Droit du Seigneur: His Lordship's Right of the First Night - Chapter 68
“They say the lord has become even more silent and works all night since she disappeared. Sometimes, he locks himself in the room they used to share. Cherinia, you have to keep this secret, okay? Or I could lose my head.”
Betraying a master’s privacy was a serious crime, so Becky repeatedly urged her cousin to keep it a secret. Even though Cherinia seemed to ignore her, Becky was very uneasy. Watching Cherinia’s sharp gaze, Becky cautiously asked,
“Now you’ll tell me how to get rid of my freckles, right? You promised, Cherinia?”
“Hey! Cherinia’s already annoyed enough, so don’t bother Cherinia with nonsense! Get rid of freckles? There’s no such thing!”
“You said if I found this out, you’d tell me how! You said my face would be clear if I followed your method…. Tell me quickly.”
“Ugh, you’re so annoying! Do you think getting rid of a few freckles will make you as pretty as Cherinia? Dream on! If they bother you that much, just do this.”
“…Ah! Ouch! Stop, sorry— I’m sorry!”
Enraged, Cherinia lashed out at Becky, scratching her cheek. Becky, who had been sweeping the area in front of the castle, screamed as she dropped her broom. At that moment, Becky, clutching her cheek and sniffling, suddenly froze in shock and bowed her head hastily.
“My lord! Ack— Bow your head!”
“What? The lord?”
To avoid being recognized as an outsider, Cherinia was wearing her cousin’s spare maid uniform. She quickly bowed deeply, following the other servants. But as the lord’s procession neared the castle gate, she couldn’t resist and peeked up slightly.
‘Is that… the lord?’
Ah.
The moment she saw the imposing man riding into the castle gate, Cherinia fell in love.
His perfectly sculpted features and immense wealth and status made him the ideal man she had always dreamed of.
The prince who would rescue her from this wretched place and bring her into a beautiful, glamorous world.
At the same time, fierce jealousy and anger surged within Cherinia. It was clear from the recent events that the man who had come to her house was him.
So he can’t forget Louise… he even came to the house….
Cherinia was confident in her beauty. No man in the village had ever resisted her charm. It was her looks that had allowed her to avoid hard labor and live relatively comfortably.
‘If Cherinia had gone to the castle to spend the night instead, the lord would have definitely fallen for her!’
She had lied about being pregnant to avoid going because of rumors that the new lord was a cruel war ghost!
If she had known, she would never have sent Louise instead. She regretted it so much that she wanted to hit the ground.
‘Wait, did Louise spread those rumors to keep Cherinia away and block her path to the lord?’
As this thought crossed her mind, Cherinia’s dark eyes gleamed with envy and jealousy. Uncontrollable anger welled up inside her.
That wretched girl stole from Cherinia again.
The first love of all young men—Cherinia, adored by all. In her childhood, Cherinia was the most beautiful girl in the village. Although abandoned by her parents and raised as a burden by relatives, everyone else had to like her.
But… though the men who were initially captivated by her charm eventually turned their attention to that annoying girl. Seeing the men who were desperate for her attention confess their love to Louise was humiliating.
One reason she chose Helio was because it was fun to have him harass that annoying Louise.
But that detestable girl had stolen from her again— and this time, her man.
If she had just revealed the truth and sent Cherinia instead when she was called back to the castle, it would have been fine. She stole someone else’s man and lied about working as a maid at the castle out of shame….
Louise must have wanted to torment the lord by making him wait.
‘Louise, do you think Cherinia’ll forgive you? Cherinia will never let this go!’
As Cherinia, trembling with anger, walked home from the lord’s castle, someone called out to her.
“Hey, Cherinia. Long time no see.”
“…Kevin?”
It was Kevin, a guy from her village who had been infatuated with her for a long time. Even after she married Helio, Kevin continued to bring her fancy cookies and pretty trinkets to please her.
Lately, he hadn’t been around much, but seeing the bouquet of blooming dahlias in his hand improved her mood a bit.
“Well, red roses suit Cherinia best, but Cherinia’ll take these. Give them here.”
“Hehe, actually, could you give this bouquet to Louise since you live with her?”
“What? Louise?!”
“I always knew she was pretty, but wow, she’s become so alluring lately…. Hey, what’s wrong?”
Whack!
Cherinia, instantly angered, snatched the bouquet from his hand and threw it to the ground. Still not satisfied, she stomped on it until the petals were completely crushed.
“Everyone’s always talking about Louise, Louise! What’s so special about that girl? Why is everyone talking about her in front of Cherinia? Argh, Cherinia’s furious!”
Sticky sap oozed from the crushed petals. She felt so wronged that if Louise had been in front of her, she would have wanted to pull out all her hair. Even after Kevin, terrified, ran away, Cherinia couldn’t stop stomping her feet in anger for a long time.
