Yurizella subtly changed the subject.
"Well, have I ever done anything to my precious granddaughter? Even when she was ill-mannered, did I ever hit her? Did I ever starve her?"
In fact, even Yurizella couldn't leak that much information.
More precisely, she could not mention how the other side took the waiver of custody.
Since she signed a confidentiality agreement.
If she broke the rules, not only would she be imprisoned indefinitely in the detention center again, but she would also fall out of favor with Duke Lakan, the backer of that Marquis Rivandel.
'They even went so far as to threaten to bury it, so if I reveal it, I might get kidnapped.'
Yurizella trembled.
It was terrible to recall the memory of bugs crawling on her body and rats urinating and defecating on her dress while she was sleeping in the detention center.
In the midst of this, Asha tilted her head in puzzlement with an innocent face.
“That’s strange.”
"Are you willing to change your tune now that you are at a disadvantage?"
"Mother, but you personally signed the waiver of custody rights, didn't you? I didn't even ask you to sign it."
"..."
At those words, Yurizella stared at the man behind Asha, shedding tears like chicken droppings as if to show off.
The man standing by Asha's side as if protecting her was her remarried husband, Marquis Rivandel.
Moreover, since today was the first time they had made a direct appearance at the ball, all eyes were already on the two of them.
Of all people, her ex-mother-in-law showed up demanding the child back. And to make matters worse, the child isn't even the Marchioness de Rivandel's biological child.
All of this was an interesting spectacle for people.
"What power would it have for me, old and powerless, to speak?'
Yurizella kept her mouth shut, leaving only a meaningful remark.
Although she clearly did not reveal anything herself, it implied indirectly that other pressure had been applied.
Yurizella's friends shouted loudly, not to be outdone.
"See! My friend isn't the type to give up her granddaughter so easily!"
"Even though she was a bit rough around the edges, she was so affectionate toward her own children and granddaughters."
"Look at her treating her ex-mother-in-law with contempt just because she married into the Marquis's family."
As if the support of her friends was like an army of thousands, Yurizella muttered this time in a dying voice.
"Yes, I am the sinner. I lost my own child and disciplined my granddaughter in an attempt to raise her well, but if I had known this would happen, I should have just spoiled her."
Yurizella's appearance, so choked up that she couldn't even find the words to speak, was certainly pitiful enough to fool anyone who didn't know her well.
Asha approached her.
Contrary to expectations, Yurizella flinched for a moment at the sight of her smiling face.
This was because she expected that by this point, she would start to get flustered or at least refute her point by point.
However, what Asha did.
"Mother! Good heavens, why didn't you tell me that all this time!"
With an equally affectionate expression, she held her mother-in-law's hand and plopped down on her knees in front of her.
Yurizella looked down at Asha with a blank expression.
"Mother, I didn't even know how much you cherish your grandchild!"
"Th-that's right, the child I cherish most in this world is none other than Linea!"
"Mother said you would do anything for you as long as you had a grandchild, didn't you?"
Yurizella's neck stiffened for no reason as he saw Asha's clear eyes looking up at him while asking that question.
'Nothing good has ever happened whenever this thing acts like this.'
After encountering Asha a few times, Yurizella also became well aware that she was no ordinary person.
Sensing a crisis in an instant, she stammered.
"Th-that's true, but..."
"Will you also return the share of the inheritance my ex-husband left behind to your grandchild?"
“Huh?”
"With a grandson coming back, a mere amount of money couldn't possibly be an issue! I didn't understand how my mother felt! I was wrong!"
Yurizella's gaze stealthily turned toward the Marquis behind Asha.
Unexpectedly, the Marquis stood there without saying a word, his expression showing he wanted to see how far she would go.
'This makes me uneasy.'
As she was slowly trying to pull her hand away with that thought, Asha tightened her grip on Yurizella.
"Mother! Then, can you promise in front of everyone that if my ex-husband's child returns, you will treat them even better than the Marquis's family can?"
Yurizella was confused, wondering if they really intended to return Linea.
Then, the friends around her cheered her on without thinking.
"That's right! That's how you're supposed to treat an adult!"
"It’s not a pleasant sight to see a young woman talking back and attacking me."
Only Yurizella instinctively realized that something was wrong.
However, she ended up being dragged along helplessly by the encouragement of the friends she had invited.
"Say you'll do anything, honey. Isn't getting our bloodline back the top priority right now?"
Upon hearing that, Yuri Zella finally opened his mouth and answered in a daze.
"Th-that's right. You know how much I cherish blood ties. It is the blood of my deceased son; what wouldn't I do for him?"
"Will you provide the child with the highest quality education, buy them new clothes every season, and put effort into their social life?"
"Isn't that the basics! How can you say you're raising a child if you don't even do that much!"
Yurizella, seizing the moment, continued speaking.
"You should get the child 20 new outfits made every year, and find a tutor for whatever they want to learn."
"I'm really touched right now."
Upon seeing Asha's emotional face, Yurizella recognized the inner warning that this was really not right.
“Well, by the way.”
As Yurizella was slowly trying to pull his foot away, Asha asked him in a loud voice.
"So, Mother! I have a special guest I brought for you!"
"Linea?"
"Oh, how can I bring Linea here at this hour? Babies need to sleep early to grow tall."
Asha, who had been acting all sweet and charming, turned around and nodded.
Then, suddenly, a woman who had been mixed in with the people timidly revealed herself.
She was a strange woman whom everyone was seeing for the first time.
The woman with curly wheat-colored hair, blue eyes, and a slender figure hesitated.
Asha sprang to her feet. Then, holding out her palm toward the woman, she asked
"Mother, do you remember this person?"
“...You, you!”
She was a woman whom Yurizella naturally knew as well.
And understandably so, because she is the woman his son had hidden away and cherished dearly!
"She is my ex-husband's lover, Ms. Doris Viache."
It was Yurizella who naturally opposed the fact that his own son, the Count of Delmore, had come home saying he had fallen in love with a commoner woman.
However, for Yurizella, it was dumbfounding that Asha had blatantly brought that woman along.
"No, what do you think you are doing bringing that woman here?"
"This is the person my mother has wanted to meet so much. I did well, didn't I!"
"What is your intention?"
Yurizella, who had been outmaneuvered by Asha—who was always one step ahead—for the past two months, began to suspect her ulterior motives.
However, Asha, who had been aware of all of Yurizella's activities from the beginning, was the one who orchestrated this scheme.
"Congratulations, Mom!"
Asha approached the hesitant Doris and put her arm around her shoulder.
"You will have a grandchild soon. The last blood relative my ex-husband left behind."
“What?!”
At the mention of the last remaining blood relative, the people around let out small gasps as if watching a soap opera.
"Even so, he is of the bloodline of the Count of Delmore; do you know where he has been living all this time?"
Asha shook her head at Yurizella, who was trembling and convulsing with anger.
It was a look of genuine pity.
"They say she was in Tusalek. A pregnant woman living alone in a high-crime area that is dangerous even for a healthy adult male. So imagine how tough it must have been?"
"What do I care where that thing lives!"
"Come on, even so, she's pregnant, so taking away the house my ex-husband gave her and kicking her out empty-handed was really too much."
Suddenly, Yurizella's face turned bright red.
As if it weren't shocking enough that the cause of her son's death was a sudden death during sex with his secret lover, not only was his shameful secret exposed, but the existence of an illegitimate child that Yurizella was unaware of was also revealed.
She screamed, suddenly afraid of how many more ridiculous things Asha might say here.
"I cannot accept that woman's very existence! So what do you expect me to do?"
Upon hearing those words, Asha also furrowed her brow slightly.
"What else can I do? As you said, Mother, you must take responsibility. You will have to provide your grandchild with the best education and child-rearing expenses, as well as leave a portion of my ex-husband's estate, won't you?"
This time, Asha also lost her smile.
She contorted her face and asked in a bewildered tone.
"I heard that blood ties are that important?"
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