“That’s…”
Bianca, who had been silent for a moment, seemingly unable to find a suitable rebuttal, began to argue again.
“How much money are you talking about! Even if it were ten times that amount, it would still be woefully insufficient compared to the dowry exchanged between high noble families. Besides, a debt is a debt and a dowry is a dowry! Shouldn’t you do what’s right as a person?”
“What’s right as a person?”
Riena snorted.
“Is that something you should be saying to me now?”
“What?”
“Your mother may be doing business with her daughter, but I’m not like that. If I had my way, I’d want to take back the debt I repaid to Baron Rothman. But I’m staying quiet because of the watchful eyes around me.”
“Wh-what?”
“So take your lady and go back. And don’t ever come again. Regardless of the financial situation of the Dyke family, it’s no longer my concern. I can’t give you a single penny, so keep that in mind.”
“You’re a Dyke too!”
“No, I’m not. I’ll soon be Riena Winkler, so the only family I care about is Winkler.”
“You really!”
“That’s enough, Bianca.”
Countess Dyke pressed down on Bianca’s shoulder and stood up.
“You think you’re so high and mighty just because you caught a man. I don’t know how you seduced the Duke of Winkler, but with one word from me, you won’t be able to hold your head up in high society.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“How do you think the other nobles will react when they find out that you abandoned the marriage partner I, your mother, arranged for you and eloped with the Duke of Winkler?”
“I clearly told you it wasn’t an elopement.”
“That’s just your claim. It may not look that way to others.”
Riena tried to view the situation coldly. After cooling her head, she could see that Countess Dyke’s argument was absurd.
Abandoning the marriage partner arranged by the Countess and running away? No.
Even from a third-party perspective, there were many strange things about the marriage proposal with Baron Rothman.
If this fact were to be known to the world, it would be Countess Dyke who would be in trouble.
‘There’s really no reason to engage with her any further.’
Riena decided to end the conversation here.
“If you’re done talking, please leave now. As I said, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
Just as she was about to coldly turn around and leave the drawing room, she heard the Countess’ voice, filled with malice, from behind.
“Your younger brother!”
Riena, who had been holding the doorknob and turning it, stopped and looked back. Excited that she had gotten a reaction, the Countess continued speaking with an air of triumph.
“You can treat me and Bianca harshly. It’s sad, but since we’re not blood-related, I understand that you can’t understand my feelings! But your younger brother, Aaron, is different!”
Even though she knew she should ignore that nonsense and leave, Riena couldn’t bring herself to leave the drawing room. Eventually, she closed the door again and deliberately spoke in a chilling tone.
“Are you going to bring up Aaron now? After selling me for money, are you going to sell Aaron too?”
“I was wrong about Baron Rothman. But even if you resent me, you should only resent me, not your innocent younger brother!”
“That’s an excessive leap in logic. I don’t resent Aaron. Although we won’t meet in the future, I truly wish for that child to be happy.”
“If you really want Aaron to be happy, you can’t do this!”
It was a situation where communication was impossible.
“What does Aaron’s happiness have to do with me supporting the Dyke family?”
“Aaron is sick!”
“…What?”
Riena was shaken by the completely unexpected words. She tried hard to remain calm, but it was difficult to control her expression.
Aaron Dyke. Her younger brother who was 10 years younger than her.
Although Aaron hadn’t properly looked at Riena since he was four or five years old, she remembered what her brother looked like when he was younger.
The child who would crawl towards Riena while drooling, the cute younger brother who would laugh brightly and babble when she held him in her arms and kissed his chubby cheeks.
Now that both her mother and father had passed away, he was her only blood-related family.
Countess Dyke was right. Riena could turn her back on the Dyke family that she had devoted her entire life to, but she couldn’t ignore Aaron.
Her love for Aaron was unrequited, but just being able to love that child was a blessing.
Riena closed her eyes for a moment, evened out her breathing, and asked coolly.
“The child who was healthy until I left suddenly became sick. Why is that?”
“How would I know that? Even now that we’re in the capital, his condition hasn’t improved at all!”
“Are you saying you brought a sick child all the way here now? Not by magic portal, but by carriage? Are you out of your mind?”
As Riena’s demeanor turned chilly, the Countess’ voice became a little smaller.
“No… When we left the territory, he wasn’t that sick. He was in a condition to travel sufficiently.”
“Sigh.”
Riena sighed and held her forehead.
“Putting that aside, if a child is sick, you should go to a doctor. Why did you come to me? Unlike the Dyke territory, the capital is full of doctors.”
“We didn’t have enough money to properly see a doctor. The same goes for medicine.”
“You manage the Dyke family’s assets. What happened to those assets?”
“…”
“The Dyke family may not be extremely wealthy, but as far as I know, the inheritance left by my father is quite substantial. But now, you’re telling me you’re neglecting the child because you don’t even have the money to treat Aaron?”
Riena was genuinely angry.
“What in the world have you done? My father worked so hard to build up the family. He thought only of the family until the very end, but in just a few months, the family has fallen to this state?”
Bianca, who had been listening silently, snapped at Riena sharply.
“Why are you pressuring mother again? Mother was also trying to develop the family!”
Did she really act for the sake of the family? Riena believed that the Countess had indulged in luxury or gotten involved in gambling.
“So now you’re using Aaron as an excuse to extort money from me?”
“No, extort, you don’t need to put it like that. We’re just asking you, as his elder sister, to take care of poor Aaron.”
No matter how much she sugarcoated it, that’s what it boiled down to. Riena spoke firmly.
“I can’t give you money. As you know, I didn’t take any money with me when I left the Dyke family.”
“The ducal family has money to spare.”
“That’s true. But I can’t use that freely.”
“What has the Duke of Winkler been doing without giving you that authority until now!”
In fact, Cassel had already told her that she could use the Winkler’s wealth without restrictions.
However, she had no intention of actually using it freely, and she definitely didn’t want to give it to the Countess. Moreover, she wasn’t even sure if it was true that Aaron was sick.
“We’re only engaged. It would be strange to give me that authority.”
“Then ask the Duke!”
“With what face can I tell the Duke? And even if the Duke allows it, I won’t give it to you.”
“What? Then are you going to let Aaron die?”
“If Aaron was really sick enough to die, you wouldn’t have struggled to come all the way here. Is Aaron really sick?”
“You think a mother would lie about something like this?”
The Countess walked towards Riena. Then she knelt down, grabbed the hem of Riena’s skirt, and pleaded.
“Riena, I understand your feelings. You must hate me. I’m not asking you to forgive what I’ve done either. But shouldn’t we at least save Aaron first? We also need to send him to the academy soon…”
Riena let out a deep sigh.
She didn’t completely trust the Countess’ words. But what if she wasn’t lying?
That ‘what if’ made Riena hesitate.
If Aaron was really severely ill, if something were to happen to him because he couldn’t receive treatment due to lack of money…
She really couldn’t bear that. She would probably regret this for the rest of her life and spend her days in tears.
‘I wouldn’t be able to face father.’
Sighing again, Riena suggested another option.
“Then I’ll speak to the Duke and send the ducal family’s physician. The ducal family also has the highest quality medicinal ingredients in storage, so I’ll have medicine made and sent as well.”
“That’s…”
“You don’t like it? Just a moment ago, you were asking me to save Aaron, but you don’t want me to send a doctor?”
“No, no, that’s not it.”
The Countess stood up, wiping her moist eyes. Still, she had been treated as a mother for over 10 years. Seeing her like that made Riena’s heart soften, but she tried hard to steel herself.
“But you’re really not doing this, Riena. If you sever even the ties of nature like this, God will punish you.”
Seeing the Countess blaming her until the end, Riena unintentionally retorted.
“Shouldn’t you be the one worrying about that?”
The Countess, who felt an ominous feeling from Riena as she confidently straightened her shoulders, stammered.
“Wh-what? Why me?”
“Father’s accident.”
My Ex-Girlfriend Is The Regent In The Female-dominant World (Male lead transmigrates to the matriarchal world)
Two years ago, Gu Sui picked up a homeless woman in ancient costume from the street.
Apart from occasionally claiming to be a princess from a female-dominant country due to illness, her figure, appearance, intelligence, and martial arts skills were impeccable.
Naturally evolving from roommates to girlfriends, as time went on, Gu Sui found it increasingly difficult to tolerate her queen syndrome.
“Mu Jiulu, can you stop controlling me inside and out? Let’s break up.”
Gu Sui made a breakup call, and since then, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
A year later, Gu Sui, who was planning to move, woke up the next day and found himself in a different place.
“Young Master, today is the day you choose your Wife-master through martial arts competition at Jade Dew Pavilion. Please get up quickly.”
Gu Sui: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
As the only son of a general’s mansion in a female-dominant dynasty, the young empress personally issued a decree allowing Gu Sui to select his Wife-master through martial arts competition. Whoever could defeat him could marry him.
Gu Sui: “……”
He didn’t inherit the original owner’s martial prowess, so anyone could defeat him! And what the hell is a Wife-master?
Forced to come to Jade Dew Pavilion, the densely packed women below made Gu Sui’s agoraphobia act up, and his face was full of resistance.
Until he saw the Regent sitting on the second floor, with a smile on the corner of her lips, her eyes wicked and nonchalant.
Hmm… she looked a little familiar.
It turned out that the Regent also found him a little familiar.
Mu Jiulu fiddled with her bone clasp, her deep gaze locked on the man who was out of place in this world.
“Finally, I found you.”
Male transmigrates into female-dominant world
One-sentence summary: What goes around comes around, taking turns in the crematorium