YNSYM 8

Chapter 8

My uncle’s eyes flickered wildly, like a candle flame in a gust of wind. Remaining in that state, he gnawed fruitlessly at his lip until—as if making up his mind—he violently ruffled the back of his hair and opened his mouth.

“Fine! So what if he hits a bit! What’s the big deal about that? There are tons of women out there who live getting beaten up without even becoming a marchioness, so you should be grateful you at least get to be a marchioness! And those rumors about someone being beaten to death are all nonsense! It’s true he’s got bad hands, but he isn’t the type of man who could actually kill anyone!”

Haa. Unbelievable.

And yet, a tiny part of me had still held onto a shred of hope. So my uncle really knew everything all along. Even so, he had insisted on marrying me off to a bastard like that.

‘Without caring whether I was beaten to death or not. Just for money.’

Suddenly, my uncle grabbed my hand tightly. Just as I was about to shake him off, he held on with a firm grip and began to plead.

“Since you know everything now, I’ll be honest with you. As you found out, it’s true the house was put up for auction. But what’s done is done—what can we do? We have to clean up the mess first. So, what I’m saying is…”

My uncle gripped my hand even tighter as he continued.

“Please marry the Marquis. Strictly speaking, this isn’t just for me; it’s for you, too. Isn’t that house actually more precious to you than to me? It’s a house steeped in memories of my older brother—your father. But if the Marquis doesn’t help us, that house will end up in the hands of good-for-nothing thugs. You wouldn’t want that either, right?”

My uncle’s eyes shone with desperation as he looked at me.

To be honest, he wasn’t wrong. Strictly speaking, I was the one who wanted to protect that house far more than he did. It held the memories of my late father, and in itself, the house felt like a father to me. So, if only to save that house, it would be right for me to marry the Marquis. Knowing that, my uncle was likely trying to persuade me with these exact words.

Did my inner thoughts show on my face? Exhaling a brief sigh of relief, my uncle nodded repeatedly and wrapped both of his hands around mine.

“Thank you, Elowen. Thank you so much. Still, it’s not all bad news. Once you marry the Marquis, all our problems will be solved, and you’ll become a proper marchioness. I’m sure your father in heaven will be overjoyed—”

“Would he really?”

At my sudden question, the gentle curve of my uncle’s eyes instantly turned cold. But without avoiding his gaze, I looked him dead in the eye and said:

“It’s true that the house is precious to me, just as you said, Uncle. And I don’t want to lose it to anyone, either. But!”

I pulled my hand out of his grip and continued with even greater firmness.

“If I marry a human being like the Marquis just for the sake of that house, that would be what truly saddens my father. Father was…”

“…”

“…the kind of person who cherished me more than anything else in the world.”

Yes, I was certain. I knew this was the choice that was truly for my father.

‘Because Father always told me: Nothing in this world is worth protecting if it means ruining yourself in the process. So if you ever have to protect something, always put yourself first.’

Having finally made up my mind, I firmly declared to my uncle once more:

“So, I will not marry the Marquis. Clean up your own mess, Uncle. Stop asking your young niece to clean up the shit you’ve dropped.”

Having said my piece, I turned away coldly. However, taking even a single step proved difficult.

“You ungrateful little vermin, how dare you!”

Hurling curses, my uncle rushed forward and blocked my path, striking my cheek with a loud crack. He hit me so hard that my cheek stung as if it were on fire. But it didn’t end there. As I stood momentarily dazed from the heavy blow, he grabbed a handful of my hair and began forcefully dragging me along.

“I’ve fed you and clothed you all this time, and what? Clean up my own shit? No! That is never going to happen! I am taking you to the Marquis right this instant!”

“No! I won’t go! Never!”

I struggled with all my might, even scratching the arm holding my hair.

“Y-You little bitch!”

Thanks to that, I barely managed to break free from his grip. But just as I was about to hurriedly dash out of the garden—

‘Ah…!’

My feet came to a sudden halt. I had no choice. My head was spinning, my entire body felt flushed, and everything suddenly grew distant. I couldn’t move a single step.

‘No.’

I tried frantically to hold onto my consciousness. An ominous feeling—that if I collapsed here, everything would be over—tried to force me to stay upright. But that was nothing more than my own wishful thinking. The harder I tried to snap out of it, the blurrier my vision became, and my legs gave out.

And finally—thud!

The world that had been straight in front of me tilted completely in an instant.

Just like that night on the 25th, I lost consciousness once again.

What woke me up, without fail, was a scent.

The autumn forest scent created by the soot of burning logs in a fireplace, the smell of paper wafting from books packed tightly into bookshelves, and the scent of the blanket wrapping around me woke me from the deep darkness that had consumed me.

“Ugh.”

I slowly opened my eyes with a faint groan. Sure enough, my sense of smell hadn’t betrayed me. Opening my eyes halfway to look around, the scenery I had smelled was spread out before me just as expected. Yet despite that, what bewildered me was—

‘Where on earth am I?’

This place was entirely unfamiliar. From the bed I was lying on, to the large bookshelf across from me, to the fireplace warming the still-chilly night air—all of these were things I had detected beforehand through their scent, but every single one was alien.

‘It looks like a guest room. Did I suddenly collapse and my uncle moved me here?’

However, my uncle was nowhere to be seen. No, it wasn’t just him. Inside the tightly closed room, there was only the crackling sound of burning logs; it seemed no one else was there.

Just then—creak.

Amidst the sound of burning wood, the sound of an inner door opening deeper in the room pierced through. And as soon as the door opened, an intense yet familiar scent hit my nose.

‘No way…’

In that moment, a silent gasp burst from between my lips. It couldn’t be helped. The person approaching, bathed entirely in such a harsh scent, was…

“Oh, are you finally awake?”

None other than the Marquis—the very man I had wanted so desperately to avoid.

In an instant, a chill ran down my spine, and my body shuddered. Simultaneously, a sharp instinct surged through me: I had to get out of here right now. But it was useless. Even when I put all my strength into it, my limp body only squirmed faintly, refusing to move as I willed it.

‘Why is this happening? Why do I have no strength in my body?’

Meanwhile, the Marquis—dressed in a loosely tied robe as he strolled over—stopped in front of the table next to me. He glanced down at me, then tilted a brandy bottle over a transparent crystal glass and spoke.

“What a relief. If you were still knocked out, I was thinking I’d have to slap your cheek a few times to wake you, but this worked out well. Well, looking at your condition, it seems the drug hasn’t completely worn off yet, but as long as you have some degree of consciousness, it’ll do.”

Although my body wouldn’t obey me and my vision was blurry, I heard it clearly amidst the haze—that chilling phrase, even at a passing glance.

‘Drug? What on earth does that mean? Wait. Did he… drug me? Is that why I collapsed like this…?’

Horrifyingly, my guess was correct. After setting down the glass of brandy he had brought to his lips, the next thing the Marquis reached for was a tiny brown bottle sitting at the edge of the table.

“Do you know how much a tiny thing like this costs? No matter how effective it is, it costs nearly its weight in gold. Even so, I bought this aphrodisiac for that price because I had to make sure.”

Deep wrinkles formed around the corners of the Marquis’s eyes as he stared down at me.

“To see whether or not you are a noble woman who wouldn’t lose her composure even after taking a drug like this. I’ve been married three times so far, and I’ve been fooled by women every single time. It would be a real problem if I met another woman who was pure on the outside but filthy on the inside. But fortunately…”

Pausing for a moment, the Marquis slowly stepped toward me holding the brown bottle. He then bent his knees to meet my eyes, stroked my cheek with a hand steeped in that harsh scent, and continued:

“You passed my test. With the drug’s effects, you must have wanted to grab any man and satisfy your lust like a bitch in heat. Yet even when you drank the spiked champagne, all you did was rush back home, and even now, you look quite demure.”