IKMHITM 9

࣪ ִֶָ☾. Chapter 09 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

“A match?”

Madame Persona gazed at her with watery, clouded eyes, as if she couldn’t understand what the problem was. Eve had a strange sense of deja vu, as if she had seen those very eyes before.

I feel like I’ve met this woman somewhere before.

She wasn’t entirely certain, however. Eve calmly opened her mouth.

“Madame Persona. I appreciate the gesture, but it hasn’t even been a week since I got married, and—”

And I literally killed that husband with my own hands, you know?

“Forget about Serian. He was a man who lacked the capability from the very start.”

By Eve’s standards, Serian had been plenty crazy himself.

She didn’t even want to imagine a groom with more ‘capability’ than that!

“Thank you, but I must decline.”

“This is not something you can simply decline.”

Madame Persona stated firmly in a monotonous yet resolute tone.

“Leaving behind an heir is the duty of the head of the house. Belper Mansion absolutely requires a master. One in whom the blood of Arno flows.”

“Since we’re on the subject, aren’t there any other masters besides me?”

“Other masters, you say?”

“I just thought perhaps there might be someone more suitable……”

The wrinkles on Madame Persona’s forehead, which were already deep to begin with, furrowed even further.

“For an outsider to inherit Belper Mansion, they must have the blood of Arno injected into their body. Have you not heard the origin of that blood?”

“That they have to extract blood from the predecessor’s heart……”

Damn it. As she spoke, a wave of despair washed over Eve.

“Far be it from me to lecture, but our new master appears quite young. Would you truly sacrifice your life for the mansion?”

“……No.”

Yet, Eve refused to give up on a technicality.

“Still, in a great family like the Arno, surely there must be other eligible candidates.”

Just thinking of Serian’s two younger brothers—weren’t they part of the direct line? Since they were originally people of the Arno anyway, Eve wouldn’t have had to go out of her way to have blood extracted from a heart.

“From the moment they abandoned Belper Mansion, they ceased to be Arno.”

“What do you mean by that……?”

“From the moment Lady Eve became the master of the mansion, they were stripped of their qualifications. The blood of Arno flowing in their veins has been tainted. They no longer dare qualify to bear the surname Arno.”

Madame Persona raised a wrinkled finger and pointed straight at Eve’s chest.

“At present, only Lady Eve, who has passed the mansion’s ‘test,’ is the true Arno.”

In aristocratic society, marriage was a contract between two families. A woman was considered to have ‘transferred’ to her husband’s household through marriage, and she rarely ever returned to her natal home.

Except for Reina.

“Brother Martel. Have you been well all this while?”

Alighting from the carriage with her sons, Reina gathered the hem of her skirt and curtsied. It was the proper etiquette due to the head of the house.

Due to their father’s failing health, the Doreville family had already been taken over by the eldest son, Martel.

“Reina, you’re the one who must have had a hard time traveling such a long way. It’s been a while for my nephews too, and look how tall and dashing they’ve grown!”

As he spoke, Martel signaled his butler. At the butler’s gesture, the servants swiftly swarmed around Julian and Lucian.

Some began unloading luggage from the carriage, while the maids spoke up in sweet, honeyed tones.

“Young Master Julian. Young Master Lucian. Must you be hungry?”

“By the master’s orders, a grand feast has been prepared.”

“Please follow us.”

Julian and Lucian were both at an age where their appetites were insatiable.

Having traveled by carriage for several days without a proper meal, they fell head over heels for the temptation.

Naturally, only Reina and Martel were left behind.

“It’s been a while, so let’s take a walk together.”

Reina slightly lowered her head to indicate her consent.

“I heard the gist of it by sending someone to father, who is currently recuperating. But I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”

A few months ago, Reina’s husband, Marquis Heiros Arno, had passed away. Naturally, Heiros’s eldest son, Serian, was slated to inherit the position.

Any ordinary noble would have seen Serian become the next Marquis Arno. As the marquis’s birth mother, Reina would have been called the ‘Dowager Marchioness’ and continued to reside at Belper Mansion.

That is, if they were ordinary nobles.

“What on earth does it mean that Serian’s ‘succession’ failed?”

Before answering Martel’s question, Reina asked for his understanding.

“When I married into the Arno, I signed a confidentiality agreement. The same applies to Father. I must ask you to understand that the details I can share are limited.”

“It’s fine. Just explain whatever you happen to know.”

“It has been a long time since the Arno engaged in activities that draw the public eye. Careless people often look down on them, whispering that the Arno have fallen from grace. However, the more cautious and sharp-eared folks have never lost their respect for the Arno. The Arno may look as though they are nowhere to be found, yet they are everywhere. They grip an unfathomable, mysterious influence and power, and they have never once let go.”

Martel furrowed his brow.

“Surely you aren’t planning to spend your time boasting about your husband’s family now of all times.”

“To wield power capable of striking fear into others requires a commensurate level of resolve. The Arno test that ‘resolve’ through a very special method. Serian failed to pass that test……”

Reina’s lips trembled, and tears pooled in her eyes.

Martel felt a pang of sympathy, but he still couldn’t make sense of it.

“If he failed the test? What happened to Serian? Why didn’t he come along with you?”

“Serian got married. However, his rights were transferred to his spouse……”

“What are you talking about? Are you saying your daughter-in-law forcibly seized them from Serian? Is that even possible?”

“I can explain no further. Please forgive me for lacking the eloquence.”

Has she been put under house arrest by her husband or something? Martel was dying of curiosity. He was naturally a man who loved a good mystery.

Yet Reina brushed past the fretful Martel.

“Brother. Please remember this. Here in Doreville, we agreed to the confidentiality agreement demanded by the Arno.”

Martel, of course, had also read that contract. It was a mandatory step he had to take upon inheriting the family.

The contract sent by the Arno seemed reasonable enough. Notably, it did not demand the usual dowry typically requested of a bride; instead, it sent a massive fortune of gifts to the Doreville side.

In exchange, however, the Arno attached several bizarre conditions.

That was the ‘confidentiality agreement’ Reina kept referring to.

1. Upon arriving at Belper Mansion, the bride shall not utter, hint at, or leave in writing anything she has seen, heard, or experienced outside the mansion. This requirement applies equally to the bride’s direct descendants.

2. The bride’s family—the Count Doreville household—shall not proactively question or interfere with the Arno family’s traditions, norms, customs, or rituals. If necessary, they must wait until the bride or the Arno family brings it up first.

3. As a rule, the existence and contents of this contract shall not be leaked to the outside world under any circumstances. However, exceptions shall be made if authorized by the Arno.

4. In the unavoidable event that the bride’s direct descendant fails to succeed the Arno, the bride and her children, excluding the eldest son, must immediately vacate Belper Mansion. Depending on the number of children, gold coins………… and commercial zone commission rights for a period of years shall be distributed…………

5. Following eviction, the bride and her descendants may not use the ‘surname Arno’ for any purpose other than proof of origin.

6. There are no exceptions to the above clauses. Under any circumstances!!

7. All consequences and disadvantages arising from a failure to fulfill the conditions of this contract shall rest entirely upon the bride and the Doreville family.

Truly suspicious contents, were they not?

Nevertheless, Martel’s father had signed the contract representing ‘Doreville.’ Inheriting his dying wish, Martel was bound to abide by the terms of the agreement.

“The Arno are no longer associated with us.”

Reina said it as if driving a final nail into a coffin.

“Do not wonder, do not try to find out, and simply forget. That is the best and only course for Doreville.”

Martel took his younger sister’s advice only halfway.

Martel himself gave up on digging any further into the Arno. Instead, he decided to enlist a different sort of assistant to probe into the matter on his behalf.

Back at Belper Mansion.

Eve was left at a complete loss by Madame Persona’s proposal to arrange a match.

“I told you, I have no thoughts of remarrying.”

“This is not remarrying. I mean to introduce a ‘man’ necessary to produce an heir.”

“……Pardon?”

This lady possessed the very picture of conservative looks, yet her ideas were far too progressive!

“I am the administrator here. I will assist the new master in the process of ‘legitimately’ succeeding Belper Mansion and the Arno family. To do so, however, we must comply with the kingdom’s laws to a certain extent.”

Madame Persona’s reasoning made sense. The kingdom did not recognize a woman’s right of succession on her own.

“Lord Serian, the ‘legitimate’ successor by societal standards, is scheduled to be reported as living in seclusion within the mansion. The stated reason will be agoraphobia and nervous exhaustion.”

“Uh, um……”

“Since we will be planting the rumors, the new master will not be burdened with any troublesome work.”

Madame Persona rattled it off smoothly, as if reading from a manual.

“The longer the period of purported seclusion drags on, the more suspicion it will draw. A young newlywed couple shut up in a mansion without a child being born would look rather odd, would it not? I strongly recommend that our new master conceive a child within the three years.”

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･