rose immediately sprang into action, rushing down the stairs and throwing herself into his arms.

“Ron!”

Erina had to admire her nerve.

Embracing another woman’s husband in front of the legitimate wife—

Was she truly confident that the estate’s walls would keep this scandal from spreading?

Or was she simply thoughtless?

Erina really wanted to know.

“Lady Asilla.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry, Countess.”

Rose flinched dramatically, stepping away from Faylon and bowing her head.

If Erina had been an outsider watching this unfold, she might have felt sorry for Rose.

Her trembling, pitiful act was perfectly executed.

Faylon, who had momentarily hesitated, seemed to completely erase any lingering doubts.

He gently patted Rose’s shoulder.

“Lady Rose Asilla.”

“Y-Yes?”

Her voice quivered, her doe-like eyes shimmering as if on the verge of tears.

Erina almost laughed.

“Lady Asilla.”

She took a step forward, her gaze sharp.

Rose flinched.

“Erina.”

Faylon immediately stepped between them, as if her name alone was a command to stop.

“Count Eols.”

At her cold address, Faylon’s hand on Rose’s shoulder froze.

For some reason, the distance in her voice bothered him.

She had always called him darling or said his name—always clinging to him, desperately trying to appear close.

It had annoyed him.

A woman who didn’t know her place—

A woman who wasn’t satisfied with what she had and coveted what wasn’t hers—

He had hated her greed.

He had deliberately kept his distance.

It was his choice.

And yet, now that she had done the same—

He found it… unpleasant.

“Where should I begin explaining, so that you’ll actually understand?”

Erina mused aloud, tilting her head.

“Ah, but perhaps there’s no point in explaining at all.”

“What are you talking about?”

Faylon frowned.

Erina only smiled.

Even if she told him the truth, would he even believe her?

Even if she tried to explain, Rose would interrupt and cry—and the result would be the same.

“Ron, let me explain—”

“I met with Lady Rose Asilla and the Countess Dowager yesterday, before I left the estate.”

Erina cut Rose off before she could twist the story.

“What?”

“I was supposed to take Revil out for an outing, but when he didn’t show up, I went looking for him—only to find Lady Asilla and the Countess Dowager berating him.”

“Countess! Berating?!”

Rose immediately shrieked in protest.

Erina ignored her.

“So, I tried to take Revil away, but the Countess Dowager slapped me.”

Her voice was calm—too calm.

Which made the rest of the room react far more violently.

Faylon’s face, in particular, was priceless.

His usually detached crimson eyes widened in shock.

The servants and maids, who hadn’t witnessed the event firsthand, began whispering among themselves.

Were they gossiping about the Countess Dowager’s cruelty?

Or were they pitying Erina?

Faylon’s gaze finally landed on the faint but visible red scar on her cheek.

“I was angry, of course,” Erina continued, her voice light, “but what could I do? She is, after all, my esteemed mother-in-law.”

She shrugged, as if the physical assault had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

“So I left. I took the family’s carriage and went on my way.”

Her golden eyes shimmered coldly.

“Which is why I was so curious— Lady Asilla, you knew I left in the Eols carriage.

So why, then, do you also know why the carriage never came back for me?”

A suffocating silence fell over the hall.

Faylon turned to Rose, his face tight with suspicion.

“Is this… true?”

Rose trembled—then, for the briefest second, her eyes flashed with sharpness.

But it was gone so quickly that only Erina, who had been watching for it, noticed.

‘Ah…’

‘She’s good.’

Rose quickly composed herself, slipping seamlessly back into the role of the helpless victim.

“I saw the Countess leave in the carriage,” she admitted softly, lowering her gaze. “But I… I didn’t know she never returned.”

Then, she slowly looked up at Faylon, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

“Ron, you know this… I’m only a guest here.”

She had deliberately chosen her words.

A guest.

Someone who had no real authority.

Someone who had no reason to interfere.

Someone who Faylon felt guilty about.

Because in his mind, they were two lovers torn apart by fate.

Watching them silently exchange glances, Erina nearly gagged.

‘How ridiculous.’

‘How utterly laughable.’

With a scoff, she turned away.

She had wasted enough time on them.

She started walking toward her room.

Faylon, startled, called after her.

“Erina.”

She did not stop.

“Erina!”

This time, she did stop—

deliberately, digging her heel into the ground to make her footsteps echo through the hall.

Then, she slowly turned her head, locking eyes with him.

Her gaze was piercingly cold.

“Do you know who is the most at fault here?”

Her lips curled into a wicked smirk.

She didn’t have to say the words.

Her eyes said it all.

‘—It’s you.’

Faylon’s ears burned.

She was calling him out.

For his complacency.

For his blindness.

For his utter failure as the head of the household.

Turning her back on him, Erina resumed walking.

Revil and Heila, who had remained silent the entire time, followed behind her.

“Summon the coachman! Immediately!”

Faylon roared in the background.

But Erina was already gone.

Though Faylon, shaken, was too distracted to notice—

Rose wasn’t.

Her gaze keenly tracked Erina’s retreating figure, along with the two who followed her.

And her lips—

Ever so slightly…

Curled into a smile.

—

“Madam! You’ve returned!”

The suspiciously enthusiastic greeting she received upon entering her room made Erina pause.

Leni, her personal maid, beamed brightly at her.

Something about it…

Did not sit right with her.

“I knew you would come back!”

“Did you?”

Erina’s golden eyes narrowed.

The moment Erina sensed something off in Leni’s words, she subtly gestured for Heila to stop.

Understanding immediately, Heila remained just outside the door, hidden from view, listening closely.

“I never believed the rumors that you left out of heartbreak after the Count brought another woman into the house.”

Leni was eager to speak, volunteering unnecessary details without being asked.

Erina smiled at her.

“You love the Count so much, after all.”

“Ha. Do I?”

“Even if you don’t say it, I know.”

Leni puffed herself up with misplaced confidence, as if her brief time as Erina’s personal maid had made her an expert on her thoughts.

Erina nearly laughed out loud.

“The Count will surely return to you once he realizes your love. I’ll help you!”

“You will?”

“Yes!”

Her confidence was so absurd that Erina let out a small, disbelieving chuckle.

She knew that Leni reported everything she did to Faylon.

She also knew that Leni eagerly collected jewelry from the Countess Dowager and Mireya in exchange for gossiping about her flaws.

“You, of all people?”

It was beyond laughable.

Faylon and Mireya’s utter disregard for her had made everyone in House Eols believe they could treat her like a joke.

The realization infuriated her.

“Get out.”

“Madam, if you think about it carefully, you’ll see that you need me—”

“Get. Out.”

This time, it was Heila who spoke.

She strode into the room, stopping just inches from Leni.

Though she smiled, her gaze was deadly.

A mere maid could never withstand the aura of a trained knight.

Leni paled, darting her eyes between Erina and Heila before hastily scurrying out of the room.

As Erina sighed, Revil hesitated by the door, unsure if he should enter.

She motioned for him to come in.

He quickly stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind him.

“This family is astonishing—but for all the wrong reasons.”

Heila scoffed as she began surveying the room.

It was… shockingly plain.

Too simple for a Countess’s chambers.

“I can’t imagine how you lived here.”

The husband who should have worried over his missing wife had raged at her instead.

The mistress, who should have kept her head down, had boldly flaunted her position.

And even the maids showed her no respect.

Had she even been breathing in this house?

Heila’s heart ached unexpectedly.

It was all too familiar.

She wanted to ask why.

‘Why had she put up with this for so long?’

But she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

“One week left, right? Until we leave?”

“That’s right, Heila. Just one more week.”

Erina sat at the edge of the bed, smoothing the wrinkled sheets.

She had left it perfectly made before her departure, but now it was rumpled, as if someone had lain in it.

A few strands of light pink hair caught on her fingers.

She picked them up.

They looked as soft as spun sugar.

“You wonder why I don’t lash out at them. Why I don’t do anything.”

Her voice was light, almost amused.

“Because I don’t need to.”

Her expression was serene, but her golden eyes gleamed coldly.

This room—though outdated and sparsely furnished—was still technically the Countess’s chamber.

And someone had coveted it.

Erina could easily imagine what had happened in her absence.

She didn’t even need to try.

She could see Rose sitting at her vanity, pretending to be the lady of the house, rifling through her sparse cosmetics.

She could see her rolling around in the bed, hoping Erina would never return.

“This place means nothing to me anymore.”

She was going to leave.

And when she did, she would take everything that mattered.

Rose and Faylon would never even realize what they had lost—

Not until it was far too late.

Not until they were left with nothing.

And she would never let them be happy.

She would make them suffer as she had suffered.

Just thinking about it made her thrill with anticipation.

“There’s no need to waste my energy on them.”

They would destroy themselves soon enough.

Tossing the strands of pink hair to the ground, Erina ground them under the heel of her shoe.