Chapter 25

“If you push ahead with the marriage while concealing such a risk, I trust you’re well aware, Lord Dorman, that it will bring disgrace upon both our families.”

“…Concealing? Who’s concealing what, and when?”

Twisting one corner of his mouth upward, Isaac sneered, his eyes gleaming with cruelty. Blair could tell he was finally showing his true colors.

“Don’t you dare look at me like that, Lady Twyford. As if I were some hideous creature riddled with syphilis or gonorrhea.”

Isaac Dorman broke into a crooked grin. Then he leaned forward toward Blair, deliberately meeting her gaze head-on.

“Well? I played the villain rather convincingly, didn’t I?”

The moment he rattled off specific diseases, Blair felt certain. Biting down hard on her lower lip, she glared straight at him.

“…So you’re admitting to your condition.”

“I never admitted anything. And even if I did, what would you do about it? Break off the engagement? With what power?”

The question, shameless and impossible to refute, stabbed into her chest like a blade. Struck speechless, Blair clutched the hem of her skirt with fingers gone white. Seeing her lips tremble without forming words, Isaac, drunk on his sense of victory, continued in a tone grown almost indulgent.

“It’s an age where plenty of women are sold off to moldy old men taking second wives. You should count yourself extraordinarily lucky to be matched with a man like me.”

“You’re more worn out than any such old man.”

“Hah. Well, look at that. Turns out you’re a completely ill-mannered woman.”

Isaac shook his head and clicked his tongue.

“Since you pulled such a sly little stunt, I’ll return the favor. Your father, Count Twyford. Apparently, he knew everything and still intended to send his daughter to me.”

What did that mean? Blair felt as though all the blood drained from her body. Isaac didn’t miss the instant she froze.

“Judging by your face, you had no idea. Seems the truth you were so desperate to uncover wasn’t all that important after all.”

Looking up at Isaac’s grinning face made her head spin. Her fingertips wouldn’t stop shaking. All this time, she’d comforted herself by thinking that being weighed and traded like goods was an unavoidable fate for a woman born into a noble family.

But this was different. Entirely different. Could there really be a father in this world who would marry off his daughter to a man carrying a venereal disease? Had her father truly known the truth and still sought an alliance with the Dorman family?

For money?

“I find myself wondering whether your father is aware of this fatal defect.”

Now that she thought back on it, hadn’t Edmund Libert said something similar as well? Could it be that he’d known even that much?

Isaac delivered the final blow, sneering down at her blood-drained face, “So, Lady Twyford. You’d better pray that I turn out to be a decent man. Otherwise, how will you save face after being sold off to the Dorman family?”

Leaving behind that cruel humiliation, Isaac walked away without so much as a farewell. Blair remained rooted to the spot, watching him retreat.

***

That night, the Twyford family townhouse lay as silent as a grave.

The Count of Twyford was absent once again, and all the resident servants were asleep. Even the lamps lighting the corridor had long since been extinguished. Only then did Blair slip a robe over her nightdress and quietly push open the door to her bedroom.

She couldn’t fall asleep at all. The emotions that had boiled over would subside, then surge back to life again, and her mind, crammed full of all kinds of thoughts, spun in circles until she felt dizzy. In the end, Blair arrived at a single conclusion.

There was no choice but to confirm it herself.

Her father and the Marquis of Dorman had drawn up a contract regarding the marriage alliance between their families. Blair distinctly remembered overhearing them mention things like the northern Glassford trading port, shares in the Hampton factory, and an advance payment of one hundred thousand francs when the Marquis and Marchioness had visited.

Isaac’s condition was a fatal disgrace and a defect disadvantageous to the Dorman family. If everyone except Blair had been aware of that fact, then it would have been spelled out clearly in the contract as well. The Dormans would not have wanted his defect to become grounds for future disputes.

Blair crossed the second-floor corridor barefoot and went down the stairs. The mansion was sunk in deep sleep, but she walked while stifling every sound. After confirming there was no sign of anyone even in the first-floor hall, she headed straight for her father’s study. Only after slowly closing the door did she draw in a deep breath she had been holding. This was the space where the Count of Twyford conducted his affairs, a domain Blair had never dared to step into.

Blair lit a single low candle and began pulling open the desk drawers one by one. She took out every bundle of documents her hand touched, rummaging through them to see if there was something she was looking for.

Then her fingers stopped short when they brushed against a thick envelope. Blair narrowed her eyes slightly.

“…Found it.”

「Marriage Agreement and Supplementary Clauses – Twyford, Dorman」

After reading the words written on the envelope, she carefully opened it and took out a copy of the contract bearing the seals of the Twyford and Dorman families.

Her heart was pounding so fast it made her chest ache. With trembling hands, Blair began to scan the neat printed text. Article one, article two, article three…. Her eyes passed over several clauses that were not much different from what she had overheard outside the drawing room, then stopped dead at a particular passage.

「If, within one year from the date of marriage, no first childbirth is achieved, Twyford shall bear responsibility for compensating Dorman with a penalty of one hundred thousand francs.」

Blair suppressed the impulse to tear the paper to shreds.

「Furthermore, if within five years a minimum of three heirs is not secured, the same obligation shall apply.」

This clause too matched Edmund’s words exactly. That man had known. He had known what this marriage demanded as its price, and under what conditions she was being sold off. And on top of that….

「…Regarding a specific condition possessed by the groom’s side, Twyford acknowledges having received prior notice and agrees that said matter shall not affect the validity of this agreement.」

Blair squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. The hand gripping the vile contract shook violently. This was not ignorance or neglect, but the betrayal of blood kin. She had not lived cherishing her father, but this went far beyond what could be tolerated.

He’d hated her mother so deeply, condemned her for abandoning the family and staining the honor of the house, even trying to erase her existence altogether. And yet what about her father himself? He was throwing away even his own daughter like merchandise after bargaining thoroughly for his own benefit.

From the start, the reason he had brought her to Borsa was precisely that. To reap the greatest profit through the business of marriage. He had been obsessed from the beginning with selling off his daughter.

Faced with her father’s choice, blinded by greed, Blair felt a sense of betrayal surge through her body, her blood seeming to rush backward.

“This house never protected me from the start.”

So she would no longer live according to her father’s will. The days stained by silence and obedience would no longer bind her ankles. As Blair made that resolute vow, her chest froze over with cold determination.

***

The next day, Blair was informed of an unexpected visitor. Just as she finished breakfast and was about to return to her bedroom, she turned to Mrs. Norris, doubting her ears.

“Who did you say has come?”

“He said he’s your fiancé, miss. Lord Isaac Dorman.”

At this moment, was there anyone less welcome than him? Blair bit down once on her lower lip, forcing down the surge of displeasure.

“Please show him to the drawing room for now. My attire isn’t appropriate, so I’ll change and then go to greet him….”

“Lady Twyford!”

That was when Isaac entered the first floor hall with his characteristic oily grin. He spread his arms wide and walked in boldly as if it were his own home.

“Well now, this is quite a fine house. The interior’s nicely done too. I suppose it’s acceptable.”

“…Lord Dorman, what brings you here so suddenly this morning without prior notice?”

“Good morning, Lady Twyford.”

Lightly ignoring Blair’s question, Isaac extended his hand. There was no mistaking what it meant. Gritting her teeth, Blair slowly reached out her bare hand, still without gloves. Isaac bent at the waist and pressed a damp kiss onto the back of her hand.

“I have a schedule to attend an auction, and when I thought it over, it seemed rather improper to appear before everyone without my fiancée. Some close acquaintances of mine will be there as well. You know how we gave auction invitations to those who found the golden key at the Biso clubhouse?”

Blair tightened the robe she wore over her indoor dress, suppressing the emotions boiling up inside her. She knew Isaac cared deeply about appearances, but it felt like he had some other scheme in mind. Just as she was about to shake her head without much deliberation, a man suddenly came to mind.

…Ah, the golden key. Edmund had found one that day too, hadn’t he?

“To preempt those rumors about discord, you’ll have to be my partner at today’s auction.”

Isaac glanced at the grandfather clock set in the first floor corridor to check the time, then smiled pleasantly.

“It starts in an hour, so go change into a dress and come back down. I’ll be waiting here.”

There was no hint of considering refusal. Ever since he’d shown his true colors in front of the Royal Library, Isaac seemed to have decided to discard even the thin veneer of manners he’d worn before and behave entirely as he pleased. Blair swallowed the humiliation and resentment rising within her and looked at him for a moment.

If the scales that had wavered without direction finally tipped completely after she’d checked the contract last night, then Isaac’s rudeness was the final weight that sealed her resolve.

“Then please excuse me for a moment.”

“Excellent.”

Blair ascended the stairs with composed steps. In contrast to her calm bearing, her heart was sharpened to a keen edge.