Chapter 31: The Two Who Were Joined

“N-No… that’s not it… Livia, this is—”

“What do you mean, it’s not?”

The guests watched as the newlyweds glared at each other.

For a while, the two did not even argue, as the onlookers processed and compared the information they had just heard among themselves.

“Lady Noralia, what on earth is all this…?”

“I only know part of it.
The one who should know everything is my husband.”

“…The Duke?”

Countess Mizetta Farse turned her gaze to Duke Jack, who stood beside Noralia with a pained expression.

“Yes, Jack.
Why don’t you tell them?
Everything.”

“A-All of it…?
Noralia… I—”

“You saw it yourself just now, didn’t you?
What kind of person she truly is.
Or shall we have Meirin submit a report instead?
Meirin, would that be all right?”

“I will act as you wish, Lady Noralia.
My husband and I look forward to continuing to serve you.”

“Of course.
I expect your help from now on as well.”

Bites Albright, Meirin’s husband, was a distant relative of the Pharmason ducal family, though he held no title himself.

However, his birth family was a count’s house, and he was its second son.

Meirin, too, had been born to a baronial family and was originally a noble.

The two used their abilities to run a trading company and achieved great success.

The success of the Albright Trading Company owed much to the support of Duchess Noralia Pharmason.

Because of that, the couple, and the Albright Trading Company as a whole, devoted themselves to fulfilling Noralia’s wishes.

Noralia smiled at the Albright couple, then spread her fan and turned her gaze to Jack.

“…!”

Jack flinched, his shoulders jerking at that look.

He could not even begin to organize his thoughts as to how much—no, whether everything—had been uncovered.

“Lady Livia is pitiful.”

“…What?”

Jack was caught off guard by the unexpected words that fell from Noralia’s lips.

“I do not mean because she is an orphan.
She believes that whatever she desires will always be granted.
That is why I call her pitiful.
Though she was an orphan, a commoner, she never learned the hardships one should bite down and endure.
She was raised to believe that her wishes and desires would always come true.
…Tell me, who do you think raised her that way?
It must have been a shallow-thinking ‘father.’
That is why she is truly pitiful.”

Nearby, Countess Mizetta Farse heard those words, saw the Duke’s panicked expression, and noticed that his eye color matched Livia’s.

Her eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind.

“Thank Meirin, Jack.
They will not take it as far as ‘ruin.’”

“…What?
What do you mean—”

“There is no sin in a child yet to be born.
An adult bears responsibility, but a child does not.
There were many chances until now, and I forgave you each time.
That was because I believed the child was innocent, and because you never strayed from the path of being a ‘duke.’”

Jack and Noralia had a son together.

He was already an adult, engaged, and on good terms with his fiancée—the unquestioned next heir.

The one to inherit the Pharmason ducal house would undoubtedly be Noralia’s child, and Jack had never crossed that line.

Even though he had taken a mistress.

Even though he had continued to care for that mistress’s child.

Jack never brought Livia from the orphanage or church into the ducal household.

There were reasons he could not—but still.

He kept her out of the ducal house, never meeting her, offering only support from the shadows.

Noralia knew everything, yet chose to look away.

Jack began to act in earnest only after learning that Livia had taken an interest in a man she met on the battlefield.

Worse, that man was, at least in name, a noble.

There were ‘obstacles’ in his daughter’s romance.

A mere baron.
A mere knight.
And on top of that, already married.

…Had she been a daughter raised at his side.

Had she been a daughter he openly loved and trusted as his own.

He might have stopped her from pursuing a married man.

But Jack’s relationship with Livia was not like that.

That was why he began moving to make her romance come true.

The things Jack did that reached Noralia’s ears were often astonishingly foolish.

Among them was even an attempt to frame a completely blameless baroness.

Normally, Noralia would not have intervened.

She would not act out of ‘justice’ to save an unknown baroness.

However, she heard that the baroness herself overturned Jack’s scheme.

That piqued Noralia’s interest.

Even so, the baroness’s efforts were ultimately meaningless, as the parties involved betrayed her and chose divorce anyway.

Amid that, Noralia decided to make use of one of the moves the former baroness had taken.

The former baroness had instructed the Carlson household staff to prepare a ‘stand-in.’

As if she already knew what kind of person Livia was.

Or perhaps, because she had previously dealt with a false wife, such an idea occurred to her.

Noralia assigned Meirin, whom she could control, to play the role of that ‘stand-in’ planned by the former Baroness Electra.

Noralia’s purpose and reasons were not for the sake of the former Baroness Electra.

The same was true for Meirin.

Nor was it for ‘justice.’

“Jack, it’s time to choose.
Will you reveal everything and abandon her, or not?
She is already married now.
You could say she has become a fully fledged adult, couldn’t you?
What you are doing—does it truly bring her happiness?
…I will not forgive everything, but neither do I hate everything.
I pity her for being raised in such a twisted way, but that does not mean I will reach out a hand.
I will also not allow any further waste of the ducal family’s assets.
And… you will pay the price.”

“…Noralia.”

“It is not a debt hell, you know?
Because Meirin had already grasped everything about the Carlson family.
Even their asset situation is known.
So they will not be ruined immediately.
But they will not be able to live extravagantly.
A newlywed life far from their ideals will begin.
I left them right on the edge.
I have no reason to favor a divorced former baroness, after all.
…I handled it by taking the middle ground between my ‘feelings’ and resolving the problem.
However—”

Noralia turned her back on the newlyweds.

Following her lead, the Albright couple also began preparing to leave.

Then Noralia fixed her gaze on Jack and declared:

“If you wish to be her ‘parent,’ then abandon everything connected to Pharmason.
This is my final warning.
As someone who bears the ducal house, this is a line I will not yield.
…After this, everything depends on her.
There will be no one left to grant her ‘wishes.’
No matter what.”

Livia had been raised having her ‘wishes’ constantly fulfilled.

Though she was an orphan, simply lacking parents, the things she wished for came true without her ever realizing it.

That was why she believed that whatever she desired would eventually be hers.

The reason Livia grew up that way was undoubtedly Jack’s influence.

Noralia and the Albright couple left behind their words and departed.

Countess Mizetta Farse, who had been listening nearby, realized the relationship between Jack and Livia.

Livia herself, however, was too busy interrogating Harid to notice the crucial exchange unfolding beside her.

“……”

Jack stared blankly at Livia.

His daughter.
The daughter of the woman he loved.
A beautiful girl he had painstakingly raised to be praised as a saint.

And yet, a shallow girl who flaunted herself before a divorced former wife.

The wedding in the capital had drawn many guests.

Most of them had been invited through Jack’s influence—but looking around, there were many he had not anticipated.

Those, too, were likely arranged by Noralia.

Many noble houses learned what kind of person Saint Livia truly was.

By tomorrow, the scandal of the Carlson couple would surely spread.

Jack had maneuvered to have their wedding held in the capital, but in hindsight, everything had gone too smoothly.

That, too, must have been Noralia’s doing.

Jack had planned to cover their wedding expenses himself.

He did possess personal assets not entirely under Noralia’s control.

However—

To provide that support would mean Jack would be expelled from the Pharmason ducal house.

Noralia knew everything.

If Jack did not intervene, the wedding costs would strain the Carlsons severely.

But he was no longer allowed to help.

Unless he was willing to abandon his status.

“………………”

Swallowing hard, Jack fixed his gaze on Livia.

A daughter still making demands of the man who was now her husband.

A daughter with the same eye color as his own, mirroring the woman he once loved.

He had ignored everything else, believing that her happiness alone mattered.

He had not cared about framing the former Baroness Electra if it was for his daughter’s sake.

…But.

“…This is enough.”

Those were the words that left Jack’s mouth.

Livia was already married.

She had gained a partner to walk her new life with.

He had granted her the fame of being a saint.

He had watched over her until her departure into a new life.

…As a father, he had fulfilled his role.

Surely, that was enough.

“…Please excuse me.”

Jack turned his back on the two of them and went after Noralia.

Thus, on this day, Hero Harid and Saint Livia were joined together.