Chapter 119
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 119
Two eyes, dense with intensity, scrutinized Belladonna.
“……Marquis?”
Belladonna’s voice trembled piteously. Her eyes, brimming with sorrowful tears, looked up at the Marquis.
Good heavens.
I knew she was desperate for a lifeline, but still.
Was it really wise to look at Marquis Aster with those eyes when Nigella was standing right next to her?
However.
The Marquis shattered Belladonna’s expectations in an entirely different way.
“Max.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Retrieve those shoes as well.”
“……!”
“Those shoes were also meant for Tulia. You’ve been wearing them all this time without a shred of shame, it seems.”
In an instant, everyone’s gaze shifted to Belladonna’s and Sandra’s feet.
The shoes, adorned with diamonds and finished in velvet, looked incredibly expensive even at a glance.
Marquis Aster spoke in a chilling voice.
“You were forced to strip off the dresses, but did you intend to sneak out wearing stolen shoes, Miss Merton?”
So that’s why she’s changed into such a plain dress.
No, to be precise, she must have been ordered to change.
By Marquis Aster Frezier himself.
While I stole a glance at him, Belladonna Merton spoke in a tone that was markedly more humble and frightened.
“All the other dresses have already been sent to the Young Lady’s quarters. I am truly sorry for deceiving you all this time.”
I looked down at the beautiful dresses for a moment.
The lace was as delicate as butterfly wings, and the numerous ribbons in the center were made of soft silk, embedded with pearls and diamonds.
These were the precious works that the noblewomen and ladies at Sandra’s birthday party had praised until their throats were dry.
In truth, they were gifts from Marquis Aster that should have come to me.
What would the original Tulia have done?
“I wouldn’t dream of putting on a dress worn by a mere mistress, so take them and use them to supplement your pathetic livelihood. This might be the last designer piece you ever wear in your life, after all.”
—I might have let such a devilish tongue wag.
No, the old Tulia definitely would have.
But the atmosphere in the council chamber was incredibly solemn, and the expression on the twins’ faces as they watched me was so unusually moist with emotion that I remained silent.
They probably didn't know that my child support was being embezzled. The twins, I mean.
They must have found out for the first time during today’s trial.
Just how impoverished my upbringing had been.
Since they always went about wanting for nothing, I had never even asked them why Father only took care of my older brothers.
I was afraid that asking such a thing would make me sound like I was complaining.
And in the beginning, I was desperately afraid that their Favorability—which I felt obligated to raise—would drop.
Yes.
I had always been like that.
I silently stared at the items placed before me.
The dresses didn't really catch my eye.
The same went for the other jewels.
It was just…
The green diamond that Belladonna Merton had stepped on and then told me to pick up kept snagging on my mind like a thorny rose vine.
Looking at it now, the color is quite similar to my own eyes.
Since this was also sent by Marquis Aster, it must have been confiscated from Belladonna Merton.
Did he send it because he remembered the color of my eyes?
But it was strange.
I felt no touch of moved emotion, no tears, not even a proper sense of lingering resentment.
It was almost eerie.
It was as if, the moment I looked at Marquis Aster Frezier, a frigid winter wind had begun to settle in a corner of my heart, indifferently freezing the whirlwind of my emotions.
“There’s a flaw on the surface of the green diamond.”
Perhaps because of that, my voice came out cold and utterly heartless.
To some, it might have even sounded calculating.
But no one pointed that out or showed disappointment. At least, not in this room.
Only Belladonna Merton cried out in shock.
“How could a diamond have a flaw?! Lady Tulia, such a slanderous accusation is…!”
“I’m not saying the diamond itself is scratched; I’m saying the gold setting around the edge is flawed. Gold is soft, after all.”
I looked down at Belladonna Merton, whose cheeks had become hollow in just a day or two, and continued.
“At Sandra’s birthday party, the Countess did press down on this green diamond with her foot. The gem must have been badly damaged then.”
“……!”
Belladonna hurriedly protested, her face turning pale.
“I will fix that as soon as I return home—no, wait! I’ll have it properly inlaid with gold again within six months! To think I made such a mistake…!”
“Yes, Tulia! This uncle will take responsibility and compensate you! Please, do not be so angry!”
These people, who had treated me with nothing but disrespect, changed their attitude in an instant.
When I said nothing, their faces gradually turned the color of ash.
The gaze they cast between me and Marquis Aster was even tinged with desperation.
“What use is there in talking about responsibility and compensation now?”
A voice descended coldly from the highest seat in the council chamber.
It was Grandfather.
“A common clod from the mudflats would have more dignity than you, Nigella Frezier.”
“F-Father…!”
Nigella, whose complexion was as pale as a corpse, was actually the more composed one.
Belladonna and Sandra were trembling so violently they couldn't even meet Grandfather’s eyes.
“I have sired a thief.”
“F-Father…! That’s not it. It’s not like that…!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Grandfather barked, overcome with fury.
His dark, forest-green eyes moved toward Belladonna Merton.
“If you were a human being, a noble, and a direct descendant of the Grand Ducal House bearing the name Frezier, you would never have dared to live with a vulgar mistress while casting aside your lawful wife.”
Despite hearing the slur ‘vulgar mistress’ to her face, Belladonna could only tremble, not daring to protest.
“Though, what is the point of questioning it now? It is merely a case of a thief meeting another thief.”
“F-Father…”
“I am ashamed that something like you is my son. You vulgar, wretched things…”
“……!”
Nigella Frezier’s eyes widened as far as they could go.
Family heads, especially those of high nobility, do not utter such words lightly.
No matter how angry they are.
Grandfather was the same.
In other words, what Grandfather just said meant…
He’s signaling the stripping of his title or the confiscation of his territory.
Or perhaps both.
Whichever it was, it would be the beginning of a nightmare for Nigella and Belladonna Merton.
As proof, Nigella and Belladonna were now breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Leave and await your sentence, Nigella Frezier. And you all as well. You are under a confinement order.”
“……!”
Sandra, who likely knew all too well what a Frezier confinement order entailed through me, trembled.
But neither Belladonna nor Nigella could comfort their daughter as they once had.
Their own complexions had turned a dark, muddy hue.
After they followed the servants out of the council chamber, silence lingered for a moment.
Grand Duke Asis Frezier, my grandfather.
Marquis Aster Frezier, Tulia’s father.
And even the twins.
The gazes of all the Freziers were fixed on me.
Since they said nothing, I decided to focus on the things in front of me for now.
It was a stack of documents as thick as the two folded dresses.
What is this?
The moment I began leafing through the papers…
“He embezzled quite a staggering amount.”
Marquis Aster Frezier’s voice echoed in my ears.
Reflexively looking up at him, I saw those grass-green eyes that were cold and identical to Tulia’s, and I lowered my gaze again.
So, all of this…
Was the child support Nigella had siphoned off all this time?
There were even records of jewelry, dresses, and other luxury items interspersed throughout…
Just how much is this? Is this much money even possible?
Perhaps because my Skill Stat had improved, I was now capable of speed-reading. As I flipped through the pages, my eyes suddenly stopped on one entry.
—Embezzled Item No. 19902: Replies from Lisian Academy
—Letters sent by Lisian Frezier from the Academy were also secretly intercepted.
—No specific reason.
—Taken thinking they contained money, but discarded upon realizing they were just letters.
—Tulia Frezier was unable to read the letters.