“The audacity to leave after being fed, clothed, and sheltered. I even used her for important tasks, considering her marriageable age. To repay kindness with such ingratitude.”

“What exactly did that crow Yooan steal to make him like this?”

“Don’t just lie there, do something, dear. I’m getting letters asking if Feliece has shut down its business.”

The countess and her daughter voiced their concerns, looking at the count, who lay motionless in bed. All he did was moan in pretend pain.

Finally, Regina couldn’t hold back her words any longer.

“Father, I want to help with the family business, not that crow.”

She quietly sat on the bed where her father lay and whispered, confident she could do better than Yooan.

“Honestly, I can do much better than that sickly girl. My handwriting is far more beautiful.”

Though Regina had never really seen Yooan’s handwriting, she was certain she could do a better job and began to cling to her father’s arm.

“Father?”

“…”

“Father. Fa-ther!”

“Be quiet!”

Before the count could push his clinging daughter away, the countess sharply pulled Regina’s arm and yelled at her.

With his already strained nerves, the count couldn’t bear his daughter’s whims.

“Why not! With Yooan gone, there’s a vacant assistant spot in the lab. Didn’t I hear that we need her for our family business? Why does it have to be that half-breed crow instead of me? Now that she’s gone? Frederick is all brawn and no brains, with terrible handwriting! Of course, I should help Father! Who knows, if word gets out that the daughter of Earl Feliece is adept in business, maybe a household needing a competent mistress will send a proposal!”

“Leave, Regina.”

“Father!”

“Leave.”

As the count covered his eyes with his arm, listening to the mother-daughter quarrel, he suddenly pulled his arm away and turned his back to them.

Regina, considering whether to throw more of a fit, saw her mother’s fierce eyes and left the room, shouting, “Just try bringing in another assistant!”

Priscilla, about to yell after her daughter, took a deep breath and gently shook her husband.

“Dear, wake up. Guests are again waiting by the lab…”

“Didn’t I say no guests?!”

The count, who had been swallowing his groans, suddenly sat up in anger.

“We can’t function without Yooan!”

“Then what do we do? They’ve brought even more gold than before. We need money for Frederick and Regina’s good marriages! Are you planning to remain mere court nobles without an estate? You were so eager to criticize when it suited you! Where does the money come from, then? Are you saying our family is ruined without that girl?”

“We’re doomed! Doomed, I tell you! Without her, even a cartload of gold is useless!”

“Talk sense! You’re the head of the Feliece family! She was just an assistant!”

As the count spat angrily, the countess stepped back, crossed her arms, and squinted her eyes.

“Be honest. Is that girl Yooan your illegitimate child? ‘The only link between my brother and me’ – what a joke. Since when did you care so much for your brother? You, who scorned the family and toyed with the idea of becoming a merchant! It’s not your brother, but your mistress she’s linked to, right? I’ve always suspected. You subtly took care of her and never liked her doing tough jobs, except in the lab. You easily sent Louise on errands, but always called Yooan to entertain guests in the lab.”

The countess, walking around the room, clenched her fists and shouted angrily.
“Now you lie here in agony! What’s going on? What is that girl Yooan to you that you made such a fuss when letting her go, and now you’re lying in bed preserving your position? I went along with it then, but I need to know for sure now. Speak! Speak up!”

Finally, Countess Feliece started shaking the count’s shoulder violently.

Despite being shaken so hard that his flesh quivered, the count remained silent to the end.

He couldn’t admit that it was Yooan who truly held the power of Feliece.

The legitimacy of Feliece came from the power that she possessed.

It was because of Yooan that they could shake off the stigma of being a ‘half-blooded Feliece’ and earn the reputation of ‘indeed, a Feliece’ in the academic and royal circles.

How could he admit such a thing?

He had barely established his authority as the head of the household with gold, and he couldn’t lose even that.

“This woman has gone mad!”

Though he shouted, Count Feliece felt like crying.

He couldn’t even open letters from aristocrats asking when they could visit next, let alone answer them.

No reply came from Prince Bolonico, even after he explained the situation and asked for help.

The most important thing was…

He realized he couldn’t conduct research on his own.

“You think I don’t know about all the odd jobs you made Yooan do?! You needed her too, that’s why you grabbed her that day!”

Thrown off by her husband, the countess began to cry in shock.