Rishi was tense, coiled as tight as a spring.
In her past life, the in-laws Rishi had endured were truly monstrous. They had despised and abused her, treating the very act of her breathing as an affront. While she didn’t expect the elder Count Green and his wife to be the same as the Huchis family, she couldn’t help but feel small and cowed by the weight of her past trauma.
However, Rishi gathered every ounce of her strength to compose herself, meeting the gazes of the elder Count Green and his wife head-on.
“Very well, Rishi. I shall speak to you casually.”
Heraina’s tone was cold.
“I apologize in advance, as what I am about to say may make you uncomfortable.”
“Mother.”
Just as Heraina was about to scold Kay for his ill-timed interruption, Rishi placed her hand on the back of Kay’s.
“Kay.”
At Rishi’s steady, warning gaze, Kay sighed and nodded.
Heraina was inwardly startled.
*To think he could be tamed like that by our son.*
Kay was as stubborn as an ox; even when he seemed to follow his parents’ wishes, he was, in truth, a man who acted entirely on his own whims.
“How did you and Kay Brant Green meet?”
“I sought out the Count myself. I was the one who proposed to him.”
At the unexpected answer, not only Heraina but Wyvern and Kay widened their eyes in surprise.
“Rishi!”
Perhaps because this hadn’t been discussed, Kay reached out and took Rishi’s hand. Rishi gently pulled her hand away, her gaze remaining fixed on Heraina.
“You… you were the one who sought out our son and proposed?”
“Yes.”
Rishi answered calmly once more.
Heraina found herself at a loss for how to steer this conversation. It was almost unheard of for a lady to propose first, and even when it happened, it was usually framed publicly as if the man had initiated it. For a lady to “cling” to a man was seen as something that diminished her status.
Yet, even in such a moment, Rishi’s dignity remained perfectly intact. She still exuded an air of nobility and elegance.
Regaining her composure, Heraina managed to ask, “And the reason?”
“I wanted to escape. I wanted to run away from the Wittlow Duchy.”
She had suspected that the Duke of Wittlow might be using Rishi as a pawn for his own interests. But she had assumed she was raised as a precious jewel; why, then, would she feel the need to run away? Heraina hesitated, worrying about how to phrase her next question, fearing it might be a sensitive subject.
It was a concern she needn’t have had. Rishi spoke first.
“I am an illegitimate child. I was born to the Duke of Wittlow and a housemaid.”
A heavy silence descended at once. The air in the reception room turned chilly. Everyone held their breath, staring at the lips of the girl who had so calmly spilled an unimaginable truth.
This was a gambit Rishi had thrown out.
*The fact that I am the Duke’s illegitimate daughter will eventually come back to haunt me. If so, it is better that I reveal the truth myself.*
No matter the outcome. Even if Kay were to be disappointed and drive her away, it was better than having the truth of her illegitimacy revealed later, causing everything she had built to crumble to dust.
Heraina, too, saw through Rishi’s intent.
*Clever girl.*
Heraina had always had a fondness for clever children.
“The Duke of Wittlow killed my mother but kept me alive. He intended to raise me well enough to sell me off. But the Duke and his wife had no talent for raising children. They were either too doting or too abusive.”
A bitter smile briefly flickered across Rishi’s face before vanishing.
“I was subjected to severe abuse. I was beaten, despised, and mocked. I had to work like a servant, and the servants themselves did not treat me like a noble daughter. I couldn’t silence every servant, so it seems stories about me occasionally leaked to the outside world, but…”
Rishi swallowed a sigh.
“Those who leaked the stories, and those who heard them, died. The truth about me would bloom for a moment and then vanish, leaving only false rumors in its wake. The ‘Flower of the Wittlow Duchy.’ The youngest daughter whom the Duke of Wittlow cherished above all else.”
Rishi paused for a moment and lowered her gaze. Her thick, mahogany-colored eyelashes hid the emotions swirling in her eyes.
“The Duke of Wittlow decided to trade me to the Huchis family in exchange for a gold mine. I did not want that. That is why I sought out the Count.”
“Why… why him, of all people?”
“I thought the Count would be able to help me.”
“What made you think that? Kay is a boy who has never shown the slightest interest in women.”
“I… I knew the Count’s…”
“I wrote her a letter,” Kay interrupted.
Kay had realized that Rishi was about to say, ‘I know the Count’s weakness!’ That was a line she could not cross; his parents were extremely sensitive about such matters.
“I sent letters to Rishi several times. I asked her to tell me the Duke of Wittlow’s weakness.”
Fortunately, his parents hadn’t told Kay to keep his mouth shut.
“The Duke of Wittlow’s weakness?”
“Yes. Britney Wittlow was spreading ridiculous rumors about my relationship with her—that I had asked for a dance and was infatuated with her. It was annoying, so I planned to play a little prank on her.”
Heraina narrowed her eyes. Wyvern leaned back against the sofa, looking entertained with a faint “Hmm.”
“I needed intelligence on that house, and I also wanted to interact with the young lady called Iris, known as the flower of that family. So, I sent the letters.”
“Is that so?”
Heraina turned to Rishi with a look of utter disbelief. Rishi, who had been watching Kay with her lips slightly parted, managed to nod.
“Yes.”
“Do you really think I’ll believe that?”
“No.”
Rishi answered honestly. Heraina couldn’t help but smile. Rishi reminded her of a young girl who had been caught misbehaving by her parents.
“I shall not ask further. No matter how much it concerns my child, prying into the affairs of a man and a woman is a discourtesy. However, I would like you to be honest about just one thing. Is this house a better place to live than the Wittlow Duchy?”
For the first time, Rishi’s eyes trembled at the question. Her violet irises rippled before settling into a calm stillness. Rishi smiled, but to Heraina, it looked as if she were crying.
“In all my life…”
Rishi’s voice trembled faintly. Realizing it, she stopped for a moment. After taking a light breath, she opened her mouth again.
“This is the first time I have ever been this happy.”
Kay gripped Rishi’s hand tightly.
“And you will be even happier from now on.”
Rishi looked up at Kay.
“I look forward to it.”
Watching them share a soft smile, anyone could tell they were deeply in love. Only then did Heraina feel at ease. Her son hadn’t forced a lady into the position of his wife.
“Very well, I understand. That is enough. I shall not mention your marriage again.”
“I apologize for not telling you sooner.”
“That is not something you need to apologize for.” Heraina glared at Kay as she spoke.
Kay chuckled.
“My apologies, Mother. Father.”
“We shall stay a bit longer. You two go ahead.”
“Yes, then we shall take our leave, elder Countess Green.”
“Rishi.”
“Yes?”
“I am not the elder Countess Green.”
“Then…?”
“I heard your marriage registration is already complete. May you not call me Mother?”
Rishi’s eyes went wide, and then she beamed.
“Yes, Mother.”
***
As soon as Rishi and Kay left, Heraina turned to her husband.
“You, why were you so taken with Rishi the moment you saw her?”
“She looks like a pure and delicate lady to anyone, but…” A smile spread across Wyvern’s lips. “She had the eyes of a warrior.”
***
Kay and Rishi exited the reception room and headed toward the garden. Only when they reached the open space could Rishi breathe easily.
“I was so nervous.”
“It didn’t show.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For hiding the fact that I was an illegitimate child.”
“I had already guessed as much.”
“Really?”
Kay gently caught the end of Rishi’s hair and wound it around his index finger. He kissed the curled strands and whispered, “To think that someone as beautiful as you could be subjected to such abuse… If you did, I thought there must be a reason.”
I had heard that I was pretty so many times.
However, when Kay looked straight at me and said I was pretty, I felt a tickle near my heart, and I felt as though I couldn’t look him directly in the eyes.
Rishi quietly shifted her gaze to the side and said,
“I am relieved that your parents accepted me.”
“They are not just my parents, Rishi. They are your parents now, too.”
“But….”
“Believe me. From the moment she told you to call her ‘Mother,’ my mother accepted you as our family.”
“If that’s the case, then I am relieved.”
In my past life, Alford’s mother had also said something like that at first.
*—From now on, call me Mother. I will treat you like my own daughter, too.*
I had thought I could live a different life than I had at the Witlow Duchy. I had harbored the foolish expectation that just as the Duke of Witlow cherished Britney, Alford’s mother would also cherish me.
But the situation hadn’t changed in the slightest. No, if anything, it had become even more painful.
“Rishi?”
Kay’s call pulled me out of my thoughts.
The concern contained in Kay’s blue-gray eyes softly eased the tightness in my chest.
“Do you know that you sometimes wear a very painful expression?”
“Do I?”
*I must be more careful.*
“What must I do so that my wife won’t be in pain?”
“Kay, I am not in pain.”
Kay narrowed his brows slightly.
“What must I do so that my wife won’t tell lies?”
“I am not a liar, Kay. I really am not in pain.”
It was just that the memories of my past life remained, and sometimes they pressed down on my heart; I just didn’t like that part. I was endlessly satisfied with my life with Kay.
“Ah, I just thought of something good.”
Suddenly, Kay pulled Rishi into a tight embrace. A hug so firm it felt like I couldn’t breathe. Whenever I was held by Kay in this manner, all the tension in my body would dissolve, only for a new kind of tension to take its place.
A pink, sweet tension completely different from that black, heavy one.
“When I was distressed after finding out that being a beastman wasn’t normal, my family used to hug me like this whenever I felt down. It always made me feel better.”
“It does more than just make me feel better.”
Rishi, her face buried in Kay’s chest, mumbled.
Kay laughed and stroked Rishi’s hair.
“Do you feel better?”
“Very much.”
“I’m glad. Then, Rishi, I will hug you like this whenever you look like you’re in pain.”
“Anywhere?”
“Whenever, and wherever it may be.”
“Even in front of the Emperor?”
Kay chuckled softly and kissed the top of Rishi’s head.
His breath, seeping into her hair, felt warm and strange. He whispered while his lips were still pressed against her.
“Even if it were in front of God.”
+++
The carriage of the Witlow Duchy departed from the mansion.
Its destination was the Green County mansion.