Master, May I Suck It Up?

5

Elise Roselia von Grande.

She had been driven out to the detached annex as if she had been exiled, but she had once been a maiden and beloved daughter of a precious countess and esteemed lady. Until that woman appeared in front of her.

"That's why Elise— What's wrong with you?"

'Are you asking because you don't know? Did you think that if you told me to marry that old man, I would say ' yes, mother'? Ha, wishful thinking.'

"How many times is this already? No matter how good of a marriage partner I find you, you won't get married even after passing marriageable age."

'How absurd. I'd rather be alone.'

The gentle rebuke made Elise snort.

They wanted her out of their lives somehow but they didn't want to pay a dowry, so they pretended to be friendly.

Elise was not one to get married quietly because she pretended to be 'good' bring in 'decent' men who wouldn't be able to get married if they didn't buy a bride.

So, every time Elise was to be introduced to a suitor, I had no choice but to do something crazy.

Every time it was like a nerve wracking chess game, worrying if her tactics would have the guys running away without looking back.

'Was the poop on my face too much? It was mud... but ....'

Even so, perhaps she had gone too far this time. Her stepmother's voice, which had been adorned in an exceptionally noble manner in front of Elise, split in all directions and began to resonate with a shrill.

"What would Baron Bongrae think of our family? If there are any strange rumors..."

'What do you mean, our family? You don't care. And the tales are already out. I won't even get married anymore? If that old man, the baron, ran away with his bent back and tongue sticking out, wouldn't he have said everything?'

There were terribly many things she wanted to say, but Elise, more elegantly than anyone else, sat with her back straight and listened to the nonsense. Her previous experience told her the incessant nagging would be longer than usual.

"I don't want to hear that age is an issue. Love doesn't care about that. Look at me. Didn't I meet the Count late in life and achieve the fruit of true love?"

Was Elise five years old? She spoke like an inexperienced young woman singing a clumsy love song as she put a little child into her arms. Elise swallowed her bitter laugh.

'How funny. True love is bullshit.'

It was true that she had hung on saying that she loved the Count as her actions said she loved his wealth and title.

'And the fruit of that love.......'

Elise lifted her eyes and carefully looked at the child in her stepmother's arms.

'You don't look like my dad at all? Rather, don't you look more like him?'

Elise's gaze naturally headed toward the butler standing on one side of the room. From the color of his unpleasant red hair to the gloomy tear ducts of the eyes, the child looked like a copy of the butler. To the point it was obvious to anyone that had eyes.

If my dad was alive, he would have never let them go..... The sudden death of the Count was fortunate for the child but I don't think that's a coincidence.....

'Yeah, there's nothing wrong with you.'

If there was a crime, would it be the crime to be born in her belly? Elise didn't particularly hate the little boy. If there was a problem, it's the fact that the boy that was wet behind the ears was now the Count's heir and that stupid woman was acting as the head of the house.

Did she notice the meaning of her alternating gaze between the child in her arms and the butler?

The stepmother's face quickly turned white.

"Y—you don't know how to reflect on yourself, so I'll have to punish you."

How did such a timid person cheat on and murder her own husband?

Even though Elise had just a light gaze, her voice trembled and stammered. Elise was now sorry for her stepmother, who kept wiping her hands at the edge of her skirt but kept spitting out words as if someone had told her to.

Still she had no intention of letting it pass.

Elise held the tip of her chin, stood up straight, tilted her head slightly, and contemplated while studying the woman in front of her.

It was the same expression her father donned that Elise practiced while gazing at his portraits!

When the same face was made with the same expression, the stepmother faltered as if she were collapsing in her seat as if she had seen the dead. She looked like she was suffocating.

'Now tell me to do my best and let me go.'

It was boring because it was obvious how her stepmother would punish her. She just wanted to get rid of her from her eyes and used punishment as an excuse to isolate her. Elise waited with a sad look on her face.

"I will take the maids. As of today, the maids in the annex will serve in the main building."

'Crazy!'

Elise instinctively shot a look at the butler. That foolish woman couldn't have noticed that putting her on probation wasn't a punishment for Elise, who didn't go out anyway. So the only culprit was that bloody butler.

Elise grinded her teeth. She replied with her eyes down, barely pressing down her desire to grab her hair and shake it, and pull it out right away.

"Yes, mother."

There was nothing to benefit from being angry or pleading. Rather, it only exposed her weaknesses. It wasn't time yet. For now, it was important to endure and survive in a corner of this vulgar house. In the meantime, if her stepmother had a nervous breakdown and died, there was nothing more she could ask for.

Elise walked gracefully, bidding farewell in an impeccable manner. Behind her back, she could hear someone's tooth grinding. Elise raised the corners of her mouth, satisfied.

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