A Mad Lady’s Confession - Chapter 21

Even by the time he returned home, Miss Sorelson had cried until her eyes were swollen. Putting together the woman’s whining that was unpleasant to listen to, the mistress of this house had tried to frame her.

Most of it was highly emotional complaining, but one thing Miss Sorelson said was clearly true. No matter how expensive and precious that perfume was, the Marquis Sorelson’s daughter had no reason to do such a thing.

He could fully understand how great a stain it would be for a young lady who had been cherished and elevated her entire life to be suspected of being a thief.

Even if there were some kind of problem, no noble would resolve it this way.

“Why are you causing trouble like this?”

Matthias slowly rose to his feet. With the window behind him, he looked like a massive shadow. The shadow approached the bed as if it would swallow Eleanor whole.

“Offer Miss Sorelson a formal apology.”

“That’s not—”

“During the time we’re together—”

“….”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t create any more disturbances.”

Why can he only speak like this? Matthias wasn’t a cold and barren man by nature, only dry. If he asked about the situation and simply urged her to apologize, it would be nothing more than a trivial incident that could be resolved easily.

Even so, the reason his words wouldn’t come out gently was because the notebook with the slashes came to mind, though he chose to ignore it.

“…Is that all you have to say?”

“Is there something more important to say than this?”

Something more important, something he should have asked first.

“Don’t you… wonder why I did that?”

“Even if I ask, my answer won’t change.”

“….”

“So there’s no point in going over the details. Apologize to Miss Sorelson.”

Just as Eleanor had expected, the man spoke in an extremely rational and flat tone. Only, it wasn’t in the direction she had expected.

He left the carpeted bedroom without a sound. Click, as the door closed, even though a shadow had left, the bedroom felt even darker.

In that darkness, Eleanor murmured the words that kept whispering in her ears.

So you have to endure it, El. You have to endure.

You have to endure.

Endure.

***

“You don’t seem to be in a very good mood, Duke Nielsen. To wear such a sour face in an audience with a princess. That’s very disrespectful.”

When Matthias, who had been lost in thought, lifted his head, Alicia, who sat across from him, smiled playfully.

“What’s with that expression? You don’t look like a newlywed groom who rushed into a sudden marriage.”

“…Don’t joke.”

Matthias wasn’t in the state to humor Alicia’s nonsense today. He picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.

He didn’t know why he felt so suffocated. It was on a completely different level from the boredom he usually felt whenever he was in the capital.

It felt like something was stuck in his chest, unable to go down. Something he had never experienced before.

Matthias muttered under his breath, “…Are women always that hard to understand?”

“What?”

Alicia doubted her ears.

“You just asked about women? To me?”

Matthias swallowed a groan. He’d said something pointless. And to someone who could never be a logical conversation partner.

Just as he expected, Alicia set down the cookie in her hand as if throwing it and straightened her body.

“What is it? Hm? Women are impossible to understand? Who? Don’t tell me, you mean the new bride you took in not long ago? Oh my!”

Alicia, who asked and answered her own question, covered her mouth with exaggerated astonishment.

Seeing that, Matthias’s regret only deepened. Thinking about it, this was all because of that strange woman.

He recalled the woman from last night, lying limp on the bed like a doll.

Most women’s intentions toward him fell within what he already understood. After all, he had experienced countless times things like a handkerchief being deliberately dropped in his path, or someone complaining of a headache and subtly leaning against him.

For that reason, women had never been something worth studying to him.

But the woman in the mansion, who looked like cotton candy, was different.

He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, or even if she was thinking at all. Sometimes she seemed completely empty.

At their first meeting, she blushed as if she had fallen for him, yet afterward she was counting down the days until she would leave Nielsen.

Even when he returned home, her gaze remained calm. If anything, the marquis’s daughter clinging to his side stood out more.

On the first day, the woman who could carefully yet firmly express her opinion to his aunt while bringing up etiquette obediently changed into the dresses his aunt selected for her three times a day.

They said she was mad, yet she seemed normal. At times she appeared entirely sound, and at other moments, completely empty.

What he disliked most was that she made him dwell on a woman named Eleanor Brynhill like this. It irritated him that she kept lingering at the edge of his mind.

He knew there was no need to be so harsh with her last night. No matter what, she was the mistress of Nielsen, and although he had accepted the proposal reluctantly, he could have treated her properly for that one year.

But for some reason, he didn’t want to. Even he didn’t know why. He wondered if it was because of the notebook with the slashes, but that couldn’t be the reason. Even if he hadn’t seen it, both of them knew she would leave after a year.

Alicia, who had been observing him with a probing gaze, spoke again.

“Do you think it’s only women? Men are just as impossible to understand, from what I see. Especially a man like Matthias Nielsen.”

Alicia continued as if she understood it all, “Right about now, wouldn’t the Duchess be thinking the same thing? Just what on earth is Nielsen doing….”

“….”

Alicia didn’t know about the one-year contract marriage. That was why she found it simply fascinating. From the moment Matthias, who valued propriety more than anyone, had pushed forward with the marriage while even skipping formal procedures, to now, when he was troubled over someone like this.

From her perspective, despite his striking appearance that stirred all kinds of romantic fantasies, her cousin lacked warmth and gentleness. She knew it was because he’d been bothered by too many people since childhood, but still, he lacked too much humanity.

There was an old saying that when one is surrounded by delicacies, the tongue can no longer distinguish taste. Matthias’s life had been so perfect that he seemed like someone without ecstasy, joy, love, or burning desire.

If the new mistress of Nielsen could change him.

Alicia suddenly grew curious about the young lady she had only heard about through rumors.

“From what I’ve heard, Brynhill, no, the Duchess… she’s been living outside, hasn’t she? After such a long time, she returns to the capital and marries almost immediately, taking on Nielsen. Then it would be difficult in many ways. It’s the same for me. No matter how slowly I travel back and forth, once I enter the capital, my head starts to ache. So how much worse must it be for the Duchess?”

“Is that so?”

Now that he heard it, Alicia’s opinion sounded somewhat reasonable. It was a point he hadn’t considered.

Only then did he vaguely realize that Nielsen, including the old lady, had shaken the woman who had just returned from the clinic a bit too much.

After thinking it over, he opened his mouth.

“…The scented oil presented in the name of Nielsen from the Gammelstad territory should have been sent to you as well. I’d like you to give it to me.”

“Scented oil?”

Alicia tilted her head. It wasn’t a difficult request, so she readily nodded.

Even after receiving her easy consent, Matthias felt a sense of self-reproach.

So this was a kind of defensive line. A final line of defense to make sure the woman wouldn’t cause any more trouble for the remaining eleven months, wouldn’t keep quietly gnawing at his nerves. Let’s end this bothersome situation here.

Alicia, who had been studying Matthias’s sunken expression, broke into a grin.

“I’ll give you as much scented oil as you want. But in return….”

Since he had dared to ask for something that was essentially an imperial offering, he was prepared to exchange it for whatever she wanted. Matthias raised his brows as if to say, go on.

“I want you to invite me to dinner.”

Alicia wanted to see that woman from the rumors with her own eyes. At least, the image of her reflected through Matthias Nielsen didn’t seem as vicious as the rumors suggested.

Unlike her face, which showed interest, Matthias’s face darkened like the sky before a storm.