IBTHM Chapter 11

"Agatha, have you lost your mind?"

"I wonder, Your Grace. Whether it's me or you who's lost their mind—that remains to be seen."

As if she'd anticipated Hades would intervene, the Countess parried with a serene expression.

"Bringing in people with no breeding or pedigree to taint the Ruvermonte bloodline."

"Ha... So you came here with a plan after all. I was a fool to believe you'd keep your mouth shut. Miss, get up. It would be better for you to eat in your room."

Hades rose hurriedly, his flustered expression obvious.

From what I could gather, it seemed he'd arranged this meeting on the condition that she wouldn't say anything unpleasant to me—but trusting her had been Hades's mistake. Not when he knew perfectly well what his older sister was like.

Agatha Gaspel.

As I chewed over the venom that had arrived without so much as a turn signal, I began to dimly recall what kind of woman she'd been in the story.

Giving Abel grief was her baseline, with verbal abuse as a bonus feature.

It all supposedly stemmed from her profound love and obsession with Ruvermonte, but even accounting for that, it had been seriously excessive.

The Countess Gaspel was the one character in the novel that Hades could never win against—which made sense, considering she was practically his mother.

Abel, too, had later been unable to hold his head high before the Countess, weighed down by guilt over causing Hades's death.

In other words, the number one authority figure in this room was the Countess herself.

She spoke with a face that showed no concern whatsoever for the clearly furious Hades.

"I suppose when all you have to offer is a body to warm a man's bed, you decided to act as crassly as possible. I'm quite curious to know what skills you used to manipulate His Grace."

Bang—!

Finally, Hades raised his fist and brought it down hard on the table.

Both Abel and I flinched in surprise. The only one unfazed was the Countess.

Hades glared at the Countess for a long moment, his jaw clenched and trembling, before turning to me.

"Go back to your room, Miss. Abel, you get up too. There's no need to stay here any longer."

Abel looked back and forth between me and Hades, uncertain what to do, fidgeting awkwardly.

All right, let's stay calm. I need to think about what the wisest course of action would be for someone in the position of prospective duchess.

I could flee this situation as Hades instructed, but that wouldn't be a fundamental solution.

As long as he knew that Countess Gaspel was his own older sister and had devoted herself to the Ruvermonte family, he would be forced to yield to her forever.

The Countess knew this too, which was why she was acting this way.

In other words, the influence the Countess poured into this ducal household would never diminish. It had continued that way right up until the novel's ending.

Once even Hades—who could at least mediate to some degree—died, both Abel and I would have to suffer under her for quite some time.

It would be a nightmare. An endless shi-weol-deu. (Because apparently every culture has a specific term for mother-in-law hell, and of course it does.)

Right. She was someone I'd have to confront eventually, and I absolutely refused a lifetime of this particular brand of domestic warfare.

"Your Grace, please calm down."

I stopped Hades first and thought it through.

The Countess was a considerably contradictory character—maxed out on verbal abuse but not remaining a villain until the end.

After Hades's death, she'd treated Abel even more cruelly in her overwhelming grief, but in the end she'd acted like an affectionate mother toward him.

Of course, she'd opened her heart thanks to Abel's steadfastness in never showing displeasure despite receiving all manner of harsh treatment...

But if Abel managed it, why couldn't I?

I decided to take a detached approach, as if I were playing a game where the goal was to raise affection levels to maximum and reach the ending.

"It seems the Countess has some kind of misunderstanding. In that case, we should resolve it through conversation."

"What are you talking about? You don't need to sit here listening to this kind of nonsense. Go to your room now."

I shook my head slightly at Hades, then smiled at the Countess.

In truth, despite my smiling face, cold sweat was pouring down my back.

I felt like a weak-hearted daughter-in-law facing a venomous mother-in-law.

"I don't wish to make an enemy of the esteemed Countess over a misunderstanding. What aspect of me displeases you?"

"The fact that you even need to ask suggests you're not as bright as I thought. Miss Esclife, people should know to live according to their station. If you eat something that doesn't suit your body, you'll get sick."

Every word from the Countess's mouth was pure venom with not a single constructive element.

However, as a well-educated noblewoman, she maintained the expression and tone of a lofty crane even while spitting such poison.

Such an elegant skill for crushing people underfoot. If this was a talent, it was certainly one.

The Countess fixed her sharp eyes on me and asked, "Miss, do you truly believe you suit Ruvermonte?"

"No, I know myself well. I have never once coveted the Ruvermonte name. You're mistaken, Countess."

The Countess crossed her arms and let out a scoffing laugh. "Pfft."

"I understand completely that you would misunderstand me, given how things have turned out, but it truly isn't the case."

I acted carefully to avoid appearing like some fox-like daughter-in-law who'd rolled in out of nowhere.

"In fact, I've heard that the Countess prepared to inherit Ruvermonte yourself. That's why Ruvermonte became such a prestigious family. I fully understand your desire for a mistress who matches the dignity of the house you worked so hard to cultivate."

At my words, the Countess tilted her head and let out another scoffing laugh.

Her expression seemed to say she'd listen for now, so go ahead and keep yapping.

"Even I think the position of Duchess is beyond what I deserve. In many ways, my family doesn't suit this place. If His Grace were to say let's call it off, I would actually accept it gladly."

...Though I was saying that, if Hades also had something to gain from this marriage, he'd handle things well on his own, right?

For now, it was important to appear like a woman without ambition. There was nothing to gain from making an enemy of the Countess.

Well, and it was half sincere anyway.

Obviously. What I wanted wasn't to play house with Hades but to fangirl over Abel.

"I didn't come all the way north with any such impure intentions. So if you were displeased by such a misunderstanding, please set your mind at ease."

"No impure intentions? Then may I ask why a noblewoman of marriageable age would visit the territory of an unmarried duke?"

The Countess's smiling brow creased slightly, displeased with my gentle responses.

"To be honest."

I placed one hand gently over my heart and looked at the Count and Countess sitting across from me.

Beside them I could also see Hades practically steaming with the urge to intervene, but for some reason he was watching me with an odd expression, as if he too was curious what would come next.

"I came because I wanted to see him."

Abel, that is.

"Ha..."

The Countess let out an incredulous laugh and sighed.

When my eyes met Hades's—who was staring at me with an indescribable expression—I quietly avoided his gaze.

"I know well how much the Countess cherishes and loves His Grace and her natal family. When I heard rumors about you, I thought what a remarkable person you must be. I held deep respect for you in my heart. I want to get along with the Countess whom I respect without any unpleasantness. Please let go of your misunderstanding and anger."

Even to my words of submission, delivered like a loyal dog, the Countess showed no change in expression.

It felt like trying to romance an un-romanceable character.

How on earth had Abel opened the Countess's heart?

"If I'm guilty of anything..."

Only of wanting to fangirl over Abel.

"...It would be deciding to come north because I couldn't bear the overwhelming longing, thereby causing you to misunderstand. Please forgive me."

Though of course, the person I longed to see wasn't His Grace the Duke...

I glanced to the side and saw Abel.

His eyes looked ready to cry at any moment, as if he felt sorry for me getting beaten up verbally by the Countess.

Under the table, a small hand reached out as if to comfort me.

Oh my. This kind of abuse wasn't so bad after all.

In truth, this humble fangirl could let venom like this go in one ear and out the other if it was for Abel's sake.

At least while she was hitting me, she wouldn't be thinking about abusing Abel, which was reassuring enough.

When I sneaked a glance at the Countess, her expression said, 'This girl is playing games with me.'

I felt a bit awkward.

From her perspective, I must be quite vexing.

It was like her son's unwanted girlfriend clinging to her skirt even after being thrown a money envelope, showing no signs of leaving.

She quickly softened her expression and said, "If Miss knows her place, then perhaps I spoke too harshly. In that case, you could remain by His Grace's side even if not as Duchess. Certainly, having a noblewoman who at least knows proper manners as a mistress would be less troublesome than bringing in some woman with no breeding."

Wow. That one really packed a punch.

The Countess's venom had reached its peak.

Since it was true I had no interest in the Duchess position, I'd felt little impact from the continued abuse—but this time, I was genuinely taken aback.

Hades seemed to feel the same way, his expression gone blank.

I hadn't known him long, but I could feel he was truly angry.

He came around the table, as if to drag me out of the dining room by force.

The Countess, sensing this, quickly added one more thing.

"What's wrong? You don't like that either, it seems?"

"Agatha."

Hades, now beside me and gripping my arm, called out to the Countess.

The way he spoke—teeth clenched, spitting out each syllable—was enough to make my knees tremble, but the Countess showed no sign of fear.

"Coming all the way to the north—"

"Agatha!"

Hades roared, and I covered Abel's ears.

It was fine for me to feel a bit offended and leave it at that, but if words too harsh for young Abel to hear came out, that would be problematic.

Time to retreat.

Acknowledging that trying to clear a boss-level character on the first attempt had been my mistake—

"St-stop it...!"

But as I tried to hurriedly leave the dining room with Abel in tow, I froze in place.

Abel, gripping my skirt tightly, was shouting while barely holding back tears.

"Saying such, such terrible things to Miss... Please stop. Say them to, to me instead, Countess. Miss isn't, isn't a bad person..."