Chapter 015
Chapter 15: The Master and the Apprentice (9)
“Where did you learn to raise your voice like that? Such insolence! Oh, right, it seems you didn’t learn anything in that house of yours, did you?”
“Why do you have a letter that belongs to me, my lady?”
“Is that what matters now? We have a thief in the house. Oh, now I understand why Vasquez sent you to Abrams.”
Arnold said mockingly, adding to Helena’s words.
Baron Lancaster was the only one who remained silent in this situation. He seemed unprepared for this sudden shift in the atmosphere and began coughing quietly, observing the scene.
Cordelia, trying to calm her racing breaths, said:
“A thief? There seems to be a misunderstanding. I had no intention of doing that.”
“A misunderstanding? Then how do you explain this letter? It clearly states that he’s asking you to send a hundred thousand linkets to Vasquez!”
“She should be expelled from the castle immediately. No one knows what she might do if she stays here, Mother.”
Helena shouted, waving the letter. Lily seemed ready to support the idea of expelling Cordelia at once.
Anger overwhelmed Cordelia due to these relentless insults. She wanted to stand up and scream for them to shut up and stop this nonsense.
Cordelia bit her lips so hard she tasted blood. She pressed her nails into her palms until they dug into her skin. Even her throat began to ache.
“My lady, please calm down. Let’s hear what the countess has to say.”
“Oh, Baron Lancaster. I forgot you were here for a moment.”
The baron, who had been silent the whole time, spoke in a respectful tone. Helena finally noticed his presence and feigned surprise.
“Hmm. What an unfortunate incident. I didn’t expect this to happen during a meal with the baron.”
“She’s definitely the one who made Craig believe those ridiculous rumors about my mother.”
“Now that this letter has been discovered, there’s no room for excuses.”
“What excuses? Hah. You should be grateful we haven’t expelled you immediately. Oh, my head. How did I let someone like this into the house?”
Helena spat her venomous words and dramatically placed her hand on her forehead. Arnold shook his head, making a sound of disapproval. Lily smirked openly.
Amid the barrage of humiliating words, Cordelia told herself, ‘Endure, endure.’ She tried to remind herself to stay composed.
Then a question suddenly struck her.
“Why should I endure?”
In that moment, her head and heart, which had been boiling, cooled down.
“Can I take a look at the letter?”
“Oh, yes. Baron, see for yourself. You’ll realize how shameless this is.”
“Alright. It’s hard to suspect the countess based on this letter alone. It’s just a request, and there’s no evidence she actually sent the money, is there?”
“How could there be stronger evidence than this? Asking her for money so casually means she’s done it many times before!”
Baron Lancaster returned the letter to Helena. Lily, who was highly agitated, spoke to the baron in a sharp tone.
But the baron remained calm throughout.
“At least let’s hear the countess out.”
“There’s no point in listening to her. Right, Mother?”
“Instead, let’s summon the financial officer to check on this. As Lily said, this might not be the first time; perhaps she’s done it several times before.”
In that moment, Cordelia suddenly realized the truth like a bolt of lightning piercing the darkness. All the puzzles fell into place.
‘Helena is afraid of me.’
In normal times, Helena wouldn’t have bothered with her. But now, attacking Cordelia so fiercely and inviting Baron Lancaster, who held significant influence within the family, to lunch was a clear reason.
She was trying to regain her crumbling power by any means possible.
Cordelia was delighted by this situation. It was so amusing that she could barely hold back her laughter.
Because she realized she no longer needed to submit and be humiliated before them.
“Wonderful idea, my lady.”
All eyes turned to Cordelia.
She drew the sharp knife she had been honing for a long time.
“What did you say?”
“Let’s summon the financial officer immediately.”
“Goodness. Are you planning to confess?”
Lily laughed, taking a sip of the wine beside her.
“Confess? That’s a good idea too, Lily. You can start. If you confess, I’ll lighten the punishment and won’t expel you.”
“What? Confess to what? Have you gone mad?”
“Lily has plenty to confess to. When you got married, you stole a lot from the Abrams’ vault without the former count’s knowledge and took a hefty share, didn’t you?”
“What? What nonsense is this?”
Lily’s face quickly turned pale, then returned to normal.
She had memorized the report Leonard provided well, and it was worth the effort.
“Want me to list the things you stole from the Abrams’ vault? You sold five Deschamps paintings and twelve Lou Midi statues to thieves. Will you remember if we summon the financial officer to check?”
“Don’t lie! Do you have proof? Do you?”
“In cases like this, you should say you don’t know, Lily.”
“This, this…!”
Unable to contain her anger, Lily, her face red, jumped from her seat. She was about to grab a half-filled wine glass in her hand.
Her threatening hand, poised to pour the wine over Cordelia’s head, was stopped by an unexpected person.
“You were about to fall. Are you alright?”
“…Let go of me, Baron Lancaster.”
The baron whispered “Sorry” and released Lily’s arm. Lily glared at him furiously.
Cordelia scratched her hand under the table. In fact, her entire body was itching. From the start, her throat had been aching as if stung by an ant, but she endured it patiently.
“It seems you’ve heard another strange rumor.”
“Oh, you’re here too, Count Dillon. I’ll give you a chance to confess your wrongs as well.”
“What? Have you gone mad…”
“You assaulted two married women from the village, beat them, and expelled them, didn’t you?”
Cordelia announced his crimes with a calm face. But despite her composed appearance, her heart was pounding as if she’d been bitten by a snake.
She knew something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t back down now. She had to finish this decisively.
“You’ve been saying strange things from the start. It seems your mind isn’t right.”
“The first had red hair and a slightly crooked nose, and the second had black hair, dark eyes, and a mole on her neck, didn’t she?”
“…!”
Due to the precise description, Arnold Dillon took a deep breath.
“Oh, what were their names? Daisy and…”
“Shut up!”
Arnold shouted, clearly anxious.
From his reaction, it was clear Emily had gathered the information well. Cordelia smiled confidently.
As things took a strange turn, Helena bit her lip and took a deep breath. Baron Lancaster was watching Cordelia with great interest.
“Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about your theft.”
“Yes, my lady. We were talking about theft.”
Cordelia responded to Helena with a bright smile.
“That day, Craig may have gone too far, but the theft you committed, my lady, cannot be overlooked so easily. You obtained a mansion in Manhao in exchange for granting Reynold Osso tax collection rights.”
“That’s news to me.”
“Really? It seems there are a lot of memory problems today.”
Cordelia pinched her hand hard under the table. Her body was itching terribly, and she had to do something.
Ignoring her aching throat, she recalled the contents of the report.
“What can I say to jog your memory? Oh, you hid several lovers in that mansion. Should we summon them as witnesses?”
“You, you…!”
Helena’s eyes widened as much as possible. Cordelia delivered the final blow.
“Anyway, you have consistent taste, my lady. Blonde hair and blue eyes. All the lovers you invited to the mansion were similar, weren’t they?”
At that moment, Baron Lancaster, who had been observing the situation, spoke.
“Of course, you have reliable evidence for this, don’t you?”
“Absolutely, Baron. Otherwise, how could I bring the three of you to trial?”
Upon hearing the word “trial,” the atmosphere filled with tension. Because trying a noble was considered a great insult.
“Justice must be served in Abrams. And that’s what Craig strongly wants too.”
And Cordelia had plenty of evidence. She had asked the servants to gather more evidence based on the report Leonard provided.
She always believed the opportunity to use it would come someday, but she didn’t expect it to arrive so quickly.
“You’re going to bring us to trial? With this fabricated evidence, how dare you!”
“Give me the letter.”
Cordelia extended her hand toward Helena. Helena trembled with disbelief at what was happening.
“Or shall we go to trial? I have no problem with that.”
Helena’s lips quivered. The control had clearly shifted to Cordelia’s side. Everyone in the room realized it. Even Arnold was silent.
‘Itching, itching, itching.’
Cordelia clenched her teeth. She knew that if she showed any weakness, Helena would seize the chance to attack again.
The reason for this itching was clear.
Peanuts.
She had a severe allergy to all kinds of nuts, especially peanuts.
She had nearly died from eating them as a child and hadn’t gone near them since.
Everyone in the castle knew this, but the reason Cordelia consumed peanuts was obvious.
At that moment, the dining room door was flung open violently.
“Craig!”
Helena’s expression quickly changed to joy. She waved to him as if he were her savior.
“Come quickly. I have something to tell you. This insignificant thing was stealing from us and…”
“Why does your face look like that?”
Leonard ignored Helena. He strode toward Cordelia.
“The letter.”
“What?”
“The lady has my letter.”
Cordelia felt as if her body was being eaten by ants. But she didn’t take her eyes off Helena.
Helena hesitated slightly, then handed the letter to Leonard.
“Yes! Craig, read this letter!”
“What letter is this?”
Leonard took the letter from Helena, read its contents, and tossed it onto the table carelessly.
“Send it.”
“What?”
“Send it. Aren’t there ten thousand linkets in the Abrams’ vault?”
“Have you gone mad? Are you in your right mind? Why would we send money to Vasquez?”
“Craig, why are you defending that woman?”
His unexpected response made Helena and Lily furious. Meanwhile, Leonard leaned back mockingly.
“What’s the big deal about that amount?”
“What’s the big deal? Craig, do you know how much ten thousand linkets is?”
“So, do we have that money or not?”
Leonard looked at them with disdain.
His behavior was so outrageous that everyone felt angry.
“Craig.”
Helena smiled bitterly.
“It’s not that we don’t have the money, but we should spend it on important things.”
“Important things? That’s good. My wife’s brother needs to go to the academy, and that’s important.”
“Craig!”
“Oh.”
Cordelia could no longer endure. She couldn’t stay conscious. Her body was visibly swaying, and Leonard immediately grabbed her shoulder.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Let her go. Craig, about sending money to Vasquez, I don’t think…”
Helena continued talking, ignoring the situation.
“Oh.”
Cordelia took a deep breath. But the air wouldn’t enter her throat.
She clutched Leonard’s clothes tightly. It was clear Leonard was alarmed, as he shouted loudly to the servants.
“What are you doing?! Call the doctor immediately!”
“Peanuts…”
“What?”
With all her strength, she whispered in his ear.
“Peanuts.”
“Peanuts?”
“My goodness! How didn’t you notice? It seems she ate peanuts without realizing. I told you to be careful.”
Leonard held her shoulder nervously. But she could no longer hear anything except the echo of his shouting.
Unfortunately, that was all Cordelia could remember.
