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Chapter 21
After the Interruption Was Over
The moment Bianca saw the photograph taken from the front, she recognized him immediately and clenched both fists tightly.
“Done! It’s over!”
Completely unaware that a royal messenger had delivered the official marriage proposal while she had been stuck rotting away in the darkroom, Bianca happily went to find Dalia.
Dalia looked delighted when she saw Bianca visiting early in the morning.
After sending everyone else away, Bianca slowly spread the photographs out in front of her and said,
“There was no need for us to do anything ourselves. After investigating, I found out she was ruining her own reputation perfectly well already.”
Dalia recognized the woman in the photographs immediately.
The woman secretly spending time with a mysterious man beside the Pruhen River late at night while wearing a strange disguise was clearly Serenia.
Her face twisted strangely with contempt, scorn, and satisfaction from obtaining a weakness.
“So. Who exactly is this bastard?”
As if she had been waiting for that question, Bianca pulled out the final photograph.
The moment Dalia recognized him, her eyes widened in shock before her brows immediately furrowed.
“So she really picked something like that. A theater actor? How vulgar.”
Clicking her tongue harshly, Dalia hurriedly gathered the photographs before anyone else could see them.
Just imagining herself calling that shameless and stiff-faced girl over before splashing water at her along with the photographs naturally brought a smile to her lips.
“If I do that much, she’ll leave on her own.”
Just as Dalia smiled in satisfaction—
Knock knock!
Along with hurried knocking, an urgent voice came from outside the door.
“Madam! Madam! There is urgent news you must hear immediately!”
Dalia frowned at the interruption and stopped Bianca, who was about to speak, with a hand before opening the door.
“What is it?”
The head maid standing outside repeatedly bowed before speaking nervously.
“It seems a royal messenger visited the Barishart estate yesterday.”
“Oh? Really? What was it about? Was it perhaps punishment for the disrespect at the banquet?”
“T-That is not it…”
“Then what?”
“He delivered an official marriage proposal!”
“…What? An official marriage proposal?”
Dalia’s eyes widened.
An official marriage proposal.
Because it required approval from His Majesty the King, obtaining one was almost as difficult as reaching the stars in the sky. In modern times, most people simply skipped the process entirely.
The only families that still bothered with such old traditions were ancient noble houses like the Riverton Ducal House or the Marquisate of Tefsha.
‘…No. Surely not. It can’t be.’
Though secretly worried that one of those old noble houses might have sent the proposal to the Barishart family, Dalia hid her thoughts and instead shouted more harshly.
“What kind of insane person would send something like that to a girl like her?!”
The head maid rolled her eyes awkwardly before answering.
“T-The one who sent it… was His Grace the Duke…”
Silence filled the room for a moment.
And then—
“What did you say?!!!”
Dalia screamed so loudly that all dignity disappeared from her face.
Pushing past the head maid immediately, she rushed into the hallway and stormed toward Rascal’s office.
“Rascal!”
Duke Rascal Admancanon was already dressed in formal clothes early in the morning, focused on reviewing piles of documents.
But he did not even look at her.
Standing beside him was his aide, Joshua Milton, who greeted her in his place.
“Did you rest well last night, Madam?”
Unfortunately, Dalia could not hear his greeting at all.
Her face pale enough to collapse at any moment, she staggered toward Rascal’s desk.
Yet he still did not spare her even a glance and continued moving his pen.
Biting her lip tightly, she suddenly snatched away the document he was writing on and threw it behind her before shouting,
“Duke! Is this really the time to be looking at documents?! A marriage proposal?! What exactly is going on here?!”
Only then did Rascal finally raise his eyes from the desk.
But the person he looked at was not his mother.
It was Joshua.
“So the documents were delivered already? I heard they missed her yesterday.”
“They did miss her, but it seems she returned home on her own.”
Joshua answered casually before adding with a slightly sulky expression,
“…I told you this yesterday evening.”
“Did you? I must have been busy with something else and missed it.”
Seeing him speak without even the slightest apology, Joshua shook his head like he had expected nothing anyway.
Meanwhile, Rascal pushed aside his work and stood up.
“Anyway, that’s good news. Call her here immediately and—”
Bang!
Unable to tolerate their conversation any longer, Dalia slammed both hands loudly onto the desk.
With bloodshot eyes, she rapidly fired words at him.
“Rascal! Are you even listening to me?! I asked what exactly is going on! Did His Majesty order this? If something like that happened, you should have told me!”
Rascal silently looked down at her with an indifferent gaze.
An atmosphere far too hostile for a mother and son filled the office.
Just as Joshua quietly tried to escape before getting caught between them, Rascal finally spoke.
“Are you hoping your only son has gone deaf?”
“W-What did you say?”
“My ears work perfectly fine, Mother, so there is no need to worry.”
“Is this really the time to joke around?! What exactly are you planning?! A marriage proposal?!”
At those words, Rascal frowned slightly.
“Are you objecting to something personally approved by His Majesty the King?”
But Dalia refused to back down.
“Of course I am! How could I not?! Just because it is the King’s order, must we obey everything? After the humiliation we suffered at the banquet, you should have rejected it using that as an excuse!”
“…Humiliation?”
At his confused response, Dalia struck her chest in frustration.
“She slapped the Duke across the face and even said you should just kill her instead! If that is not insulting this ducal house, then what is?!”
“Ah.”
“And besides…”
Dalia hesitated briefly before speaking awkwardly while avoiding his eyes.
“I-I also slapped her in front of everyone. If we still bring her in as my daughter-in-law after that, what will happen to my reputation?”
“Ahh.”
At the amused sound that escaped him, Dalia’s face turned red with humiliation.
Trying to escape the uncomfortable situation, she raised her voice again.
“Anyway! Even if this is His Majesty’s command, I absolutely cannot allow it. Withdraw that proposal immediately!”
Rascal looked down at her coldly and spoke.
“It seems you have misunderstood something very badly.”
“…What?”
“The proposal was not sent because His Majesty ordered it.”
“W-What? Then why…?”
To her confused question, Rascal answered mockingly.
“Because I personally persuaded His Majesty several times and sincerely requested it myself before finally obtaining approval.”
“…What?”
Her face froze completely in disbelief.
Looking at her coldly, Rascal continued in a dark voice.
“So there will be no withdrawal. As for your reputation becoming ridiculous… that is simply the result of your own actions, so handle it yourself.”
Dalia’s face instantly turned bright red all the way to the back of her neck.
“No!”
While Rascal frowned at the loud scream, Dalia hurriedly pulled out the photographs Bianca had given her.
“I was too embarrassed to reveal this myself, so I tried to stay quiet. But now I have no choice.”
As she spoke, she spread the photographs across his desk.
“Look at these horrible photographs!”
Rascal’s eyes narrowed slightly when he recognized Serenia in the pictures.
Seeing that, Dalia relaxed slightly inside and continued speaking.
“She may have fallen into ruin, but she is still a noble lady. Yet she is secretly meeting a man late at night before marriage!”
While listening to Dalia, Rascal slowly searched through the photographs and picked out the one showing Ain’s face clearly from the front.
Dalia immediately shouted as though waiting for that moment.
“Do you know who that man is? He’s the clown actor playing ‘Razcal’ in that play based on the events from fourteen years ago.”
“Oh?”
Seeing her son show interest, she excitedly continued.
“Just look at those filthy fakes gathering together with each other!”
“A fake…”
Rascal unconsciously let out a quiet laugh while staring at the man in the photograph.
Though it was black-and-white and difficult to tell clearly, he was certain that hair was the same red color as his own.
After silently staring at the photograph for a while, Rascal muttered quietly to himself,
“…They do look a little alike.”
