“You seem to be mistaking me for a slave.”
Callian’s eyebrows twitched at Esika’s cold words.
“Or an object without emotions.”
He looked like someone whose world had just crumbled.
His face was pale, and his eyes were filled with uncontrollable anxiety and anger.
“It was you who refused to be bound by me.”
“……”
“And now you’re saying you want to confine me?”
His attitude was messy, like someone hastily fixing a birdcage after realizing the bird they had neglected could fly.
“You are the Duchess Klaus. And the Duchess……”
Callian’s breathing was rapid.
“Should not display such behavior.”
He must be acknowledging it himself.
The fact that he was acting in a way that made no logical sense.
However, Callian had never once said ‘sorry’ to Esika.
In the Klaus ducal family, only Esika was the inadequate and bad wife.
Only Esika… It was always only her fault.
Esika looked directly into his purple eyes and said,
“You were suspicious about why I disguised myself as a maid. Aren’t you curious about the circumstances that led me to wear this maid’s uniform?”
“……”
“My only dress got completely soaked by the water shower from the maids sent by the Grand Duchess. It seems she was quite displeased that I dared to confront you during our tea time. So I tried this on, and it turned out to be comfortable.”
Callian’s eyes were wavering.
“That can’t be… Mother wouldn’t go that far.”
In the early days of their marriage, she had cried in front of Callian several times.
Whenever she said the Grand Duchess was tormenting her, Callian showed a very displeased expression.
Of course, not towards the Grand Duchess, but towards Esika.
He had said that the Grand Duchess was punishing Esika because she couldn’t behave wisely.
And he had considered all of Esika’s complaints as overreactions.
“You must have misunderstood mother’s rightful discipline to educate you.”
Callian hadn’t changed at all.
“Call the butler and check directly how many necessities are provided to me. See if it’s enough to maintain the dignity and fulfill the duties of ‘Duchess Klaus’. See if it’s so meager that the Duchess has to wear a maid’s uniform and go outside to buy her own necessities.”
With each word Esika added, Callian’s eyes flickered.
A look that seemed to imply, ‘Mother couldn’t have been that harsh.’
Still the same. Callian doesn’t change.
“I’ll say this last thing, Your Grace.”
Esika’s lips moved.
“Your Grace has no right to treat me like this.”
Those icy words pierced Callian’s heart like a stake.
Callian wanted to argue back and get angry at her as usual.
But at this moment, knowing that anger would be useless, everything felt meaningless.
Esika would no longer cry. She seemed like she wouldn’t be hurt no matter what he said.
The icy gaze was not an illusion.
It wasn’t a tantrum, nor was it anything else.
“I want to rest. Would you please leave my room?”
Esika’s voice was heard.
His heart sank at her tired-sounding voice.
**
After sending him out, Esika closed the door with a bang, her eyes cold.
She then reached out and touched near her chest.
The area around her heart was throbbing.
As if proving that Callian Klaus was once the man she had passionately loved unrequitedly.
It felt disgusting.
‘If only I had regained the spirit’s memories earlier.’
Esika looked at herself in the mirror.
Brilliant silver hair and blue eyes, flawlessly clear skin and red lips… Everything was perfect.
‘I wouldn’t have married.’
With that Callian, who resembled the emperor of the Thousand Spirits.
Paying back as much as one received was the life principle of the spirits.
The sins of the Klaus family who had abused Esika would never be forgiven.
Rather than watching her enemies live well, it was better to set fire to their house, even if it was troublesome.
Revenge begets revenge? There’s nothing to be gained from revenge?
That’s just self-consolation from those who have never taken revenge.
Someday, this Klaus family would be uprooted and shattered, and Esika planned to stand above it all.
A feast held on the graves of one’s enemies is always enjoyable.
‘It’s too late. I will dance while watching you cry, Klaus.’
Looking at herself in the mirror, Esika smiled coldly.
And as she turned around.
Thud−
Something fell to the floor.
Esika narrowed her eyes and bent down to pick it up.
It was a golden ring with a green emerald embedded in it.
The size was big enough for a man’s finger… but she had never seen Callian wearing it.
‘Could it be… the Crown Prince’s ring?’
When he left after drinking tea, the Crown Prince had grabbed her.
Their bodies had swayed towards each other, and the ring must have slipped into her clothes then.
Esika stared intently at the ring.
‘Should I return it?’
But to return it, she would have to meet him again.
Esika shook her head. Even if she had the chance to return it someday, she wouldn’t deliberately seek an opportunity to meet him.
Knock knock−
After putting the ring in the drawer, the door opened and Sella entered the room carrying a large tray.
“My lady, I’ve brought your dinner.”
It seemed she hadn’t encountered Callian, as there was no mention of him.
“It’s the same dinner that goes to the Duke and the Grand Duchess. Here, there’s also something called a spirit tonic.”
The food on the plate was quite excellent.
Sous-vide cooked meat, fresh vegetables, soup, and even dessert.
For the three years since marrying into the Klaus ducal family, such meals were beyond her wildest dreams.
The Grand Duchess had forbidden her from dining with Callian, citing Esika’s poor table manners.
After being confined to her room, she could only receive spoiling food.
“This is quite decent.”
It would have been impossible without winning over Hemos, the head chef.
Slowly, the situation was changing.
Of course, the reality was that even eating a proper meal still required being mindful of others’ eyes.
But Esika was confident. Soon, it would be them watching her every move.
Clink−
Esika continued her meal.
Sella occasionally filled Esika’s glass with water and attended to her dining needs.
‘I must have been truly mad before… To have failed to recognize such a dignified person.’
When the Grand Duchess spoke ill of Esika, she always brought up her lowly family background.
So the maids felt that there wasn’t much difference between themselves and Duchess Esika Klaus, and thus they were more inclined to join in the Grand Duchess’s bullying.
Feeling it was unfair that they were both of lowly birth, yet one was a maid and the other a duchess.
Watching Esika dine, Sella realized how wrong she had been.
From her gaze to her use of cutlery, she was a perfect noble. Perhaps even more composed than the Grand Duchess.
The way the meat was cut so cleanly with just one knife stroke… It was simply amazing.
**
“Is this all of it, the list of the Duchess’s budget expenditures?”
At Callian’s stern voice, the butler Hans broke into a cold sweat.
He really hadn’t expected this.
Shouldn’t it be time for dinner with the Grand Duchess by now?
Yet here he was, suddenly demanding the Duchess’s budget usage list.
“……”
Callian’s eyebrows were frozen as he flipped through the thin book.
“A hundred large mops, fifty cans of oil, a thousand sacks… Why are these in the Duchess’s budget usage list?”
Hans flinched at Callian’s observation.
“Ah… It seems they were inserted by mistake. I’ll correct it.”
Callian closely examined the records from when she first came to the ducal residence.
The Grand Duchess had always criticized Esika’s extravagance.
So surely this budget usage list would contain details of her lavish spending.
“Call the butler and check directly how many necessities are provided to me. See if it’s enough to maintain the dignity and fulfill the duties of ‘Duchess Klaus’. See if it’s so meager that the Duchess has to wear a maid’s uniform and go outside to buy her own necessities.”
‘There’s no way that could be true.’
Callian’s eyes, searching for evidence with a harsh gaze, stopped at a certain point.
A list of dresses and jewelry appeared. Robelia Dress Shop, Attwan Jewelry Shop.
Records of countless purchases of dresses and jewelry from these two places.
Callian’s eyes flashed.
‘She told another despicable lie to my face.’
“Hans, summon the owners of these two shops immediately.”
Hans looked at Callian with a puzzled expression at his words.
Callian was smiling with piercing eyes.
“The Duchess purchased thirty-seven dresses from Robelia Shop and twenty-six pieces of jewelry from Attwan Shop over three years.”
“…Ah…”
“So they must surely remember. What kind of dresses the Duchess purchased.”
And when he finds those in her closet and presents them to her, Esika’s face will turn pale.
The thought of that arrogant Esika, who claimed thirty-seven dresses weren’t enough and wore a maid’s uniform, belatedly repenting and kneeling down, made him feel good.
However, Hans was standing there with a dark expression, not answering.
“Um… Your Grace.”
Callian’s eyebrow twitched.
“A… Actually… That list is not of items purchased by the Duchess…”
Hans had no choice in the matter.
Esika probably wouldn’t even know the names of Robelia Shop or Attwan Shop.
“…They are the Grand Duchess’s dresses.”
Callian’s face hardened.
Top Celebrity Younger Brother Bears Her Child (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: Forced to live stream romance with a top celebrity in a female-dominant world.
Yan Jin transmigrated into a brothel, with a fellow transmigrated junior beside her.
Hearing the obscene words coming from outside, the unfortunate junior covered his ears tightly, his cheeks flushed red, and whispered to comfort her, “Don’t worry, I will definitely help you escape.”
“Don’t worry, I will definitely defend your chastity.” Yan Jin looked at the flawless and delicate features of the unfortunate junior and gently comforted, “Because we have transmigrated into a female-dominant world.”
※※※
Top celebrity Yu Shu suddenly fell into a coma during a concert.
Research scientist Yan Jin fainted in the lab after working overtime.
Two people with no connection were rushed to the same hospital.
Three days later, neither of them had woken up.
Suddenly, the entire nation discovered that a live streaming app had been forcibly installed on their phones.
Upon opening it, they heard the two discussing how to escape from the brothel.
The entire internet was in an uproar.
After the two successfully escaped from the brothel, Yu Shu’s fan group rushed to make a banner and sent it to the hospital overnight.
“Big sister bravely took action to defend the chastity of our idol!”
※※※
When Yu Shu was diagnosed with pregnancy, Yan Jin stared at his belly for a long time.
Covering his stomach, he muttered gloomily, “If you don’t like it, I’ll go get an abortion.”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.” Yan Jin hugged Yu Shu and said softly, “I just feel like I’m not human.”
Yu Shu comforted Yan Jin, “I was already an adult when we got together.”
Yan Jin hesitated, “But you won’t be of legal marriageable age even after giving birth to the child.”
At the same time, a flood of bullet comments appeared in the live streaming room that the two couldn’t see.
[Although it’s inappropriate, I also want a young and handsome boyfriend to have my child.]
①Male pregnancy (highlighted)
The female lead is five years older than the male lead, and the male lead is already an adult when he appears.
