I Had No Complaints About This Marriage - Chapter 33
Then his gaze dropped even lower. Following his line of sight, Esina froze in horror.
One of the letters she’d failed to hide in her rush lay blatantly on the floor. She thought she’d shoved everything away, but apparently, she’d missed one in her hurry.
‘If that’s the letter mentioning the pills, I’m done for.’
Then he’d find out about the “gift” she’d received, and her emergency funds would be as good as gone.
“…This is, well—”
Before Esina could even finish her sentence, Herman stepped toward the letter. Under her anxious gaze, he reached out with elegant fingers and picked it up.
“‘To the Esteemed Viscountess of Telloien.’”
Without hesitation, he began reading it aloud.
“‘I have no doubt that your refined upbringing and qualities will serve Herman well.’”
“…….”
“‘Of course, the Rehier family must have provided you with an excellent education.’”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the letter mentioning the pills. But her relief was short-lived.
“‘Such as how to spread your legs and seduce a man……’”
The sentence took a sharp dive into vulgarity. Shocked, Esina’s eyes widened before she could stop herself.
‘There was a letter like this too?’
She had only skimmed the ones that came with gifts, tearing open the rest just for appearances before tossing them aside.
She knew etiquette demanded replies, but she had used her capricious “wicked wife” act as an excuse to neither read nor respond properly. It was bothersome, anyway.
“‘The Duke must only desire your body, given what a monstrous shrew you are—’”
Herman’s voice cut off abruptly as his lips snapped shut. Esina, too, felt an odd sense of awkwardness and glanced at him cautiously.
‘Wait, why am I the one feeling guilty?’
If anything, letters like this were proof of how well she was playing her role.
If high society was this disgusted with her, how much worse must the Telloien Ducal House feel?
They’d surely heard of her reputation by now and would soon make a clean, public declaration cutting ties. Hadn’t they already been murmuring about disowning her for months?
‘Right. I’m doing perfectly.’
She squared her shoulders with deliberate boldness—but the confidence in her chest instantly deflated at the icy voice that followed.
“Esina.”
The temperature in his tone had plummeted. Esina rolled her eyes up to meet Herman’s. He had slowly lifted his gaze from the letter and was now staring straight at her. His dark eyes, sharp enough to pierce through her, were unbearably oppressive.
Meanwhile, Herman barely suppressed a sigh as he watched Esina shrink under his gaze.
He’d rushed here after interrogating the head maid for answers—only to stumble upon this letter of all things.
“…Come to think of it, the young mistress has been…”
“The young mistress has been…?”
“Well, receiving letters. Quite frequently.”
“Letters? Invitations, or something?”
At first, he’d thought it unusual.
Someone well-connected in society might expect such correspondence, but Esina had never even properly debuted as a debutante—she had no prior social ties to speak of.
If someone wanted to invite Esina, the letter shouldn’t have gone to her directly—it should have been sent to Herman first.
‘Did she make a friend or something?’
Given the shamelessness Esina had shown during their first meeting, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had a knack for drawing people in wherever she went. After all, hadn’t he himself fallen for her chattering and ended up married to her?
‘I was worried because of what I saw at the department store…’
But now, it seemed like his fears had been unfounded.
Those who openly criticized Esina were likely a minority. Most who actually met her probably ended up liking her. She was the kind of woman who could easily make that happen.
But his pride was short-lived—because of what the head maid hesitantly added next.
“Well, the contents of the letters…”
“The contents?”
“…Most of them are either threats… or outright insults.”
Herman’s expression slowly hardened.
The contents were so outrageous, the maids who delivered the letters to Esina—even those who only glimpsed them by accident—reportedly turned pale with shock.
And this was despite the fact that most of them had only a distant, awkward relationship with their new young mistress. No, some even secretly resented her because of their own infatuation with Herman…
‘And yet even they were horrified by those letters.’
