Chapter 5: The Villainess Attends Her Mother’s Funeral

Beside her father, the head of the ducal house, who exchanged greetings with the mourners, Claudia stood dressed in black mourning attire next to her brother Virgil and offered silent bows.

When she saw her father, who looked younger than in her memories, and Virgil, who had not yet fully grown into a young man, she almost laughed.

Of course, she did not let it show on her face.

In between greeting the mourners, she stole a glance at her brother standing beside her.

‘Both Brother and I will grow suddenly taller over the next year.’

Their bodies would mature as well, though unfortunately Claudia’s height would stop there.

At the graduation party where her condemnation took place, there had been a difference of about twenty centimeters between her and her brother.

She remembered how her stomach had tightened when he glared down at her.

‘I was overwhelmed back then, but Brother as he is now is rather adorable.’

Both Claudia and Virgil had inherited their jet-black hair and blue eyes from the duke, but their sharp eyes and beautiful features resembled their mother.

Virgil would become a noble young man who captivated all who saw him, yet in his current youthful form, he still looked charming.

‘I used to envy Brother’s smooth, straight hair, but knowing my wavy hair is like Mother’s, it doesn’t seem so bad.’

The fewer similarities she had with the father she had come to despise, the better.

‘Well, I suppose I can understand Father’s feelings to some extent.’

Her mother had been strict about etiquette and strong-willed.

Even after her death, she left behind an air of tension within the estate.

Perhaps it was inevitable that her father, feeling suffocated, had sought comfort in a mistress outside.

In truth, there had been many such customers at the brothel.

Rather than keeping mistresses, they sought solace from courtesans.

‘But I cannot accept that he neglected Brother and me while loving only Fermina.’

Perhaps he disliked their faces because they resembled their mother.

Even so, they were his children by blood.

Unlike their father, who could escape outside, the two of them as children had no choice but to remain within the stifling estate.

If there was any grievance toward her mother, it was that she had shown no leniency even toward her own children.

‘There was no “sugar” in her carrot-and-stick approach.
And Martha, who was like her milk sister, obeyed Mother without question.’

Claudia could not help thinking that Martha should have played the role of the sweet one for balance.

Martha, who served as head maid of the ducal house, had originally been brought from her mother’s family home.

‘That is why she was dismissed as soon as the mistress arrived…’

To her father, there was no attachment to what her mother had left behind.

In the past, Claudia had rejoiced at the disappearance of someone so strict, but now she felt that had been a mistake.

‘First, I must keep Martha in this estate.
If Father understands her usefulness, he will not dismiss her so easily.’

If Claudia grew close to her, Martha would surely become her ally.

Martha had always seemed to revere her mother.

She likely did not think well of the mistress either.

‘To save Helen as well, I must solidify my foundation.’

Though her face reflected the sorrow of losing her mother, Claudia clenched her still-small hands tightly.

After the funeral concluded, only the family remained before the gravestone.

Feeling her heart grow cold at her father’s eagerness to leave early, Claudia clung to her mother’s gravestone and wept.

Just as she had once done at Helen’s grave before time rewound.

No, she cried out even louder than she had then.

“Mother!
Why are you leaving Dee behind?
Don’t leave Dee all alone!”

At her sudden wailing, she sensed her father and Virgil’s confusion behind her.

Both were accustomed to Claudia’s tantrums, but they had never seen her lay bare her emotions through tears.

‘I always cried alone.’

It had been her mother’s teaching.

A noble must never cry in public.

Even Claudia, who disliked studying, had absorbed that lesson into her very being.

And the same was true for her brother Virgil.

“Claudia, this is improper.”

Virgil placed a hand on her shoulder in reproach, yet there was no force in his voice.

Being two years older, he had understood that their mother’s strictness had been another form of love.

To him, who received little attention from their father, their mother had been the only source of affection.

The magnitude of what he had lost was no less than Claudia’s.

Yet as Virgil tried to faithfully uphold their mother’s teachings even after her death, Claudia threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her face.

“No!
Aren’t you sad, Brother?
Dee is lonely!
If Mother is gone, who are we supposed to rely on?”

Their father seldom returned to the estate, spending his time at his mistress’s residence.

Her brother was busy with lessons, and they barely interacted outside of mealtimes.

“Claudia…”

Virgil’s voice trembled.

Claudia’s lament was the very grief he himself had carried.

Gradually, tears ran down his cheeks as well, and a sob escaped him.

Though her sorrow over losing her mother was genuine, a part of Claudia remained detached.

‘Father and Brother speak of propriety, yet in truth, they prefer fragile women who do not fit neatly within rigid molds.’