It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 5.8

The aide spoke with a flustered face.

“It’s true. While Lady Kyra was bedridden, the butler and I carefully managed the affairs of the manor… But the meals and tea served to Her Grace the Grand Duchess were all prepared by the head chef. Just as Your Highness had ordered.”

“I see… I was at least getting reports about the meals.”

Rayan frowned. The aide quickly added,

“Since Her Grace became pregnant, she’s been very sensitive. They say that women with child can react sharply even to the smallest things.”

“…”

“But more importantly, Your Highness. Ever since the resident staff of the mansion was suddenly replaced, there has been a lot of confusion due to the lack of proper handovers…”

“Ah… I see.”

Most of the dismissed servants had worked in the mansion since Rayan was born. Dozens of seasoned veterans had been kicked out without even a chance to pass down their knowledge, so the state of the mansion had fallen into disorder.

Rayan pressed his throbbing temples and reviewed the names of the staff who had handled important duties in the mansion—chief maid, court physician, the servant in charge of clothing, and his personal attendants.

“Reinvestigate the people on this list and see if any of them upset Ines while I was gone. Only reinstate those who don’t raise any concerns.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The aide bowed deeply with a look of relief.

Rayan’s orders would be passed directly to Kyra. Once she regained her health, she would be responsible for the mansion’s affairs again.

There was no place for an ignorant Grand Duchess who didn’t know anything.

Aide Alveron, finally feeling as though everything was back in order, promptly brought up the next issue.

“And Your Highness, this morning a report came in regarding the construction work in the western wasteland. It looks like you’ll need to review the current progress and the budget for supplies.”

“…Alright.”

Rayan slowly let out a deep breath and turned his gaze to the new documents presented to him.

Forcing himself to push aside the image of Ines’s thin, fragile body that kept flashing through his mind, he began handling the more urgent matters one by one.

He didn’t yet realize that everything Ines had changed while he was gone was now being returned to its original state.

Nor what that might mean to her.

“You dared to curse me?”

As soon as Kyra was freed from the curse thanks to the priest’s blessing, she went to find Ines. The moment Ines stood up, pale and startled, Kyra slapped her across the face.

Smack!

“You disgusting wench. Did you think I wouldn’t see through your sweet little innocent face?”

“….”

“You cursed me, and then you kicked out every single person I had hired. Ha. Did you think Eleanor became all yours just because Rayan wasn’t around?”

Ines covered her burning cheek with her hand, dazed. How… how could Kyra be like this?

She had been planning to undo the dark curse she had placed once Rayan separated Kyra from her.

Seeing how that venomous woman had stayed bedridden for four months, Ines had started to soften a little.

But…

“I heard you even went to Rayan and told him I poisoned you? Fool. Who do you think he’ll believe—me or you?”

Ines couldn’t answer. Maybe sensing his mother’s panic, Caesar, lying in the cradle in one corner of the room, began to cry.

Kyra turned her sharp eyes toward the sound. Ines gasped and quickly grabbed her arm.

But her body hadn’t fully recovered, and she had no strength.

Kyra shoved Ines’s arm away and started walking.

Ines, now ghostly pale, staggered after her.

“Aunt… Auntie…”

“Ha. So this is the child, huh? Doesn’t have a single thing that resembles Rayan.”

Kyra carelessly scooped up the crying baby in her arms.

“With a child like this, no one would believe you didn’t cheat.”

“Auntie…!”

Ines reached out in panic, but a waiting maid grabbed her arm.

She stumbled and nearly fell. Turning to see who had grabbed her, Ines froze.

It was the very maid she had fired months ago—Kyra’s right hand, Lily… the one who used to serve her Menent tea.

She had definitely thrown her out. And yet now she was here, while Berry and Ronya, the two who had always stayed by Ines’s side, were nowhere to be seen.

“B-Berry…”

“She was judged unfit to serve Her Grace and has been demoted. I’ll be serving Her Grace from now on.”

The answer came back with a mocking tone. The maid she had kicked out had returned, and her own maids had been thrown out instead.

Ah…

At that moment, Ines understood what Kyra meant.

Who do you think Rayan will believe, you or me?

Ah.

So it was Rayan. He was the one who brought back Kyra’s servants…

He didn’t believe me.

She had prepared herself for the possibility, but it still felt like a blow to the head.

Kyra gave a twisted smile and asked,

“Ines, do you know why Rayan believes me more than you? Because I raised him like my own son? No.”

“T-Then…?”

“It’s because that boy despises and hates you more than anything in the world.”

“….”

“Do you know what Rayan believes? That anything which disrupts the natural order must be stomped out the moment it sprouts. One of those things… is a bastard child.”

Even in her terrified state, Ines heard every word Kyra said with terrifying clarity.

Kyra whispered like a devil,

“Rayan knows exactly how to deal with someone like you. He probably whispered sweetly that he loved you. Told you that Eleanor was the only safe place for you.”

“….”

“How do I know? Because that traitor who killed my brother and sister-in-law and ran like a rat—Millian Eleanor—was caught the same way. My uncle said, ‘Come back to the duchy. I won’t hold you accountable. Didn’t you say you loved me?’”

“….”

“Lowborns who were born with nothing are always greedy beyond their station. Millian was an idiot. He actually believed those empty words and let himself be captured. Who would’ve thought?”

Even without hearing more, Ines could guess what had become of that man called Millian Eleanor. Her eyes welled up with tears.

She had always known Rayan didn’t love her. That he had no interest in her. That to him, she was nothing but a vessel for his desire.

But she didn’t know that behind his indifference was such deep hatred and contempt.

Seeing her niece-in-law’s devastated face, Kyra curled her lips with satisfaction. She should have done this months ago.

All this woman had was a pretty face and body. And yet she dared to push Kyra aside?

“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

Kyra finally placed the baby roughly back into the cradle, nearly dropping him.

Ines, reeling from the shock, staggered up and clutched her son to her chest.

Kyra gave her a final warning.

“Live as if you’re already dead, Ines.”

“Yes… yes…”

“Don’t desire anything. Don’t try to do anything. Nothing in this duchy belongs to you.”

“….”

“If you want to see your son grow up unharmed.”

That sharp-edged sentence tore through Ines’s ears and stabbed into her heart.

As Caesar’s crying slowly faded, tears kept falling silently down Ines’s cheeks.

I’ll kill them for you.

In the darkness, left alone clutching Caesar, she heard Kian’s voice.

That woman. Your husband. Everyone in this mansion.

Ines sat curled up on the floor, staring out the window at the beast outside. Her tears had long since dried.

She had spent hours sitting in the corner, thinking. About all of Rayan’s lies.

Once she started doubting, more and more evidence kept piling up.

Even the sudden war in the Kingdom of Apael had seemed strange in hindsight.

After Kyra left, Ines had clung to a maid, begging to know what was going on outside.

<The peace agreement between Lezan and Jenaire? That one from two and a half years ago? It was never broken.>

<Thanks to the Crown Prince’s efforts, everything was going smoothly… until the Grand Duke brought Her Grace here. That’s when it all wrapped up peacefully.>

If the negotiations were never actually broken, then everything that happened in Hailand was just manipulation and lies.

That war destroyed Ines’s peace. Robert had been seriously hurt.

And now… all of it was her husband’s doing?

Kian spoke again.

You just have to choose, Ines.

He climbed in through the window and urged her,

Shall I kill them?

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