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Chapter 22
After the Verbal Abuse Was Over
But only for a moment.
Soon, Rascal returned to his usual indifferent expression and spoke again.
“So what?”
“So what… do you mean?”
Dalia widened her eyes and practically clung to his arm as she continued speaking.
“You can still say something like that after seeing these shameless photographs? You still intend to make such a vulgar and immoral girl your wife?!”
“And why shouldn’t I?”
“Rascal!”
Unable to control her temper, Dalia screamed sharply.
But Rascal showed no sign of surprise. Instead, he slowly looked down at her with dark, sunken eyes and spoke coldly.
“You are free to oppose it, Mother. I do not care. But do not interfere with my affairs.”
“W-What did you just say? How dare you speak to your mother like—”
A crooked smile appeared on Rascal’s lips as he interrupted her.
“‘How dare’…? That is not something you should be saying to me. It is something I should be saying to you.”
“…What?”
“In case you have forgotten, the master of this ducal house is me. Not you.”
At those words, Dalia instantly fell silent like a marionette with its strings cut.
Leaning closer slightly, Rascal whispered in a low voice,
“So do not dare tell me what to do. Including my marriage, every decision in this ducal house belongs to me.”
Only then did Dalia finally realize it.
The greatest obstacle standing in the way of breaking this ridiculous marriage was not Serenia.
It was her own son.
Looking at her half-lost expressionlessly, Rascal calmly added,
“As a son, I can tolerate some complaints from my mother. But do not cross the line.”
Then he turned around and left the office, his cloak fluttering behind him.
Quietly, Joshua followed after him.
Left alone inside the empty office, Dalia stood frozen for a long time before collapsing weakly onto the floor.
The maids hurried toward her in shock and reached out to support her.
“Madam!”
But Dalia irritably slapped all their hands away.
Biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood, her eyes sharpened dangerously.
She had absolutely no intention of giving up simply because she was being ignored like this.
She would rather die than watch something like Serenia Barishart stand beside her son.
Grinding her teeth, she muttered,
“…Fine. If that’s how it is, then I’ll stop this myself even if I have to throw away my entire body to do it.”
* * *
Meanwhile, at the Barishart estate—
After sacrificing both the dining chair and even the wardrobe, Serenia finally woke up as a living Serenia instead of Frozen Serenia.
She woke early in the morning and fully prepared herself to run outside at any moment if necessary.
Because she had been away from home for too long, household chores had piled up like mountains, but now was not the time to worry about such things.
Skipping breakfast entirely, she sat while thinking through every possible situation in her head.
Then—
Bang! Bang!
The heavy sound of the front door knocker echoed loudly.
Taking a deep breath, Serenia opened the front door.
Curly blue-gray hair and green eyes like melted peridot gemstones.
The man standing there looked exactly like Marquis Milton.
Smiling brightly, he gave a light bow.
“Good morning, Lady Serenia Barishart.”
Serenia stared at him coldly before answering in an icy tone.
“What brings you here this early in the morning, Sir Joshua?”
Even with such a cold reception, Joshua merely smiled casually and got straight to the point.
“Rascal asked me to deliver this to you.”
As he spoke, he handed her a single card.
The moment she read the sharply scribbled note written on it, Serenia’s face hardened terrifyingly.
“You should arrive quickly. Before I remove the Count’s breathing machine.”
“This trash bastard…!”
Serenia crushed the card tightly in her hand while grinding out the words through clenched teeth.
After glaring fiercely at Joshua, who simply shrugged as though he knew nothing, she immediately ran toward the hospital.
Without stopping once, she rushed into the hospital and threw open the hospital room door before she could even catch her breath.
It was a small and shabby private room.
Some might say it was wasteful for someone in her situation to use a single room, but this was actually the hospital director’s small act of kindness.
Not kindness toward the Barishart family—
But consideration for the commoner patients who would feel uncomfortable sharing a room with nobles.
Among the white walls, white bed, and white blankets, Serenia saw her father’s face, darkened like an old corpse.
And beside him sat a man dressed entirely in black, casually playing with the IV tube as though it were a toy.
Quickly striding over, Serenia snatched the IV line out of Rascal’s hand.
Then she stood protectively between him and her father with sharp eyes.
“I didn’t expect Your Grace to resort to such cowardly methods.”
Rascal answered her growling accusation with a blank face.
“I haven’t done anything, yet you’re already baring your teeth at me. How unfair.”
His voice carried not even the slightest trace of feeling wronged.
Serenia let out a scoff.
Then, staring at him with poisonous eyes, she spoke in a restrained voice.
“What exactly is your goal here? Do you perhaps want me to repay the debt?”
“The debt? Ah. You mean the price of your life?”
Rascal lazily waved his hand.
“Forget it. What use would something so meaningless be?”
“Then why did you send a marriage proposal? I clearly told you before that I would reject it.”
“I believe I clearly answered that I never gave you the right to choose.”
The conversation continued in circles.
Serenia sighed deeply and pressed a hand against her forehead.
“Seriously, why are you doing this to me? What is this, some new method of tormenting people?”
At her complaint, a faint look of confusion appeared on Rascal’s emotionless face.
“How strange. Why does everyone keep asking the reason behind my actions?”
“Because it makes no sense! It’s strange and ridiculous!”
At Serenia’s answer, Rascal nodded absentmindedly before speaking.
“Well. Fine. If you absolutely need a reason…”
Dragging out his words, he slowly glanced around the room before continuing.
“Then let’s go with the usual cliché. Love at first sight.”
Serenia let out a long exhausted sigh.
“Are you making fun of me right now?”
At her scolding tone, Rascal answered with slight irritation.
“So giving you a reason is also a problem now? What exactly do you want from me?”
“Because that’s not the real reason!”
“How would you know whether it’s real or fake? Can you read minds?”
Unable to endure his mocking tone any longer, Serenia finally exploded.
“Stop changing the subject and answer me properly! Why are you trying this hard to marry me?!”
Even at her sharp scream, Rascal’s expression did not change at all.
“Just because.”
His answer was so simple that Serenia let out a hollow laugh.
“…Just because?”
Watching her with dark, sunken black eyes, Rascal replied,
“Yes. Just because.”
Then he added indifferently,
“Think about it. Does a lion need a reason to eat an antelope?”
Seeing her confused expression, he explained calmly.
“It simply happens because an antelope happened to pass in front of a hungry lion at the wrong time. There is no reason.”
At those words, Serenia’s face stiffened dangerously.
But Rascal calmly continued speaking.
“This is the same. I reached an age where delaying marriage became difficult, and at that exact moment you happened to appear before me and irritate me. That’s all.”
Heavy silence filled the hospital room.
Serenia lowered her head, clenching her fists so tightly that blood nearly came out.
After a long while, her lips finally moved slightly.
“…That’s not it.”
“What?”
“That’s not true!”
Serenia glared at him with blazing blue eyes as she shouted.
“You’re trying to completely erase the Barishart family! Just like you silenced Father, you’re trying to silence me too!”
Serenia clearly saw his expression twist slightly.
Just like fifteen years ago, she shouted at him almost like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Do you think I’m an idiot who knows nothing? Why are you doing all this?! What exactly are you hiding?! What happened fourteen years ago that made things become like this?!”
The moment she mentioned fourteen years ago, Rascal’s face instantly turned vicious.
Looking like he could kill someone at any moment, he slowly stood up.
Step by step, he approached Serenia threateningly and growled in a low voice.
“I treated you gently for a while, and now you’ve forgotten your place.”
“…What?”
“You’re nothing more than a half-baked noble incapable of taking responsibility for anything or carrying any duties.”
At his words, Serenia gritted her teeth.
Rascal looked at her with twisted mockery and sneered.
“Know your place properly. Where there is no responsibility, there are no rights. Which means you have no right to know anything.”
Serenia felt as though part of her chest had been torn apart.
She could only clench her trembling fists tightly.
Poking her forehead lightly with his finger, Rascal continued coldly,
“So stop pretending to be human and live according to the fate you were given. A pseudo-slave whose value is decided by family name and wealth.”
