Chapter 91

That night, Edmund did not return to his bedroom. He stayed alone in the darkened study, regaining his composure and waiting for the right amount of time. He didn’t get a wink of sleep, yet he felt neither tired nor worn out. Now that Blair had turned away from him, the original purpose he’d briefly forgotten came back into sharp focus. It felt as if revenge alone was what kept him breathing.

“Revenge… revenge.”

Isabelle had far too many justifications. He couldn’t even grasp where to begin. A laugh almost slipped out. There were simply too many to count.

If Isabelle was guilty of anything, it was that she trampled and stole every one of the few precious things Edmund had. Starting with his mother, then the young boy’s sincerity and dignity, and now….

“I wish you luck in your future endeavors.”

As if. Not a chance. The more he recalled Blair’s farewell that sounded like a final goodbye, the more his teeth ground together. The reason the woman who once gave him her whole heart turned her back on him was obvious. Isabelle had whispered her advice with that cunning tongue of hers.

He knew Blair wouldn’t fall for outright lies. So she must have heard a plausibly embellished truth. But now, none of that mattered. What mattered was that this crack had originated solely from Isabelle.

A woman obsessed with destroying the relationship between him and Blair, a bond no one had the right to intrude upon. A woman who never hesitated to find the gaps in people and drip poison into them.

Edmund felt a cold fury at the thought of Isabelle reaching into his life once more.

What was the most effective revenge against Isabelle? He’d known the answer for a long time. Taking away what she cherished most. There was no more perfect retribution than that. Only now, having risen to the position of duke, did he finally hold the power to carry it out.

When dawn finally broke and signs of life began to stir throughout the mansion, he rang the bell. He lightly tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for the butler. When Albert appeared, Edmund issued his order with the flawless bearing befitting a duke.

“Please escort Mother to the reception room.”

***

The reception room where the duke received guests was connected to the study by a secret passage. Edmund sat at his desk in the study, lit another cigarette, and moistened his throat with a glass of brandy before finally rising at his leisure.

He walked slowly through the secret passage and threw open the door to the reception room. Isabelle, who was seated by the coffee table, shot Edmund a venomous glare. Since he’d deliberately delayed his arrival, she, who had taken her seat first, was seething with deep displeasure.

Edmund calmly took the seat opposite her and nodded slightly.

“Mother.”

“So, calling your mother to the reception room early in the morning without even letting her have breakfast is the noble etiquette you were taught?”

“My etiquette is practical and tends to change depending on the situation. There are pressing matters that can’t be put off any longer.”

After saying that much, Edmund twisted his lips into a smile and leaned back deeply against the chair. Isabelle, who had been watching him, narrowed her eyes.

“Pressing matters?”

“I intend to set the family’s honor straight. As the head of House Libert.”

Edmund wore an impeccably neat smile. Isabelle’s face twisted as if she sensed an ill omen.

“I have arranged a suitable marriage for Rufus. I would like to formally proceed with the betrothal this week and hold the wedding within the month. Fortunately, the other side has expressed a positive intent as well, so it should not be difficult to see it through.”

For a moment, Isabelle looked as if she doubted her own ears. She blinked as though she’d misheard and stared blankly at Edmund. But when she saw that his calm smile remained unchanged, all the color drained from her face.

“Just now… what did you say?”

Her voice trembled as she struggled to suppress the surge of rage. Facing the furious Isabelle, Edmund kindly explained.

“The match is with the second princess of the Rorschach royal family.”

“…Rorschach?”

Since ancient times, Rorschach was a matrilineal nation ruled by women, and foreign male nobles were mostly brought in through political marriages. Most of them were men famed for their looks.

Any man who married there lost his surname. Under the queen’s crest, he became subordinate under a woman’s name, and even his children had to follow the maternal line. A man who went to Rorschach could leave nothing behind under his own name.

There was no way Isabelle did not know this. After all, she herself was the one who once sent Rufus to Rorschach in an attempt to cure his impotence.

She’d been swayed by the superstition that the East’s mysterious medical arts and the strong energy of women could revive a man.

The result, of course, was disastrous. Far from being cured, Rufus returned from Rorschach consumed by even deeper feelings of inferiority and shame.

“You’re saying you’ll send my son, the eldest son of House Libert, to a matrilineal country?”

“Isn’t Rorschach perfectly suited to Rufus? He’ll finally be embraced by a woman he could never hold before.”

“You… you… do you really….”

“I can’t let him spend his life here teasing maids. Rufus has nothing but the family name and a pretty face, so he should at least sell those and secure himself a position. A place like a Rorschach princess’s pet dog is not a bad deal, all things considered.”

Edmund paused as if giving Isabelle time to understand, then lifted the corners of his lips once more.

“I can’t let the twenty-six-year-old eldest son of House Libert rot away like this. Won’t you give Rufus a chance to fulfill his duty as the eldest son? Even if that duty is carried out in a woman’s arms.”

Isabelle could barely breathe, as if she were on the verge of a heart attack. Her face had gone so pale that it would not have been strange if she collapsed at any moment. After a long silence, she finally parted her trembling lips.

“Are you… out of your mind?”

“As you can see.”

“This can’t be… this can’t be happening. How dare you! I refuse. I will never allow it. My son, Rufus, Rufus is….”

Isabelle trailed off and swallowed hard. Just thinking of her son’s name seemed to give her strength, and she clenched her shaking hand into a tight fist.

“You’ve only been acting duke for a single day, and now you’re saying you’ll sell Rufus off like livestock?”

“I informed you as early as possible. I thought that would be courteous.”

“You’re sending him abroad? Rufus? I’ll summon the family lawyers at once. I’ll gather them all and expose everything you’ve done. How dare you pull this kind of scheme…!”

“Please don’t worry, Mother. The eldest son’s wedding is always considered a joyous occasion. The lawyers will congratulate him as well.”

“My son, no matter what…!”

Isabelle, who had been screaming at the top of her lungs, suddenly flinched. As if she’d arrived at some realization, she knitted her brows and studied Edmund closely.

“You’re retaliating.”

Edmund, who had answered without a moment’s hesitation, finally let out a laugh. For someone so sharp, her realization had come remarkably late.

“You’re retaliating because I told your wife about the witnessing ritual.”

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. The witnessing ritual. With Isabelle’s malice added to an already repulsive custom, it was hardly strange that Blair felt betrayed. He understood now why her reactions toward him were no longer the same as before.

Isabelle let out a short, derisive laugh, like someone who had regained the hilt of a sword.

“Listen carefully. If Blair felt betrayed by you, that’s not my fault. It only means the trust you gave her was shallow. Your woman believed only as much as you allowed her to.”

“….”

“Tormenting me and Rufus is nothing more than an excuse to cover up your own self-reproach. That kind of vulgar comfort never lasts long. It would be better for you to stop now.”

It was almost funny. Of all the things he’d heard from Isabelle in his life, this was the most straightforward and useful. But accepting it at face value was another matter.

“Isn’t that terribly unfair?”

“…What did you say?”

“You destroyed everything I had left, Mother. So I intend to destroy your world in the same way.”

Edmund reached out and picked up his teacup.

“Of course, this is only the beginning.”

He calmly took a sip of tea. As he slowly wet his throat, Isabelle suddenly grabbed her own teacup and hurled it. Glass shards rolled across the floor, leaving behind a sharp cracking sound.

“How dare you…! How dare you try to send my son to a barbaric country like that…!”

“How dare you…! How dare you try to send my son to that barbarian country…!”

Isabelle shoved her chair aside as she stood, her face flushing red and blue in turns. Edmund did not even blink.

“A barbaric country. Not long ago, you were calling it a mysterious Eastern land and sent Rufus there for treatment. Your opinion changes as easily as flipping your hand.”

“Shut that mouth of yours…!”

“That must be convenient. I’ve honestly envied it at times. That way of thinking that changes whenever it suits you.”

Edmund lowered his gaze slightly, as if in thought, then met Isabelle’s eyes again.

“I thought long and hard about the reason. It must be attachment. For someone you love, you rationalized everything.”

“What do you know to talk so smugly! You, you’re exactly like your father! This wretched….”

Isabelle glared at Edmund with eyes blazing red as she shuddered in revulsion. Her pupils were red like a specter’s.

“I spent my entire life trying to understand him and love him. And I failed. Every single time. Do you know why?”

“….”

“A man with an empty heart can’t possibly know love.”

Isabelle laughed. Edmund couldn’t tell whether what spilled from her twisted face was laughter or tears.

“Not a single drop of love flows in Libert blood.”

Her voice fell like a curse.