Chapter 8
Helena did not hold back. She set down her glass and quietly made her way toward the terrace connected to the garden.
The terrace was designed so that the entire garden could be seen at a glance. Dense garden trees blocked the view from outside, making it impossible to see into the terrace from the garden.
However, from inside, the view of the outside was clear, and even faint sounds could be heard easily.
Helena smiled inwardly with a sly, mischievous grin.
‘Count, did you let your guard down? This is still my territory.’
Fortunately, Count Ishephern and his knight seemed to be talking just beneath the garden trees surrounding the terrace.
Helena held her breath and strained her ears to listen to their voices.
“…You seemed to be enjoying yourself quite a bit. You must have liked the woman you’re marrying. I’m glad.”
At the knight’s formal words of congratulations, Count Ishephern reacted with unnecessary sharpness.
“Don’t say such pointless things.”
Helena thought, What? for a moment.
And then—
“It’s just a marriage for money anyway. Nobles are nothing but disgusting.”
Helena’s jaw dropped.
She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
But Count Ishephern drove the point home without mercy.
“She’s a typical decadent noblewoman. Dragging men around like a queen—how pathetic.”
The Count’s mouth showed no signs of stopping.
“The way she smiles just because she sees my face… I’ll just dump her in a separate villa and pretend to visit once in a while.”
“A separate villa? What if she asks for a divorce later?”
“By then, the dowry will already be gone. She can go back with nothing.”
“As cold as ever, Your Excellency.”
The knight, seemingly accustomed to his attitude, shifted to a more businesslike tone.
“About the gate passage fees… I realized the return trip will include the new Countess as well. Will that fit within the budget?”
“What? The money’s already gone?”
“The cost of your formal attire rental was higher than expected.”
“It was expensive indeed. I didn’t expect a piece of cloth like that to cost so much.”
There was no need to listen further.
Helena rose like a ghost, trembling slightly.
She couldn’t understand what had just happened. She staggered back toward the banquet hall like someone walking underwater.
Guests who had been enjoying the banquet raised their glasses as she entered.
“Lady Winston! Congratulations on your marriage!”
“I saw you dancing earlier—you two looked perfect together.”
“Haha! After the wedding tomorrow, you’ll be heading south, right? It’s a joyful occasion, but the capital will feel emptier.”
Helena stared at them blankly.
Her face had gone so pale it was almost bluish, draining of all color.
People noticed and quickly approached her.
“Lady Helena, are you alright?”
Helena opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She couldn’t find the words.
In the end, she managed to say:
“…I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well. I need to rest a bit.”
Leaving behind the worried guests, Helena exited the banquet hall and headed to her room.
The maids waiting for her greeted her with bright smiles.
“My lady, how was it? Count Ishephern!”
“What was he like in person? Was he really that handsome?”
Helena said nothing and sat down heavily in front of her dressing table.
As they removed her makeup and jewelry, the maids chattered nonstop.
“I’ve never seen you so dazed before. My lady, could it be… love?”
“Especially for the man you’re marrying tomorrow!”
“Kyaa!”
“You two must be happy together!”
After laying her down on the bed, the maids showered her with congratulations and left.
Left alone, Helena muttered,
“…Bastard…”
Benjamin Ishephern was a bastard.
He had bewitched her with that handsome face, only to start plotting behind her back even before the wedding ceremony.
“A marriage for money? How could he…?”
He hadn’t smiled at her. He had smiled at the pile of dowry that would roll toward him.
“You jerk…!”
Helena bit down hard on the edge of the sheets.
She was so frustrated she didn’t think she would be able to sleep.
“I won’t forgive you. This is war…!”
If this was war, then Helena had the advantage. As he himself had said, he clearly saw her as nothing more than a foolish dowry purse.
“You messed with the wrong person.”
Flames burned in Helena’s green eyes.
She would marry him.
As an agent of Empress Clarissa, she would uncover exactly what kind of vile, wicked man Count Ishephern truly was.
He seemed so poor that he couldn’t even pay her share of the gate expenses—so he would likely never bring up divorce until her enormous dowry was spent.
“Benjamin Ishephern, your life will be divided into before and after our marriage. After I uncover all your evil deeds, I will discard you mercilessly…!”
Turning onto her side, she slipped one hand between the bed and the nightstand and, without realizing it, let out a laugh.
“Ohohohohoh! Even if you beg while licking my shoes later, it won’t help… zzz…”
With pleasant fantasies swirling in her mind, Helena quickly drifted into a deep sleep.
While Helena fell into a blissful sleep, Count Ishephern, who had returned to the banquet hall, lost his chance to leave and was surrounded by Helena’s admirers.
“Welcome, Count Ishephern.”
“Do you smoke cigars?”
“You must have a drink first.”
Benjamin, unable to hide his wary expression, said,
“I’d rather not, as I have my wedding tomorrow.”
At his words, veins popped on the foreheads of the surrounding men.
Someone laughed heartily.
“Exactly! A wedding! Which means we must drink even more.”
“Now that you’re taking away our queen, you cannot refuse punishment.”
“There’s no wedding without blessings—or alcohol!”
At that moment, all the men were united in one goal:
To make this cold-looking Count crawl into the wedding ceremony on all fours.
“…If you insist, I suppose I have no choice.”
However, Count Ishephern—blessed with a face so beautiful it could charm even men and a body that drew attention—also had an enormous tolerance for alcohol.
He drained glass after glass without even pausing to breathe, like the god of wine Bacchus incarnate.
Helena’s admirers groaned in despair.
“…Cards…! Gambling must be included in such gatherings!”
“Poker… ugh…”
“Ugh…”
But even the god of gambling seemed to favor Ishephern. He won match after match.
In the end, Helena’s supporters were stripped of even their last coins.
With nothing to show for it, they watched the sunrise while drowning in alcohol.
They were barely conscious.
The sky looked yellow. Their pockets were empty except for dust, and their stomachs were full of liquor.
Every breath carried the smell of alcohol, and their bodies sloshed with it when they moved.
And yet Count Ishephern, utterly unshaken, asked:
“Are you satisfied now?”
All they had left was stubborn pride.
Sir Stan, Helena’s most devoted admirer, forced a laugh.
“Haha… the real event starts now.”
The others looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but he ignored them.
“Did you know the Winston estate’s hunting grounds are quite famous? Surely the Countess would be proud of them. Since you’ve come all this way, you must take a look.”
Leaning back casually with crossed legs, Count Ishephern smirked slightly.
“…I’m rather tired of hunting.”
As he stood, putting on his coat, he added,
“But if it’s a place I must see, then I suppose I will.”
His lazy, slightly annoyed voice carried a strange competitive edge.
The exhausted men around him began to stir again, one by one.
“Haha, if he’s tired of hunting, then Burwood’s grounds must be excellent indeed.”
“…”
“Since it’s hunting season anyway, shall we hold a small competition to clear our heads?”
“Oh, excellent idea!”
“I know this hunting ground very well.”
“That makes sense—you’ve been visiting the estate so often just to catch a glimpse of Lady Helena…”
“….”
