Translator : Ariana
Chapter 3. An Unwanted Marriage Proposal (2)
***
The imperial inheritance rights were exclusively for sons. This was an injustice to Riena, but it was still an unaltered wicked law.
As a result, the title of Count Dyke would be inherited by Aaron, the only son, rather than Riena, the eldest daughter.
However, there was no way that Aaron, a mere ten-year-old who had not yet received proper education as an heir, could govern the family.
Thus, while Aaron inherited the title of Count, all governing authority of the family fell into the hands of Countess Dyke.
Though it was frustrating, Riena had no choice but to agree with Aaron inheriting the title. If Aaron did not inherit it, the title and wealth would all be handed over to collateral relatives.
It was far better for Aaron, who shared their father's blood, to inherit everything. That was only natural.
But I didn't expect this.
She gritted her teeth as she thought of Viscount Rotman, whom she had seen at dinner. She had anticipated that the Countess, who did not view her favorably, would not arrange a proper marriage for her.
In fact, Riena thought the Countess would not arrange any marriage for her at all and would simply leave her alone.
But to suddenly call in a guest and propose she marry Viscount Rotman, who had been widowed just a few months ago? It was entirely unexpected.
How could she ask her to marry someone rumored to have killed his wife...!
If the Countess, who currently held all the power in the family, pushed for the marriage, powerless Riena would have no choice but to go through with it.
In that case, there was only one option left: to leave this mansion.
But her father, who was an only child, had no remaining blood relatives. The same was true for her maternal family. After her biological mother passed away when she was two, contact with her maternal family had almost entirely ceased.
The only relative who occasionally kept in touch was Aunt Letitia, who lived in the capital. From the Dyke estate at the southernmost tip of the empire to the capital, it took three full weeks by carriage, and even with a magic portal, it took at least three days.
In other words, it was impossible to go to the capital alone without anyone's help.
Someone who could help her. As she searched for such a person, a name came to Riena's mind.
"Raul..."
It was the name of her childhood friend, whom she had known since she couldn't even remember. Raul Verna.
The Verna Barony, where he was born and raised, was adjacent to the Dyke County. Normally stationed in the capital as a member of the Imperial Knights, he had recently taken a leave and returned to the estate, as he had written to Riena.
If she could escape to the Verna estate and then go to the capital with him, she could seek help from Aunt Letitia in the capital.
Having made up her mind, Riena hurriedly took out a piece of stationery.
{To Raul.}
{I received your letter saying you recently took a leave and returned to the estate. But why haven't you come to see me? I'm disappointed. It's already been a year since we last saw each other.}
{I’ve been feeling quite down lately, perhaps because my father is gone. If you see this letter, I hope you'll come to see me. Please.}
{Your longtime friend, Riena.}
Suppressing her anxiety, Riena wrote as neatly as possible.
Though she wanted to be honest with Raul about her situation, she disguised it as an ordinary letter of regards, fearing that the Countess might discover it.
But having known Riena for so long, Raul would sense something unusual from the single word, "please."
Just then, Joanna entered the room with some ice. Her face was even more swollen than before. Riena looked at her sympathetically and handed her the sealed letter.
"After you finish applying the compress, please send this to Raul without Mother knowing. Understand?"
"But Miss, if Madam finds out..."
"That's why you have to do it secretly. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Thank you."
Still looking anxious, Joanna tucked the letter into her bosom, casting a worried glance at Riena.
***
Rip Tear
Countess Dyke tore the letter with angry hands. It was the very letter Riena had written to Raul just thirty minutes ago. How had the letter she entrusted to Joanna ended up in the Countess’s hands?
Riena studied Joanna's face behind the Countess. This time, her right cheek was red and swollen.
With such a face, Joanna kept silently mouthing apologies to Riena. This was proof that Joanna had not betrayed her.
I’ve only made things difficult for Joanna.
While feeling pity for her, Riena coldly looked at Countess Dyke.
Even after tearing the letter into four pieces, the Countess, still unsatisfied, shredded it into tiny bits. Still not enough, she scattered the paper on the floor and stomped on it with her boot.
Was it something to get this angry about? Riena couldn’t understand. As she had thought earlier, the person who should be angry was Riena herself, not the Countess.
The Countess had no right to be this angry after practically selling her stepdaughter into marriage to a man rumored to have killed his own wife.
"So, you were planning to run away?"
The Countess asked in an angry voice, her sharp gaze fixed on Riena. Looking into those piercing blue eyes, Riena was momentarily lost in thought, an inappropriate reaction to the situation.
She didn’t remember her biological mother’s face. Naturally so, as her biological mother, the former Countess of Dyke, had passed away from a fever when Riena was only two years old.
However, Riena had seen a portrait of her mother. In the portrait, her mother was smiling kindly, her eyes as blue as the autumn sky.
Just looking at those eyes filled Riena's heart with warmth, making her smile instinctively. She loved her mother’s blue eyes.
Maybe that’s why. As a child, Riena had resented her father for inheriting his purple eyes instead of her mother’s blue ones.
Now, she was proud of her father’s purple eyes, but shamefully, there was a time when she had such immature thoughts.
So, when she was eight and saw her new stepmother with the same blue eyes as her mother, Riena felt an inexplicable love for her, as if it was fate.
Simply because of those blue eyes. It was a simple and absurd reason, but it was also a reason befitting a child of that age.
But the blue eyes with which her stepmother looked at Riena held no affection.
Unlike when she looked at her own children, Bianca and Aaron, her eyes never softened, as if honey would drip from them at any moment.
Coldness and envy continued. Naturally, in young Riena’s heart, resentment toward those blue eyes grew. Thus, to Riena, blue eyes had become a symbol of love and hatred—a desire to love but an inability to do so.
And after seeing her stepmother’s behavior following her father’s death, the desire to love even disappeared.
"Answer me. Were you planning to run away?"
The Countess asked again, her voice slightly calmer, as if her anger had subsided a little. Riena looked at her expressionlessly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You were trying to send a letter to Raul Verna!"
"If you've read the letter, you know. It was just a letter of regards to an old friend. I received a letter from him recently, saying he had returned to the estate after a long time."
Riena was not particularly good at lying. However, the lie came out smoothly, without even a tremor in her voice.
But there was no way the Countess would believe that. At Riena’s calm response, the Countess’s eyebrows shot up sharply.
"Do you think I wouldn’t know just because you disguised it as a letter of regards? Were you planning to elope with Raul Verna if he came? Why else would you send a letter of regards at this time?"
"What could I do if Raul returned to the estate at this time?"
"You still talk back so well! Ungrateful wretch! Is this how you repay the kindness of raising and feeding you?"
Riena scoffed as she opened her mouth.
"What kindness?"
"What, what did you say?"
"You said you raised and fed me, but I have no such memories."
Countess Dyke's already flushed face turned even redder.
"If you had ever considered me your daughter, this wouldn’t be happening, would it?"
"Miss, you're being too harsh!"
The head maid interjected on behalf of the Countess. Riena coldly smiled as she slapped the head maid across the cheek. Normally, she would never raise her hand against her servants, but today was different. This was for Joanna.
"You dare say I’m being too harsh? You need to be re-educated."
In a soft, yet chilling voice, Riena warned, and then she turned to the Countess.
"I will not go through with this marriage. So you should know that, Mother."
Biting out the last word, "Mother," she left the room. Joanna, after looking around nervously, followed her out.
***
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