ITMWG 59

Chapter 59…

Barking.

“Nadia Vine! Are you going to keep me standing like this?!”

Amidst her daze, Melissa continued to call her with a loud voice. Nadia wondered if it was her own illusion, or was it because of the castle’s structure that the sound resonated so? Melissa’s voice was heard very clearly. Thinking that her voice would be heard not only by the employees of the main castle but also by the guests in the annex, Nadia could help but find it humiliating.

“I-, I’d have to go greet her first. That way she will shut her mouth.”

“Yes, madame.”

Marie didn’t seem to like Melissa’s rudeness, but she agreed that they needed to shut her up immediately.

“First of all, clothes… let’s start with putting clothes on!”

As a result of her and Altair engaging in ‘couple work’ since early morning, her appearance was a mess. She wanted to go out after washing and dressing up properly, but she couldn’t afford it because Melissa kept screaming. Still, thanks to Marie’s skillful hands, she was able to quickly get ready and leave the room. Her heart was pounding with anxiety as she hurried toward the entrance. Melissa. Melissa Vine. When Nadia left the Marquis of Vine, she thought she would never see her again. There was no need for her to find Melissa first, and no need for the said person to find her… She thought their  relationship was over forever… The random thoughts running through her head were interrupted only when she reached the front gate. It was due to the sight of Melissa, who had a very annoyed expression on her face, standing crookedly and confronting Pavel.

Melissa, who always wore fancy dresses and showed off her beautiful figure with luxurious adornments, looked very shabby.

“A distinguished guest is currently in Aylesford. If you make a fuss, you’ll be in trouble.”

At some point, Nadia couldn’t hear Melissa’s loud voice, so it seemed that Pavel had come out first to control the situation. Melissa was staring at him with a sullen expression on her face, as if she was very offended by Pavel’s firm attitude.

“Is the butler admonishing the young lady of a marquis household?”

“Right now, the lady’s behaviour is so undignified that she deserves to be admonished by the butler. This is Aylesford. Please behave with the righteous courtesy of a visitor.”

“W-what? Righteous courtesy?”

Melissa laughed and held up her hand in shock. She was ready to slap Pavel in the face at any moment. Pavel remained silent even though he clearly saw her menace. Though he gave her a series of admonitions because he couldn’t stand Melissa’s rudeness, it wasn’t something he should say to a nobleman. There was no way Pavel didn’t know that much, so it was clear that he said that from the beginning with the thought of risking getting hit.

N-no!

Melissa’s slap would be very harsh! Even at the Marquis of  Vine, there were many workers who fell into her merciless hands. She often lost her temper at Nadia and swung her hand at her… At that moment, a bad memory came back to Nadia’s mind and her face went white. She quickly blocked in front of Pavel, shutting her eyes tightly to get rid of the afterimage.

Melissa narrowed her eyes at her, still holding her hand up as Nadia abruptly intervened.

“Nadia, Nadia. You’re finally showing yourself? I sent you a letter, yet, you did not prepare to welcome me at all.”

“It was a letter sent unilaterally. I didn’t even reply, and yet you still came as you please…”

“As I please? You are my cousin. I came to see my cousin, but I have to ask for permission?”

Her shoulders flinched as Melissa mentioned she came to see her. ‘You came to see me?!’ was what Nadia wanted to ask her, but when she met Melissa’s fierce eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth. As if seeing through Nadia, Melissa snorted with a smug look on her face as if saying ‘thought so’. Before long, she pointed at Pavel standing behind her with the tip of her chin.

“Just step aside for a moment. I haven’t been able to give that arrogant guy a lesson yet.”

Those words brought Nadia to her senses. It wasn’t a day or two that Nadia was treated like this, but she couldn’t let the people of Aylesford be swayed by Melissa’s malice.

I am Baroness Aylesford. I am the mistress of these people.

Hence, she shouldn’t act cowardly like when she was in Marquis Vine. She needed to keep her stance and protect the people of Aylesford.

“Don’t do that. This is not the Vine Marquis, so you have no right to discipline the workers here. I will take care of it.”

“That’s right.”

Instead of stepping aside, Nadia extended her arms to protect Pavel. She could hear Pavel calling her cautiously from behind, but she ignored him with a determined look in her eyes. There was a glint in Melissa’s eyes, as if she was intrigued by the sight.

“Oh my, you are so excited to be the madame, aren’t you?”

Melissa let out a laugh and lowered her hand. The moment when Nadia straightened her posture and felt relieved that the situation had somehow come to an end. Melissa’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“Then I will have to make the master pay the price for failing to discipline her subordinate.”

Without leaving her a single second to refute, Melissa raised her hand and quickly swung it. Nadia didn’t even have time to dodge the sudden attack. At that moment, memories at the Marquis of Vine passed through Nadia’s mind. Her body stiffened at the memory of Melissa throwing a tantrum and grabbing her hair. It was so fast that she didn’t even get the chance to close her eyes. However, the moment Nadia thought that she would definitely land herself a hit, instead of feeling pain, a huge wall appeared in front of her eyes. No, when she looked more closely, it wasn’t a wall, but a person’s back.

Altair?

“Argh!”

At the same time, Melissa’s scream pierced her ears. As her view was completely blocked, she peeked out from behind to examine the situation. It was then that she saw Altair had strangled Melissa’s wrist with his characteristic expressionless face.

Melissa lifted her head, filled with anger, but then froze as she met with Altair’s cold gaze.

“You tell me…”

With an indifferent voice, Altair spoke to Melissa, whose mouth was wide agape in daze, and his grip on her hand tightened.

“Agh!”

“What on earth are you doing here, in Aylesford?”

“Ahh! It hurts! Let go of me… Ugh!”

Altair released Melissa by shoving her away as she struggled to get out of his grasp. The tremendous force caused Melissa to stagger backwards and land on her buttocks. Melissa glared at Altair, grinding her teeth with disgrace as she sat on the ground.

“For a knight to treat a lady like this, as expected of a crude country knight. Get the lord! I need an apology for this ignorant behavior right now!”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. I am the lord.”

“…what?”

“I am the Lord of Aylesford.”

“You are the lord…then…You are Nadia’s husband, Baron Aylesford?”

“Nonsense. I’m sure Baron Aylesford was a crippled and ugly man. There’s no way he could be this good-looking… No way…”

The faces of the Aylesford people, who were standing in their places, minding their own business, distorted as she started bad-mouthing their proud lord in front of them, calling him crippled and ugly. However, despite facing the unexpected situation, Melissa didn’t even seem to mind the gaze of those people at all. But again, she was never the kind of person to be minding that kind of stuff to begin with.

“It seems like the nasty rumours spread by that bastard Balhail have gone all the way to the capital.”

Altair stood crookedly, smoothing his face with his hands.

“Unfortunately, I am not crippled, nor have I ever been called ugly.”

Although he had a cold and scary impression, it was an objective fact no one could deny that Altair was a handsome man. Melissa looked at Nadia in stagger as she struggled to get her words out.

“Y-you-you…! How could you marry such a handsome man…?! Nonsense!”

Before Nadia got married into Aylesford, Melissa was very excited when talking about her husband. She seemed to be delighted by the fact that her cousin, who was an eyesore to her, was marrying a man who was rumoured to be crippled and ugly. Nadia only found out the rumours were completely false once she got to Aylesford, so it was understandable that Melissa must still have held firm belief of the rumours being true.

Melissa looked back and forth between Nadia and Altair, muttering about how absurd this seemed. Altair, who was quietly watching the scene, snorted and wrapped Nadia shoulders, then turned around and walked into the castle.

“H-hey!”

Melissa, who was abandoned, shouted in shock.

“What am I supposed to do if you leave like that?! Hey! Hey!”

Altair stopped walking at the ear-piercing voice and turned his head to look at Melissa. As soon as their eyes met, her shoulders flinched and she stopped yelling.

“Then, what do you want me to do?”

“W-what are you saying? If an honoured guest arrives, you must politely invite them inside….”

“Are people who recklessly barge in somebody’s house considered honoured guests? It would be more appropriate if it is called an uninvited guest.”

“B-but I’m Nadia’s cousin! I even sent a letter!”

“Has my wife given you permission to visit?”

“Sh-she hasn’t but-…”

Melissa, who had been shrinking under Altair’s sharp eyes, slowly turned her gaze to the side and looked at Nadia. She had been intimidated so far, but as soon as she saw Nadia, she became confident again.

T/n: nouveau riche – people who have recently acquired wealth, typically those perceived as ostentatious or lacking in good taste.

“Is that all you have to offer? Pathetic.”

Altair clicked his tongue and instructed Pavel.

“Just give her a room in a separate building. It’s annoying to keep hearing noisy barking.”

“Barking …?!”

Melissa protested against his harsh words, but both Altair and Pavel completely ignored her as if they could not hear her voice.

“But ‘he’ is still in the annex…Would it be okay?”

“It’s actually a good thing. If a certain someone keeps barking like that, he might get sick of it and stop holding on and leave quickly, right?”

When Altair turned to Melissa again and gave her a fierce look, Melissa, who was fussing, flinched and shrunk her shoulders.

“You.”

“Ye-yes?”

“Once you get to your room, keep squealing like you do now. That’s the price you have to pay for coming without notice. Do you understand?”

Melissa was soon ushered into the guest room of the annex. As soon as she was left alone, she carried out Altair’s orders.

“Aaaah! It’s so annoying!”

Of course, it was not an act out of the intention to follow Altair’s order.

“What on earth?? This…This is completely different!”

Melissa started trembling in anger and throwing random objects around her room. She did not know where the frustration came from, but she couldn’t stand it. She felt like she was about to explode.

Where is the crippled and ugly baron?? Where is the miserable cowardly Nadia Vine??