Chapter 10 – Unexpected Rejection
For several days after that, Mellie was depressed.
‘Yes. There must be something wrong with the duchess. What if she’s not sincere? I should be grateful that she fed me and put me to bed until this day.’
She tried to console herself and scold herself, but it was of no use. The fact that Mrs. Felton had never truly cared for her made it hard for Mellie to escape her sadness.
She was so deeply skeptical that the disappointment she had felt toward Lord Blair was nothing .
Because of that, she couldn’t control her facial expressions properly, but fortunately, Ada didn’t notice.
‘You still seem to be heartbroken, Mellie.’
Ada was convinced that Mellie’s dark complexion was because of what happened with Lord Blair, and she comforted her affectionately.
‘Don’t worry, my dear. Mrs. Galen came to visit today, and one of
her distant nephews is looking for a wife. They don’t need anything else, you just need to be kind and gentle. What could be better than this?’
‘… ‘… ‘
He’s only six years older than you, and he’ll soon inherit the title of Viscount, so I think I’ve finally found you a match.’
The lady smiled with a kind face, but Mellie could no longer look at her with innocent eyes. That’s because she knew too much.
‘People should be forgotten as people. While we’re on the subject, I’d like to make a date for tomorrow. What do you think?’
‘I’ll just live in this house a little longer.’
That’s what she was going to say. That was the best she could do. But… … Her mouth wouldn’t open.
The conservative customary law of the empire strictly restricted women’s labor and independence. It was especially strict for noble women. If it was strict even for commoners, noble families wouldn’t be able to hire female servants.
In the end, noble women, especially unmarried young ladies, had to rely on someone to survive.
Mellie looked back again to see if there was anyone among her relatives she could rely on, but there were none.
Her mother had been an only child for two generations, and her father had brothers, but they had all been cut off when he fell into debt.
If Mellie went to see them, everyone would be terrified as if they had seen a ghost.
In the end, the only answer was the Duke of Felton.
‘You can live here. Don’t worry about my mother,’
Edric said. Since he was the one who would take the house anyway, he told her to just make her position clear and leave the rest to him.
But Mellie still didn’t know if that was the right thing to do.
Edric was going to marry Rosaline soon, and she still had feelings for him.
Therefore, no matter how much he thought of her as his sister, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was inappropriate.
Every time she met Rosaline, she would bow her head in guilt. She wouldn’t be able to look straight into her captivating ruby eyes, and she would have to be conscious every moment not to look at Edric with admiration in front of her.
As long as her heart remains, it will continue to be that way.
As long as her heart remains… … .
“Mellie.”
After helping clean up the meal, she turned to the corner to return to her quarters, and heard a voice calling her from behind.
When she turned around, Edric was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
From the location and the posture, it seemed clear that he had been waiting for her.
“Would you like to see me for a moment?”
Edric smiled and turned around. She knew what he was going to say. Mellie followed at him uncomfortably.
Edric led Mellie to the supplies storage at the end of the hallway.
The corner, without a single window, was dark even in broad daylight. Mellie felt even more uncomfortable because this meeting seemed even more inappropriate.
“Why didn’t you tell my mother earlier?”
Edric got to the point right away.
“If you find it hard to say, should I say it for you?”
“Oh… … No, I’ll say it.”
Mellie quickly tried to stop him. She thought that if he intervened, Ada’s pretense would no longer remain pretense.
Edric no longer insisted on doing it himself. He gently urged her, pulling away the auburn hair that clung to Mellie’s collar.
“If you’re going to tell her, you’d better tell her quickly. Before my mother sends a letter to the Galen family to find you a match.”
“… … .”
“You shouldn’t put my mother through all that trouble, right, Mellie?”
Edric said softly, almost like a whisper.
Mellie nodded with an embarrassed look on her face.
“Rosaline is coming this afternoon. I’m going to tell her when she comes. That you’ve agreed to live with us.”
“… … .”
“Rosaline is really looking forward to it. She said she would treat you like a little sister. She said she would go to the opera with you and eat delicious food. She said she wanted to live like that with her little sister.”
Edric felt very good when she said that. They say that when you gain one, you lose one, but that didn’t apply to him.
Mellie was a special friend like a little sister, and they would live together even after he got married.
He sat in the living room armchair and imagined Rosaline and Mellie chatting and playing chess together.
Just imagining it was a scene that made his heart feel at peace. He could also imagine his child following Mellie more than its mother when the child will be born.
Rosaline was too extroverted to help and take care of the child.
On the other hand, Mellie was quiet and careful, and listened patiently to others, so the children would definitely follow her.
“Edric.”
Mellie called him in a low voice. Edric happily responded to Mellie’s call as an extension of his happy thoughts.
“Tell me.”
He was now generous enough to listen to anything.
“How about I become your family?”
Mellie added in a tone of a pretended determination.
“Not fake, but a real family.”
“… … .”
“I mean, accept me as your legal sister and become my legal brother.”
Edric’s smile slowly faded.
***
It wasn’t a decision that was made after careful consideration.
No, it was actually more of an impulse.
But somehow it felt like the right way.
Then people wouldn’t think it was strange that the Duke and Duchess of Felton and Mellie were living together in one house anymore.
Above all, the fact that Mellie herself could give up on Edric the fastest and most definitely seemed like the biggest advantage.
She was confident that she wouldn’t do something stupid like admiring a man who was her legal brother.
The previous Duchess’s opposition was a concern, but she decided to think about that later.
The most important thing was Edric’s will. He was the head of the Felton family, and the head of the family could do whatever he wanted.
But she didn’t worry about being rejected.
He had always thought of herself as family, or more, so she
thought he would naturally agree.
But.
“That doesn’t seem right.”
“… … .”
The unexpected words flowed from Edric’s mouth.
The faint smile on his lips felt colder than his expressionless face.
Mellie suddenly wondered why he was opposing her, but when she thought about it carefully, she had a guess.
“Oh, if it’s because of the inheritance, Edric, don’t worry about that. I won’t receive a single penny of the duke’s estate. If you want me to write a memorandum, I’ll write it.”
She was sincere.
Mellie wasn’t interested in any benefits of being a member of the duke’s family.
She just needed an excuse to completely abandon him in her heart.
“… … .”
Suddenly, even the subtle smile from before disappeared from Edric’s face.
“Mellie.”
The voice calling her was as cold as ice.
“This issue involves much more complicated interests than you think.”
He seemed angry at first.
‘Is it because I mentioned inheritance? Why dare I mention such a thing when I should be grateful for the food and shelter I’ve given you?’
That seemed to be the only reason. Suddenly, Mellie felt so ashamed of herself.
She felt she had to apologize right away.
“I’m sorry, Edric. The reason I brought up inheritance was because of that issue, so you don’t have to worry about it at all… …”
“Mellie.”
Edric cut off her apology in a firm voice. His expression had become even more sullen.
“If you become a member of the dukedom, inheritance is a given. You can’t receive it if you want, and you can’t refuse it if you don’t want to. I have no intention of sparing my legal sister that.”
Even in the midst of confusion, his determination to point out what was wrong and move on solidified his gaze even more fiercely.
“Let’s think about this issue for a bit. It doesn’t seem like it’s something we can easily talk about here.”
“Yeah… …”
The conclusion was postponed ambiguously like that.
My suggestion to become legal siblings was unexpected, but his refusal to agree was even more unexpected.
I thought he would definitely like it.
“I’ll go first.”
Edric brushed past Mellie. His face, which had been full of life when she arrived here, now looked tired.
‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
Just as she was about to regret it,
“Right!”
Edric turned around.
“Let’s keep this story between you and me today. I’ll tell you my decision when the time is right, so don’t tell anyone until then. Okay?”
Mellie had no intention of telling anyone, so she answered yes without hesitation.
Edric didn’t even show her his usual smile, just turned around coldly and walked away.
It felt strange.
She felt resentful that he refused to become her family when he said they were like family, but she also felt like she had said it for nothing.
Accepting her as the adopted daughter of the Felton family.
Even I thought it was an absurd suggestion, so how much more so must Edric have felt.
‘I was foolish.’
Mellie regretted her recklessness as she watched his back as he walked away.
