In the Middle of The Night in the Duke’s Residence - Chapter 84

New Facts (5)

“Yes, I get it. I’ll step back, Aristasia.”

“Yes.”

Now, she was no longer ‘Lady Aristasia’, but ‘Aristasia’. It occurred to her that she was really not a Verdick.

“Get in my carriage. I’ll take you home.”

“You don’t even know where it is. I will go in Verdick’s carriage.”

“Then let me follow Verdick’s carriage.”

“…….”

“Get ready to go.”

“…… yes.”

Aris suddenly left Duke Verdick’s residence. She wasn’t kicked out, but she was being dragged, so she wouldn’t be in a good mood. At Evan’s instructions, all of Aris’ clothes and jewelry were packed. There was a lot of luggage, so several carriages shared the luggage and set off.

And the place where the horse’s feet stopped was a fairly small-sized mansion. It was a small size pared to Duke Verdick’s residence, but it was a huge house for only a gigolo to live in. With Evan’s consideration, there was a butler and two maids so that Aris did not feel unfortable.

While the butler and maids moved and organized the luggage, Gehrig, who had a parlor for the first time in his life, sat there with the Crown Prince and Aris who followed. He yielded the highest seat to the Crown Prince, and sat down next to him.

“I won’t talk much. I’m going to take Lady Aristasia.”

“I’m sorry, but I just found my family, so I can’t send her right away.”

“She has lived without you so far, so she can think of it as nothing.”

“I’m sorry.”

It was surprising that Gehrig refused. Feeling a little reluctant a moment ago, Aris thought that Gehrig would immediately accept the Crown Prince’s request. But if he refuses, does he really consider her to be his family?

She was embarrassed because she thought that only Evan and Leon of Verdick were her family, but now she thought it would be nice if they could bee a family like Evan or Leon.

“Usually the bride pays the dowry when they get married, but how heartbroken would you be to marry off Lady Aristasia.”

The prince held out a pocket full of gold coins as if to reveal his greed for his Aris, but Gehrig pushed it away. While the Crown Prince’s forehead was full of wrinkles due to that action, Aris’s face straightened out. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like she would be sold to the Crown Prince.

“…… Think it carefully.”

“Yes.”

The Crown Prince was eventually forced to leave the mansion without gaining much. Aris thought she was really lucky. It is sad that she has to leave Verdick, but it was useless as she still does not want to marry the Crown Prince and he still hold her weakness. It wouldn’t be a weakness for her to have slept with the Verdick brothers, as it would be widely reported in the newspapers that they weren’t her siblings. It may be a problem that they have lived like a family in the past, but legally, they wouldn’t have dared to touch Duke Verdick or the Sword Master that much.

“Aristasia.”

“…… yes.”

However, she could not be accustomed to being respectful to a man who she knew nothing about, and could not think of as a nobleman at all.

“Tell Duke Verdick. How much money the Crown Prince offered.”

“What are you saying now…….”

“He’ll have to offer a bigger sum of money to take you away!”

“…….”

“Ah, why don’t they offer their sister that much money? Should I have just passed you on to the Crown Prince….?”

As Gehrig spoke in a very regretful voice, Aris was momentarily lost. Aris, who soon regained herself, sighed that she was mistaken in her thought.

“…… I didn’t think you’re going to take me.”

Even if he took her away, wouldn’t she be vulnerable again to the Crown Prince? No matter how much everyone knew that the Verdick brothers and Aris were not siblings, it was unlikely that the Crown Prince would let them go easily.

Rather, it seemed that it would be better for her to distance herself from Duchy Verdick. Of course, this was an optimistic outlook, but Aris was worried that she would be forgotten by Evanstein or Leonhardt.

“I thought I made a good fortune.”

It seems that he is already thinking of using her own marriage as an excuse, despite having received a mansion, butler, maids and numerous household items from Verdick, so anger soared to the top of her head.

“I’m not going to get married. Don’t waste your energy on useless things.”

“Haha, Aristasia. Ha, Aristasia is it. Even the name is too noble. But I’m not going to change your name to something like Aris. Only then will it be worthwhile for you to be a child of a nobleman, and of the Duchy.”

With a cynical smile, Gehrig leaned against the wall and looked at Aris sarcastically.

“I don’t know how you grew up as a great noble from a young age, but the world is not that easy. Even if you don’t want to get married, if I consented, you have to get married. That is the right parents have.”

“Pffp, if I was young, I might have been intimidated by that story, but don’t you know that even a parent cannot do anything that goes against the child’s opinion as an adult? They’ll point at me for not following my parents’ opinions, but I’ll point my finger at you.”

She may be told that she was still thinking of herself as a noble, or that she does not know her place, but it was nothing pared to the ‘woman who slept with her older brother and younger brother’ that she would have heard if she had been in Verdick. Words like that won’t leave a small scratch on Aris’s heart.

“Not everyone wants to file a marriage registration. Especially if they’re a nice-looking, noble woman like you, there are many people who will be satisfied with just locking you in a closet and bed you when they feel like it.”

“Did you know it’s a crime?”

As Aris questioned him, Gehrig slapped her on the cheek without hesitation.

“I know it’s a crime, but don’t you know that you, not a noble, should not speak like that to your father?”

“…….”

The white hand wrapped around her tingling cheek. Her head was getting dizzy, it was the first time she had ever been hit by someone, so she couldn’t get her head together.