TSBSFVW 48

Chapter 48

Eight Breads. Beside a Mad Dog, Beside a Madman (11)

“You… weren’t you the head of Mammoth?”

“It’s an honor that you remember. I never had a chance to greet you properly before.”

Morris smiled smoothly as he ushered Duke McClure inside.

“I only have something to say to my runaway daughter. Outsiders can step aside.”

“If it’s truly only words, I’d gladly leave you two alone… but we do have our position to consider.”

“What position? Whatever promises she made you, they were all lies. You’ve been swindled. She’s useless—knows nothing but eating and sleeping. Whatever she told you was just the crazy rambling of a deranged girl.”

Even as McClure sneered, Morris remained calm. He only shrugged with an easy grin.

“As long as Your Grace doesn’t resort to violence, we won’t interfere. I’ll explain that much to the two over there as well. If necessary, we’ll keep our distance. Just think of us as decorations or furniture and speak as you like.”

“I refuse. How I deal with my daughter is my household’s affair. I’ve no reason to suffer meddling.”

Morris furrowed his brow. At that moment, Ellie pulled free from Edmund and stepped forward.

“Everyone, leave.”

“That’s impossible.”

Ban objected first. Ellie couldn’t bring herself to look him directly in the eye as she replied.

“What if he hits me again?”

“Even if he does, it doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t even itch.”

“I have things to say to that bastard too. So, Morris.”

“Yeah?”

“Make sure those two don’t interfere.”

Edmund stood with a sullen expression, but since he kept holding Ban’s elbow, it meant he was willing to go along with Ellie’s decision.

Morris looked down at Ellie’s face for a moment.

“I don’t have to hold you back too?”

“I don’t think you’ll step in anyway.”

At least not for something that doesn’t pay. Ellie swallowed the rest of the thought. Morris’s blank expression broke into a smile a few seconds later. He stepped closer and patted her shoulder lightly. Before pulling his hand away, he squeezed firmly, then let go.

“Cut ties for good this time. You said you’d succeed, didn’t you?”

“…”

“You can do it.”

Ellie had always thought there wasn’t even a bond worth cutting. But at his words, something hot and bitter rose inside her, leaving her unable to respond immediately.

I was never truly afraid of that man…

And yet, he was the biggest, most stubborn thorn in her life.

Ellie had been born and raised in the mansion he ruled. Everything she received came from him, and everyone around her moved according to his will.

Disgust, hatred, contempt, neglect, violence—

She had endured it all. She clung to bread to ignore the scorn around her, and she held her head high to avoid bending to violence.

And eventually, she ran away—
from all the things she couldn’t understand.

Maybe, deep down, she really had been afraid.
Perhaps there had been days when the thick, heavy palm he swung terrified her. Perhaps those words he spat out with bloodshot eyes—sharp as knives—had stung more than she admitted.

Maybe she had thought it wise to dodge the rock while she was still just an egg… or maybe she had been too scared to stand against him alone.

McClure waited, smirking as though her silence proved everything.

“So, there really are men out there who’d want a pig like you.”

“…”

“And to think, the allies you’ve made are all men. I suppose you had at least one talent, then. Vulgar thing. I can imagine well enough what you did to crawl this far.”

“…”

“Well, I guess that’s what you had to sell to get anywhere!”

Laughing as though he had told the funniest joke, McClure looked her up and down. Then he strode forward and yanked roughly at her chef’s coat collar.

Ellie resisted for a moment, but the buttons popped and she staggered back.

“You’ll need to use that talent again. Our family had an old marriage pact—with the emperor’s son of Yan. That seat was too lofty for the likes of you, so I meant to send Iraine instead. I couldn’t risk humiliating us by sending trash like you.”

“…”

“But the emperor’s son is a mad dog.”

“…”

“A brute who never learned a thing. A filthy cur, panting and rutting all day. How could someone so violent be paired with delicate Iraine? It would be too cruel for her.”

His nonsense was nothing new. Ellie only looked around, searching for where her coat buttons had fallen.

Mistaking her silence for defeat, McClure pressed on.
Yes, this was how you broke her spirit to drag her back. Yes, he would graciously acknowledge her as a daughter of McClure, so she could feel grateful and serve her role.

“With trash like him, our family’s honor can’t be tarnished. So don’t dump your share on poor Iraine—come back. I’ll forgive your disgraceful antics outside. Be glad—you finally have a use. You’ve never once been of any help to us until now.”

As if she’d ever asked to help.

“That mad dog is so dreadful that poor Iraine has locked herself away, refusing food. She needs a gentle, loyal husband. The prince of Yan belongs to you, McClure’s daughter…”

“Hah.”

Ellie let out a hollow laugh.

So he had stolen what he thought was precious, only to discover it was filth—and now he dared tell her to cover herself in it instead.

Breaking the contract would be politically costly, so he’d shamelessly decided she should be the sacrifice.

Irritated by her cold laugh, McClure stopped and glared. Ellie raised her eyes and met his gaze.

“Since when was I ever McClure’s daughter?”

“…So you can talk.”

“Of course.”

“I thought you’d forgotten how, too afraid of me.”

“I only talk to people.”

“What?”

“To be a person, you need to speak sense. Why waste words on a barking dog? I’m a person. You’re the cur.”

“So you’re calling me a cur?”

“Oh, look at that—you understood. Amazing.”

“Quite a mouth you’ve grown. Life outside’s made you bold.”

McClure’s face twisted in rage, teeth grinding.

“I’m not bold. I’m just free. I don’t live off your mansion anymore, so I don’t have to hold my tongue. Back then, I let you bark because I still lived under your roof.”

“Then pay back the grace you owe me.”

“Grace? Are you insane?”

“What?”

“What grace do I owe you? What I do owe is resentment. You locked me up, beat me, starved me!”

“Look at your pig’s body—does that look starved?!”

“I clung to the kitchen to survive! You never once set aside food for me!”

Ellie had never been invited to a single McClure family dinner.

She had only ever watched countless meals prepared for the duke and Iraine. There had never been a place for her at that table.

Not that she’d wanted one… but the childish cruelty of excluding her, of flaunting her deprivation, still made her blood boil.

“Iraine being born a bastard was your own incompetence. You couldn’t refuse a political marriage. You pretended to have some ‘eternal love’ but turned your woman into an adulteress. Who forced you into that? Who told you to cheat? You could’ve endured, annulled the marriage later, or even abandoned your house and run away. But you wanted it all—so you took everything, and it’s your fault. Why blame me?!”

“If you don’t understand, then shut up! What do you know?! I had no choice back then!”

“There’s no such thing as ‘no choice’! Then endure! Or if you wanted love, don’t have kids! You couldn’t protect your woman or your child, so what’s there to be proud of—”

Finally, Duke McClure’s patience snapped.

Ellie had struck a nerve. He raised his arm to slap her—

—but her hand moved first.

The sharp sound of flesh tearing rang out.

For the first time in her life, Ellie had struck someone. Duke McClure’s cheek reddened and swelled. He gave a stunned, hollow laugh.

“Hah…?”

“I’m just Ellie. Not McClure—just Ellie.”

She had always been that way. Ellie clenched her teeth.