Newlywed Life Begins with a Mistake - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 16

If your business is finished, leave immediately.

A blatant order to leave was issued.

My eyebrows twitched involuntarily at his arrogant attitude.

‘What kind of education did he receive for a head butler to behave like this?’

No matter how lacking in business ethics, a head butler was key personnel responsible for the family’s image.

For the sake of his master and for the sake of the family, he should have set an exemplary standard.

Yet he dared to look down on guests from a ducal house.

It was so absurd that I let out a bitter laugh.

“Is this how you normally treat guests?”

“What do you mean by that, Lady?”

“You bas—”

“We’ll be taking our leave now.”

I was about to say something, but Sophia grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the spot.

I wanted to confront him face to face.

“Please don’t, Madam.”

Sophia whispered quietly as she led me to the street.

As soon as we left the Marquis’ Mansion, I immediately asked Sophia.

“Why should a ducal house’s head maid receive such poor treatment from a count’s butler?”

“The positions of butler and head maid are strictly different.”

“But Sebastian treats you with respect.”

“Sebastian may respect me, but there are invisible lines in society.”

“Even so, you’re the head maid of a ducal house.”

“Even so, the relationship doesn’t change. I’m in a position where I have to ask favors of them.”

Pride wasn’t important; carrying out the mission was what mattered.

That was the meaning behind her statement.

Sophia, worried about bringing shame to House of Count Heteus, smiled as if this level of humiliation was nothing.

“Shall we look around the streets before we go?”

Sophia changed the subject to lift the heavy atmosphere.

Though I was furious inside, I felt like I needed to take a walk to cool down my anger.

“Good idea.”

I nodded and walked alongside Sophia through the Town Square.

As we headed toward the center, shops covered in brilliant colors appeared one by one.

Befitting a place rich in dyes, the colorful hues caught the eye.

Apparently even commoners could easily obtain dyes, as raggedly dressed children were scooping red liquid from barrels with cups, diluting it with water, and loading it into toy guns.

Watching them load their weapons intently, I raised the corners of my mouth mischievously at a sudden thought.

“Hey kids, where did you get those?”

* * *

“Hah! Count Heteus isn’t much after all. Look at this, Father.”

Nordhil Marquis, who had been reading the letter delivered by butler Damon, spat out mockery and handed the correspondence to the Previous Count.

At his son’s urging, the count, who had been receiving a massage from maids on the sofa, took the parchment with an indifferent expression.

“‘I would be grateful if you could return the collateral that Father lent during his lifetime.’ Hahaha! After all those flowery words, in the end he’s asking for the palladium back.”

The Previous Count threw the parchment away like garbage and bit his surroundings.

“No matter what happens, avoid meeting with Count Heteus. Even if you do meet him, pretend you don’t know and play dumb.”

“Of course. But Father, why didn’t you return the palladium?”

The marquis, who had received the title from his father overnight and become Baron Nordil, tilted his head as if the situation from that time still seemed strange when he thought about it.

[Sign this quickly!]

[What is this, Father?]

[It’s a means to protect our source of income!]

One day while he was idling around, Nordhil Marquis received the title from his father as casually as roasting beans in a brazier.

Even though there was no illness or major problem, his father had rushed the abdication.

At his son’s question, the Previous Count smirked and stroked his beard.

“That was because it was the previous His Majesty’s command.”

“Your, Your Majesty? But House of Count Heteus!”

“The princess was the duke’s wife. What good did that do? She had displeased His Majesty.”

The former Count Heteus, Casian’s father, was upright in character.

A loyal retainer who valued righteousness over pursuing personal power.

But what good did that do?

The emperor of that time wanted obedient hounds, not loyal retainers.

“Tsk, being so stubborn, he got stabbed in the back.”

Sometimes knowing when to bend was the proper way, but he always spoke righteous words.

The emperor, who found such a duke annoying, created a situation that forced Count Heteus to give up the palladium, then intentionally raised the price.

“The current Count Heteus is more flexible than his father. He’s also the emperor’s faithful dog.”

The current emperor wasn’t favorable toward them, but he wasn’t hostile either.

Knowing what his father had done, he had remained silent and turned a blind eye.

He could have told Casian the truth, but the current emperor maintained his silence.

“Whatever the case, the palladium is ours, so we just need to give the ducal house some pocket change.”

Soon the time would come when the contract’s validity would expire.

As always, they just needed to hold out this time too, he thought.

“This is terrible news, my lord!”

If the butler, Damon, hadn’t burst in with his face pale as a sheet.

* * *

“Captain, is it really okay to let her continue like this?”

“I think we should stop her before something big happens.”

The Valhalla knights who had been monitoring Evelyn on Casian’s orders called out to their captain, Pabel, with faces drained of color.

They had tried to watch quietly, but the situation was becoming more ridiculous by the minute.

Pabel, who had been checking his sword sheath in a secluded alley, told his subordinates to exercise restraint before observing Evelyn with sharp eyes.

‘What on earth is she thinking?’

He had cleanly cleared the obstacles on the trade route to ensure the meeting with the spy wouldn’t go awry, but after getting off the carriage, Evelyn went to Count Nordil’s castle, and as soon as she came out, she browsed the shopping district before buying dye.

Thinking the merchant who sold the dye might be the spy, he immediately captured and interrogated him.

[I don’t know anything! Who is that customer who just came, and why are you doing this to me!]

He couldn’t gain any useful information.

Pabel, the Valhalla captain, struggled to maintain his composure while not letting his guard down.

However, contrary to his expectation that a spy would appear, innocent people gathered around Evelyn instead.

“Is it really okay to keep watching?”

“At this rate, even the ducal house might be in danger…”

As people gathered in the square, the Valhalla knights became restless and distracted.

The reason they couldn’t hide their confusion was…

“You mustn’t do this! Ma— I mean, a noble lady doing graffiti!”

“Don’t stop me, Sophia. I’m filled with artistic spirit right now.”

Because Evelyn was doing graffiti on the wall with paint in hand.

It might have been different if it were a wall in some secluded alley, but she was in the central square.

Evelyn was wielding her brush on a wide wall that would still have room left even if ten grown men stretched out their arms.

Being a place where anyone passing through the square would inevitably glance at least once, people’s attention was drawn together.

“Is it okay for her to do that?”

“I don’t know which family’s daughter she is, but she’s got some nerve!”

Gasps of shock erupted from various places.

Even mischievous children knew well that they shouldn’t touch that place!

Not only had an outsider infiltrated that space, but she was defacing the painting!

“It says his hair ran away because he was too greedy, mommy.”

“Don’t say such things!”

A child who read one of the phrases written on the wall burst into laughter, clutching their stomach.

Seeing her daughter’s reaction, the child’s mother hurriedly covered her child’s mouth, picked her up, and left the scene.

While it could be called an overreaction, it was a wise decision.

The place where Evelyn was doing graffiti was none other than a mural with the faces of Count Nordil and his son carved on it.

“Stop this at once! How dare you deface my portrait!”

“Stop her! Stop her right now! Do you know what that is!”

The two people depicted in the mural came running while screaming.

“Aaaaah! Stop!”

“Put down that brush immediately!”

Angry shouts filled the square, but Evelyn steadfastly continued her work.

Only when armed knights surrounded her did Evelyn put down her brush with a refreshed face after wiping the paint off her arms.

“I’m done!”

Evelyn’s proud face contrasted sharply with the shocked faces of Count Nordil and his son.

“My, my portrait!”

“My luscious hair!”

Count Nordil and his son, upon seeing the mural, collapsed to the ground with a thud from the great shock.

The dignified image of two people standing majestically with their arms crossed had been transformed into something ridiculous.

Their abundant brown hair had been painted over with apricot-colored paint, making them look like peeled eggs, and their muscular, solid physiques were marked with lines as if pieces of meat had been placed on them.

Moreover, the sparse brown hair strands were ‘escaping’ from Count Nordil and his son along with the word ‘flee.’

And Damon the butler was depicted bowing and picking up the fleeing hair.

The previous Count Nordil gritted his teeth in fury at the mocking graffiti.

“Do you know what this is!”

Three years ago, Count Nordil had called skilled painters to elevate the prestige of his territory.

More precisely, he had commissioned those who would paint their portraits 100 times, no, 300 times better than the real thing.

The painters who received payment worked together with great effort for over a year.

Sparse hair made as abundant as a lion’s mane!

Bodies covered in fat made as solid as horse muscle!

Short stature made as tall and slender as trees!

Except for the positioning of facial features, they had beautified everything so much that one would wonder what was the same about the original.

Not only had it cost a fortune, but since some painters had broken their brushes, it was a mural that could never be painted again even if asked.

That precious thing.

“This crazy woman! How, how dare you ruin my masterpiece!”

Evelyn had ruined it.

“Arrest this woman immediately!”

At his father’s shout, the Nordhil Marquis, who belatedly came to his senses, jumped up from his seat and ordered the knights.

But Evelyn’s mouth opened a bit faster.

“Which is the greater crime—misusing the Chekupin Wall for personal purposes, or damaging a portrait?”

At Evelyn’s single remark, they had no choice but to withdraw their order.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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