Ha, ha?

As if taken aback, Laura’s mouth, eyes, and nostrils widened to their fullest.

Suppressing the urge to ask if her ears had widened too, I continued speaking.

“To me right now……”

“No. You don’t need to kneel. Even if you kneel, I won’t listen.”

As Laura was about to say something, I quickly cut in and interrupted her.

“No matter how much you kneel, prostrate yourself, or even spin around on your knees, I won’t do anything for you. I won’t give you money, and I won’t introduce you to the prince. So, don’t waste your effort and just get lost.”

As I spoke longer, Laura’s face grew increasingly red.

Just when it seemed she might burst at any moment.

“You really, after I let it slide!”

She screamed and lunged at me.

Wow, she’s going for my hair first? How petty.

Unable to just take it, I grabbed her hair too.

A lady and a noble young lady pulling each other’s hair. Anyone who saw this would be shocked.

“Hey, let go!”

“You let go first! Hey!”

Though I was doing it myself, honestly, it was vulgar.

Soon, the servants came running, having heard the commotion.

“Ma, Madam!”

“What should we do? Should we cheer?”

“What are you saying? We should stop them quickly!”

Amidst those who didn’t know what to do, Siena quickly sprang into action.

“Both of you, let go and talk! What if you get hurt? Quickly, let go and……”

But I saw it.

While pretending to mediate neutrally, Siena was secretly pulling at Laura’s hair.

Siena glanced at me and winked.

Siena……!

“Ah! Ah! These people really……! Let go! I said let go!”

As we continued this 2-on-1 fight disguised as 1-on-1.

“What on earth are you doing!”

A voice that sounded like it had swallowed a couple of train boilers echoed through the room.

“Mo, Mother……”

Seeing Laura whimpering, the Countess approached with a fierce expression.

Laura and I quickly straightened our postures.

The Countess, glaring at me as if she wanted to tear me apart, turned her back abruptly and swung her hand.

Slap!

“Ack!”

The sharp hand was aimed at Siena’s cheek.

“How dare a mere maid touch someone’s body! Really, when the master is vulgar, even the servants become just as vulgar!”

Caught off guard and suddenly slapped, Siena fell on her bottom and had to endure Retasha’s insults.

“Siena!”

“Oh my.”

“Huh.”

Amidst the shock erupting from here and there, I was momentarily dazed.

Now, this, what…….

The Countess was panting with anger, and Siena was sitting on the floor with tears in her eyes.

All of this felt too alien and yet too vivid at the same time.

Yes, it was so vivid that……

It felt as if I had been slapped. My powerless past self overlapped with Siena’s sobbing face.

My fingertips trembled involuntarily.

Damn it. Shit. Fuck.

Chewing over all sorts of curses inwardly, I clenched my trembling hand into a fist.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean what? I’m teaching a lesson to an impudent maid!”

“She’s my person. Not yours, but mine. Who are you to slap her under the pretext of teaching a lesson!”

At my angry outcry, Retasha’s lips curved into a crooked smile.

“They say a cowardly dog barks loudly. You’re exactly like that right now. Are you afraid of me?”

At her whisper that hit the nail on the head, I froze.

Yes, I’m afraid.

My head knows there’s no need to be afraid, but the fear ingrained in my body wouldn’t easily dissipate.

My head dropped involuntarily.

Perhaps due to the confusion, my vision was blurry.

As I failed to continue speaking, Retasha poked my shoulder as if to prove a point.

“Even if you pretend to have overcome it, you haven’t. Even if you pretend not to be afraid, you are.”

“……”

“Not knowing that, I was so worried about how to re-educate you. In fact, nothing has changed at all.”

“……”

“You swaggered about becoming a Duchess, held your head high for forming ties with the Imperial family. You acted arrogant, impudent, and offensive, but in the end, this is your essence. Filthy, vile, worm-like and wretched……”

“……”

“You shouldn’t have been born……!”

At that point, the Countess’s words didn’t continue. At the same time, the sensation of fingernails digging into my shoulder also disappeared.

……What’s going on?

I dazedly lifted my head.

Through my blurry vision, I saw someone’s face.

“How dare you.”

Black hair and blue eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The person I had longed to see so much.

“What are you doing to my wife in my house?”

Dante Richter.

He was my husband.

Dante felt the sensation of his eyes spinning for the first time in a long while.

It was the first time since Julia’s betrayal that he had felt such clear anger.

‘I rushed here as soon as I heard uninvited guests had arrived, but……’

He was in the middle of inspecting the northern forest when he received an urgent message from Barhan. He finished his work as quickly as possible and hurried back.

But to encounter such a scene.

“……Dante.”

Terrified maids and a maid sprawled on the floor.

That maid was even one of Serpina’s most cherished.

Moreover, Serpina was somehow in a daze with her head dropped.

Her state was similar to when she suddenly fell into panic at the hunting festival’s ball.

At that moment, he felt his blood rushing in reverse.

Who dares to touch her.

She’s so precious that even touching her fingertips is frightening every day.

Even treating her carefully for fear she might wear out or disappear isn’t enough.

But they dare.

Dante felt the urge to break those fingers that were poking Serpina’s shoulder right away.

The fact that he only grabbed the wrist instead was an exercise of tremendous self-control on his part.

“Ugh, Du, Duke. First, please let this go……”

However, as if even this was hard to endure, the Countess pleaded with a pale face.

“What are you doing? Let go of that hand now!”

To Laura’s shocked cry, Dante replied in an emotionless voice.

“What am I doing? I haven’t done anything yet.”

“O, o, our mother is your mother-in-law. How can you treat a superior who should be respected so harshly?”

Blue eyes coldly scanned Laura and Retasha alternately.

Soon his head tilted sideways.

“How unfortunate. I’m a monster, so I don’t know about respect or superiors or any of that nonsense.”

His voice, devoid of inflection, was chilling to the bone.

Feeling her spine tingle, Laura felt like she might burst into tears.

Scary. It’s too scary.

I shouldn’t have come to this house.

What gentle lamb.

Laura stomped her feet, not knowing what to do.

Meanwhile, the Countess’s pained groans grew increasingly severe.

Just as she began to worry if her wrist might break.

“Stop it, Dante.”

What stopped Dante was a single quiet word.

At that, Dante released the wrist he had been mercilessly gripping without hesitation.

“Mo, Mother!”

As Retasha was freed, Laura scurried to her side.

“Is this how you’ve been treating my wife all this time?”

At the angry mutter, Laura answered as if making an excuse.

“It was just discipline! It’s only natural to educate someone who knows nothing and is good-for-nothing, isn’t it?”

“Ha.”

A laugh escaped at her confident attitude, as if she had done nothing wrong.

Thinking of Serpina who must have lived under all sorts of contempt and disdain from people like them…

“Discipline, you say. Then, would the homeowner warning uninvited guests also fall under the category of discipline?”

“You, you monster, do something about him, Serpina!”

At the words that were unclear whether they were a plea or a threat, Serpina glared at Laura.

Dante swallowed for a moment. He belatedly worried what if Serpina was truly afraid of him.

This was the first time he had shown such a side, so perhaps Serpina was just as surprised as they were.

After all, she was someone who feared him more than anyone else at the beginning of their marriage.

Dante looked at Serpina with eyes full of tension.

As if she had expected it, her green eyes were already turned towards him.

In the suddenly met gaze, Serpina smiled slightly.

“Watch your words, Laura. Don’t speak carelessly to my husband.”

Serpina, who answered thus, slowly went to stand beside Dante.

As always, she linked arms with him, pressed her forehead firmly against his arm for a moment, then straightened her head and smiled.

Dante also responded with a gentle smile.

The Countess, huddled in a corner whimpering while holding her painful wrist, ground her teeth at the sight of the seemingly affectionate couple.

She couldn’t bear the frustration and resentment.

This is all because of Serpina.

Unable to blame the Duke, her misplaced anger was all directed at Serpina.

“Send both of them out. Never let them into my house again.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

At the shameful order of expulsion, the knights of the Duke’s household moved quickly.

“Let go of this! Can’t you let go?”

“Let go! Take your filthy hands off!”

Despite her fierce resistance, Retasha could not help but have both arms restrained by a knight.

Just before being dragged out, she shouted, filled with anger.

“You ungrateful wretch. Is this how you repay the kindness of feeding you, clothing you, and raising you!”

“Then would you like to live here?”

“What?”

“I’ll repay the kindness of raising, feeding, and clothing me, so why don’t you live here?”