🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 12
“Honestly, you…! Do you think it makes any sense that a father and daughter can barely see each other like this? Are you really my blood?”
The duke burst into anger.
Lianel, on the other hand, remained expressionless.
“I won’t waste words. Stop struggling out there and come back home.”
Rent in the Imperial Capital was expensive. With Lianel’s tiny salary, it was impossible to afford a decent place, so she lived in a small, hidden room in a remote area.
Every time the duke pictured his daughter lying down to sleep in such a place, his blood ran cold.
“Why should I do that?”
“What do you mean, why? You’re my daughter! My family!”
Bang!
The duke pounded his fist on the table. The dishes rattled from the shock.
Even Vanesha tensed up and watched him carefully.
One wrong word, and she felt she’d be kicked out of the ducal house.
Lianel’s mouth continued moving on its own, as if unaware of the mood.
“Is living in the same mansion a requirement to be considered family? If so, that is hasty generalization and a faulty necessary-and-sufficient-condition argument.”
“What?”
“If that were a necessary condition, then the servants who prepared this meal and Lady Viollen would also qualify as family, which would be absurd.”
Viollen was Vanesha’s family name.
Even in this situation, Lianel made sure to emphasize that Vanesha was not family.
Why is she picking a fight again?
She hadn’t even done anything this time!
Vanesha ground her teeth internally but couldn’t glare openly.
Instead, she forced a gentle smile and added,
“Lianel does have a point, Father.”
She’d say anything as long as it kept Lianel out of the house.
“And Lianel is very independent, so staying in the mansion must feel suffocating to her.”
Her words directly contradicted her earlier excuse about arranging a match for Lianel’s sake, but Vanesha was shameless.
Yet she immediately regretted taking Lianel’s side.
“Besides, there’s no space in this mansion for me to stay.”
“What do you mean, no space? The room you used before is still there!”
“Did you not know? That room is currently rented by Lady Viollen.”
“What?”
The duke’s eyes widened.
“Why is someone else using my daughter’s room!”
Boom—!
This time the whole table shook, and the plates clattered.
The duke had seen Vanesha and Lianel in the same room earlier, but since the furniture hadn’t changed, he assumed Vanesha wasn’t living there.
I did notice Vanesha and the maids going in and out of Lianel’s room sometimes, but they said they were maintaining it in her absence…
Feeling deceived, the duke’s fury grew.
Th-this is bad.
Vanesha flinched.
She had been taking advantage of the duke’s indifference to household affairs, using her status as fiancée to seize power within the mansion.
But the duke was still not someone she could ignore.
The authority she enjoyed was like that of a fox lounging in an empty den—it had no real foundation.
Under the duke’s piercing gaze, Vanesha stammered,
“Th-that’s not… I didn’t—”
“Oh, was it unauthorized occupation?”
Realizing that denying it would only make things worse, Vanesha hastily nodded.
“N-no! I did borrow it!”
“I thought so. I checked earlier and all the furniture was still there.”
Everything in that room had been top-quality.
Some items were limited editions money couldn’t buy, others were gifts the duke himself bought, and some were heirlooms from the late duchess.
Rarely, some were even from Rupert.
Everything in that room was proof that Lianel had been deeply loved in this home.
Vanesha, who envied her, had simply taken the room for herself.
The duke spoke coldly:
“If you were staying there temporarily, then of course you should vacate it when the owner returns. Pack your things and return the room to Lianel.”
“F-Father, the thing is…”
Vanesha hesitated.
There was no room in the mansion as spacious and luxurious as Lianel’s. She had accumulated three years’ worth of belongings there.
Most of all, she couldn’t bear the thought of getting pushed aside by Lianel.
“There’s no need.”
Lianel said.
“I don’t plan to stay here long. Making Lady Viollen reorganize her things for my sake would be inefficient.”
Why is she suddenly taking my side?
Vanesha’s eyes brightened—briefly.
“So she should simply pay rent and the premium fee.”
And then she realized it was a trap.
“R-rent is one thing, but… why a premium fee…?”
A premium fee was compensation paid for a well-located shop with good business—like a position fee.
Why should she pay that?
“My room has traditionally been used by Visenheim young ladies for generations. Its prestige and history alone give it considerable value.”
Vanesha wasn’t smart, but she wasn’t stupid either.
She knew arguing logic was pointless.
The conclusion would inevitably be that she was wrong for occupying Lianel’s room.
Vanesha let her eyebrows droop and sighed. Emotional appeal was her only option.
“It hurts that you suddenly bring up money. I thought we were close…”
“We were close?”
Lianel said it as if she had made a startling discovery—but Vanesha heard something else entirely.
Is she mocking me?
Vanesha’s face flushed with rage.
Under the table, she clenched her dress and ground her teeth.
She realized the duke’s view of her had changed.
Until now she had been treated as a capable, helpful future daughter-in-law who managed the household.
But now she was being seen as pathetic and childish.
Noticing that instant shift, Vanesha seethed inside.
The duke turned to Lianel.
“I’ll have the guest room prepared. Move in by tomorrow’s dinner. Lisa will also be pleased if you spend more time at home.”
He used the duchess as an excuse, but it was obvious he just wanted Lianel to stay.
Lianel shook her head.
“That won’t do.”
The duke’s eyebrow twitched.
“What now? Fine, say it. What more do you need?”
“I’m a new employee. I don’t have enough seniority to take leave.”
The reality of low-ranking civil servants was harsh. You accrued leave based on months worked, and Lianel had barely started—not to mention she had lost leave due to earlier disciplinary action.
“So please process this as a business trip.”
“…Wouldn’t sick leave be better?”
“A business trip earns allowances.”
“….”
The duke was speechless for a moment.
But he was still biased enough to overlook a minor misconduct for his daughter’s sake.
“…Fine.”
Vanesha paced nervously in her room, and when the maid returned, she immediately asked:
“Well? What happened?”
The duke loved Lianel, but unlike other nobles, he didn’t oppress under the guise of affection.
He mostly allowed freedom, quietly supporting his child’s chosen path from the background.
If Lianel wanted to become a civil servant, he wouldn’t promote her directly—but he would make sure she wasn’t fired unfairly.
Vanesha had used this before to push Lianel out; as long as Lianel appeared to step back voluntarily, the duke never interfered much.
This time was the same.
Though she used a maid to do it.
If things went wrong, the blame would fall entirely on the maid.
Guide Lianel to a decent, appropriate room. Understood?
This meant: take her to a room so uncomfortable she’d never want to come back.
And if the maid failed to understand?
She’d be fired or sent to the worst chores.
Vanesha signed their paychecks—so reading her mood was a matter of survival.
The maids didn’t want much.
To not get fired, and to make enough to keep food on the table.
Whether the job was moral or not didn’t matter—only the thickness of the pay envelope.
But the maid’s returning expression was ominous.
“Um, well…”
Her fidgeting hands, eyes full of panic.
Vanesha snapped before her patience ran out, and the maid confessed everything.
She had been hired by Vanesha because she could read situations well.
So of course she guided Lianel to a filthy, moldy room that had never been cleaned, with bedding whose last wash date was unknown.
She assumed that moody Lianel would explode in anger and leave immediately.
But Lianel stood in the doorway, scanned the room, and said:
“This room is quite shabby. I worry whether someone as precious as myself should stay in such a place.”
“…Sorry?”
