VWTI 31

Chapter 31

Raymond’s face grew pale at my grim question.

This story, which had become a warning to adults and a ghost tale for children, only grew more horrific with time. It never got better.
Even though only a few years had passed, among the capital’s nobility, anyone who didn’t know this story was suspected of being a spy—so you can imagine how brutal it was.

The misdeeds of the so-called “Adulterous Count”—whose family name I no longer even remember—were eerily similar to the very married life Raymond was dreaming about right now.

“He married his fiancée, arranged by the families, then got himself a lover he truly liked—and even got her pregnant, right?”

Just hearing that much makes him sound awful, but you’d wonder, is that really enough to be executed?

The problem was who that lover was.

“She was… the kingdom’s youngest princess— the one the Emperor was actively courting at the time, right?”

The princess, distressed about her upcoming political marriage, was sweet-talked and coaxed into pregnancy. There was no way the king wouldn’t be furious.

Had the Imperial noble been entirely blameless, the Emperor might have attempted smoothing things over through negotiation—but this was a case where the adulterous count was 100% at fault.

The Emperor still had things he needed from the king, so he decided—well, quite ruthlessly—to use this incident to his advantage.

Conveniently, the Atrux Empire followed monogamy, which made for a perfect excuse.

He made a show of enacting the law and personally beheading one of his own counts, and naturally, negotiations with the kingdom ended perfectly.

So then why was Raymond acting like he knew nothing about all this…?

“That count called his lover to the manor on the very night of his wedding. After that, he kept dozens more lovers throughout his marriage. If it weren’t for the evidence the countess collected over many years, he wouldn’t just have avoided execution—he might not have been punished at all.”

He was right.

Even without that evidence, the count likely wouldn’t have survived.
The trial would have been handled perfunctorily, and less than a week later, he would’ve been found dead in some back alley.

Still, Raymond’s certainty that he was innocent—especially compared to the adulterous count—was something I simply could not understand, no matter how hard I tried.

And honestly—

“Hey, if you look at it that way, you’re even worse. You’ve been rolling around with your ‘lover’ since before the engagement, let alone marriage.”

At my sarcastic not-really-a-question, Raymond’s face flushed bright red.

White to red—his face was terribly busy.

Covering part of his face with the back of his hand, he turned away and muttered at the air:

“H-How could you… say something so vulgar… without shame…! I said you were insane, but are you actually insane?!”

Even after stuttering so many times, that was all he managed to say.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even laugh.

Wasn’t this the same guy who’d swaggered around the Academy claiming he cooled off just by looking at me?

Now that we were adults, I expected him to indulge himself even more, not cling to some ridiculous sense of chastity.

Sure, Stella—the supposed “lover”—carried the heavy burden of being the heroine of a romance fantasy novel, but she had already made up her mind to stay by married Raymond’s side and even bear his children. That meant she had clearly gone all the way already.

But Raymond’s reaction now was like—

“I’m asking because I seriously can’t believe it, but… you mean you’ve never… with Lady Aer…?”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Even I knew how rude that question was.

I didn’t care about Raymond’s reputation, but Stella was different.

“Raymond is pristine on paper. That’s why people only whisper behind their hands and don’t insult Stella openly.”

So they use Yevgenia—me—to satisfy themselves by insulting her indirectly.

You don’t need a good reason—catfights between newly adult ladies are the most entertaining spectacle of all.

If I hadn’t remembered the original story, I probably would’ve blurted something like, “Did you sleep with that b—h?” without restraint…

But what can I do? If the two of them are fated to fall in love, I’d rather reveal how deep their relationship is—it helps me.

In an empire where female premarital purity is valued above all, that would be excellent grounds to cancel this engagement.

I sincerely hoped their love was deep enough and waited for Raymond to open his mouth.

Then his lips curled, and a sharp voice burst out:

“Hah. I know you want to tarnish Stella’s honor somehow, but unlike filthy women like you, she is a noble, pure lady among ladies. Someone like you isn’t even qualified to speak her name!”

“So that’s a no—you haven’t slept with her?”

“……”

“So the love is soooo noble you want to ‘protect’ her, is that it?”

This was very bad for me.

If, by some miracle, my name got cleared but the engagement stayed intact, I would have to reveal that I was no longer pure.

Father would protect me as much as possible, but if the Duke and Duchess of Larson held a grudge and attacked… my shining future might become nothing but an empty dream.

Judging by how thoroughly they had brainwashed their son, at least the Duchess seemed desperate to maintain this engagement.

And if the engagement fell apart due to my fault…

A shiver ran down my spine.

Raymond must have taken my reaction some other way, because he suddenly said, still frowning:

“The love between Stella and me is nobler than anything. Someone vulgar like you could never understand.”

“Right. So congratulations on finding such noble love. Since things are like this, why don’t we head straight to Duke Larson and ask to dissolve the engagement?”

At my bored suggestion, Raymond’s face alternated red and blue.

He clearly wanted to argue but couldn’t.

For the sake of his “noble love,” he would love to shout yes, let’s do it right now!
But when he thought of the Duchess of Larson—or, more precisely, the bright future she had painted for him as the next Duke of Martyr—he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

His lips twitched as he warned me in a low voice:

“Yevgenia Martyr. Stop right there.”

“Did I say something wrong? If we get married, your noble lover will become nothing more than an adulteress. Is that really what you want?”

I tried to keep my tone calm, but I was so frustrated that bitterness slipped in.

Raymond must have noticed the shift, because he suddenly acted self-important again.

“If you want to stain the Martyr Duchy’s name that badly, do as you wish.”

“…What?”

“For me, Stella will be the only one for life. Having only one lover isn’t enough to convict me of adultery—nor to persuade other nobles.”

I wanted to claw at those thick, ink-black eyebrows smugly rising on his face.

Objectively, he looked like he’d stepped out of a painting, but when filtered through Yevgenia’s eyes, he was so disgusting my stomach churned.

What enraged me even more was that his logic wasn’t entirely wrong.

Grinding my teeth, I asked with venom:

“That, too—Duchess Larson told you all of that, didn’t she?”

“……”

“Looks like I’m right. Well, with your intelligence—thinking with your heart—you never could’ve thought of all that on your own.”

Crack.

That sound came from Raymond’s clenched teeth.

Seeing the veins bulge on the back of his hand made me feel a little better—at least he was as disgusted as I felt.

I twisted my lips into the same mocking smile he had worn earlier and shrugged.

“Unfortunately, there’s something the Duchess doesn’t know.”

“……”

“Why does she think I’d be afraid of ‘staining’ the Martyr Duchy’s name?”