Shioana realized that sometimes hearing only sounds is more stimulating than seeing.
The noise of footsteps on the grass and the rustling of hands brushing against fabric. The song the night called, and the sound of hot breath mingled together, evoking a strange imagination.
'Your Excellency and Miss Diana...'
They might be confirming their passionate love up ahead.
The wind blowing through the gaps in the Leylandi trees roughly gouged Shioana's body.
'Why is it like this? I feel like something is missing.'
It was none of her business what the Duke did with Miss Diana, but it wasn't as easy as it sounds to cut off her thoughts. Shioana was quite flustered when she realized that this was a feeling similar to jealousy.
She had long accepted that the Duke was a different person from Etienne.
'But how on earth am I supposed to be conscious of the Duke?'
She couldn't figure out the reason at all.
He was handsome, capable, and of high status, but for those reasons, he was a man too distant from her. Besides, he harbored nothing but hostility toward her and constantly resorted to threats.
'He is a man who tries to use me like a piece on a chessboard.'
After saying goodbye to Martha and Harriet, she returned to the main building, but had nowhere to go.
She could not go to the bedroom because the Duke might be with Miss Diana. Shioana, who had been wandering aimlessly, ran into a lady in the drawing room.
"...That is."
The godmother of the Bernhard family slowly scanned Shioana up and down.
She hadn't seen her face even once since coming to this mansion, but that wasn't strange, as this is also her home.
“Hello, hello.”
Shioana, having composed herself, bowed as politely as possible.
"Well, I'm not exactly doing well."
The madam, leaning back on the red sofa, frowned slightly. As she had felt the other person the other day, she regarded her with utter contempt.
'It's obvious, but...'
Her stomach was churning to the core, so she thought she wouldn't be able to handle dealing with a noblewoman.
"I'll be going now."
It was when Shioana turned around and hurriedly tried to leave the place.
“Stand there.”
Eventually, Shioana was held by Godmaid Bernhard and sat on the chair across from her.
"Our Duke may enjoy some entertainment, but he never did such a vulgar thing. To think he brought such a crude woman into the Duchess's bedroom!"
"I'm sorry."
Shioana, with her head bowed low, offered only a meaningless apology. It was not as if she had wanted to sleep in the Duchess's bedroom, but she kept her mouth shut, thinking that the other person would not believe her even if she explained.
"Stand up and come here."
As Shioana approached the Grand Madam, the Grand Madam poked Shioana's body here and there with the tip of a folded fan.
"Looking at how small your pelvis isn't, it seems like it will be difficult to have a son."
Shioana was seized with a sense of injustice, wondering why she was suddenly bringing up a son.
"Madam, I..."
"Can't you shut up? How dare a nobody like you covet our family?"
An icy sneer mixed into the soft voice.
The madam struck her waist with a fan.
"...Ugh."
Shioana wanted to leave this place immediately, but she couldn't because of the promise she made to the Duke yesterday. Since she promised to do it properly, it would be her burden to endure this humiliation.
Because Shioana is currently acting as a stand-in for Duke Bernhard's lover.
"You don't even say a word in response? You're a total tough guy."
Grand Madam tightened her grip on the fan she was holding and struck Shioana's back hard.
"Ugh."
With her fists clenched against her sides, Shioana stifled her bursting groans.
Just then.
Someone made loud footsteps and knelt before the Grand Madam.
"Grand Madam Bernhard, are you alright?"
Although it was clearly Shioana who was being beaten, Diana Vale worried about the Grand Madam's safety.
The Duke, who had been standing at an angle at the entrance to the drawing room merely watching, slumped onto the long green sofa and ran his hand through his hair in annoyance.
He brought the bottle of liquor on the table to his lips and spoke to the Grand Madam.
"Mother, if you have done enough, you may be going now."
Etienne was on edge due to the uninvited guest who had barged in late in the afternoon.
"Shouldn't we hold the engagement ceremony right away? Since neither Count Vale nor I are in good health, it is something that cannot be postponed."
He had gone to a restaurant with Diana a while ago because of a sudden appointment his stepmother made, but apparently, that wasn't enough. On top of that, Diana chased him around all day, urging him to get engaged.
"Your Excellency, do you not consider me beautiful?"
Diana Vale was undoubtedly a beautiful woman with red hair. Everyone praised her beauty whenever they went out together, but no matter how much Diana clung to him and tried to win him over, his heart did not waver in the slightest.
After dinner, she pestered him to take a walk in the garden and kept asking for a kiss of promise the whole time.
If he hadn't seen Shioana standing at the entrance of the maze at that time, he would have just left Diana behind and returned.
'How is it to see me with someone other than you?'
However, the performative whispers of love did not last very long. After Shioana disappeared, Etienne made his intentions clear to Diana.
"I have no intention of marrying you."
Diana cried and refused to accept it, but that was not his concern.
Godmother Bernhard, who had been pretending not to hear the Duke's words, spoke up.
"Diana, you will soon be the mistress of the Duke's household, so listen carefully. The lower classes are similar to beasts, so they are tamed with hawks."
The Godmother's voice was truly affectionate as she stroked Diana's hair, who had rested her head on the other's knee.
'It's extremely unrealistic.'
Shioana suddenly found the situation amusing. The Grand Madam, who had been mercilessly beating her, was suddenly acting like a saint, while the young lady, who had been begging the Duke for a kiss, was merely blinking her eyelashes like a meek lamb.
“Like this.”
It was when the Grand Madam, having raised her arm, was about to strike Shioana's back again.
The Duke approached, having stood up at some point, and grabbed Shioana's wrist. Pulling Sina closer in an instant, the Duke wrapped one arm around her back.
"Mother, it is not good to put any more scratches on my things."
The Grand Madam's face turned red and then blue at the Duke's intervention.
"Duke, our Diana is not a narrow-minded woman who would not understand a man having a mistress, but isn't this going too far? To think you would bring that thing into the ducal household."
Shioana squeezed her eyes shut at the way she was being treated as if she were a plague. Although she had no memory of receiving her parents' love, she was not the lowly being the other person was talking about.
'Martha would be really upset if she heard that.'
Just as her eyes were starting to flush, the Duke grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.
"We look like we're going to be busy now, Cedric; let's see you two off."
Cedric, who appeared from behind the pillar at the Duke's command, gave an embarrassed smile.
"Shall I prepare the carriage, Madam?"
Shioana, who had been dragged down the long flight of stairs, shook her arm after quite a while.
“Please let go!”
Perhaps because Duke Bernhard disliked brightness, the hallway where the two stood was very dim. It was she who had been beaten and treated like livestock by the Godmother, yet the Duke’s eyes were bloodshot as he faced her.
"I will follow you even if you drag me along like that."
Anyway, she didn't have anywhere else to go at this hour.
As she gently stroked her grabbed wrist, the Duke coldly retorted.
"Why did you stay silent after hearing that?"
"Are you talking about what the Grand Madam told me?"
Of course, it was humiliating. It certainly didn't feel good to be treated like a cow in the marketplace.
But sadly, such low-class insults were a daily occurrence for her since she came here.
The neighbor she met every morning would make lewd jokes while looking at Shioana's figure or face. A prime example was the butcher. She had to endure lewd and disgusting remarks that were unspeakable.
"I told you not to forget that you are my lover right now."
"It didn't make me feel that bad, so I didn't get angry."
At Shioana's calm words, he strode over and grabbed her shoulders.
"Why aren't you getting angry? Why are you just standing there taking the beating?"
"I really don't understand why His Excellency is angry."
"Because my reputation is at stake."
"You've been saying that from the beginning. I told you that if you're going to be so concerned about saving face, I can't be one."
A foreigner in Zone 8 with a child—there couldn't have been a worse situation than this. Work all day, company dinners, and even things like this at night—just trying to handle it was slowly draining my energy.
As Shioana ran her hand across her pale face, he lowered his head and pressed his forehead against hers.
"Well. I can't do without you, so..."
A hot breath enveloped the faces of the two, and Shioana took a step back in fear. The Duke's hand gripping her shoulder was excessively hot, and heat surged in his red eyes staring at her.
He got so close that it seemed his lips might touch Shioana's lips at any moment.
"I think I was told you not to drink."
Following their shared breath, the scent of the sweet liquor she had drunk wafted in. Flustered, Shioana whispered softly.
"Raul, Raul said this isn't alcohol..."
“Is it Raul again?”
His voice, shaking her while holding her, was filled with suppressed anger. With his head bowed low, he acted as if he really wanted to kiss her. Shioana covered her lips with her hand and shouted.
“Ha. Don’t do it.”
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