Dwayne glared fiercely at Eustia across the table. With just that, the air in the room grew colder.

Eustia trembled instinctively under his piercing gaze.

“Do I need to give you more time?”

“…S, soon it will be resolved. So, just a little more…”

Her voice, tainted by fear, pitifully filled the empty space. But Eustia’s pitifulness had no chance of affecting Duke Dwayne.

Duke Dwayne furrowed his brow mercilessly and slammed the table.

“Last night, Duke Nett came to see me. He threatened that if I didn’t release Rellia within three days, he would take matters into his own hands.”

“…”

“That wretched girl of yours finally dragged my reputation down to the ground. How dare she tarnish the dignity of Dwayne Garnet, the head of the most distinguished ducal house in the Empire!”

Dwayne, unable to control his anger, shook his clenched fist. His ferocious appearance was horrifying. Eustia had no choice but to be completely engulfed in fear.

He had never been a warm father to Eustia since her birth. He always looked down on her, no matter what she did, clicking his tongue in disdain.

Since she became of age, he hadn’t hesitated to punish her physically, for reasons she couldn’t comprehend.

With each terrible memory that piled up, Eustia recognized Dwayne not as her father but as an object of fear. Today was no different.

“You’ve been made empress, yet you dare make a mockery of me?”

“Fa, father, that’s not…”

“So shameless to call me ‘father,’ especially given your incompetence.”

Dwayne sneered, twisting his mouth. Eustia’s face instantly turned red.

“Did you forget your place in the meantime?”

“…”

“I’ve told you clearly. If you want to be recognized as my daughter, you should behave smartly.”

“…”

“For all your talk of becoming empress, you’re just a half-witted fool.”

Dwayne, at the end of his harsh words, didn’t forget to click his tongue. That demeaning sound echoed loudly in Eustia’s ears. It seemed to push her already trembling self to the limit.

But Dwayne didn’t stop there.

“I’ve warned you countless times that you shouldn’t expose your vulgar roots, but you just can’t hide your mother’s lowly blood, can you?”

The words that Dwayne spat out heedlessly tore at Eustia’s heart. Her lips, which she had bitten hard, quivered with humiliation.

Dwayne had always been like this. Not content with belittling her, he also disparaged her late mother. This never ceased, even after her mother passed away.

Each time, Eustia wanted to shout at him. She wanted to remind him that the woman he casually disparaged was once the woman he had desired and failed to have.

While Dwayne might not know it, Eustia had known this fact for a long time.

The catalyst was a moment when she was ten years old and happened to see her ailing mother pleading with the Duke.

Eustia still remembered that day vividly. The Duke had stood in the middle of their living room, scanning every corner of the house with eyes as if he were looking at filth.

“[Your Grace. Please, please take Eustia in.]”

“[Ha, you want me to take in your daughter now? I knew you were brazen, but this is a new level of audacity.]”

“[Please, I beg you. If I leave her alone in this dangerous world after I’m gone, how can you be so cruel as to let a young girl fend for herself?]”
“When I asked you to become my wife, if you had accepted my proposal, there would be no need for such pleading now. Your daughter would naturally have grown up as my daughter. You are the one who brought about this situation.”

But he felt no more generous sympathy to spare for the wretched mother and daughter.

The Duke perfectly conveyed those unspoken words through his expression.

“Consider what I just said as unheard and never come to me again. If you trouble me once more, you will hasten the end of your meager lifespan.”

“…I’ve lived my life keeping my mouth shut so as not to tarnish your reputation. Are you really going to ignore your own bloodline?”

The mother’s subsequent words were laden with significance. Young Eustia listened more closely to their conversation.

“Do you dare to threaten me now?”

“Please take Eustia in. In return, I will remain silent about your indiscretions until the day I die.”

Their bickering continued for a while longer. However, Eustia no longer hesitated outside the door. The Duke’s increasingly fierce voice sounded like the growl of a beast.

If she were discovered eavesdropping, she felt she might face severe consequences. She climbed onto her bed and, after trembling under the blanket for a long time, finally fell asleep.

After that day, Eustia moved to the residence of Duke Garnet. Her biological mother also came along. Although it was a place no better than a stable, they no longer had to shiver in the cold or go hungry.

However, she had to endure the malevolent glares from the Duchess whenever they crossed paths.

And less than a year later, only after her mother died did Eustia realize the true meaning behind the conversation between the Duke and her mother.