In the Middle of The Night in the Duke’s Residence - Chapter 85

New Facts (6)

“Don’t worry. Because if I don’t sell you to someone else, I can sell you to the store where I worked. If it were you, I would make more money than marrying you somewhere else.”

Gehrig called the maid and told her to bring medicine. He regretted putting his hand on Aris’ face, the source of his ine. So he told Aris that next time he would hit her on the stomach or the leg instead of the obvious face. That was the world Gehrig lived in. How people without power and wealth govern others with violence. It was a world Aris had never heard of, but she realized right away that it was the place she had fallen to now.

Gehrig dragged Aris into her room, locked her inside, and bolted the door.

“If you want to be treated like a person, write a letter to Duke Verdick, the Crown Prince, or other men you know. Make them want to buy you at a high price!”

“…….”

Aris sat pitifully on the floor of the darkened room because the maid didn’t even light the lamp. If she was going to be locked up anyway, would it have been better for her to be captured by the Crown Prince, then she would still have been the Empress and she might have been better off than she is now. She would not have been sold in a store and trembled in fear that she might be held in the arms of another man every day.

“Older Brother, Leon……. I want to see you.”

Aris hugged her knees and buried her face. She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing from her eyes. She stayed up all night thinking about what to do next, how she could get revenge, and who would be good to contact to get out of here, Verdick or the Crown Prince and finally fell asleep.

º º º

Aris sat on the sofa with an expressionless face and out-of-focus eyes. The dress she was wearing was sent from Duke Verdick’s residence, so it was as glamorous as the ones she had worn before. Since Verdick sent both the ring on her finger and the necklace on her neck, her appearance had not changed from that of ‘Aristasia Verdick’.

But it has already been a week since Gehrig put her in front of people like that. They glanced at her with lowly eyes, and exchanged conversation with Gehrig. The person sitting in front of Gehrig was the sixth guest today. Contrary to the expectation that Verdick would take her, no news came, and he also returned empty-handed from the Crown Prince. Gehrig half-thought he had a chance and half-thought that something had happened.

Gehrig, who glanced at the pocket the man had clasped in his hand, repeated his words to the previous men who had e to visit.

“The Crown Prince gave me five times more gold than this, but I turned it down because I wanted to live with my daughter!”

Hearing these words, it would seem like a touching paternal love who would not hand over his daughter even for a large sum of money the Crown Prince gave. But those who saw Gehrig’s greedy eyes and behavior would easily infer the meaning of those words.

‘If you want to take Aristasia, bring 5 times more gold than this.’

As this scene continued to repeat, Aris sat down with an expressionless face. As it was too obvious what he would repeatedly say again.

More people flocked after hearing the rumors, but neither Evan nor Leon were among them. Most of the ladies e to ridicule that Aris has fallen into the abyss, and the men, who were rejected by Aris, e to humiliate her for trampling on their own pride. Their number was only increasing.

Ironically, the most delightful among the guests were the priests of the Holy Empire. The priests, who came to take Aris, offered a very high price, perhaps they would even use her as a sacrifice. Gehrig wondered how high the priests would offer, but when they offered a higher price than the Crown Prince, he agreed immediately.

So he brought Aris and tried to hand her over to them, but as soon as the priests saw her, they found that she had been struck by Gehrig.

“I can’t give all the money I told you about.”

“Oh, no, you can’t! I think my daughter accidentally bumped into me. How can I…….”

“Shouldn’t we also use our holy powers to heal it?”

“Isn’t that something that should be treated? It would be better if you just left it anyway…….”

A light of contempt flashed in the priest’s eyes as the garbage spoke more garbage words. Even though they must have been doing the same thing as human trafficking anyway, it felt like the priests were shooting holy power with just their eyes.

“First, let’s think about what to do after we use our holy powers to heal. The amount will change, so we have to listen to the Pope’s opinion.”

“…… All right.”

The priest uses their holy power to heal Aris, and even though the wound on her cheek has subsided, the power continues to enter. The priest, who thought this was strange, asked Gehrig.

“Are there any other scars on her cheek?”

“What? Oh no. She might have bumped into something while walking by.”

“How could a well-educated noble like Lady Aristasia make such a mistake? Besides, it shouldn’t consume that much power.”

Gehrig couldn’t say any more. What can he say, when the money is tight and people seldom offer her a high price, he gets angry and uses his hand.

The priests who had been treating Aris stopped the treatment only after she was all healed.