Chapter 6
“The Duke isn’t the kind of man who changes his mind just because I said something. You know that, Mother.”
“There was no reason to stir things up!”
Lady Boren had always regarded Rashid as a threat.
He was still young and powerless—but who could say what the future might hold?
So she made sure to isolate him.
She removed anyone loyal to the Duke from his side, assigned him a personal maid who was kind but held no influence, and eventually moved him to the annex entirely.
She had gone to great lengths.
And now it had all unraveled—because of Tericia bringing Rashid back into the main residence.
“If it weren’t for you, the Duke wouldn’t have cared where that brat stayed!”
Everything she had arranged to keep Rashid from ever gaining power had been undone—by her own daughter.
“What in the world did you say to His Grace to make him call back a son he ignored for five years?!”
“…I told him that leaving the heir of House Hespelt in the annex, when he’d soon be attending the Imperial Academy, would damage the family’s reputation.”
Tericia replied quietly.
“That’s all you said?”
“Yes.”
Surprisingly, it was all she said.
When she’d gone to speak with the Duke, he had been about to leave the estate.
She’d asked him if he might consider moving Rashid back into the main house.
He had paused for only a moment—and then simply said, “Very well.”
‘May I choose the room myself?’
If she hadn’t been looking into his eyes when she asked, she would’ve thought he wasn’t even listening.
Perhaps… to the Duke, moving Rashid’s quarters wasn’t a matter of significance at all.
Everything Lady Boren had schemed for, everything Rashid had suffered—it had all meant nothing to him.
So Tericia had taken matters into her own hands.
Instead of assigning Rashid to an empty room, she gave him her own.
She had even planned to move into the annex herself—but the butler had rushed in the moment he heard.
“Absolutely not, my lady!”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“If you truly insist… you’ll have to walk over my dead body!”
Lady Boren had shown up amidst the commotion.
And so Tericia was forced to settle for another room on the third floor of the main house.
“……”
Lady Boren glared at her daughter, then walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Luckily, no shards from the earlier broken vase had reached that far.
“I heard the boy’s tutor changed.”
“Yes. He has a new one now.”
“You didn’t have anything to do with it?”
“I was told it was the knight commander’s recommendation. Said he was an old friend.”
“…Really?”
She remained suspicious but had no proof.
Lady Boren’s brow furrowed.
Officially, Adler Reissfeld had been introduced by Commander Roben Heinz.
“What kind of man is he?”
“……”
When Tericia didn’t answer, Lady Boren’s personal maid—her eyes and ears—stepped forward and whispered something into her ear.
“The third son of the Reissfeld family?”
News travels fast.
Tericia couldn’t stop a tired smile from tugging at her lips.
Her mother’s information network was impressive—unfortunately.
“Reissfeld? That’s the family of a former Imperial Academy dean, isn’t it?!”
Lady Boren’s voice rose in surprise, but then she suddenly paused.
“Wait… the third son?”
“Yes.”
Tericia answered.
“If it’s the third son… then that eccentric who got disowned?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Adler Reissfeld was known in society as a troublemaker and a disgrace to his noble house.
Though he would one day earn a reputation for his genius, that was still far in the future.
At present, he was one of the least favored names among society’s noble wives.
“Well, if he’s that kind of man, I suppose he’s the perfect fit for the boy’s education.”
Lady Boren hummed to herself, suddenly in a much better mood.
“Tericia.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Don’t forget who you are—or whose house this is. Hespelt must belong to us.”
Tericia said nothing.
Those words meant her mother’s temper had finally cooled.
She was ready to leave.
“I’ll excuse myself now.”
Worried she might be detained again, Tericia moved quickly, leaving the room with Mandy following closely behind.
Lady Boren noticed—but didn’t stop them.
Once the door closed behind them, she let out a deep sigh.
“One and only daughter, and she still doesn’t understand me.”
“You’re still young, my lady.”
“Young? I was married at sixteen.”
“Well, times have changed.”
Leah gently soothed Lady Boren as she cleared the table and set down a fresh pot of tea.
In the chaotic room, it was the only sight that looked neat and composed.
“My lady.”
Despite no one else being around, Leah leaned close and whispered something discreetly into Lady Boren’s ear.
Her face, which had been twisted with frustration, gradually relaxed.
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, my lady. The bidding is scheduled to happen soon. And no one has been officially named as the overseer yet.”
“So that’s how it is…”
This was an opportunity.
If handled well, she could further solidify her position within the ducal household.
And perhaps…
“We could bring the entire business under our control.”
Lady Boren thought briefly of Tericia, but shook her head.
Her daughter had been… strange lately.
Ever since falling ill, there was something about the way she looked at her—
a quiet coldness, like she knew exactly what her mother was thinking.
“I need someone I can trust. I can’t count on Tericia anymore.”
Lady Boren muttered, biting down on her lower lip.
＊＊＊
“My lady, just look at your face…”
Mandy’s voice trembled, on the verge of tears, as she dipped a cloth in cold water and gently pressed it to Tericia’s swollen cheek.
Tericia sat slouched on the sofa, letting Mandy do as she pleased.
“This isn’t the first time Mother’s done this. It’s nothing new.”
“This time it’s not right. You didn’t even do anything wrong.”
She looked like she might cry any second.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Tericia’s lips.
“She was too harsh…”
“……”
“She didn’t even ask where your room was moved to.”
Of course not.
To Mother, what mattered was that Rashid was coming into the main house—not that I gave up my room.
“I wanted to move to the annex instead…”
At those quiet words, Mandy sprang up in protest.
“Please don’t say that, my lady!
People are already gossiping that you gave up the best room—if you moved to the annex, they’d say the temple struck your name from the family record!”
Some noble families maintained their own private temples. The Hespelt ducal house was one of them.
All recognized family members had their names recorded at the temple.
Even Lady Boren, despite being the Duke’s second wife, had her name inscribed there.
To become part of Hespelt was to have your name entered in the family registry kept by the temple.
To lose your status meant having your name removed.
Tericia’s name was indeed listed in the Hespelt genealogy kept at the temple—
but only under her mother’s name.
It was not recorded beneath the Duke and Duchess’s names.
A member of the household, yes— but never truly the Duke’s daughter.
A false lady, with an expiration date.
That was the role she had been given.
“My lady… shall I light some incense?”
Mandy studied Tericia’s expression carefully, then asked in a gentle tone.
“Incense?”
“Sarah gave me some. Said it helps when you’re tired.”
“I must look terrible, huh?”
There was a soft chuckle in Tericia’s voice.
“N-No, not at all! You just… you look a little tired, that’s all…”
“I see.”
Tired, she thought.
She had every right to feel exhausted.
Too much had happened lately—
moving rooms, being summoned by her mother, and enduring all that chaos.
“I wanted to see Rashid…”
It had already been nearly a week since she last saw him.
At fourteen, Rashid was still small, with slender arms and legs and a short frame.
“Was he always that small at this age…?”
He looked far smaller than she remembered.
The Rashid in her memory was from that final visit—
the last time he came to see her before leaving for war.
A moment she didn’t want to remember.
“Ah… this is something we usually use, so… it might not suit you, my lady.”
Mandy spoke nervously, noticing Tericia frown as a memory surfaced.
She must’ve misunderstood.
Suggesting something meant for servants to a noble lady—especially a titled one—was something she instantly regretted.
“It’s alright. I was just lost in thought.”
Tericia replied gently, putting her at ease.
Mandy, like Sarah, Rashid’s maid, came from noble blood— a baronet’s daughter, in fact.
Most personal maids assigned to high-ranking nobles were from minor aristocracy, so even the items they used were often of high quality.
“Would you light it for me? If Sarah recommended it, I’m sure it’s worth trying.”
“Of course.”
Mandy smiled brightly and quickly left the room to retrieve the incense burner.
When Tericia lay down on the bed, Mandy filled the burner, lit the incense, and placed it nearby.
A gentle, soothing fragrance soon filled the room.
Tericia could feel the tension in her body beginning to ease.
“Please rest well, my lady.”
With a quiet bow, Mandy stepped out and gently closed the door behind her.
Silence fell.
The hush of midnight settled around her as Tericia let herself drift into thought.
A faint headache throbbed behind her temples.
“Sister…”
A voice long buried in memory echoed in her mind.
Behind her closed eyes, the image of a grown Rashid appeared.
Clad in jet-black armor— Rashid, just before the war.
His gaze, calm and heavy, stared straight at her. He was twenty years old.
……
His lips moved, but she heard no voice.
……
He was speaking. But the words didn’t reach her.
She knew what he would say.
He must have resented me.
Tericia let out a long, bitter breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
