try begging
There was a knock on the door of the playroom.
The sounds of the radio and small footsteps inside grew louder as the door opened, and Ellie rantoward Leon with excitement.
"Daddy!"
The scent of milk from his daughter's embrace was more pleasing to Leon than the smell of bloodever had been.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yes!"
With Ellie in his arms, Leon stood in the doorway, looking into the playroom. Grace, who had beensitting with Martha, stood up and gently guided the nanny back to the sofa, insisting she stay.
Grace watched Leon intently, her eyes narrowed.There was something different in her gaze today.It wasn't just about the way Leon had hired her brother's wife as a servant. Her narrowed eyes helda hint of something else, something more personal.
Leon noticed the faint sound of the radio in the background. As it played, he turned to Grace andasked:
"Did you finish the copies?"
"They're on your desk, in the study."
The exchange between Leon and Grace was brief, their words devoid of warmth. Yet, unlike Leon'sbusinesslike tone, there was emotion in Grace's voice. There always was.
Leon smiled as he turned his attention back to Ellie.
"And now, my little princess, since you've been waiting for Daddy, it's time to go out and play."
"Yay! Where are we going?"
"To your castle, of course."
Grace immediately knew where Leon meant.
Her eyes narrowed even more.It had been a month since they moved into the annex. They weren't confined, but they couldn't goto the main building.
The annex allowed freedom of movement inside and, even outside, if Grace informed the maid inadvance, the butler would clear the area.However, since last week, they couldn't visit the main building.
Jerome Winston, who usuallyresided in the royal townhouse with the grand duchess, had unexpectedly returned to WinstonManor.It was understandable that Ellie, who loved calling the grand and splendid main building a palace,was disappointed.
"Wow, let's go. Let's go."
Even though the child threw daily tantrums, it was unthinkable to do something that would revealEllie's presence to his younger sibling, especially when rumors had spread widely.
What is he thinking?
Grace's eyes questioned him, but the man's gaze seemed to ask what the problem was. Grace rolledher eyes.Anyway, the man wouldn't do anything dangerous to the child. He wasn't short-sighted.
"Princess, have fun."
Grace smiled and waved to Ellie.
"Won't Mommy come?"
She couldn't say she had no desire to meet the child's father's younger sibling.
"Mommy will play with Martha."
"Chii."
"Mommy will wait here for the gift you bring back."
Whenever they went to the main building, the child always brought back a few items she liked. Herfather never stopped her, no matter whose belongings they were or how expensive.
"Okay."
The child waved goodbye.
The man, who she thought would turn away and disappear, remainedstanding and stared at Grace.Just when she thought he might have something to say, he stepped into the room and quicklyapproached her.
What's going on?
As Grace looked up with wide eyes, a hand came close. It brushed against her left cheek beforetouching her earlobe.The touch was obvious and lingering. Grace felt her face flush and gave him a reproachful look.
What is he doing in front of everyone?
He met her gaze with a questioning look and, withdrawing his hand from her face, said twoindifferent words.
"Your earring is tangled."
A few days ago, he had given Grace diamond and pearl earrings, thinking they would suit her.
Theydid look good, but they were long enough to get tangled in her hair frequently.He had simply untangled them and, as if there was nothing more to discuss, left abruptly.Grace touched her itchy earlobe and neck, then turned her attention back to Martha. Martha'sexpression was odd.
"...Shall we go for a walk?"
Before Martha could even respond, she stood up and lifted her niece, who was scraping the bottomof a parfait glass with a spoon.
"Benny, let's go outside."
She wanted to clear her head and calm her scattered thoughts by taking a walk.
---------
"What on earth is going on?"
Jerome, sitting at the desk in the underground study, sighed as he flipped through the documents.According to the butler, the Count had just returned to the mansion.
Should he press him again?
As he stood up to call someone to run an errand to the annex, he sat back down when he heardheavy footsteps outside the door.
"Ah, the Count must be quite busy to come all the way down to this gloomy basement."
Jerome's brother, having skipped knocking, opened the door.
"It's been a whole week. Even when I called, you didn't answer. You wouldn't show your expensiveface when I came all the way from the royal town to see you, and now you finally show up..."
Jerome, who had looked up to reprimand his brother, froze in shock.
What is that?
It's a person. A little girl.Of course, Jerome wasn't asking what the creature in front of him was.
It was simply hard tobelieve that a child like that would be carried around by Leon Winston.
"What is that? Who is that child?"
As he watched in astonishment, seeing his brother holding the child as if it were the most naturalthing in the world, Jerome finally realized as they got closer. The child looked just like his brotherdid as a young boy.
"You don't mean that article is true...?"
Even seeing it with his own eyes, Jerome couldn't believe it.A man who had no interest in women and was rumored to be impotent was supposedly not onlyhaving an affair but also fathering an illegitimate child?
Just moments ago, he had been scoffing atthat article.
"Hello."
The child waved her hand at the stunned Jerome, who couldn't find his words.
"Who's this man?"
"He's just a man you don't need to worry about."
His brother spoke gently despite the teasing tone, setting the child down. He then nudged hertowards the inside of the study.
"Alright, princess. Today, you can choose whatever you want from this room."
The shock from hearing his brother call the child "princess" was briefly overshadowed by the shockof being told to choose something. Jerome snapped out of his daze and quickly followed his brother.
"Who gave you the right to give away my things?"
"You're being ridiculously petty in front of a child."
As Jerome was about to argue with his shameless brother, he locked eyes with the child, who wassucking her thumb and looking up at him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Fine. Go ahead and pick."
"Yay..."
As soon as the permission was given, the child bounced excitedly and began peering into thedisplay cabinets lined up along one side of the study.The child, who had been leaving fingerprints and smudges on the spotless glass, suddenly had hereyes widen and stopped in front of a cabinet displaying minerals. His brother crouched down tomatch her eye level and asked,
"Do you like what's in here?"
"Yes. It's so pretty."
Her voice was filled with wonder.
There was nothing that couldn't be given if it wasn't somethingextremely rare.
"Except for the one at the very top..."
Although the top shelf was out of the child's reach, Jerome raised his arm to block it.
"You can pick something from here."
Even though his brother shot him a look of disdain, Jerome didn't back down. After somehesitation, the child finally chose a large amethyst crystal.
"It sparkles. So, I'm going to give it to Mommy."
Mommy?
The shock that he had momentarily pushed aside hit Jerome again. The fact that the child was heremeant that her mother was somewhere in the vicinity as well.
"What on earth..."
Before he could even start asking questions, his brother continued with the selection process,leading the child ahead.This time, it was a pendulum with metal beads suspended from two strings. The child's eyeswidened as she watched one bead bounce when she pulled on another.
"A swing! A swing!"
"This isn't a swing..."
Jerome began to explain high school physics concepts like elastic materials and the conservation ofmomentum to the kindergarten-aged child but soon realized how foolish he sounded and stopped.
"Do you want it? If my daughter wants it, she should have it. What will you use it for?"
"For my dollhouse!"
Jerome grimaced as he clutched the back of his neck, feeling the strain. The idea of placing arenowned physicist's heirloom in a dollhouse was almost too much to bear.
"Wow, this is incredible."
The child plopped onto his desk chair and began playing with the pendulum. The amethyst that hadbeen taken was now placed on the coffee table between Leon and Jerome.
Leon had only given Jerome his attention after yielding to the child's demands. Jerome glared at hisbrother, who was behaving just as he'd expected, now that they were finally sitting face to face.
"When did you get such a big kid..."
But that wasn't really the pressing question. The real issue was something else. Jerome lowered hisvoice so the child couldn't overhear.
"Is it true that the child's mother is a rebel?"
Leon's lips curled into a smirk, and Jerome couldn't hold back his frustration.
"You're insane."
"That woman says the same about me."
"No, seriously, what are you planning? The fact that it's even in the news means..."
"That I'm the one who spread the story."
"What?"
Leon's smile widened. The chaos his carefully planted rumors had caused was an unexpected bonusto this final scheme. The Commander of Davenport looked like he'd aged ten years in a day.
Jerome would soon see how many new lines had appeared on his mother's face.
Grace had already figured out that the article was Leon's doing. She was curious about what mightbe said when they were alone.Jerome's reaction wasn't her main concern.
"Why on earth did you do this?"
"An enemy of the ruler often becomes a hero in the eyes of the people."
"What are you talking about? Explain yourself."
Seeing Jerome's bewildered expression, Leon sighed and shifted focus.
"Why did you call me here?"
"I wanted to hear directly from you why you've been secretly selling off Camden's land to a realestate and investment company in Columbia over the past three years."
Despite his bizarre behavior, Jerome had trusted that Leon wouldn't harm the family's interests. Theshock of finding out that Leon had sold off large chunks of their land without any warning wasimmense.
He had hoped there was a valid reason behind it, but now he wondered if Leon had simply lost hismind.
Jerome glanced at the child beside Leon, a living testament to the madness that seemed out ofcharacter for his brother.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Even while being questioned, Leon kept his defiant smirk and turned the tables on Jerome.
"You didn't pay attention while I was preoccupied with my forbidden romance, but now you care?It's too late. I have to hand the family over to someone as clueless as you..."
"Forbidden romance?"
The shock from the first statement was so overwhelming that Jerome barely registered the commentabout handing over the family.
"How does it feel to be involved in a forbidden romance with Rosie? Isn't it thrilling?"
He'd been caught.
How had someone who seemed to have forgotten about him and Rosie managedto figure out their relationship, and when?
But that wasn't the point. Even if Leon had discovered one of his weaknesses, Jerome wasn't aboutto surrender.
"Well, it's not really that exciting. I didn't steal someone else's woman."
Jerome also smirked, trying to play it cool. Leon chuckled in response.
"I see you have no sense of guilt. We are definitely cut from the same cloth. But it's disappointingthat you never thought of killing me and taking the princess for yourself."
"I'm not some lunatic like you."
"You certainly talk bravely in front of a madman."
"So what do you want from me? An apology?"
Leon, who had been closely observing Jerome's increasingly blank and defensive expression, raisedan eyebrow. His expression shifted to a smirk, as if he found Jerome's futile resistance bothamusing and pitiful.
"Calm down. You seem to be under the illusion that I'm trying to blackmail you. Well, I supposethere's about a 30% chance I'm doing just that."
Leon tossed two thick envelopes onto the table in front of the glaring Jerome.
"What's this?"
"You've received an offer you can't refuse. Or rather, it's more of a command."
"I'm not your subordinate."
"You've said that your whole life, but this time you'll have to obey like a dog."
Jerome's eyes grew darker with anger.
"Do you want to marry the Grand Duchess?"
It's a trap.
Jerome gritted his teeth and remained silent.
"Of course, I will never be breaking off the engagement with her."
As expected.
"I have no intention of marrying her."
What is he talking about? Jerome was baffled. Leon, however, continued with a proposition thatJerome could not easily dismiss.
"This envelope contains a method for you to marry my fiancée and gain the world's recognition,legally."
Jerome had to admit it. Leon Winston had a natural talent for setting traps.And after opening the envelope, which was clearly a trap, Jerome had to admit that Leon also had atalent for making him submit like a dog.
"But this is..."
"Pretty impressive, isn't it?"
Impressive, indeed.
In some ways, it was true, but in others, it was far from it. The documents andplans Leon held were alarmingly detailed and dangerously risky.
Jerome stared at the self-assured man who seemed oblivious to the deadly bombs planted amongallies and enemies alike, muttering under his breath.
"Madman."
"Yeah, that's the nickname that woman has for me."