Chapter 4. The Black Mansion
2023.10.04.
It was the first time she had spoken to her uncle without shrinking back.
“Don’t you even wonder why Louise died?”
At the mention of Louise’s name, her uncle’s oily brow instantly furrowed.
“Is that even the issue right now? Your sister was terminally ill anyway. It wouldn’t have been strange no matter when she passed. But we’re different. The living must go on living!”
“That *is* the issue.”
“What?!”
“Even now. Even at this very moment. The fact that I still don’t know how Louise lived. How her final days were. That no one in the Pelliese family seems to care about any of it…”
Yuan whispered, her voice exhausted.
“That’s the problem.”
The Pelliese Count stood dazed, then let go of Yuan’s arm.
Instead of the girl he had just released so helplessly, he turned and pleaded desperately with Marquis Companni, whose narrowed eyes were clearly trying to eavesdrop on their hushed exchange.
“Marquis Companni! This girl cannot go! She’s vital to our household! She’s practically our heir! She’s the only link connecting my late brother and me! My niece must stay and help me carry on the family business! Do you think I’m doing this just for my own benefit? What kind of family is the Pelliese? When the Pelliese thrive, the entire nation prospers! As fellow servants of His Highness the First Prince, please show some understanding for our situation, I beg you!”
Without a word, Marquis Companni extended his hand toward Yuan.
The sight of the Pelliese Count, feigning loyalty to the First Prince while telling lies, was too repulsive to endure any longer.
Now it was Yuan who turned her back without even meeting his gaze, and from her uncle came a torrent of scathing accusations.
“You shameless, ungrateful wretch!”
Her uncle’s hoarse voice tore through the cold air.
***
The snow, which had piled up to the very doorstep, finally stopped falling.
Fearing Yuan might suddenly protest, Marquis Companni quickly ushered her into the carriage.
While the knights swiftly reorganized the procession, the Pelliese family members stepped stiffly out of the mansion to watch.
Each one wore a face as if they were staring at someone who had stabbed their own family in the heart.
The Countess, startled by the size of the knightly escort waiting outside the mansion, briefly held her breath, then snapped at the servants carrying what little belongings Yuan had.
And between her shrill tones, Regina, hiding behind her older brother, muttered low curses like a dark refrain.
That crow-like girl is tearing our entire household apart. Does she think heaven awaits her wherever she runs? There’s such a thing as going too far in disgracing the family. Her sister just came back dead—how dare she leave at a time like this? Even if she regrets it after death, it’ll be too late.
It was a harmony of madness.
‘What a deranged family.’
Watching the seamless attack from mother and daughter, Marquis Companni frowned and studied Yuan.
She stared out the carriage window, not even drawing the curtains, her gaze fixed on the Pelliese family. Was she used to this? He glanced at her again—her pale hands clutched the hem of her skirt so tightly they turned white, trembling uncontrollably.
Marquis Companni abruptly shut the carriage door, as if brushing off the increasingly vicious curses.
At the same time, pretending not to notice her small shoulders flinching, he unfolded a newspaper he had no intention of reading.
The Pelliese Count had deceived the Imperial family.
By tradition, when the Imperial family sought a marriage alliance with a noble house, all eligible candidates must be presented.
Yet when they specifically requested the daughter of the late Pelliese Count, he lied, claiming he had only this frail niece.
Judging by how desperately they tried to stop her from leaving, perhaps this Yuan Pelliese was indeed the mysterious woman the First Prince had been so fixated on lately.
He had just heard the Count beg not to take her, insisting she was essential to the family business. But…
Marquis Companni’s eyes narrowed.
‘Family business? At a glance, she looks even more fragile than her sister.’
He stole a glance at the face visible beyond the unfolded newspaper.
She couldn’t compare to the perfectly groomed, perfume-scented noble ladies of the capital.
Yet there was an undeniable beauty she couldn’t hide, not even behind her weariness or disheveled hair.
A pale, slender face. Hair as black as raven feathers. A smooth forehead and neat eyebrows. And beneath long lashes, large, dark eyes.
Yuan Pelliese resembled a portrait drawn in black and white by a renowned artist.
‘A beauty.’
The woolen cloak hastily thrown over her shoulders looked more like a servant’s garment. The shoes on her neatly placed feet were of fine quality, though worn.
Of course, even in such modest attire, her noble aura was unmistakable at a glance.
Still, it was clear she had suffered mistreatment in this household.
Her skin, deprived of care, was rough. The full, well-shaped lips below her small nose were dry and lifeless.
Those deep, large, dark eyes, no matter how hard she tried to feign calmness, looked terrified—as if they might burst into loud sobs at the slightest touch.
How could someone so seemingly weak have helped run the family business?
What great secret could she possess that made the First Prince suddenly fixate on the Pelliese family a year ago?
All these tangled thoughts eventually led to one conclusion.
‘The crime was committed by the Pelliese Count. And since things have been roughly settled, I’ll just follow orders.’
The Marquis quickly skimmed through the article in his head, then received a report through the briefly opened carriage door that preparations were complete.
It was time to leave this deranged household behind.
***
Yuan clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to cover her ears, as she endured Marquis Companni’s gaze.
She wanted to ask why he kept staring, but feared that if she spoke too rashly, he might whimsically decide to leave her behind—and that would be far worse.
She could see Frederic, blocked by the knights, shouting in protest so loudly his Adam’s apple bobbed visibly.
She didn’t even understand why he was protesting—such a fool—but his loud voice was enough to heighten her anxiety.
Leave quickly. Make the carriage go. Please. Just get me out of here.
Yuan silently prayed, repeatedly wiping her sweat-damp palms against her skirt.
Soon, the news came that departure was ready.
Marquis Companni turned to her and asked,
“Would you like to say goodbye?”
“I want to take my sister with me.”
Yuan said, taking one last look at the Pelliese family.
When the Marquis remained silent for a long time, she turned her gaze to him.
His gaunt face, with only his eyes glinting sharply, looked like a snake’s.
Her pale lips hesitated briefly, then found courage again.
“I wish those people wouldn’t see Louise’s body. I want to bury her myself. With my own hands.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
An unfamiliar title. An unfamiliar voice. She had no time to dwell on such things.
I must leave the Pelliese estate. I must take Louise and escape somewhere, anywhere. That single thought consumed her mind.
“If we don’t bury her here, she must be cremated.”
“Cremated?”
For a moment, cold dread flooded her entire body.
Yuan urgently repeated,
“Answer me. You’re saying she’ll be burned? Why?”
“That is the Imperial family’s law.”
The mouth uttering such words looked firm and unyielding.
Yuan looked past the Pelliese family, at Louise’s coffin still standing alone, then pleaded once more with Marquis Companni.
If necessary, she would even kneel before him.
“Then… then cremate her where I am. Don’t leave her here. Whether buried or burned, don’t let her body fall into their hands. Please. I beg you, please.”
It was no different from begging.
Her hands, once neatly folded on her knees, now clasped together in prayer.
“Since you got into the carriage without argument, at least cooperate on this much.”
But when Marquis Companni didn’t budge, her words turned sharp.
She didn’t know where such courage came from.
Seeing the Marquis’s rigid face, blood rushed to her head.
If pleading won’t work, and anger won’t either—what then?
What if he now ordered her to remain in this mansion with the body?
Yet contrary to Yuan’s fears, the Marquis narrowed his eyes, sighed deeply, and gave quiet instructions to the servants.
Yuan didn’t lower the window curtain until she saw Louise’s coffin placed onto the baggage cart of the procession.
She had wanted to do so since earlier.
What she had been staring at wasn’t the suffocating relatives.
It was her home—her dream, her everything—the Pelliese Mansion.
She had simply kept that mansion in her eyes for as long as possible.
Yuan leaned against the window and closed her eyes.
Goodbye, our home.
Goodbye, Mother and Father.
Yuan silently bid farewell to the mansion where she had lived for twenty years.
The beautiful mansion. The perfect family.
Acknowledging at last that these were dreams never meant for her.
“Go on! Get out! You mad crow! Just try coming back! I’ll leave you half-dead!”
Regina’s curses were the last sound she heard from that mansion.
***
The carriage traveled nonstop for three days.
Even during brief rest stops, Yuan remained, creaking like a broken doll, merely existing.
She silently stared out the window at the winter forest.
Tall fir trees stretching endlessly upward. Snow piled atop them.
Because of the snow that kept falling and stopping, the world remained white for days on end.
Snow.
Damn the snow.
Damn this winter.
Rubbing her dry eyes, she muttered inwardly, but the snow seemed to mock her, painting the world white all the same.
It wasn’t until they had passed through a massive gate that Marquis Companni, who had said nothing to her for three days, finally spoke.
“There won’t be a wedding. Probably.”
He folded the newspaper he had been reading for hours, placed it neatly beside him, and spoke.
“You’ll live just as you did at your home. After all, you won’t need to attend social events or visit the palace.”
Though exhausted, Yuan listened intently, nodding slightly to every word.
“It wouldn’t be good for the Crown Prince’s reputation to have further scandals.”
At the sudden reminder of the Crown Prince’s existence, Yuan tensed and straightened her back.
“Welcome to the Black Mansion.”
The Marquis smiled, pulling aside the stifling curtain on his side.
Through the red fabric, far in the distance, loomed a massive, pitch-black mansion, towering like a mountain.
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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