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Chapter 7
Bella, having understood Amber’s warning, nodded.
“I see. I didn’t know you were the new Duchess. I have been rude.”
Her attitude was surprisingly docile, but Amber wasn’t fooled.
Bella’s docility was of a different kind than Calix’s. It was the false docility of someone always ready to strike from behind.
“Amber, Amber. That’s a lovely name. It suits your eye color.”
Bella said, looking Amber up and down.
“I am Belladona Talesto.”
Bella deliberately emphasized “Talesto.”
“The one you must serve, alongside His Grace.”
Bella’s words meant, ‘I am your mother-in-law, so know your place and bow to me.’
Bella enjoyed speaking in this roundabout way.
In her past life, Amber had always struggled tremendously to uncover the hidden meaning behind Bella’s words.
If she failed to grasp the true intent, she would be severely scolded that day. The reproach—asking why she couldn’t even manage that, having been raised spoiled in the West—had been particularly painful for Amber.
Even if she barely managed to understand Bella’s will and appeased her, that was it. Appeasing Bella was simply something Amber was expected to do; she never received a single word of praise.
Amber no longer wanted to continue being a pushover who couldn’t even break even.
‘To do that, I need to start from the very beginning.’
Amber put on a puzzled expression, tilted her head, and opened her mouth.
“Talesto? I heard the former Duchess of Talesto passed away a long time ago.”
At Amber’s words, Bella’s eyes cooled coldly.
To be treated as a superior by Amber, Bella would have to explain that she was the Dowager Duchess who had entered as a second wife. That was the thing Bella hated most in the world.
Bella wanted to hide the fact that she came from an insignificant Viscount’s family in the East. She wanted to act as if she had been a noble Dowager Duchess from birth.
Because of this complex, Bella treated Amber even more cruelly.
Unlike Bella, Amber was the ‘real Duchess.’
“I became the new Dowager Duchess last year.”
Bella explained her position as briefly as possible.
“The new Dowager Duchess…….”
Amber’s eyes widened.
“Ah, are you the one who, the moment I arrived, had servants arbitrarily take away my dowry?”
At the mention of the dowry, Bella’s face hardened even further.
With the laundry maids and other gathered servants’ eyes fixed on them, Bella was greatly flustered by Amber bringing up the dowry so loudly.
‘They said she couldn’t say a word yesterday? Why has she suddenly become so brazen?’
Bella turned her head slightly and glared at Grace.
She had clearly reported yesterday that the new bride was a timid woman who couldn’t utter a peep to the people of the East.
Grace shook her head as if to say she was wronged.
‘I tried to report it! But…….’
It was Bella who had first gotten annoyed, asking what all her painstaking preparations were for, given Calix’s refusal to see them off.
Because of that, Grace had missed the opportunity to report on Amber’s changed attitude.
Bella narrowed her eyes.
‘Whether the behavior yesterday was an act, or the behavior today is an act, I’ll find out in time.’
Bella thought the latter possibility was more likely.
Because if Amber were originally a bold person, she wouldn’t have bothered pretending to be timid yesterday.
‘First impressions are so important, why would she deliberately act timid?’
Bella judged that Amber was bluffing, like a bird puffing up its feathers.
‘That exaggerated front will soon crumble.’
So Bella dismissed Amber’s defiance as insignificant.
“Your dowry will be used to manage the territory. If you’ve seen how dire the situation is in the East, you should be able to understand my words.”
Hearing Bella’s words, Amber was so dumbfounded she almost laughed out loud.
‘You don’t use my dowry to manage the territory at all! You squander it all on reckless luxury goods businesses!’
The words surged up to her throat, but she barely managed to hold them back.
After all, Bella starting businesses and failing them was a story from her past life. She couldn’t attack Bella for things that hadn’t happened yet.
So Amber decided to assert her natural rights.
“But since it’s my dowry, shouldn’t my husband and I discuss where to use it?”
“Perhaps you don’t know, but in the East, the elders decide important household matters.”
Of course, such customs did exist in the East.
‘But this isn’t some commoner’s house.’
Amber was exasperated.
The household of a ducal family is directly connected to the management of the duchy. If even such public matters were handled haphazardly according to custom, the territory would surely become a mess.
“So don’t be too disappointed. After all, most of the luxury goods you enjoyed probably can’t be obtained here anyway.”
Bella didn’t back down easily and even subtly attacked Amber, implying she coveted her dowry for luxury goods.
The servants’ eyes turned to Amber.
Amber let out a deep sigh.
If Bella was going to go this far, Amber had no choice but to respond in kind.
“Mother.”
Amber called Bella in a calm, low voice.
“Why do you desire my dowry so much?”
“For the sake of the East…….”
“And besides, luxury goods? Even though I’ve only been in the East for a day, how could I have such childish thoughts?”
Amber continued speaking without giving Bella a chance to reply.
A look of embarrassment crossed Bella’s face.
‘Has she not just put on a front, but truly become bold?’
While Bella was confused, Amber spoke again.
“Strictly speaking, the owner of the dowry is neither you nor me, but my husband.”
Under imperial law, a wife’s property belongs to her husband the moment she marries.
With her husband’s consent, a woman can also own property, but that didn’t apply to Amber right now.
“So shouldn’t we hear my husband’s opinion first?”
In this castle, there were only two people whom Bella, who was practically a tyrant, could not defy.
Her husband, the former Duke of Talesto, and her stepson, the current Duke of Talesto, Calix.
The former Duke secluded himself in a villa, never showing his face, and since he loved Bella and would surely take her side, Amber invoked Calix’s name.
It briefly crossed her mind that Calix might be displeased to hear later that she had used his name so freely, but Amber shook off the thought.
‘This much is fine. It’s not like I said something untrue.’
Even if he was displeased, it couldn’t be helped. Dealing with Bella was the priority right now.
“It seems you’re misunderstanding something.”
Unable to easily refute Amber’s logically sound words, Bella eventually stopped arguing and chose the easy path.
“No matter how cleverly you speak, this is the East.”
Bella’s eyes gleamed viciously.
“This isn’t the West, full of pretentious fools who can’t even do their jobs properly.”
Bella raised her hand. There was no hesitation in her hand as it came down sharply toward Amber’s cheek.
Because she thought there was no one here to take Amber’s side.
“Ah, you can’t, Milady!”
Just then, something unexpected happened.
One of the laundry maids, who had been frozen in her washing posture, sprang up and threw herself between Bella and Amber.
The blonde maid, struck directly by Bella’s fiercely descending hand, rolled on the floor.
Seeing the maid’s face through her disheveled hair, Amber let out a short gasp.
It was Xenia.
‘Why Xenia? Don’t tell me she tried to protect me again this time?’
Though many things had changed from her past life, Xenia’s heart, which pitied Amber arriving alone in the East, seemed unchanged.
“Ugh…….”
“Oh my, are you alright?”
Snapping back to her senses at Xenia’s groan, Amber quickly moved to embrace her where she had fallen on the floor.
Xenia’s cheek was bruised and swollen black and blue.
Anger surged up from deep within Amber’s heart.
It didn’t matter that Bella had tried to use violence against her. It was something she had fully expected since deciding to stand up to Bella.
‘But Xenia…….’
She couldn’t forgive Bella for treating Xenia so harshly.
“Who are you?”
Bella looked down at Xenia with incredulous eyes.
“M-Milady, please control yourself! What if the Master or the Young Master finds out about this?”
Xenia pleaded with Bella, her eyes brimming with tears and a pitiful expression on her face.
“Do you think those boys care about household matters? Even if they know, they’ll pretend they don’t. They say it’s shameful.”
Bella snorted.
In the East, where people believed in distinct roles for men and women, men considered it shameful to involve themselves in household affairs.
Even if the household management wasn’t going smoothly, the men would never speak of it.
“More to the point, get out of the way. I have business with that woman. I’ll deal with your beating later.”
Bella said coldly, grabbing Xenia’s shoulder. Xenia gasped, hunching her body.
Because she knew well how brutal Bella’s corporal punishment could be.
Amber’s arms tightened around Xenia. At the same time, her orange eyes filled with rage.
“Stop.”
At Amber’s frighteningly low voice, Bella, who had been shaking Xenia’s shoulder, flinched.
Slowly turning her gaze to meet Amber’s eyes, Bella gasped in surprise.
Amber’s eyes, glaring at Bella, were filled with a fierce determination that startled anyone who saw them.
As if looking at threatening, blazing flames, Bella unconsciously let go of Xenia’s shoulder.
“This child is a maid of *my* castle. How dare you interfere when I am about to discipline her?”
Bella, having stepped back a pace, spoke in a forcibly fierce tone.
All the servants, knowing that bad things always happened when Bella was this angry, turned pale and bowed their heads.
But Amber did not bow. She simply stared silently at Bella, her blazing anger still intact.
“Don’t delude yourself. *I* am the lady of this house!”
Amber could have shouted that she was the real Duchess, aiming the words at Bella, who called herself the lady. But she didn’t.
Because with Xenia injured before her, she didn’t want to obscure the issue by arguing about who was or wasn’t the lady.
“Even so, do you think it’s right to use violence against a subordinate?”
Amber pointed out Bella’s wrongdoing in a tone so calm it was almost excruciating.
