The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 83
“Did… they catch the culprit?!”
“…”
Benjamin’s grip on the reins tightened. Grace was quick to catch his reaction.
“Yes, we found them. And if it’s alright with you, I’d like to leave their handling to you. If it’s too much, I can take care of it.”
Hearing this, Grace looked back at the carriage behind them. The entire accompanying staff of the Felton dukedom were gathered.
‘But why are they here…’
For some reason, a newspaper article she had read on the train to Linden estate flashed in her mind. Her heart felt like it stopped for a moment, and a chill ran through her body.
‘Could it be.’
It was just a ghastly, cruel story that belonged to someone else.
Grace stood in a daze, staring at Benjamin.
“Did… did my father do this?!”
“….Yes, Viscount Linden orchestrated it.”
“Why…”
Grace started to ask why but then shook her head. She covered her mouth, pale as a ghost.
‘Is it about money?’
The only reason the Viscount Linden would use Grace for a kidnapping was for money. Grace felt stupid for even asking.
“It seems awkward to return to the manor now, so we’ve decided to move somewhere else.”
“That’s probably wise, but do you have a place in mind?”
She would have preferred to return to the capital immediately, but it was too much to manage in one day, so they had to stay in Viscount Linden’s domain for the day. However, there was no suitable lodging for high nobility in the Linden estate at the moment.
But Benjamin seemed unperturbed.
“Yes, if you’re fine with it, we can find a place.”
“?!”
Grace looked at him, puzzled, then nodded. With that, Benjamin helped her onto the horse and they started to move.
‘This path…’
They crossed the lake and headed deep into the forest. The underbrush was thick, but there was a path as if someone had passed through here before.
‘What is this path?’
Grace looked back at Benjamin with a puzzled gaze, but he seemed at ease as if everything was familiar to him.
‘It seems he knows this place…’
The place Benjamin brought Grace to was a cozy house in the forest, made of old, rosy bricks that left an impression.
As he helped Grace down from the horse, he made a seemingly trivial comment.
“The color is like fallen leaves, feels like it would rustle if you touched it.”
“…?”
‘Is that so?’
Grace listened to Benjamin and looked at the small house. The dukedom’s household staff, who had arrived earlier, were efficiently tidying up inside.
The roof was a deep green, and the bricks were the color of roses or fallen leaves. It hadn’t been frequented for a long time, but ivy vines had grown beautifully over it, making it look like something out of a fairy tale.
If Grace had been in a better state, the place would have struck her as remarkably charming, the kind of spot that would catch her eye and win her heart.
“…It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
If Grace had ever imagined what her house would look like after a solitary life post-divorce from Benjamin, it would have been exactly like this.
It was probably a coincidence, but it was odd to discover that Benjamin already owned what she would consider her dream house.
‘But Benjamin said he’d never seen the lake before.’
Yet, he found this place quite easily as if it wasn’t his first visit, which meant it wasn’t.
Moreover, the house itself looked quite old.
‘Why would the Felton duke own such a secluded little house?’
Moreover in Viscount Linden estate’s remote forest. The location wasn’t prime, and it seemed it wouldn’t turn a profit if resold.
‘Was it purchased for future visits to Linden estate after getting married?’
This wasn’t a hastily prepared house for the current crisis.
“It seems the inside is almost completely set up.”
Benjamin spoke leisurely, leading the way. His steps were so slow that Grace could walk beside him easily.
As they entered under the roof, the sky became cloudy, and raindrops fell drop by drop, quickly turning into a downpour.
“It’s starting to rain.”
“There might be thunder too.”
Benjamin remarked as he looked at the sky. Grace glanced up at the quickly darkening sky and felt her spirits dim further.
‘It was fine this morning.’
It mirrored her mood. Unpredictable and wildly changing, Grace Felton was always being tossed around, ending up in a mess.
Benjamin watched Grace with a gloomy expression as she gazed up at the sky, then cautiously reached for the hem of her clothing. He hesitated, lips moving silently as he searched for words, and finally said,
“…My Lady, it’s getting chilly.”
The crackling sound of firewood burning in the fireplace inside reached them. Grace turned around.
“Is it alright to start a fire in the fireplace?”
“Yes, it’s been thoroughly cleaned.”
The fireplace needed a dust-free chimney to safely light a fire. Grace slowly approached the lit fireplace, surveying the interior.
‘It’s so clean…’
Even though the majority of the group who arrived earlier were knights and had cleaned the place, the fact that they could organize it this well suggested someone had regularly maintained the house.
Grace sat down in front of the fireplace, staring blankly at the flickering flames.
“Shall I show you to your room?”
“No, I think I prefer it here.”
Grace curled up in front of the fireplace. Only now did the heavy air settle on her, draping her in melancholy.
Benjamin slowly sat down beside her.
“…If it’s too much for you to hear now, I can tell you later.”
“Please, go ahead. I’m okay.”
It was just delaying the inevitable blow, no matter when she heard it. Better to face it now. Grace decided that with a heavy heart.
Benjamin observed Grace’s face and gestures, then began to speak slowly. The sound of a servant placing two cups of warm tea, his voice filled with concern, and the brutal truth he was about to disclose, all intertwined with the crackling of the fire, which seemed to burn away time itself.
“…and so, we’ve decided to proceed with the punishment as you would wish.”
Normally, it was right for the victim to decide the severity of the punishment, but this case was a bit special, it involved a crime within the family.
As expected, Grace couldn’t easily respond. Instead, she brought up a different memory.
“When I was little, my father would hold my sister and me in his arms in front of the fireplace and read us fairy tales.”
It was something she had once told Benjamin. He didn’t show surprise at Grace’s sudden shift in conversation, instead listened quietly.
“That day, it was pouring rain, and the thunder was loud.”
It was quite similar to today. It had been sunny in the morning, but then suddenly the rain poured down and by nightfall, thunder had begun. Both Grace and Gloria were afraid of the thunder and couldn’t sleep, so Viscount Linden put aside his work to sit in front of the fireplace and read them various fairy tales.
The Viscountess was busy tending to their sick brother, Gilbert.
“The truth is, I really hated that fairy tale. After hearing it, the other kids would tease me.”
“……”
“My hair didn’t resemble either my mother’s or my father’s. So, they would torment me, saying that the real daughter was stolen by a demon, and I was the child the demon left behind.”
Grace’s hair was a trait inherited from her maternal grandmother. The other children couldn’t have known that, and even if they did, they would’ve teased her for another reason anyway.
Moreover, Grace was a simple child with less attractive features compared to her parents and siblings, making her an easy target for bullying.
At first, Grace sought help from the adults. Initially, they scolded the children who teased her, but as the harassment continued, they began to tire and adopted an attitude of telling her to just ignore it.
Once the adults ignored her and Grace stopped reacting, the children deemed it boring and started calling her ‘Boring Grace.’
“Gilbert, my brother, seemed to ignore me getting bullied, but actually, he would secretly beat up the kids who bullied me.”
Gilbert often came home unexpectedly hurt. Despite the Viscountess’ shock and her persistent questioning, he would just pout and never give an answer.
He didn’t help Grace in front of others, always taking revenge on her bullies behind the scenes.
With each recollection from the past, Grace’s voice trembled more and more.
Grace’s room was away in the farthest corner. To others, it might have seemed like she was hidden away in shame, but in truth, it was the Viscount and Viscountess’s way of sparing her the stress of encountering visitors.
They weren’t perfect, but they loved Grace.
Her self-esteem had been chipped away by them at times, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t loved.
Her eyes quivered, her vision blurred with haze, her voice shook, and a heatwave rushed to her head.
“Was this love just worth ten million zens?”
Grace Felton, I wonder, if the love this woman had received and given to the Linden family her whole life was ultimately only worth ten million zens.
‘Do I even have the right to criticize?’
No matter that she had Grace’s memories, she wasn’t the real Grace. She was the one who had taken everything away from her.
