Despite telling myself that, I can’t help but feel like something inside me is being torn apart.

Every time I bowed my head to them and was insulted to my face, I felt like the ground beneath my feet was crumbling.

Cordelia hid her crumbling heart and greeted them gently.

“You must have had a hard time coming all the way here, Lily.”

“Hmph!”

After snapping at her a few times, Lily seemed to lose interest when Cordelia responded with a smile, and entered the castle with Helena.

When they arrived at the reception room, maids quickly brought out tea. Three cups were served, but one grew cold. No one offered Cordelia a seat.

She was so accustomed to this treatment that she didn’t even find it strange.

“By the way, how is Craig doing?”

“Ah, don’t even mention it. He’s recovered enough to walk around, but…”

“But what?”

“The most important thing, his head, is the problem. His head.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“It’s complicated to explain. And now those wolf-like people are coming to the castle, aiming for the Count’s position. Oh, my head.”

Helena rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. Lily’s face instantly filled with worry.

“How serious is his condition? I thought he was all better now…”

“If only that were the case.”

“We shouldn’t be sitting here drinking tea. I need to go see Craig right away.”

“What? Wait, Lily! Lily!”

Helena hastily stood up to try and stop her, but it was useless. She had already opened the door and run into the hallway, her skirts disappearing from view.

“Oh, that stubborn girl. Hey, you. What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go after her.”

Helena shouted at Cordelia, who was standing there blankly.

“Me?”

“Who else would I be talking to? Hurry up and go!”

Cordelia headed towards Leonard’s bedroom with reluctant, very slow steps.

Arriving at his room, Lily’s voice could be heard through the crack in the door.

“…can you?”

Upon opening the door, there was one tragic heroine inside.

Lily’s eyes were moist, looking as if she might drop pearl-like tears at any moment.

“How, how could you forget even our childhood that we spent together?”

She acted like a woman abandoned by her lover. On the other hand, Leonard frowned in disgust.

As soon as he made eye contact with Cordelia, who had entered the room, he pointed at Lily with his chin.

“It’s noisy, so get this one out of here.”

“Craig! Don’t you really remember me? Huh?”

“Lily, Craig just woke up not long ago and is tired. Why don’t you go have some tea with the Madam…”

“How dare you touch me?”

Lily shouted sharply, swatting away Cordelia’s hand. The force was quite strong, causing Cordelia to stumble back slightly.

Of course, Lily didn’t even look back. Cordelia let out a faint sigh and approached Lily again.

“Lily.”

“Hey. Just because I left the castle, do you think you’re really the mistress of this place now? If it weren’t for your precious blood, you wouldn’t even have been able to enter this castle as a maid, you know?”

“…”

“How dare a lowborn like you. Stop being annoying and get out. I have things to talk about with Craig.”

She thought she wouldn’t be hurt anymore by words she had heard countless times, but it seems that having calluses doesn’t mean you can’t get injured.

One side of her chest stung, but Cordelia deliberately ignored that feeling.

‘Just think of it as a dog barking.’

“I’m sorry, Lily. The Madam…”

“What are you?”

“Craig? It’s me. Lily. Your little sister Lily.”

“No. You step aside.”

Leonard, who had been lying in bed the whole time, raised himself up. He looked straight into Cordelia’s eyes and said:

“You were able to speak your mind clearly in front of me before, so why are you suddenly acting so meek?”

“…Craig.”

“Craig?”

Both women looked at him at the same time. Leonard got up from his seat entirely.

“Just say what you need to say. Holding it in will make you sick.”

“Craig!”

Unable to bear the continued disregard, Lily cried out. Leonard then made an openly irritated expression.

“You’re hurting my ears. Hey. You’re the noisiest and most vulgar one in this room. You get out.”

“‘Hey’? Craig, what are you saying? I’m Lily. Your little sister Lil…”

“Yeah, I get that you’re Lily or whatever, so get out. I don’t want to mix words with the daughter of a lowborn nouveau riche family.”

“W-What? Nouveau riche?”

“What’s so great about being descended from the Abrams lineage that bought their noble title with money?”

Of course, compared to the Atilei family, the Abrams were no different from commoners, but this was absolutely not something that Craig’s body should be saying.

Lily was so shocked that she couldn’t even find words to refute. She just stammered the same words.

Meanwhile, Cordelia, standing beside her, had to pinch her thigh to keep from laughing.

“Do you even know what the sacred eight families are? Even though she looks a bit stupid, she’s a Vasquez. She’s on a completely different level from someone like you with no roots or substance.”

“…”

“Just a few generations back, you’re no different from a commoner. Know your place.”

Leonard looked Lily up and down with eyes full of disgust and contempt, something he was very good at.

Lily’s face twisted terribly. Cordelia bowed her head deeply to avoid being caught laughing.

“You, you’re too much. *sob* I, I just, *sniff*.”

“You’re noisy, so go cry outside.”

That last remark was the final blow.

As soon as she heard Leonard’s barbed words, Lily ran out of the room crying.

Cordelia’s shoulders shook for a while after Lily had completely left.

“Why are you trying so hard to appease someone like that?”

“Lily, pfft. It’s the first time I’ve seen Lily make an expression like that.”

“Of course it’s your first time. You’ve probably been saying ‘yes, yes’ to her all this time.”

Leonard retorted gruffly. Cordelia, who had been chuckling for quite some time, straightened her back.

She had laughed so much that tears came to her eyes. Wiping her slightly wet eyes, she said:

“Ah, that feels good. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed like this.”

“If you’re planning to divorce anyway, why do you bow your head to that woman?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know, or are you trying to tease me?”

“What?”

“I can’t divorce right away, and I don’t have any money saved up. So what do I have to rely on to hold my head high in front of this family?”

Cordelia said with a self-deprecating smile.

“After all, this is what they brought me here for.”

“For this purpose?”

“In this castle, I’m not a person, I’m just a medium for transmitting Vasquez blood. There’s no reason to treat such a thing as human.”

Such a thing.

It was too cold and clinical a way to describe herself.

Although she pretended to be nonchalant about it, Cordelia’s eyes were stained with hurt.

She quickly erased that and added cheerfully:

“And no matter how much I dislike it, I can’t leave this family empty-handed. If I want to receive even a bit more alimony, the one in the weaker position has to bow down.”

Leonard roughly scratched the back of his head and asked in his usual gruff tone:

“Just how much money do you need?”

“Pardon?”

“How much do you need that you’re saying ‘yes, yes’ all the time?”

Her breath caught at the seemingly insignificant question.

“Money? Well, ah.”

She should just speak casually as if it’s no big deal, but she was afraid he would laugh at her if she mentioned the amount.

It was miserable that to him it was just a meaningless number, but to her it was a life-or-death sum.

Why was her pride, which she thought she had thrown away, raising its head at a time like this?

Just smile and state the amount like usual. That’s all she needed to do, and yet…

Her mind was complicated and her stomach churned. Cordelia bit her lip and couldn’t continue speaking for a while. Noticing the sunken atmosphere, Leonard said:

“Hey. I…”

“I should get going now.”

She forcibly lifted the corners of her mouth that had dropped and took a few steps back.

“I thought I had thrown away all my pride, but it seems I still have some left. I won’t come for a while.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Get some rest.”

Cordelia left the room with an expressionless face.

It was a first. It was the first time Cordelia had left the room before Leonard told her to leave.

Leonard stared at the place she had left for a long time, then turned around.

“Did I say something wrong? I just asked how much she needed.”

“Oh my, Master. Of course her pride would be hurt if you asked how much her own body is worth.”

Baron, who had poked his face out of the water cup, shook his head.

“You’re really too much. After all Cordelia has done to help you so diligently…”

“Come on. What did she help with? All she did was come and chatter annoyingly.”

“My goodness, she came every single day without fail to attend to you and keep you company. Do you think that’s an easy thing to do?”

“Did I ask her to? She came voluntarily because she wanted something from me. You think this is the first time I’ve seen people like that?”

Leonard snorted. Baron pretended to sob more earnestly.

“Poor Cordelia. To hear such cruel words from a heartless master like you…”

“Since when were you close enough to call her ‘Cordelia’?”

“She treated the one who took her husband’s body so kindly, only to receive such insults in return.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Even after realizing your true identity, she didn’t contact anyone outside and treated you kindly. Where else in the world can you find someone like that? It’s unimaginable in the Atilei family, full of wolves and tigers.”

“Alright, alright. For just one wrong word…”

Leonard finally raised both hands in surrender to Baron’s relentless attack. Baron pressed his wrinkled forehead and earnestly implored:

“Even though they’ve fallen, they’re still the Vasquez family. Your great-grandfather Delon Atilei’s second son formed a connection with the Vasquez family.”

“I know, I know.”

“The next time Cordelia comes, please welcome her warmly.”

Leonard replied half-irritatedly and half-resignedly that he would do so. Sadly, however, he was unable to keep his promise.

Because Cordelia kept her word.

As if it had been a lie that she used to bother him by frequenting his room every day, she completely cut off her visits.