"I will take my leave now, assuming that is the case."
"No."
The Marquis looked at me just once at the noise, said only what he had to say to the Marchioness, and left the room.
The Marchioness screamed as she watched the cold Marquis's retreating figure. The nanny quickly caught her as she was about to collapse to the floor, sobbing.
It wasn't that I was hurt by the attitude of the Marquis or the Marchioness, but I couldn't help feeling offended. There are few things as unpleasant as being ignored to one's face.
“Ahhhh-”
The Marchioness threw a hysterical tantrum, tearing at her hair. Her wavy red hair flew in all directions under her rough touch. Unlike her pitiful face with its deep dimples, her eyes were bloodshot and radiated a chilling venom.
There is a saying that a daughter resembles her mother's fate. Perhaps that is why. The Marchioness's current appearance bore a terrifying resemblance to Bjornne, who was dying while hating the world.
She was the only daughter of a Count family famous for being wealthy merchants, and at the age of 18, she married Marquis Elliot and became a Marchioness. The fact that she fell in love with Marquis Elliot and pursued him for several years is famous in high society to this day. Having fallen for Marquis Elliot at first sight, she spared no means or methods to marry him.
She hovered around him several times a day and recruited those around him to keep track of his every move. Six years younger than her, he was 24 at the time, having lost his father early and inherited his title. The young, handsome, unmarried Marquis was more than enough to attract the attention of women.
There were many women who approached him. She used her status and money to block every single one of them. She even went so far as to personally visit them and commit heinous acts. Nothing was lacking to her. He was her everything.
When she finally married him, she was the happiest bride in the world.
Although rumors circulated that the Count family, famous for their wealthy merchant status, had faltered for a while due to financial difficulties after paying her dowry, she paid not the slightest bit of attention. On the contrary, she believed that an astronomical dowry was insufficient to prove her worth.
She paid no attention to the whispers of people who claimed she had bought the Marquis with money. He had become hers, and she thought her future would be filled with rosy colors.
However, reality was different from what she had imagined.
The Marquis was a very cold man. Far from showing any affection, he was extremely reluctant to even make contact with her. It was impossible to know why he had married the Marchioness. Only the Marquis himself knew whether he had been swayed by money as rumored or if there was some other reason.
One thing is certain: he never married her out of love. He treated her with the respect due to a Marchioness, but that was all.
With each passing year, her longing grew stronger. As she aged and her dignified charm deepened, so did her hysteria.
She craved him incessantly. She had gone completely mad with love for him. To such a person, even the child she had borne with her own flesh and blood would not register in her eyes. Things might have been different if he had taken an interest in the child born from their union. However, a daughter who could not become an heir meant nothing to him.
What is important to him is the safety and prosperity of his family.
The only thing that matters to her is him.
They had not the slightest interest in me, their daughter.
"It's all your fault!"
I snapped back to reality at a scream-like shout. While I was distracted for a moment, she was glaring at me with eyes filled with hatred.
"If only you were born a boy!"
A chuckle escaped my lips at her scream-like shout.
'Even if I had been born a man, would anything have been different?'
She was greatly mistaken. The reason he has no interest in her and me is not that I am a girl who cannot become the family's heir. He simply has no interest in her and me. I did not think that even if I explained this fact to her, she, who had gone mad, would be able to understand. Trying to explain logic to a madwoman is just a waste of breath.
"Aargh! It's because of you. I'm telling you, it's because of you! Die! Die! Just die!"
She finally swung her hand at me. Her long fingernails narrowly grazed my face.
"Madam, please calm down, ugh!"
The nanny, having barely managed to grab her arm, tried to soothe her, but true to the saying that the crazier a woman is, the stronger she becomes, she pushed aside the nanny, who was twice her size, and lunged at me. Seeing this mad woman with bloodshot eyes charging at me as if to kill me, even I could not remain indifferent.
Human survival instinct was incredible. The body reacted before the mind could even think. I pulled back to avoid her and quickly grabbed the doorknob.
Bang!
I heard the sound of something banging. I felt a slight vibration behind me as I leaned against the door.
I was satisfied with the sturdily installed door.
“Ah. Miss?”
The ladies-in-waiting outside the room looked back and forth between me and the door I was leaning against with surprised expressions. I met their gazes with the utmost nonchalance. My face had already become as thick as it could get. It was Bjornne—no, me—who was called the most shameless in the Empire. The sight of the ladies-in-waiting weighed on me completely.
"Aaaaaaaah-"
A shrill scream leaked from beyond the door. I gestured toward the knight guarding the door. He approached me with a rigid face. I pointed my finger at the doorknob.
“Hold it.”
He wore a look of incomprehension, but he obediently grabbed the doorknob. Just then, the door rattled and was about to open. The knight reflexively pulled to prevent it from opening. The screams from beyond the door grew louder. The knight, sweating profusely, looked at me pitifully.
I ignored him and gestured toward the maid closest to me. The maid hesitated and approached me.
“Listen.”
"Yes?"
I frowned at her retort. I was starting to get annoyed. I pointed my finger at the sword the knight had at his waist.
"Hang it on the handle to block it from coming out."
"Yes?"
As I raised my eyebrows, she flinched and reflexively moved to unfasten the sword from the knight's waist and wedge it through the doorknob. The knight looked back and forth between his sword hanging on the doorknob and me with a bewildered expression.
Wow!
“Ma’am, please!”
When the door didn't open as expected, a spine-chilling sound came from it, as if someone were scratching it with their fingernails. Nanny's pleading voice followed.
I turned around and smiled sweetly at those who were frozen.
“Well then, good work, everyone.”
No one reacted to my words. They were astonished by the sight they were seeing for the first time and just gaped.
I waved slightly at them as they stood there foolishly and moved my feet without hesitation. Two maids, belatedly realizing their duty, hurriedly followed behind me.
Even racking my brain, the Marchioness was certainly more hysterical today than usual. It must be related to the Marquis I just encountered in her quarters.
To be honest, I was slightly surprised to see the Marquis in the Marchioness's quarters. I had never once in my life seen the Marquis in the Marchioness's quarters. I could count on one hand the number of times I had personally seen the Marquis and the Marchioness together in the same space.
Unlike the Marchioness, who frequently barged into the Marquis's quarters, the Marquis never once visited hers. He even went so far as to station knights at his quarters and office to prevent the Marchioness from barging in at will. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was born to such a couple.
Some thoughtless people whispered that I might not be the Marquis's child. I punished every single one of them accordingly. Machining their limbs was the norm, and sometimes I did not hesitate to take their lives. Nevertheless, the rumors showed no signs of dying down.
In fact, judging solely by appearance, their words were quite credible. I did not resemble the Marquis. My appearance was the spitting image of the Marchioness. There was not a trace of the Marquis anywhere on my face.
The reason the rumors did not disappear over time was because of my hair color. The Marquis had navy blue hair, and the Marchioness had red hair. Even after examining my paternal, maternal, and all my relatives, there was no one with golden-brown hair like mine.
The Marquis remained silent despite the growing rumors. He neither affirmed nor denied them. Due to the Marquis's attitude, the rumors spread as if they were the truth.
People who did not have a good opinion of me would subtly bring up rumors and mock me. There were even those who openly ridiculed me to my face. Of course, given my personality, there was no way I would have let such people get away with it. I insulted them and sometimes did not hesitate to resort to physical attacks. The more they did so, the more my reputation plummeted, but my pride would not allow me to just sit back and listen.
"Am I really the Marquis's biological child?'
It didn't seem likely that the Marchioness, who was obsessed with the Marquis, would have had an affair. However, the Marquis and I didn't resemble each other outwardly at all to be his biological child. Only the Marquis and the Marchioness knew the truth.
To find out the exact truth, it would be certain to ask the Marquis rather than the Mad Marchioness. Of course, that is assuming the Marquis opens his mouth. I was afraid of learning the truth. That is why I reacted even more sensitively to rumors.
Bjornne Rossa Elliot.
This name was everything that sustained me. The title of the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Elliot was my pride and my inviolable foundation.
“Should I go and ask now?”
"Yes?"
At my muttering, the ladies-in-waiting following me questioned me with bewildered expressions. Ignoring them, I turned my head toward the hallway where the Marquis's office was located.
Compared to the nature of the mistress, who had absolutely no interest in decorating the house, and the indifferent husband, the hallway's interior was moderately antique and moderately ornate. I had never given much thought to the interior of the house before, but it seemed that whoever was in charge was quite competent.
"Miss, over there!"
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