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Chapter 5
Rainer Hayes (1)
Inside was a cufflink with a subtle sheen.
It was the only keepsake Evan’s mother had left behind.
But Cecilia now knew that it was far more than just a simple memento.
“G.H.”
The initials of Duke Gilbert Hayes were engraved on the cufflink.
It was a gift he had left for his lover, a maid.
And that maid was none other than Evan’s biological mother.
In my previous life, this was what proved Evan was the duke’s son.
But in this life, she refused to stand by and watch the same thing happen again.
Cecilia carefully tucked the cufflink into her clothes.
She would take her time deciding how best to use it.
Have I packed everything now?
Cecilia checked her bag one last time before quietly closing it.
Just as she was about to stand up—
“Cecilia! You wretched girl! Where are you? Get out here this instant! Do you think I’ll let you get away with this today?”
Trisha, the Viscountess of Osburn and Rosena’s mother, burst through the door.
Rosena followed close behind her.
Slap!
“How dare you bite the hand that fed you? After everything we’ve done to raise you, you repay us by stabbing us in the back? You ungrateful wretch!”
Trisha strode forward and slapped Cecilia across the face.
Cecilia gently rubbed her cheek before turning her gaze back to the two women.
Seeing them trembling with rage, she couldn’t help but let out a scornful laugh.
Everything they’d done to raise her?
They had treated her differently from Rosena from the very beginning, constantly bullying and mistreating her.
The Viscount and Viscountess of Osburn had never been the sort of people who would lovingly embrace Cecilia with kindness and warmth.
When she was only ten years old, they would frequently withhold food from her and beat her.
Back then, Cecilia had simply assumed she was the one at fault.
But now, she understood.
They had been afraid.
Afraid that one day, Cecilia would demand the return of her parents’ inheritance.
“I should never have taken in the likes of you in the first pla—”
SMACK!
Before Trisha could finish speaking, Cecilia’s palm struck her across the face.
Trisha’s head snapped to the side. The finger she had been jabbing accusingly at Cecilia was still raised.
A red handprint immediately bloomed across her cheek.
Cecilia heard Rosena gasp in shock.
“Ria! You—you just—”
SMACK!
Another sharp slap rang out, and the viscountess’s face turned in the opposite direction.
“Oh my goodness! Has she gone mad?”
“H-How dare you!”
Rosena shrieked, while Trisha charged toward Cecilia with fury written all over her face.
But Cecilia had absolutely no intention of standing there and letting herself be hit.
In an instant, she grabbed the viscountess by both arms and restrained her.
The Osburn mother and daughter were no match for Cecilia, who was taller and stronger than they were.
“Let go! I said let go of me!”
Trisha struggled wildly, her hair disheveled and her appearance thoroughly undignified.
But the more she struggled, the tighter Cecilia’s grip became.
Then Cecilia spoke, her gaze icy.
“Perhaps you should focus on raising your daughter properly before you start raising your voice at me.”
“What did you say? How dare you strike an elder twice and—”
“I was counting the slap for Rosena, too. Or would you prefer that I hit her instead?”
Cecilia jerked her chin toward Rosena.
Rosena’s expression stiffened.
Cecilia looked as though she would genuinely hit her, pregnancy or no pregnancy.
Rosena hurriedly changed her attitude.
“R-Ria… Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
Rosena spoke pitifully, her voice trembling as though she were on the verge of tears.
Her large eyes filled with tears.
“If you were upset with us, we could have talked about it beforehand. Why did you have to do something like that in front of so many people…?”
As always, Rosena tried to use her tears to win sympathy.
In the past, Cecilia had often softened at the sight of her crying.
But she had no intention of letting herself be made a fool of anymore.
“Oh, that? I did it on purpose.”
“…What?”
“Putting on an act is your family’s specialty, isn’t it? I’ve been disgusted by it for ages, so when a good opportunity presented itself, I took it.”
Rosena stared at her with her mouth hanging open, too shocked to speak.
This was the first time Cecilia had ever spoken to her so harshly.
Cecilia had always been a fool who smiled stupidly and agreed to every single one of Rosena’s requests!
Cecilia released the viscountess’s arms, almost as though she were throwing them aside.
“Are you going to keep fighting? If so, we can go to the town square together. Wouldn’t it be better if we had an audience, too?”
“You—you…!”
“Mother! Are you all right?”
Trisha clutched the back of her neck and staggered.
Rosena rushed over to support her mother, but Cecilia didn’t spare either of them another glance. She picked up her luggage and quietly headed for the front door.
“Where do you think you’re going?! Rosena! Contact the family immediately! Tell them we’re sending that girl to Marquis Dillon!”
From behind her, Trisha shouted at the top of her lungs.
Despite being in his seventies, Marquis Dillon was a shameless lecher who had an insatiable appetite for women.
Apparently, he was currently searching for his sixth bride.
Every aristocratic family in Ristea with an unmarried daughter wanted nothing to do with such a match.
“You seem to be under some kind of delusion! Our family is still your legal guardian! I’ll arrange a marriage proposal with the marquis’s family immediately! Even that position is more than you deserve!”
The reason Trisha had brought up the Dillon family was obvious.
She intended to sell Cecilia off and pocket the money she would receive in return.
Even in a situation like this, the Osburns could think of nothing but how to profit from her.
Typical of them.
“Hey! Where are you going?! I’m not finished talking to you!”
Cecilia ignored them and walked out the door.
Their words were worth no more than the words of animals. They weren’t even worth answering.
Once outside, she set off without hesitation.
I should stay at a hotel for now.
Fortunately, she had some money she had been saving little by little since childhood.
She had secretly collected the coins the Viscount and Viscountess of Osburn occasionally tossed her as though they were doing her a great favor.
It was nothing compared to the inheritance her parents had left her, but it would be enough to cover a hotel stay for the time being.
The real problem is what comes next.
She might have left the house with confidence, but as the viscountess had pointed out, Cecilia was still legally under the protection of the Osburn family.
Even though she was an adult, she couldn’t completely escape her guardian’s influence when it came to marriage.
If negotiations with Marquis Dillon’s family begin, things will get complicated.
It was hardly easy for an unmarried noblewoman to stand up to an aristocratic family without any powerful connections backing her.
Aristocratic society revolved around family status, after all.
What should I do…?
Cecilia continued thinking as she made her way toward the hotel.
What she needed now was a powerful shield—someone or something that would make both the Viscountcy of Osburn and the Marquisate of Dillon think twice before daring to lay a hand on her.
Three days after the commotion at Cecilia’s wedding, a carriage arrived in front of the Hayes ducal residence.
It was carrying Rainer, who had just returned from the family’s estate.
“Welcome back, Lord Rainer.”
Rainer stepped down from the carriage and gave a slight nod to Harry, his aide, who had come out to greet him.
The midday sunlight illuminated his sharply defined jawline, as though it had been carved with a sculptor’s chisel, and his high, straight nose.
Even his dark hair, lightly tousled by the spring breeze, remained impeccably neat.
Standing on the ground with his long legs, Rainer slowly removed his gloves.
Even such a simple gesture carried an air of refined elegance, yet his expression remained rigid.
He was always like this whenever he returned from the Hayes estate.
“How is the Dowager Duchess’s health?”
“Unfortunately, she can still walk perfectly well on her own two legs.”
At Harry’s question, Rainer frowned and loosened his cravat.
It was one of the rare moments when a man who was usually so composed allowed his emotions to show.
And for good reason. His relationship with Elize was the worst imaginable.
‘You lowborn bastard. You’re practically groveling like a dog just to cling to the Hayes name.’
Publicly, Rainer was known as the late-born son of Elize, the Duchess of Hayes.
But the truth was quite different.
He was the illegitimate son of the late Duke of Hayes and his mistress, Mariana.
Elize was a proud woman, both as an aristocrat and as a woman, and she had never been able to accept her husband’s infidelity.
Other men in the world could keep mistresses if they wished, but her own husband was supposed to be different.
Being laughed at by society over such a scandal was more humiliating to her than death itself.
Her rage and despair were directed entirely at her husband’s young mistress, and Mariana eventually died in a mysterious fire.
Afterward, Elize subjected Rainer, who had come to live in the ducal residence, to relentless verbal and physical abuse.
“If visiting her is truly so unpleasant, why not refrain from going for a while, my lord?”
Harry, his loyal aide, offered the suggestion cautiously.
Now that Rainer had distinguished himself in the war and become the crown prince’s closest confidant, he could easily obtain a high noble title even without inheriting the Duchy of Hayes.
With a portion of the inheritance he had received from the late duke and his war compensation, he was also financially secure.
Harry was frustrated that Rainer continued to endure unnecessary humiliation by visiting Elize when he had no real need to do so.
“Do you think I go because I enjoy it? I go so the old fossils in the Hayes family can see me.”
However, Rainer raised one hand, dismissing his aide’s suggestion.
There was only one reason he continued to show Elize the outward respect due to a son.
The Duchy of Hayes.
The fire that had killed his mother, Mariana, had undoubtedly been Elize’s doing.
But for now, it was nothing more than a suspicion.
To uncover the truth, he needed to rise to a position higher than Elize’s and put pressure on her.
“My elder brother won’t last much longer. Until then, I must avoid giving the Hayes retainers any reason to criticize me.”
As luck would have it, Elize’s son, Gilbert, had no children of his own and was now bedridden with illness.
Consequently, Rainer was the most likely candidate to inherit the dukedom.
Until that day came, he had no choice but to keep his head down, endure the company of that despicable old woman, and exercise patience.
It was also essential that he avoid unnecessary scandals at all costs.
“Oh, by the way, my lord. There is a guest waiting in the drawing room.”
At that report, Rainer stopped walking.
