“Then let’s agree on this only until Thanksgiving. If rumors spread that the young master’s condition is beyond recovery, the whole family will be shaken.”
Sophia spoke with a graceful yet determined smile.
The attending physicians, unaware of her inner thoughts, were secretly impressed by the first lady’s composure.
“I will do as you say. Since the young master has no successor…….”
With a slight nod, Sophia ended the conversation. Even though the young master’s condition was beyond recovery, and pouring money into it would only prolong his vegetative state for a few more days, she needed that time.
‘Why did this have to happen right before Thanksgiving?’
Sophia was displeased with everything, from Nicholas taking over the family and hastily arranging a political marriage for her after the wedding, to his secretly plotting suspicious activities.
When he suddenly brought in a man of unknown origin to manage the stable and yelled at her not to touch him, she thought he had gone crazy.
“Sophia. Even if you don’t like Nicholas as a marriage partner…… what can I say, the Portrion bloodline has a talent for buying cheap and selling high. He won’t starve you.”
The consolation her mother offered as she sent her only child to Portrion felt like nonsense now.
‘Of course, the most horrifying part was Nicholas’s damned voyeurism, collecting wives while being afraid to be in the same space with a woman.’
But his voyeurism had helped her in the end.
“With thick blonde hair and inside the walls. Her name is Edith. Find that woman, even if you have to search the entire territory.”
Sophia had overheard the young master secretly instructing his servant about Edith five years ago.
She didn’t know what was going on between Edith and the young master, but his wife collecting was close to madness.
‘I wonder how special a time they are having.’
Squeak―
Sophia slightly opened the door to the young master’s bedroom, and saw Edith watching over him with a somber face.
She thought Edith might be up to something inside, but she just seemed to feel sorry for the young master’s condition.
Sophia approached Edith and spoke in a tender voice.
“You’re acting quite well, Edith.”
“…….”
“Every doctor who has come into this room has said that he will either linger in a vegetative state or die. So, pretending to care like you do is wise.”
Sophia gestured towards the door.
“Preparing for the Thanksgiving feast the day after tomorrow will also help protect Portrion, which the young master has worked his entire life to build.”
“I understood what you meant.”
Sophia seemed to think she was stalling for time to avoid facing the second and third ladies.
Edith rose from her seat and followed Sophia. The hidden sheets of paper stashed inside her dress stung her skin.
(This is a time separator.)
Meanwhile, in the west wing of the mansion, Elizabeth and Isabelle, having finished their preparations, were heading for their meeting place.
“Isabelle. Why is your face like that?”
Elizabeth hid her shock with a fan. From what she had observed, Isabelle sometimes acted much younger than her twentysomething years, and this was one of those times.
“I’m sorry. I’m still so upset that the young master hasn’t woken up……. ”
Isabelle’s eyes, already puffy, became even more swollen. Elizabeth disdainfully handed her a handkerchief.
“Wipe your face quickly. The fourth lady may not be easy to deal with, and if Sophia takes her under her wing, what will you do?”
“But……. ”
“Think about the inheritance, Isabelle. You know well that the highborn first lady has her eyes on our estate.”
“Elizabeth!”
Isabelle argued that the young master had not yet passed away, and that the impious act of discussing inheritance was further deteriorating his health.
To Elizabeth’s ears, it was nothing but nonsense.
“Elizabeth. Aren’t you sad that the Count has become like this?”
Elizabeth answered honestly.
“Not really. The Count gave my father fifty thousand gold in a lump sum, and I’m here because I was driven out by my father who received that money.”
“But…….”
“You’re grateful to the Count too, but you don’t love him, do you?”
Isabelle’s voice died down a level as she grumbled.
“You’re too calm about it, as if you knew the Count would become like this.”
“…….”
Elizabeth felt a sting.
Isabelle was naive and spineless, but she occasionally had remarkable intuition, befitting the only daughter of the head of the circus growing in influence at a terrifying pace.
Elizabeth actually knew that the Count would be attacked soon.
She even knew who attacked Nicholas. After all, she had chosen to stay in this mansion after being sold here, to leak the Count’s daily routine and movements to the outside.
“Isabelle, really. I’ve been in the mansion the whole time, how would I know something like that?”
Elizabeth answered, thoroughly hiding the fact that she was a spy communicating with forces in the capital.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
