Chapter 46

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 46

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter 46

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“I-I don’t know. I don’t even want to meet him……”

“Why not? That man would surely try to help you.”

“That’s exactly why.”

Bibiana swallowed once.

“That’s exactly why he’s no good. He could get dragged into my mess again if he tries to help me. I don’t want to meet him ever again. I’ll just live out my days as a maid like this……”

She couldn’t bring herself to beg the woman she saw as the crown prince’s dog to “save her.”

She simply held her breath quietly, as if trying not to provoke Iona.

She had been the same in her previous life.

Because she didn’t want to trouble Duke Leroy, she never once asked for his help and lived in hiding like a mouse—until one day, Richardt had her quietly disposed of.

The funny thing was that she had unknowingly already become shackled to Duke Leroy.

“Running away like that won’t solve anything, Miss Bibiana.”

“……”

“You know what it means that I came to find you. You’ve already been exposed. They’ll probably kill you the moment you’re no longer useful.”

“U-useful……”

“As a hostage, of course.”

Iona shrugged and pulled a knife from within the towel.

Iona folded it with a snap and tossed it into Bibiana’s front pocket.

Bibiana looked at Iona in bewilderment. She couldn’t understand why Iona was returning the weapon she had just taken.

“If you want revenge, meet me here again at this time tomorrow.”

“……”

“Otherwise, leave the capital without telling anyone. Whether you get caught again or escape safely is entirely up to you.”

Iona said this as she took a step toward Bibiana. Since Bibiana had her back to the door, Iona had to pass by her to leave.

Instead of stepping aside, Bibiana reached back with her arm to block the entrance.

With a confused expression, she asked,

“J-just one thing. Why are you offering to help me?”

Iona could have ignored Bibiana completely.

Even if Bibiana ended up dead, no one would ever know that Iona had abandoned her. Not even Bibiana herself.

Yet Iona had decided to save her.

“Because you’re someone precious to my husband.”

Bibiana’s eyes wavered.

It could have been disbelief, or simply shock.

Iona, peering into her face, added as if it had just occurred to her,

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. That doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate any affair between you two. If he betrays me using his former fiancée as an excuse, I won’t forgive him.”

“Th-that won’t happen!”

As soon as Iona finished speaking, Bibiana flushed red and denied it vehemently.

Iona smiled faintly.

“Good to hear.”

Iona reached for the door again, and this time Bibiana obediently stepped aside.

Iona stepped out and led the way back to the drawing room.

Before entering, she glanced back and saw Bibiana had already perfectly resumed her maid duties.

Reassured, Iona opened the door.

Erna, who had been talking with Claudia, spotted Iona and immediately greeted her.

“Lady Iona, why are you so late?”

Iona silently returned to her seat. Erna then turned her gaze to Bibiana.

“Hey, Marie. Did you do something wrong to Lady Iona?”

“I happened to injure myself during training today. While disinfecting my hands, I asked her to treat it as well, so we were delayed.”

Iona picked up the discarded handkerchief and answered politely.

Erna, her irritated expression softening, straightened her posture again.

Iona smiled gently at Erna.

“Thanks to the maid you lent me, who took such good care of my wound, I won’t have a scar. Thank you, Miss Erna.”

Erna’s face flushed pink at Iona’s soft words of gratitude.

The maid who had nearly been blamed by her mistress had slipped away to the back in the meantime.

With her gaze lowered demurely, she didn’t stand out, but her cheeks were glowing the same rosy hue as Erna’s.

When Iona returned home after finishing the embroidery gathering, the mansion was already half in chaos due to an uninvited guest.

Since she herself had orchestrated the commotion, Iona wasn’t particularly surprised. She just had to pretend to be.

“Why is it so noisy inside?”

“Ah, miss. Well, Lady Fleur showed up unannounced, and the young miss is furious about it.”

The maid who came to greet her answered with a troubled face.

She had rushed over thinking Count Hayden had returned, only to be greatly disappointed.

In the maid’s eyes, Iona wasn’t the type to resolve this situation.

“Fleur, you mean Father’s mistress?”

“Yes. But as you know, miss, today is……”

The maid trailed off cautiously.

Iona knew what she meant without hearing it.

Today was the anniversary of the late countess’s death. It was time for Fleur to keep her past promise.

As Iona headed toward the noise, she tossed out an obvious question.

“And Father?”

“He hasn’t returned yet.”

As expected, Iona thought.

Whenever the countess’s death anniversary approached, Hayden always came home late, claiming he was busy.

Even a man as heartless as him apparently found it hard to face his children when his wife’s death felt close.

The count had never once been faithful to his wife, and the entire family knew it.

Thanks to his absence, Iona would play a very important role in this commotion.

“……I told you already. I’m just here to see the count. How many times do I have to repeat myself?”

As Iona entered, Fleur’s soft voice grew closer.

Whether she hadn’t been properly received as a guest or had refused and come out on her own, she wasn’t in the drawing room.

Iona spotted Fleur right after turning the first corner.

She was strolling leisurely down the hall as if she owned the mansion.

Ivonne was blocking Fleur’s path, venting her anger furiously.

“Can’t you hear me? Get out! Or should I drag you out like a dog?”

Iona watched Ivonne’s flushed face as if it were someone else’s business.

But the maids following behind made no effort to hide their presence, so her time to observe didn’t last long. Nils, Ivonne, and Fleur all turned to look at Iona at once.

Iona asked as if she had been waiting for their attention.

“Miss Fleur, what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for the count.”

Fleur replied in a tense tone.

She seemed to have a talent for acting.

After flinching as if intimidated by Iona’s arrival, she quickly began to whine.

“But really, everyone is being too much. Even if I’m not nobility, I have a deep relationship with your father—treating me like this. I just wanted to look around the mansion while waiting for the count.”

“What? You crazy bitch…… Forgot what you just said? Brother heard it too, right? She said this place would soon be her home!”

“Yeah, I heard.”

Nils responded casually to Ivonne’s urging.

He shot Iona a brief glare before turning back to Fleur.

“Look, there’s a limit to warnings. Get out of this house now. Otherwise, we might really drag you out like Ivonne said.”

“I don’t want to, young master.”

Fleur replied cheekily, then continued in a sing-song voice.