IGETBD 13

Chapter 13

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Marin sincerely thanked Olive.

“It’s nothing. Please get some rest today.”

“Yes. Please be careful on your way.”

Marin watched Olive until he disappeared from sight.

The gentle white horse standing beside her let out a soft snort through its nose.

“You’re a good one. Thank you too.”

Marin tied the white horse securely behind the hut.

“Marin?”

Sensing someone’s presence, Roanna came out to the doorway.

“Mom, it’s chilly. Why did you come outside?”

“Welcome home.”

Though her eyes were filled with curiosity, her mother asked nothing and warmly welcomed her.

Marin gently wrapped her thin, small shoulders in her arms and entered the house.

“It all worked out.”

Roanna’s deep green eyes trembled slightly.

“Really?”

“Yes. Mom, we’re moving.”

Roanna gripped Marin’s hand tightly, her expression uneasy.

“Moving? Are we leaving this house? Did you fail to get the money?”

“No. His Grace the duke has provided us with a separate residence for servants. We can stay there together.”

“Oh my! Goodness. Marin, His Grace is truly the kindest person in the world.”

Roanna said, visibly moved.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Marin suppressed her uneasy expression and deliberately agreed with her mother.

There had been a transaction involved, but it was true that the duke had accommodated her circumstances.

“Then we should start packing at once.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Come in.”

At the duke’s command, Olive, who had been standing in front of the office door, entered the dim room holding a candle.

“I’ve returned.”

Leaning back comfortably in his chair, the duke immediately asked,

“Do you truly believe the temporary one can put me to sleep?”

Olive answered honestly.

“I don’t think so.”

“I thought as much.”

The duke agreed as if it were obvious and continued.

“Then do you understand why I had her residence moved to the annex?”

Olive frowned slightly and shared his thoughts.

“While it’s true that her home needed to be relocated immediately, are you still suspicious of Miss Marin?”

“Now that she’ll be living in my castle, I’ll find out.”

The duke murmured to himself in a low voice and turned his head away.

Olive bowed lightly and quietly exited the office.

A bird perched on a branch, busily grooming itself, was startled by the sound of heavy footsteps striking the dirt ground and fluttered into the sky.

Early in the morning, Oxanda, the wife of Zorno, stopped abruptly on her way toward the entrance of the mountain and glared coldly at her husband, who was following slowly behind her.

“Walk faster!”

“I am walking, I am.”

“You’re so slow.”

“Why are you coming here so early in the morning when it’s obvious they don’t have money?”

Zorno grumbled timidly while glancing at Oxanda.

“Am I here to collect money? I’m here to grab that girl by the hair for what she did yesterday. That old woman’s hair wasn’t enough to cool my anger.”

Oxanda fumed, her fighting spirit burning.

“Honestly… who would even rent a place like that? Instead of worrying about collecting rent, you should be thinking about how to keep tenants.”

Zorno muttered under his breath as he followed behind her.

“What did you say? Who do you think I’m doing this for? It’s all because you cheated with that woman!”

Oxanda spun around, her eyes narrowing into sharp triangles.

“That’s a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? Look at you defending her again!”

“No, no. Let’s go. Let’s just go.”

Zorno hurried his steps before Oxanda could get angrier.

After they disappeared into the bushes, a carriage and a rider on a large black horse followed along the same path.

“Look at that. She’s outside.”

Oxanda frowned deeply and pointed at Marin.

Marin stood a short distance from the hut, waiting for the two to arrive. She wanted to prevent Roanna from hearing the commotion that was about to unfold.

“Hmph. Standing out here like that… do you think I’ll forgive you?”

Oxanda curled her fingers like claws and charged at Marin.

At that moment, a pouch of money dropped in front of her.

Silver coins sticking out from the pouch glittered brightly under the sunlight.

Oxanda quickly scanned the silver with narrowed eyes and grabbed the pouch.

“Oh my, what is this money?”

She exaggeratedly pulled silver coins out of the pouch and began counting them quickly.

“Marin, where did you get this much money?”

Zorno’s voice trembled with greed as he peered into the pouch with covetous eyes.

Oxanda glanced Marin up and down and answered for her, as if the question was obvious.

“Where else would it come from? It’s obvious.”

Smack.

Marin, who had been silently watching them with cold eyes, suddenly slapped Oxanda across the face with full force.

Oxanda’s heavy body staggered as if she might fall.

Clutching her rapidly swelling cheek, Oxanda screamed,

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“How dare you lay a hand on my mother?”

Marin’s eyes gleamed with icy fury. Thinking of what Roanna had endured the previous day made her blood boil.

“What… what did you say?”

Unfamiliar with this side of Marin, Oxanda felt a strange sense of pressure and blinked nervously.

Marin stepped closer.

Oxanda flinched and stepped back, overwhelmed by Marin’s presence.

Behind them, Zorno stepped forward nervously, wiping sweat from his brow.

“Marin, don’t get too worked up—”

Marin strode forward and slapped Zorno across the face as well. Zorno clutched his cheek, stunned.

She glared at him with cold eyes.

“You’re the biggest problem. Did you think I wouldn’t know? Who your wife has actually been chasing around as the affair partner?”

“I’ve been treating you kindly, thinking you were decent….”

Zorno approached Marin, his face twisted with anxiety that the truth might be exposed.

Marin casually tossed 1 silver coin at his feet as if offering charity.

Zorno quickly picked it up, eyes wide.

“Windy?”

While he was distracted by the money, Marin delivered the decisive blow.

“Windy? Windy from the stable house? Why are you mentioning Windy here? That name clearly came up as the woman she was talking about!”

Hearing their conversation, Oxanda shouted at Zorno.

Startled, Zorno trembled and waved his hands.

“No, no! Windy is a perfect woman. There’s no way she’d be involved in an affair.”

“Perfect? So every woman except me is beautiful and perfect? Today, one of us dies!”

Oxanda snapped, grabbing Zorno by the hair.

“Aaagh! Let go! It hurts!”

Marin clenched her fists as she watched their chaotic fight.

She, too, wanted revenge for her mother. Her hands itched—she wanted to rip that hair out.

“How many women has this been?!”

Oxanda screamed at the top of her lungs.

At that moment, from the bushes, Butler Sebas emerged slowly, frowning at the noise. He stepped forward as if to shield Marin.

“Why are you having a marital quarrel here?”

“…!”

Startled by the sudden outsider, Oxanda released Zorno’s hair.

She quickly assessed the newcomer’s attire.

An elderly gentleman with white hair, dressed in a refined black uniform, carried an imposing presence.

Marin, eyes wide, looked up at Sebas’s broad back.

Why is he here?

Sebas turned around, as if responding to her unspoken question.

“I’ve come to pick you up.”

“You came early.”

Marin forced an awkward smile and avoided his gaze.

She knew someone would come since Olive had said a carriage would be sent—but she hadn’t expected the butler himself.

“I seem to have arrived right on time.”

Sebas winked with one eye before turning forward again. His sharp gaze swept over Zorno and Oxanda.