Chapter Twenty-Five: An Unexpected Visit (2)

“—Well then, sinceHis Excellency the Marquis seems to be busy, should we cut to the chase? There are two things I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Yes, please do.”

Lord William urged her to continue.

“Thank you.” Sandra smiled, and turned to look at the garden for some reason. There was a terrace in front of the drawing room, where one could either take a stroll or host an outdoor tea party.

Despite her previous words, Sandra remained silent as she stared at the garden. Lord William and I exchanged glance.

Suddenly, a small tinkling of bell resounded. Arthur told Lord William, “It seems that there’s a visitor.” Before leaving the drawing room. However, since the entrance wasn’t that far, I could hear muffled conversations.

“Could it be an emergency call from the knights?”

Lord William was on high alert.

I couldn’t deny the possibility, though.

Usually, in case of visitors, the other party would always schedule an appointment. But in case of emergency, their hands would be tied. As such, they’d have no choice but to rush to Lord William—a knight in charge of protecting the royal capital. Therefore, a sudden, abrupt visit usually translated to an emergency call from the knights.

Furthermore, as of the present, there was an ongoing case. Perhaps, there was a big break in the investigation.

“Lord William, would you like to check it out?”

Elsa made a suggestion after Arthur showed no signs of returning. But when Lord William nodded and Elsa turned around, Arthur’s voice echoed from the other side.

“—It’s a guest.”

“…A guest?”

Frowning in suspicion, Lord William was about to ask who it was, only for Arthur’s voice to be drowned by an all-too-familiar, high-pitched, voice as the door flung open.

“—Ooh, my husband! How I’ve missed you!”

As she said that, the she-devil I saw that day—no, Margaret, the older sister of Cedric and I, rushed towards me. In response, Lord William hid me behind his back. My sister shamelessly tried to plaster herself all over my husband. But the sneering Elsa put an end to her advance by putting my sister into a chokehold.

My sister was about to lash out until she realized that it was Elsa. She became pale, “Forgive me, I got carried away. Excuse me…” Before escaping to Lady Sandra’s side.

“Lady Margaret, I know you are ecstatic to meet your future husband, but if you’re going to be a marquess, show some courtesy.”

“Forgive me, Mother.”

Reprimanded by Lady Sandra, my sister meekly nodded as she sat down beside her mother.

However, I—and probably Lord William, Elsa, and Arthur as well—couldn’t understand what they were talking about.

“Excuse me, why is my sister-in-law referring to me as if I’m her husband?”

Lord William asked the very question that everyone else had in mind.

With an enchanted look on her face, my sister turned to look at Lord William.

“…Because His Excellency the Marquis will become my husband.”

“I’m Liliana’s husband.”

No words could describe the look of utter disgust on Lord William’s face as he frowned, yet my sister stayed adamant.

“Oh, don’t be shy! I know you visited our residence in search of me! Unfortunately, an assassin who disguised himself as my father sneaked into our home that day, and as a result, we couldn’t even speak to each other! Afterwards, there were also those things about Liliana and Cedric, and my father went to his territory… Thankfully, my mother is here for me.”

“—Spare me from your nonsense. I abhor you. I have no time for this.”

“Are you being considerate of that ugly wretch? My husband, you’re simply too kind.”

I couldn’t comprehend half of what she was saying. Like I said, Lord William was staring at her with disgust. But for some reason, my sister was still swooning at him. If she’d been me, I’d have run away in fear.

Seeing that there was no talking sense into my sister, Lord William turned to look at Lady Sandra. As she watched the whole exchange, her lips were curved into a smile.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“It should go without saying that unlike my hideous daughter, my gorgeous Margaret is worthy of standing next to His Excellency the Marquis?”

Lady Sandra spoke as if it were common sense.

“I’m truly grateful to His Excellency the Marquis for bearing the presence of my daughter for a year. To see someone as young and promising as His Excellency get shackled down by someone as worthless as her, you don’t know how much it pricked my conscience! I can’t possibly let this go on forever? Hence why I brought Margaret with me.”

Fufu, Lady Sandra chuckled.

“I think the fact that the two of you are still childless after a year is very telling. But who can blame His Excellency? Liliana is a monstrous girl with a ghastly scar. Did you know that she got attacked when she was seven? By a bandit who was once a slave, too! How filthy—how vile! The skin around it is purplish red, and full of bumps—she’s basically a monster! Who can handle something so sickening?”

When Lord William took a deep breath, it was as if blood were drained from every crevice of my body.

…At last, Lord William had stumbled across my deepest secret. Even though I managed to confess to Elsa, when it came to Lord William—to the man who’d smile kindly at me no matter what—I just couldn’t.

But now, he knew.

When my gaze fell on top of my hands, which were clasped on my laps, I saw that they were bleeding. Even though it wasn’t cold, I was shivering. My heart was about to burst.

—If I knew this would happen, this morning, I would’ve burned Lord William’s smile into my gaze and memory properly…

“I came on my own because Margaret is the daughter of a count family. Therefore, she should rightfully travel here by the Count of Eighton’s carriage. Don’t worry, she also has a change of clothes for a few days.”

“My husband, unlike Liliana, socializing is my forte. As your wife, I won’t disappoint you when we go outside… and of course, at night.”

Smirking, my sister’s hazel eyes narrowed like a cat as she tilted her head.

“…Liliana, it’s time for you to wake up.”

Lady Sandra’s gentle, sweet, and deadly voice called me.

“You’ll come with me. We’ve been family for nearly fifteen years, so I won’t abandon you. A perfect marriage awaits you, so don’t worry, okay? All right, hurry up and get ready—”

—A booming sound interrupted Lady Sandra’s words. At the same time, a large hand covered my hands, which were on my knees.

My dazed, wavering consciousness was pulled back to reality. I turned to face the direction of the sound. Lord William’s other clenched fist was slammed into the table, cracking its wooden surface.

He was seething, the ferocity of his anger enough to shake the air around him. When I saw the way his blue eyes were trained at those two, I learned the true meaning of fear.

“…Don’t mock my wife.”

A low, blood-curdling voice was directed at the two.

“M-my husband? What’s wrong?”

“I’m not, and will never ever be your husband. Not even in your dream.”

My sister blanched and shut her mouth.

“—Nothing is ugly about Liliana. Not a single thing! So, what if she has a scar? So am I! I went to war! Not even your appearances can hide your vile nature, so who’s ugly now!?”

For a brief second, Lady Sandra’s eyes twitched, but I couldn’t say for sure.

“…Make no mistake, Liliana and Cedric are the true descendants of Count Eighton. But now that you’re divorced, you and that girl have nothing to do with each other!”

Was it my feeling, or did Lady Sandra gasp?

“I-I’m also my father’s—…”

Lord William scoffed at my sister’s words and glared at Lady Sandra.

“So, you don’t know. Your daughter is born a month off.”

“Your Excellency the Marquis, please don’t say nonsense.”

Her hazel eyes swayed anxiously,

Worried, I clasped Lord William’s hand. Once, Lord William looked back at me, “It’s all right.” And shook his hand.

“…Ms. Margaret, you aren’t Count Eighton’s daughter.”

At the solemn words, my sister turned to Lady Sandra, hoping for some kind of denial. However, her mother didn’t even look at her. Lady Sandra merely at Lord William.

“Enoch and Stella told me.”

Lord William’s lips drew a sarcastic arc, and Lady Sandra’s face soon lost all colors. Her menacing smile was gone, replaced by a stilted look.

“Mother—! What’s the meaning of this—!?”

My sister confronted Lady Sandra, but the latter remained silent.

“Liliana is a splendid lady who was born to Count Eighton and Lady Catherine of Everett. But in the case of Margaret, only her mother is known. To make it worse, her mother is a daughter of a concubine, who was born to the previous baron and some woman. More than half of the blood that runs through your body is of unknown origin. If and even in the abysmally minuscule, unlikeliest, absolutely impossible scenario in which Liliana and I were to divorce, there’s simply no chance for you to be welcomed into the mighty Rutherford family as the Marquess of Springfield.”

Then, Lord William turned to me, and declared firmly.

“I absolutely can’t entertain the idea of divorcing you. If you leave, I’d sooner just discard my pride as a knight, and cry at your feet. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you stay!”

He tightly grasped my hands, as if clinging to me.

His determined gaze melted away the anxiety and fear that’d been eroding my heart.

What a simple and easy woman I am!

“…Okay.”

When I nodded, Lord William hugged me in relief. Once again, I was reminded of the solace that was his arms, and forgot that both that woman and my sister were still here.

Burying his nose in my hair, he inhaled, before turning to face the two with me in his embrace.

“Ms. Sandra, my servant just reprimanded you for your uncouthness towards the marquess. Apparently, in spite of your divorce, you still think of yourself as the Countess of Eighton. Well, even if you were, your status would still be lower than Liliana, the Marquess of Springfield. You should watch your tone when you speak to my wife.”

“…A-absolutely not!! I absolutely refuse to accept this!! Why do I have to be looked down upon by someone such as Liliana!?”

My sister suddenly stood up and glowered at me. The she-devil is back. As if to protect me, Lord William tightened his grasp around me, and I clung to his clothes. Lady Sandra panicked, and tried to calm my sister down, to no avail. My sister sneered at me.

“You’re worthless from the moment you were down!! Your position is rightfully below me!! In spite of that, why did you become the Marquis of Springfield’s wife!? I’m so much prettier than you!! I’m better than you!! Begone from my sight!! I’m much more suitable to be the marquess!!”

My sister picked up the teacup that Lady Sandra had previously drank from, and flung it with all her might.

“Elsa!”

“Here you go—!”

At Lord William’s shout, a round silver tray flew in the air. He caught in, before flipping it upright to catch the flying teacup. With a clang, the white teacup shattered into pieces. Although Lady Sandra had emptied the contents, if it’d hit me, I would’ve definitely gotten injured.

When Lord William lowered the silver tray, Elsa’d already pinned my sister against the very same table that was broken earlier. Lady Sandra watched the scene in fright.

“I-it hurts—! It hurts—! Let me go—!!”

“…The only people who can order me are Lady Liliana, Lord Cedric, and the head of the marquis family.”

With a smirk, Elsa pushed her firmly against the table. Soon, red blood began to seep out on the table. Apparently, a shard of the broken teacup had pierced my sister’s cheek.

Lord William gently pressed my head against his chest so as to block the view. I obediently nestled my face in his knightly attire.

“Arthur, fetch me the rope. For the crime of injuring the marquess, she shall be taken to the knights. In the meantime, do contact their guardian to pick them up.”

“Understood.”

I could hear Arthur’s footsteps getting farther and farther away.

But then, another series of footsteps followed. Lady Sandra was led out first as she screamed, “Margaret—!” Meanwhile, my sister was eerily silent.

“Come with me, Liliana. Elsa, I leave the rest to you.”

“Consider it done.”

After nodding at Elsa’s reply, Lord William stood up while carrying me in his arms. I tried to look up, only to be obstructed by Lord William. He went straight out to the hallway and I heard the door slamming behind us.

“L-Lord William, what about my sister…? N-no way, Elsa didn’t kill her, right…?”

“Of course not. She was just noisy, so Elsa took the liberty of gagging her in the mouth with a handkerchief.”

“I-I see…”

I rubbed my chest in relief.

Lord William kissed my cheek and smiled in relief as he started walking.

“Liliana, today, let’s visit the royal castle together.”

“…Huh?”

“Those two will remain in my house until their guardian comes to fetch them. If it’s my usual routine, I can take it easy. But today, there’d be a debriefing meeting at the royal castle, so I can’t afford to be late. So, let’s head there with Ceddie. It’s safer that way.”

“W-wait, the royal castle!?”

I shook my head, but it didn’t seem like Lord William would accept a ‘no.’

As we got closer to his room, I nodded, feeling like I was about to cry.

“At the very least, I want Elsa to accompany me…”

“Don’t worry, Elsa will be with you for the rest of the day.”

Lord William chuckled as he opened the door, before letting me down.

Cedric, who’d apparently been hiding in the dressing room, burst out crying.

“Older sister—! Older siiister—! Did mother do anything to you!? Are you unharmed!? Are you alright!?”

As Cedric leaped into my arms, I hugged him and kissed his hair to reassure him.

“Frederick, Ariana, thank you very much.”

“Lord Cedric was worried about Milady, but he did his best not to cry…”

Ariana secretly told me. Even though he was crying in my arms, I was sure he did his best to suppress his tears when I was away.

“Frederic, go downstairs to check how Elsa is doing. Ariana, I’m going to take Liliana and Ceddie with me today, so make the necessary arrangements. Elsa should be here soon.”

Frederick nodded and withdrew, but the moment he entered the corridor, I could hear him dashing away. Given how mean-spirited my sister was, I was concerned about Elsa. Oh, and also the fact that Elsa was a bit short-tempered…

“Brother-in-law, is my mother gone? She won’t take my sister away?”

In-between his sobs, Cedric lifted his head and stared at Lord William. Lord William kneeled and hugged the both of us as usual.

“Don’t worry, she’s gone. Besides, I won’t hand your sister to anyone. I can’t live without Liliana.”

His words were directed at Cedric—and at the same time, myself.

Only after Lord William took my hand did I realize that I was unconsciously holding my scar.

“It’s okay, there’s no way for me to let go of Liliana in this lifetime. The only one who can separate us is God, and we’re talking about a few decades in the future.”

“…I see.”

Cedric nodded and hugged both me and Lord William.

I realized something and gasped.

“…Lord William, did you know all along? Or did you remember?”

“During the interrogation, your father… No, let’s talk about this in a more proper setting. I’ll make time later, so let’s talk about it in detail. But keep this in mind, you’re my one and only. You’re my precious wife, no matter what.”

Reflected on his brilliant blue eyes, was my pitiful expression. Feeling that my weakness—my inability to trust him—was reflected there, I hurriedly averted my gaze.

Lord William didn’t say anything further. He gently caressed my hair, as if to pamper me.

---

***T/N: Thankfully she’s just your common-tier Karen. Slap him, William!

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