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Chapter – 32
Rilas chuckled at Sian’s flustered expression.
“Well, it seems this old man said something absurd while trying to follow the young ones and startled Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“No, it’s nothing. I simply didn’t understand what you meant.”
Instead of explaining what “denying one’s devotion” meant, Rilas just smiled calmly.
“Your Highness the Grand Duke values Princess Dolorasa’s safety above all else, doesn’t he?”
“…Yes.”
“I promise to make full use of the foresight that Lady Yenis has granted me for Your Highness’s sake. It will surely help you achieve whatever you desire.”
It was an incredible offer for a Yenis Church bishop to openly offer his foresight for his benefit. Normally, clerics either do not use their abilities, or if they do, they never make it obvious.
After a moment of thought, Sian spoke in a low voice.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I will inform you immediately if any danger comes to Princess Dolorasa. In return, I ask Your Highness to lend me your strength.”
Rilas offering to directly warn him of any danger to Dolorasa was an offer impossible to refuse.
“…I will help you, as long as you do not ask me to harm those dear to me.”
“That is sufficient. Thank you, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
Sian lightly nodded and climbed into the carriage.
Watching the carriage depart, Rilas wiped the smile off his face.
He brought his hands together and closed his eyes. With a reverent heart, he prayed, and two possible futures appeared in his mind.
One was a horrific future where Rachel would take her own life by her own hand, and the other was a future where she would walk through the garden smiling with her son, Graham.
Opening his eyes, he lowered his hands.
‘I must not let the future where Rachel disappears come to pass.’
This was why Rilas had come to Rachel, declaring he would become her godfather. No matter what, he intended to prevent the future where she would take her own life.
The first step was to hold onto an ally like Sian DiKarsniak even more tightly.
“Waaah! Waaah! Waaaah!”
In the narrow townhouse, cries like screams had not ceased for days. It was Teodor.
Maid Peanut stood helplessly in front of Teodor’s room, unable to deal with his complete loss of appetite.
Berengela was no better. She wandered outside her son’s room, holding a glass of wine, her bitten nails jagged and deformed.
“Teo! How long do you intend to act like this? You need to eat something now!”
“Mother, do as you please! You could be enjoying the drink you like instead of bothering me!”
“Pull yourself together! You are the only heir of the Elrosa family!”
“That heir nonsense! Because of that, I ended up forcibly engaged to Rachel and failed to realize her feelings sooner! If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have wasted time with Jane!”
“What is he even saying now?”
“If our marriage hadn’t been just a political arrangement, I would have realized my feelings for Rachel sooner! I wouldn’t have wasted time with Jane!”
“You started this mess, and now you blame your mother? Oh dear, my son…”
“Mother, please leave! Do you understand my heart?”
“What is so important about lowborn women that you exhaust yourself like this! If you don’t pull yourself together, our family will fall apart!”
“It’s not about the family, family, family! The fact that Rachel abandoned me is a bigger shock than any of that!”
Berengela ground her teeth.
“Rachel, I will show you this…”
At first, Berengela had scolded her son. She was angry because he had an affair with a commoner and embarrassed her. It wasn’t that what he did was entirely wrong—she was angry because it had been so humiliating.
As time went by, her anger shifted toward Rachel. If it weren’t for Rachel, this wouldn’t have escalated.
People make mistakes. She could not forgive her husband’s mistake?
Merely for having an affair, Rachel annulled their marriage and demanded such a large compensation and child support. Could she not have announced it without dragging the Emperor’s sympathy? It made Berengela angry that Rachel lived comfortably while she received sympathy.
If Rachel had been more generous, if her understanding had been deeper, if her love had been greater… things might not have gotten so out of hand.
Berengela didn’t feel her anger was misplaced. Even if her son was incompetent, he was still her son. She found it easier to blame Rachel, now a stranger, than to scold her own son.
“My son is a member of a reputable family. I have let many shortcomings slide, but one must know their limits when they are exposed.”
With her son unable to pull himself together, Berengela had to act—for the sake of her family, her son, and herself.
She gulped the wine in the bottle at once and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Peanut, bring me paper and pen. I need to write to Rachel.”
Berengela Elrosa—a woman who had brought the powerless, minor Elrosa house into prominence in the capital through sheer persistence and obsession—believed this was her moment to show her true power.
Rachel was busy sorting through a mountain of letters.
Katie helped her organize the letters on Rachel’s desk, clicking her tongue.
“Can you believe this, Lady Cana? Another letter begging for forgiveness.”
“It can’t be helped. Cana owes the largest compensation, and honestly, it’s a sum that would be hard to pay off even in a lifetime.”
“Don’t even think about reducing the compensation. Last time, he asked me to help his mistress… This time, I really won’t forgive him.”
“I won’t reduce it. Don’t worry.”
The flood of letters had started a few days ago. Former Elrosa household employees began sending their compensation.
Whenever someone sent compensation, Rachel compared it to the amount owed, and then issued documents confirming receipt.
Calculating the compensation and interest and preparing the documents was more work than expected, and Rachel ended up relying on Katie’s meticulous help.
As expected, Katie handled everything perfectly. Her straightforward and bold personality proved quite useful.
Rachel was also able to quickly settle matters related to Jane, keeping the promise she had made to Carl to show mercy.
“Compensation exists for a reason. It covers the losses people suffered. You cannot imagine how surprised they were when Lady Rachel offered to reduce the compensation.”
“Ahaha, sorry for the surprise.”
After handling the compensation, letters asking for reductions or forgiveness arrived. They were from people who had not sent the money by the designated date.
Rachel had no intention of reducing the compensation or granting forgiveness. She merely considered whether she could receive something other than money.
Thanks to the house provided by the Emperor and the Council, her daily life was comfortable. She didn’t socialize much, so expenses were minimal.
However, Rachel had something she wanted to do.
‘It’s not absolutely necessary, but… I really want to do it.’
She would need money for it, but also information, people, and allies. She spent several days calculating exactly what she would need.
Katie misunderstood, thinking Rachel was contemplating reducing the compensation. She advised Rachel not to.
Eventually, Rachel relented.
‘Information and people can later be bought with money. For now, following Katie’s advice, I’ll focus only on collecting the compensation. Just handling this alone is already exhausting.’
Rachel smiled at Katie.
“Thank you for your help. I will make it up to you later.”
“It’s my job. You need not worry, Lady Rachel. I already receive generous compensation from the Grand Duke.”
Watching Katie refuse simply and matter-of-factly, Rachel smiled. If Katie said so, it must be true.
She replied to letters asking for reductions and forgiveness, noting that those who missed the payment deadline would have to pay additional interest.
After sorting through more than ten letters, she picked up the last one. Unlike the others, it had no sender’s name—just Rachel’s name in rough handwriting on the envelope.
“…What’s this?”
A bad feeling settled in her chest.
Opening the envelope with her dagger, she withdrew the letter inside.
**[Rachel Elrosa,
Cancel the annulment of your marriage and return to us immediately.
If you come back at once, kneel, and apologize, I will forgive you, for I am your merciful mother.
From Berengela Elrosa]**
Kneel and apologize? Merciful mother?
Rachel’s expression suddenly turned icy, and Katie was startled.
“Lady Rachel? What kind of letter is this?”
Rachel showed the letter to Katie. Katie’s face stiffened.
“…She’s insane.”
“Exactly.”
Rachel let out a short sigh and held the top of Berengela’s letter with both hands.
