Chapter 17

Abenr Di Mays, the matriarch, found it very irritating to praise a commoner, but she had no choice.

She clearly noticed that Briseyes’s eyes had reddened as if hurt by those words.

Briseyes slightly lowered her head as if trying to hide her face with her bright red hair. Her hair flowed down beside her, darkly veiling her face like a curtain.

However, Abenr could tell she was hurt just by her actions.

“Thank you, Matriarch! I also want to marry someone wonderful like you, and I really want to have a son.”

“What an admirable thought.”

Although she thought it was a vulgar statement, Matriarch Abenr liked those words. She was just a mistress anyway, and could be thrown out when Demian got tired of her.

Even if she bore a child, it wouldn’t be a blemish if the child wasn’t acknowledged as legitimate.

So she would just humor her for now, and when she had served her purpose or Demian lost interest, she would be thrown out.

But Briseyes was different. She had already married her son and was a wicked woman who crushed her son’s spirit with the Marquis Philia family’s wealth.

“A woman should by nature be obedient to her husband. Miss Delilah, make sure you marry quickly after graduating from the Academy.”

“May I ask why one should marry quickly?”

Matriarch Abenr thought her question was very pretentious, but she was pleased. In any case, this conversation was only silencing Briseyes.

“If you marry quickly, you can have children quickly too. If I were Miss Delilah’s mother, I would have made you quit the Academy.”

Delilah pretended to listen attentively, opening her eyes wide artificially as if she had realized something. Excited by her behavior, Matriarch Abenr opened her mouth again.

“Even one year at the Academy means you should have children sooner to properly become a mistress of the house. What power does a woman without children have?”

“Really?”

“Of course. Children are proof that a woman is obedient to the family. You become a full member of the family by bearing children.”

When Delilah nodded as if moved, Matriarch Abenr went a step further.

“It’s foolish to refuse the wedding night and behave that way. There’s a rumor that refusing intimacy can win men’s hearts, but that’s a lie.”

“You are truly wise, Matriarch.”

“Indeed. How many years have I been the mistress of this Grand Duke Mays family? I really tried hard until he passed away.”

Briseyes remained silent at those words. It was obvious they were meant for her to hear. After all, she had been continuously refusing the wedding night since Demian’s return.

But she no longer wanted to mingle with Demian. Before, before he brought Delilah, Demian was someone who found it difficult even to hold her hand.

‘Why does Demian keep his distance from me?’

‘I’m trembling… That’s why. I’m too nervous.’

That’s what Demian had said.

But now he had shared his first kiss with another woman and even acted as if they were lovers. There was no way he could feel the same to her as before.

She could no longer trust Demian either.

“So the wisest thing for a woman is to have the wedding night as quickly as possible and have children?”

“Of course. If you have many children, men’s affection, being simple as it is, will naturally return.”

Demian remained silent despite feeling embarrassed because it was his mother speaking.

Yet he knew that Briseyes kept her head down silently whenever she was hurt, and he found it satisfying.

It was Briseyes who should take his wise mother’s advice and apologize to him for her wrongdoings.

“Your words are so true.”

Delilah was still pretending to listen attentively to Matriarch Abenr’s words with her hands clasped. Briseyes knew that she didn’t really agree with those words.

Even if the original work had gone awry, she couldn’t tell if Delilah’s essential nature had changed.

If she truly thought like Matriarch Abenr, she wouldn’t have wanted to attend the Academy. After all, entering Wilhelm Academy was entirely Delilah’s decision.

“By the way, Demi.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Eventually, finger food was served, and water and wine were filled at the table.

“You still haven’t had your wedding night?”

“…Please don’t interfere in our marital affairs.”

Demian said this while glancing at Briseyes. For a moment, their eyes met.

Seeing her hurt blue eyes, he felt his heart race with intoxicating triumph.

“I hear the new bride wants to divorce you.”

“That’s just her being petulant.”

Briseyes closed her mouth, not wanting to speak anymore.

“As Mother said, I’m a simple man. If a woman acts like a proper woman, I’ll change my mind quickly.”

“Hohoho. How wise indeed, my son.”

Demian looked at Briseyes again. For a moment, seeing her disappointed expression and the way she stared at him, his mouth opened involuntarily.

“Still, I think a husband should listen to what his wife wants.”

“Demi?”

Then Delilah smiled and touched the ring hanging on her necklace.

He smiled again with clouded eyes and said:

“We won’t just have one child anyway.”

“That’s right, indeed.”

Matriarch Abenr smiled with satisfaction at his words and bit into the finger food.

Soon the appetizers were served, but Briseyes couldn’t eat properly because she had no appetite.

Then the main course was served.

“Ugh……”

Briseyes involuntarily frowned when she put the extremely salty veal steak in her mouth.

“Being in the same place with such a wise person makes me so excited.”

“Miss Delilah is so cute. A woman should have charm like this.”

Briseyes realized that only her food was strange when she saw others eating normally.

Near the door, a woman who appeared to be her mother-in-law’s maid was smiling at Briseyes. The maid’s name was Helene.

She was a close maid who had always acted as Matriarch Abenr’s right hand.

“Bri? Why are you eating so little?”

“I’ve lost my appetite.”

“Hey, sit down. How dare you try to get up when elders are present?”

When Briseyes tried to stand, Matriarch Abenr scolded her. She already knew why Briseyes was behaving this way.

It was all Matriarch Abenr’s instruction to put a ton of salt only in Briseyes’s food.

However, Briseyes didn’t want to endure it anymore, but she had to.

Demian needed to become the guilty spouse for this divorce to be easier. He would need the Marquis Philia family’s wealth and the dowry she had brought.

That way he could be happy with Delilah with that money.

Thinking about this made her furious to the point of suffocation, but she could endure it.

“Demian.”

“Yes, Bri. Are you feeling unwell?”

“Switch plates with me.”

“What? Wouldn’t that be too undignified?”

Demian seemed to hesitate a bit at Briseyes’s words, despite engaging in all sorts of undignified acts with Delilah. Yet watching Briseyes’s eyes droop at the corners, he spoke as if doing her a favor.

“Let’s switch.”

“Demi! As a noble…!”

“Enough. I know you and Father did the same, Mother.”

“Demi! Even so…!”

Demian looked coldly at his mother. Then a servant quickly approached and switched Briseyes’s and Demian’s plates.

“I seem to have upset Bri in these matters lately.”

Demian smirked, thinking that Briseyes was hurt and therefore acting toward him like Delilah did.

“I haven’t even touched my food yet. So there’s nothing undignified about it.”

“That’s right.”

Although Briseyes had touched her food, she no longer cared.

“If, if that’s the case, give me the new bride’s food!”

“I can eat what Bri was eating, but I’m not comfortable eating what you were eating, Mother.”

“Would you like mine, Matriarch?”

When Delilah asked brightly, Matriarch Abenr was flustered. The matriarch looked at Delilah, signaling for help.

However, Delilah just smiled as if she didn’t understand.

“Shall I cut it for you, Bri?”

“It’s fine.”

Briseyes pretended to be unaffected as she cut the veal steak on the switched plate. Then, despite having no appetite, she took a bite.

The texture was excellent and the sauce was superb. However, it still tasted like tough boot leather to her, with no flavor at all.

A thorn was stuck in her throat, hurting her every time she ate.

“I like watching Bri eat.”

Briseyes couldn’t help but look at Demian as he spoke in his former manner for once. Seeing his pure smile and the way he smiled as if caring about her made her feel strange.

The person she had loved was still there.

Rather, that made her even more uncertain about what kind of person he was.

“Demian, you should eat too.”

“Yes.”

He smiled freshly as he looked at Briseyes. The matriarch looked around helplessly, then turned pale when she saw Demian cut his food and put it in his mouth.

“Mmph…!”

The moment he ate, Demian frowned in surprise at the intense saltiness that filled his mouth.