And, the next most likely suspect was Elise’s mother who was currently at an abbey.
‘Stupid Elise’s mo…’
Rubica couldn’t continue the rest. The woman had volunteered to live a hard life at the abbey to not ruin her children’s future after her husband’s death. There was no need to curse her as well. And, to be honest, Rubica could even understand her.
She had paid for her failure to manage the family’s revenue with her husband’s death and the destruction of her family. In a way, it was only right for her to advise her daughter to avoid extravagance and think of jewels as mere rocks in order to stop her from meeting a fate like hers.
‘But you should have told her to hesitate a hundred times when buying jewels with her own money but accept jewels given by others. Why did you give her a sense of honor? It is okay to forget that sometimes, especially when you are poor and burdened.’
It might sound strange, but the world gave more chances to thick-faced people than to good-natured people. Elise had been educated well and had a kind nature, but Rubica now had to pity her for that. She didn’t know if she was supposed to laugh or cry.
Madam, the duke wants to see you.
Carl’s voice reached her and woke her up, and Rubica’s hands stopped in the middle of embroidering. Edgar could just knock and come in as usual, why was he asking for her opinion?
This was his territory, he could do anything he wanted here. Why was he suddenly pretending to care about her opinion?
Can’t I see him later?
Although Rubica said that, she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She thought Edgar would just come in no matter what she said just like he always did. But, to her surprise, after Carl delivered what she said, she heard an ‘I see’ and the sound of him going back.
‘Oh, no.’
Had that been too harsh of her? She didn’t mean to refuse him that much. Although she had been very angry yesterday and gloomy in the morning, now she was feeling much better. She had decided to not get more than what she deserved. But now, she acted like a meanie without meaning it.
‘He’ll come back soon.’
Edgar wasn’t the type of person who cared about other’s feeling. Rubica continued to work on her embroidery and waited for him, but he didn’t come back till dinnertime.
‘Does he think I’m very mad?’
It was possible. She had skipped breakfast and her afternoon stroll, and he hadn’t shown himself to her at all.
‘Of course, there’s no way he cared about my feelings.’
If he really was worried about her, he should have put everything aside to come to her. However, he just left her all day to her sadness and gloominess and just worked at his office.
That was the kind of guy he was. To him, nothing was more important than work. Maybe he thought it was even more important than himself.
‘… but.’
He had asked for her opinion and didn’t ask twice when she said no. Now she was the one who was worried, so she went down to the dining hall the moment the bell was struck.
During dinnertime, Edgar either came to her to go down together or went down first to meet her there.
But today, only the empty table alone welcomed her.
‘He used to eat alone before I came.’
Maybe she was going to be forced to eat dinner alone just like breakfast. Too late, Rubica regretted it. Maybe she had offended Edgar too much. Although they were not in love, they had to live together, so she wanted to be on good terms with him.
Although he had a mouth that said lots of problematic things, he wasn’t ill-hearted. Rubica regretted complaining to him too much.
‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about it.’
She had been the one who refused to see him first. She thought there was nothing she could do if it angered Edgar, and he didn’t want to see her face anymore.
She sat down on her chair and drank some water.
Your Grace, what should we do? Will you eat together if His Grace comes down?
No, I want to eat first.
It looked like he wasn’t going to come down, so she didn’t want to wait and become hungry and miserable. Previously, she had played some kind of pride game with him, but now it looked so foolish.
She decided to be realistic by taking care of herself. There was nothing more important than that.
‘But still, eating alone is no fun.’
She was poking her entrée when she heard a stumping sound from behind. She looked back in surprise, and Edgar was coming into the hall.
He was surprised to see Rubica was already there. Then, his face hardened at finding out she was already eating without him.
‘You didn’t even wait?’
Rubica thought he was about to scold her like that. She was going to smile awkwardly and say she was sorry for what she did earlier, but Edgar sat down without saying anything.
As soon as he sat down, aperitif and entrée were brought to him even though he said nothing.
He didn’t look at her direction as if he was determined, and it started to feel quite awkward to talk to him first. Apologizing was only possible when the other person was showing the willingness to accept it. So, Rubica just followed Edgar’s example and started to eat quietly.
Edgar said nothing as he ate his entrée and then his main dish. Rubica was feeling really nervous.
She was thinking of talking about the weather or the flowers she had seen while walking, but he looked so serious that she dismissed the idea.
‘Why is he so angry? I decided to give up in the end.’
Rubica thought it was a little cold of him to treat her like that. But she comforted herself, saying thinking like that was too emotional.
They were married because they had had no choice in the first place, and she had no affection toward him.
She just thought about how to run away from the mansion as soon as possible in every waking moment.
‘… and I’m also getting my runaway money.’
Carl had made her an account in the Jackal Bank and deposited her money including the trust fund for Angela.
Now that money was going to be safe even after the war, but Rubica couldn’t be relieved with just that.
Someday, she was going to find a good excuse, go to a bank that dealt with Jackal Bank, find some of the money, and hide it nearby.
‘I also want to find Arman.’
Her lead about Arman was too small, so she could only worry about what to do. She was worried that her memories of him might start to fade.
Rubica.
They were now eating ice cream with fruits as the dessert as if it were only natural. Edgar probably hated sweet things and cold things since he lifted his fork to get a piece of one of the few fruits he liked.
I’m sorry to interfere with this matter, but about the budget you will use this year…
Rubica widened her eyes as they had already finished talking about the budget. They even had a war before agreeing to get mana quartz as usual.
‘Oh, is it about that thirty thousand Gold?’
Rubica thought he was about to say he was going to give her some of the private money in front of all the watching eyes.
Generous husband.
That was what people were going to call him if he talked about it in front of them instead of doing it in private, and she was going to be an extravagant wife who wasn’t good enough for such a husband.
Was that how he was getting his revenge for being rejected?
But to Rubica, it wasn’t bad at all. She rather welcomed any kind of bad name.
Rubica put down her spoon of ice cream and was ready to reply that she was grateful for his generosity and she had spent money without thinking because of her foolishness.
Let’s not get mana quartz this year.
Rubica’s lips, that had just started to move, stopped. She wasn’t the only one who was frozen by that announcement. The maid who was carrying dishes and the servant who was bringing the water to wash their hands after dinner, they all stopped at once. Silence fell in the hall.
‘What, what is he talking about?’
Rubica wasn’t the only one shocked. Carl and Ann, who knew Rubica had been the one to make that decision, doubted their ears, and the other maids and servants doubted their ears for a different reason. Surrounded by shocked people, Edgar was smiling as if he was enjoying all that.
Edgar, what are you…
And not just this year, let’s never get it again.
He put the piece of fruit in his mouth. Then, he stood up and left the table, quite lighthearted.
Even in panic, his attendants left after him to do their job. Those who were left in the hall, however, were still in a panic.
Ma, madam.
Ann barely managed to escape the panic and looked at Rubica. She was stammering, and she probably wanted Rubica to give her an explanation about the situation, but Rubica didn’t know what was going on either.
What was wrong with that man? He always changed his mind, he was even more fickle than the moon in the night sky.
I don’t know. I…
