TSBSFVW 87

Chapter 87

Bread Thirteen. The Tower Built Over the Swamp (9)

The Macclure mansion had more passages than even the owner knew.

Ellie was certain that the Duke of Macclure himself didn’t know half of the house she had been born and raised in.

The corridors used mainly by the servants were almost never lit.

Ellie moved only along the routes the servants used, like a little mouse.

That way she could avoid running into Irein—or her father.

Thanks to that, Ellie could slip between the kitchen and her room without being seen by anyone. She’d even become something of an expert at finding empty rooms among the servants’ quarters.

She could have bolted out of the house in secret if she’d wanted to.

Ellie deliberately muttered aloud.

“Where are you watching me from, Irein…?”

There was no answer.

She felt a little embarrassed. Someone might think she was odd. On second thought, it was creepy—hearing a voice when you couldn’t see a ghost.

‘She didn’t write that letter colluding with her father to trick me, did she?’

A belated suspicion made her stop in her tracks.

If that were so, Ellie would be stumbling right into a trap of her own making. She wanted to believe Irein—who had gone so far as to try to kill herself—wouldn’t do something like that, but she didn’t trust that much with her life.

‘…Should I have told Maurice and come with him?’

The promise to tell Van before jumping into danger flashed through her mind.

‘Even if I wanted to tell him, he told me to get lost—how could I tell him anything?’ Van couldn’t move, so the only person Ellie could have asked for help was Maurice.

But she soon shook her head.

No matter how busy he was, the fact that someone who always showed his face at least once a day hadn’t come probably meant something urgent had happened. She didn’t want to bother a busy man.

Besides, Ellie had personally fired all the staff Maurice had connected to them today.

Her motive had been to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, but she’d clearly not been able to stand firm. It wasn’t something to be proud of.

It was proof she wasn’t ready yet to employ a lot of staff.

Maurice had told her that in business, this sort of thing barely counted as hardship, but she didn’t want to announce that she’d broken under pressure.

And Irein had wanted Ellie to come alone.

The Duke of Macclure lost his reason easily in front of Ellie. He would show a more honest side if no one else was around.

‘Whatever kind of person Irein may be, that desperation to want to die—she must’ve meant it.’ Ellie thought.

She couldn’t accept it.

The way Irein clung to Mark and used her body as a shield—there had been no falsehood in that.

Ellie decided to trust Irein.

The Duke’s study was deep within the mansion. Ellie reached the door that connected the study to the office.

She took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob, frowning.

“You’re supposed to be a man who only cares about money, but you’re more loyal than I thought.”

“Praise me and you’ll get nothing.”

“No, I mean it as a surprise. I heard there are plenty of women who squander fortunes and cry after being toyed with by you.”

“You seem to enjoy rumors, Your Grace.”

“Only about others.”

“Then you must know they aren’t all true.”

“Well, not all rumors are baseless.”

It was Maurice’s voice.

Through a slightly opened crack in the door another voice came.

“P-please, since you arranged for me to meet His Grace, ju-just release me….”

It was Seth Hastings’ voice.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like filth.”

“Are you calling me filthy?!”

“Pardon me, but you’re not exactly clean, are you.”

Maurice laughed lightly. Ellie could not, for the life of her, understand what was going on.

“Truly surprising, Maurice Herzog. I can’t understand why a man who only cares for money would go this far for ‘my daughter.’”

“I invest in things that have value. Your daughter is well worth investing in. Even Prince Damian desired her at first sight.”

“…….”

“Ellie must have been a useless daughter to you. Why are you doing this now?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you mean you couldn’t even bear to leave her to her fate?”

“How long must I listen to nonsense? You show up all of a sudden and behave rudely—there’s a limit to how much I’ll put up with.”

“You refused every formal request.”

“I have no words for the leader of Mammoth’s merchant guild.”

“You stole Ellie’s place and gave it to an illegitimate child….”

“That was originally Irein’s.”

“Let’s say that’s true. Even so, haven’t you already gotten everything you wanted? If that’s the case, leaving Ellie alone would cause you no harm.”

“Not everyone moves according to profit and loss, you know.”

“…….”

“Even if there’s no benefit, there are things you must do even if they cost you.”

“…You speak as if tormenting your own child is some righteous act.”

“I never tormented anyone. This is unpleasant. On what grounds are you making such an outrageous claim?”

“Outrageous claim?”

Maurice let out a stunned, bitter laugh.

“So hiring pirates to sink my ship isn’t outrageous, is it?”

“Don’t be absurd. Do you have proof?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t.”

“Then I’m in the right to call the guards and throw you out. Since you brought Seth Hastings—who was nearly drunk to death in the street—here, I’ll overlook your previous rudeness. Now get out of my sight.”

“So you mean you’ll continue to torment Ellie regardless of profit or loss?”

“I’m not a vulgar merchant like you.”

“Right. That’s the part I overlooked—if there’s no loss, you wouldn’t bother. That was my mistake.”

Maurice had been confident he no longer needed to worry after introducing Demian to Ellie.

Given the Duke’s temperament, Maurice had calculated the Duke wouldn’t risk himself to interfere further with Ellie.

But he’d failed to account for the Duke’s hatred.

It was common sense that if anyone should resent Ellie it would be Ellie herself; how could the Duke possibly have a grievance? That common-sense judgment had been his error.

“If you’re a merchant who moves according to profit and loss, shouldn’t you let this go?”

“For my misfortune to become your plight, Your Grace would have to lead it.”

“There are people who, just by being involved, bring misfortune.”

“Ah. Is this superstition now?”

“Not only did a ship sink, but deals seem to be cut off one by one.”

“Well, at least for now.”

Maurice admitted it calmly.

It was a completely different answer than when he’d told her there was no loss.

“So you’ll still not let go?”

“If Your Grace did nothing, that would be my fault and a misfortune. That wouldn’t be Ellie’s problem, would it.”

“Hmm. I see.”

“Van Mitchell Cronin is confined in the house, the tower lord’s been taken by the elders and threatened—but that’s only the result of a string of small misfortunes.”

“You really did nothing, Maurice Herzog. The one thing I know is that girl is the cause of misfortune. I say that from personal experience.”

“I figured you’d say something like that.”

Maurice spoke with a hollow tone.

“Why do you keep at this even though you know?”

“You must tell me what you want so I can respond appropriately.”

Maurice wanted to see Duke Macclure with his own eyes.

If what the Duke wanted was simply for Ellie to leave Roso, Maurice thought there might be room to negotiate.

If they could put pride aside and negotiate from behind the scenes, that would be best for Ellie.

He didn’t want Ellie to fail.

He didn’t want her leaving Roso to be because of failure.

The honest truth was, as long as he was attached to her, he didn’t want to see Ellie set up to fail.

If Maurice didn’t like Ellie, and if the father weren’t involved, he would have left her to fail spectacularly—an early failure would be a lesson.

But if that failure were due to her birth, she’d learn nothing.

“I want nothing.”

It was the worst possible answer.

He could not coexist with a man like this.

‘She’d finally postponed the war, and he’s kicking it away with his own feet.’

Maurice smiled broadly, vowing to squeeze him to the marrow.

“All right. I’ll withdraw then—but do you want to take this with you? Will you keep using it?”

Maurice flicked the luggage with his toe.

“It’s yours, so carry it away yourself.”

“All right.”

Maurice lightly grabbed the back of Seth’s neck. Seth let out a few shrill sounds.

Ellie’s resolve hardened.

(End of provided excerpt.)