Deceived 101

Chapter 101

****

The servants who had come out to greet the couple in the entrance hall gasped in horror. Blair, who had just returned to the mansion, seemed unable to fully grasp the situation even as she faced Rufus. And Rufus did not let that opportunity slip by.

“…Whoa!”

“Good heavens, young master!”

Rufus’s eyes, bloodshot with frustration, darted wildly. It was the moment his face, flushed crimson like a demon’s, lunged toward Blair.

“Ah! Madam…!”

“Ahhh!”

Screams of unknown origin erupted from all directions. In that split second when the air felt as taut as a stretched membrane, Rufus’s fist—swinging with such force that the veins on his knuckles bulged—came to an abrupt halt in midair.

“……!”

Feeling a firm resistance, Rufus flinched for a split second. Only after a brief silence did he realize he hadn’t even touched a single strand of Blair’s hair. 

The woman who had been right in front of him just moments ago was nowhere to be seen; only the man’s broad shoulders blocked his view. It was as if they were a wall Rufus could never overcome, no matter what he did. Fuming with rage, he looked up.

Edmund, standing with his back completely turned to Blair, had grabbed his wrist. He’d snatched her away before he could even touch the woman.

At the same time, a grip so strong it felt like it would snap his bones tightened around him. Only then did Rufus come to his senses and glare menacingly at Edmund.

“Can’t you let go of…. these filthy hands right now?”

“What on earth are you doing?”

His deep voice, falling over his head, was chillingly cold. The eyes staring straight at Rufus burned with icy fury.

“Let go!”

As the sensation of blood flow vanished and unbearable pain took its place, Rufus screamed in a shrill voice.

“Aaaargh! Mother! Mother…!”

Despite his cries for Isabelle, Edmund paid him no mind and twisted Rufus’s wrist. He slammed him hard against the display cabinet near the entrance.

As the two men’s weight collided, the glass bottles on the cabinet shattered with a crash. The screams of the maids rang out, piercing the ears. Edmund’s hand, which had been gripping his wrist, had now seized Rufus by the throat.

“Guh! Guh….”

“There’s a limit to your nonsense.”

“…Let go, let go….”

“How dare you lay a hand on anyone.”

Anyone could tell that Edmund had lost his composure. He was a man who had endured Isabelle’s insulting words and actions for over twenty years without ever losing his cool.

A few steps away, Blair, her face pale and trembling, gasped in shock as she saw Rufus’s face turn livid. She hurriedly grabbed Edmund’s shoulder.

“Ed, Ed, stop it…!”

But his body, as rigid as a stone, did not budge an inch. He was so agitated that he could not hear her, no matter how many times she tried to dissuade him. At the same moment, another voice rang out from the top of the stairs.

“Let go of my son right now!”

Edmund, who had been breathing heavily, slowly turned his head toward the source of the voice. Isabelle, clutching the hem of her skirt, ran toward him, her face drained of all color.

“I said let him go…!”

What followed was a voice that sounded almost like a plea. Edmund narrowed his eyes slightly as he kept his grip on Rufus’s throat.

For a woman of such noble birth—one who had spent her entire life trampling on and humiliating the bastards of Liberte—to beg? Isabelle, who had once reigned with arrogance and self-righteousness, now seemed ready to kneel before Edmund. It should have been a satisfying sight, but strangely, it made his stomach churn. Just as he tightened his grip on his half-brother’s windpipe, Edmund noticed the faint warmth clinging to his shoulder.

“You can’t do this, Ed…”

“……”

“I understand you’re angry, but this… this isn’t like you.”

Rufus, held fast by that savage grip, was now rolling his eyes back in his head. Edmund, staring down at that face, swallowed his curse and released him as if tossing him aside.

Having barely escaped the chokehold, Rufus lay sprawled on the floor, coughing dryly. Isabelle rushed over and gently cradled her son’s head in the folds of her skirt. Tearing his gaze away from that repulsive sight, Edmund belatedly looked at Blair.

Startled by the sudden commotion, the woman was trembling like a leaf. It was not Rufus but her whose complexion suggested she might faint at any moment. Edmund, who had cautiously reached out to touch Blair’s cheek, hesitated for a moment, fearing she might collapse.

How could he possibly raise his fist against such a frail woman? No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, his anger boiled over.

“Oh… oh…”

“Oh, my son… dear, are you all right?”

Isabelle watched the gasping Rufus for a long moment, then glared at Edmund with tear-filled eyes.

“You… what on earth are you doing! Do you really think you’ll get away with this?”

“Look who’s talking.”

Edmund turned his head and looked down at the hat scattered across the cold stone floor of the entrance hall.

“If you did something you couldn’t handle, you should have been prepared for this.”

“My son is just angry. Wouldn’t you be too? If you were suddenly told to leave for Rorschach and live under a woman’s shadow, wouldn’t you be angry too?”

“If you wanted to take your anger out on someone, it should have been me. Why are you resorting to violence against my innocent woman?”

“……”

“And your premise is flawed. To begin with, I would never have ended up marrying a woman from Rorschach.”

Edmund twisted his lips.

“Unlike Rufus, I’ve never lived my life relying solely on a pretty face or my lineage.”

The moment he said that, Blair, standing beside him, froze. Unaware of this, Edmund continued without a care.

“Consider yourself lucky it ended here. Even if I’d punished you in kind, it wouldn’t have been enough—but I held back for my wife’s sake.”

“You, you….”

“The wedding is just around the corner. Since all Rufus has is his face, please make sure to discipline him well. Otherwise, what reason would Rorschach have to accept him?”

Edmund sneered at Isabelle, then wrapped his arm around Blair’s shoulder and headed toward the bedroom. Rufus, who had been coughing, shouted at Edmund’s back in a completely hoarse voice.

“You’ve taken everything that’s mine. That spot is mine. Everything you have belongs to me!”

Unlike Blair, who hesitated, Edmund didn’t look back even for a moment. When Blair cautiously looked up at his face, there was not a trace of emotion to be found.

***

Back in the bedroom, Blair went into the bathroom alone, accepting Edmund’s suggestion that she wash up first. She stood under the pouring water for a long time, but the negative thoughts clinging to her mind refused to let go.

In truth, she had been in a state of turmoil the entire time they were traveling back to Eldenvale from the capital. Even in the car, as she leaned against him almost as if nestling in his embrace and felt his hand tenderly stroking her hair, she could not shake the anxiety that lingered in the back of her mind. This was despite the fact that she had accepted his apology and returned after making love like never before.

It was because she knew this was nothing more than a temporary patch.

She knew that unless the underlying problem was resolved, this relationship would not last. 

Moreover, there was the unfinished business of the observation ceremony.

Who could have known that the night she opened her heart to him would be so humiliating? Of course, for Isabelle, who wanted to drive a wedge between her and Edmund, it was inevitable that she would harbor ill will. If it was a misunderstanding fueled by her, she should have listened to Edmund’s side of the story. But…

How much of it was the truth? Had Edmund really used her feelings to solidify his position as heir? To the point of stationing Rufus outside their wedding night bedroom? Thinking about it only made her feel endlessly anxious.

In the end, it all came down to a matter of trust. Her faith in him was so shallow that her heart kept wavering. Even though she couldn’t fully trust Edmund, Blair, who longed for love, still wanted to stay by his side. Even if it meant covering her ears and closing her eyes, or clinging to the anxiety curled up in her chest.

Having patched their relationship together haphazardly and returned to the mansion with a complicated heart, she immediately ran into Rufus.

It was shocking that his inferiority complex toward Edmund had been vented on her in such a violent way, and that Edmund had tried to half-kill him. Yet what kept echoing in her mind was none other than Edmund’s voice, which for some reason reminded her of her own situation.

The words—that without a presentable appearance or noble lineage, one was utterly useless; that without those qualities, one wasn’t even worth a second glance—felt as though they were directed at her…

“…No, this is just another form of inferiority complex.”

Blair muttered and tried to pull herself together, but once the thought had taken hold, it wouldn’t easily fade.

“Ha….”

It was a long time before she finished her bath; she put on a robe and flung open the bathroom door. Then, her eyes met those of Edmund, who was sitting at the table by the window, fingering a glass.