Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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(12) My Husband’s Women

“They say you’ve been deeply hurt by the Countess’s discrimination….”
Yet Rowan’s expression remained unmoved. Lea, growing embarrassed, fell silent.
“So what. What do you expect me to do about it?”
Rowan said.
“Does everyone act like that just because they’ve been rejected or discriminated against by their mother? He could just become independent or find a new woman, but with that face of his… tsk.” Rowan clicked her tongue.
Lea stood there with her mouth agape, utterly speechless. She had never met anyone who evaluated Alexis in such a manner. Truly, Rowan—this noblewoman she served—was not merely unusual; she was extraordinary.
Yet events kept unfolding that rendered Lea’s defense of Alexis utterly meaningless.
“Tell me, are you that man’s wife?”
Special visitors had arrived at the East Annex. A woman in lavish, extravagant attire—clearly no ordinary lady—had come calling. Judging by her bearing, she did not appear to be from a noble family. If one had to guess, she seemed far more connected to the demimonde.
Necklaces and earrings glittered brilliantly beneath the light, dazzling to behold. Rowan clicked her tongue and gazed admiringly at those jewels.
“Who are you referring to?”
“Who else? Alexis, of course!”
The woman cried out irritably.
“So besides you, there isn’t another wife of Alexis’s?”
“Ah….”
Rowan made a vacant sound.
“…There might be another one.”
“What are you talking about?”
“No, well, setting that aside.”
Rowan waved her hand dismissively.
“Why have you come here?”
“Why? I came to give you a warning!”
The woman truly carried herself with reckless abandon. Rowan clicked her tongue.
“I knew Alexis before he married you! Just because you suddenly appeared doesn’t mean I have any intention of yielding him to you! Do you understand?”
Rowan nodded.
‘So she was dumped.’
Lea, unable to bear it any longer from the sidelines, was about to flare up in anger. Rowan blocked her with one hand. Then she nodded once more to the woman.
“Yes, yes, as you wish.”
The woman’s complexion changed in an instant.
“What, what did you say?”
“As you wish, I said.”
Rowan reiterated once more. The woman, having not anticipated such a response, began to falter.
“You… you understood exactly what I was saying, didn’t you?”
“Yes, yes, I understood perfectly.”
Rowan said.
“Alexis, the man designated as my husband—you’re saying he’s yours? Fine. Take him.”
At those words, Lea’s face went pale as she cried out.
“Rowan!”
The Woman in White’s reaction was no different.
“What… what on earth….”
“You came barging in here so confidently demanding my husband, and frankly, what’s a husband? I can give him to you. I have no great attachment to that man anyway.”
Admittedly, he’s handsome enough. But internally, I shook my head. What good is a devastatingly beautiful face?
I had always preferred men who were sincere and stable.
“You…!”
The Woman in White trembled with fury as she glared at me, then suddenly burst into bitter laughter. She crossed her arms arrogantly and sneered in my direction.
“I thought being that man’s wife made you someone important. But looking at you now, holed up in this shabby Annex, it’s only a matter of time before the Glister Estate casts you out.”
At those words, veins bulged across Lea’s forehead.
“How dare you speak to me like that, you insolent woman!”
But my expression remained completely unchanged. Her words had no effect on me whatsoever. The more unmoved I appeared, the more the Woman in White bit her lip.
‘What’s wrong with this woman? Does she have no pride?’
If it were me, even with a husband in name only, I wouldn’t tolerate some woman suddenly appearing and causing such a scene. But I did not. I was thinking about tonight’s menu instead.
‘If I make a thin crust from flour dough, spread tomato sauce on it, and top it with bacon….’
This world had no complicated cooking implements. Preparing food by hand always consumed considerable time and energy. I had no desire to waste any of that energy on this woman.
‘Should I roll it up and eat it like a taco, or bake it like a pizza?’
This morning, the Butler had sent me fresh bacon and sausage through the Maid, along with various spices. There were also dried herbs he had personally cultivated and ground into powder.
As I contemplated tonight’s menu, hunger finally got the better of me, and I lifted my head abruptly. Then I looked directly at the Woman in White.
She flinched, her expression growing even more venomous. After all, no matter what anyone said, the woman before me was Alexis’s legitimate wife, not some mistress. Deep down, she knew she was the one who had overstepped.
“What… what do you think you’re doing, looking at me like that….”
“Listen, take my husband if you must, but please leave now. It will be dark soon, and evening is approaching.”
“What?”
“Don’t trouble yourself on the way back—just go home and have your dinner. I’m starving to death.”
Having said all I needed to say, I turned away.
“Lea, we have that flour dough prepared, don’t we?”
Caught off guard by the sudden change of subject, Lea nodded with a bewildered expression.
“Yes, yes… I made it this morning and covered it with cloth.”
It should be properly proofed by now. I need to start preparing dinner immediately. I nodded eagerly, my mouth watering.
“Let’s go inside and start dinner. I’m absolutely famished.”
“But Rowan, you ate so much at lunch….”
“A single bowl of noodles hardly counts as a meal!”
“You had a large portion of noodles though….”
“Noodles digest quickly!”
The Woman in White could only stand there with her mouth agape, watching as I entered the Annex with Lea. Having finished what I needed to say, I turned away from her without hesitation and stepped inside.
As Lea followed me in, she suddenly whirled around. Her eyes blazed with a fierce warning directed at the Woman in White—a silent threat that if she dared touch her mistress again, there would be consequences.
Only after they had entered the Annex did the Woman in White clutch her chest. She had expected either a catfight, or at least to see the noblewoman wounded and trembling. This was far too unexpected.
‘There’s something strange about this woman.’
So that’s it—cast off to the Annex the moment after the wedding, scorned by her own husband. With that reassuring thought, the woman turned away without hesitation and left the Annex.
***
Such incidents became frequent thereafter. Radiant, beautiful women would arrive seeking to confirm Rowan’s identity as Alexis’s Wife, and they often picked fights.
Yet each time, confronted with Rowan’s indifferent response, they would depart empty-handed with nothing to show for it. Though she well knew her husband’s reputation as a libertine, at this point Rowan couldn’t help but grow suspicious.
‘Is he actually seeing women, or isn’t he?’
It was truly peculiar. If there were truly a woman he was deeply involved with, there would be no need for her to come here and issue such warnings. She could simply speak directly with Alexis himself.
Moreover, every one of these women bore the unmistakable air of having been coldly rejected.
‘Are these women he’s been with, or women he’s cast aside?’
It was impossible to discern. Yet Rowan found herself utterly unconcerned. Whether Alexis met women or men outside, what mattered to her alone was….
‘Money! I must accumulate money.’
No matter how much the Glister Estate’s treatment of her had improved, she couldn’t rely on that forever. Besides, even if it weren’t immediate, should Alexis ever find a woman he truly loved outside these walls, she couldn’t predict how harshly she would be treated. Judging by his demeanor on their wedding night, it would surely be cruel and merciless.
Rowan was racking her brains calculating the money she’d saved thus far. If she could grow it further, she might be able to rent a modest house of her own outside the Glister Estate.
It was then.
“Madam, are you here?”
The Butler had come calling. Rowan hastily concealed her ledger, her brow furrowing.
‘That man!’
Her eyes betrayed her irritation without her realizing it.
‘He’s been visiting far too often lately!’
Indeed, the Butler had been frequenting the East Annex with alarming regularity. At first, when he arrived bearing abundant provisions, she’d welcomed him warmly—but lately, his visits had become nothing short of a nuisance.
‘His intentions are transparent enough, but….’
With a soft groan, Rowan carefully concealed the ledger and rose from the Table. As she moved toward the door to leave, she suddenly heard voices clamoring outside. It was Lea and the Butler.
“Really, Butler. This is too much, even for you.”
“Ahem, what do you mean?”
“This isn’t a Dining Room. You can’t keep showing up every mealtime—that’s going too far, isn’t it?”
Indeed, the Butler had become practically addicted to dining here.

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