The Whipping Maid of House Calley - Chapter 117

Rufus, who had just returned from Broden, widened his eyes at Cedric’s declaration that he would never marry.

“You really don’t intend to marry?”

“Why, is there a problem?” Cedric asked calmly.

Rufus had served Cedric for years, but recently, he found his master harder to understand than ever before.

Even more so than when he learned of his sexual preferences….

“You know this well yourself, don’t you, Young Count? What kind of social scrutiny comes with remaining unmarried? Do you not remember the Viscount Cardanello incident? Simply because he remained unmarried into his mid-forties, rumors spread about him. Then, absurd gossip claimed he kidnapped virgins every night to commit perversions, and he ended up being senselessly murdered while riding in his carriage. Even after such an incident, people haven’t changed at all.”

Cedric let out a faint chuckle at Rufus’s serious tone.

It wasn’t every night, but he did commit perverse acts. So even if he were to die like that, at least he wouldn’t have reason to feel wronged like Viscount Cardanello.

“You were aware of that as well, which is why you intended to marry, weren’t you? If you simply didn’t like Lady Vivarini, then it’s for the best. There are countless better candidates for a bride.”

“That’s enough.”

Cedric spoke quietly. No matter what Rufus said, his decision wouldn’t change. Despite Cedric’s firm tone, Rufus did not retreat and carefully continued.

“Perhaps… is it because of Miss Sheila? If that’s the case, shall I arrange a house for her?”

“A house…?”

Cedric repeated, and Rufus nodded.

If Sheila weighed so heavily on his mind, he could simply provide her with a separate residence and keep her as his mistress.

A marriage between Sheila, a commoner, and Cedric, heir to a great noble house, was impossible from the start.

Rufus held no feelings for Sheila, but he opposed his master abandoning marriage and enduring all the inconvenience because of her.

Was it not a secretary’s duty to support his master in whatever direction would best benefit him?

“Yes. If you provide her with a residence somewhere not too far, and I check on her regularly….”

“Who do you think you are?”

I’m your secretary, but….

Rufus froze, his mouth opening and closing in shock. When it came to Sheila, he could never understand what exactly provoked Cedric’s anger.

“Stop talking nonsense and send a letter to the Vivarini family. Inform them I will visit soon to speak with them.”

“If the Count has not yet contacted the Vivarini family, then how about meeting Lady Vivarini directly?”

Cedric, who had been reviewing approval documents related to Rovenhagen, lifted his brows and looked at Rufus.

He meant, what difference would that make?

Whether he met the Marquis and Marchioness or Eloise, he would still have to visit the marquisate regardless.

Reading Cedric’s questioning gaze, Rufus continued, “Lady Vivarini is currently staying in Calley County.”

He discovered Eloise in Calley County at the Quentin Hotel near the train station.

Rufus had been returning from Broden under Cedric’s orders.

Cedric had realized that Sheila had secretly gone to the guild the previous day.

As soon as Rufus arrived in Broden, he met with the agents stationed there, conveyed the general situation, and instructed them to ensure Fred was thoroughly protected and monitored. Then, early the next morning, he boarded the train back to Calley County.

As he stepped off the train and headed to take a carriage, the first thing that caught Rufus’s eye was Alfonso inside the Quentin Hotel.

He appeared to have just arrived. He hurried toward a woman seated by the window and kissed the back of her hand.

‘It seems he has a lover.’

Rufus, who would never let such a situation pass unnoticed, took a seat somewhere he wouldn’t be discovered and began observing them.

In any case, properly carrying out a secretary’s duties was no easy task.

He had to accurately grasp his master’s needs and demands at any given moment, and he couldn’t neglect observing the people around his master either.

Before long, Rufus, a workaholic and investigation enthusiast, realized that Alfonso’s companion was none other than Eloise Vivarini.

***

Eloise sat in the café in the lobby of the Quentin Hotel near East Calley Station.

The hotel café at eleven in the morning was quiet. The guests who had been drinking morning tea had already left.

Eloise’s profile, illuminated by sunlight as she sat by the window, was dazzling.

A tall man hurried toward Eloise.

“Miss Eloise.”

“Alfonso!”

When Eloise placed her hand on the one he extended to her, Alfonso met her eyes and kissed the back of her hand.

“Please, sit.”

“Excuse me.”

Taking a seat across from her, Alfonso quickly spoke.

“How did you manage to come all the way here alone…?”

As if she had been waiting, Eloise spoke as well.

“Alfonso. I’m so scared.”

Eloise’s eyes were truly filled with fear, moist and trembling.

“At this rate… I think I’ll be sent to a convent.”

“A convent?”

Alfonso was greatly shocked when he heard that.

Eloise was someone who was soon meant to become his sister-in-law.

He’d been waiting for that day with complicated feelings, and now, to hear that she might be sent to a convent instead of marrying was nothing short of shocking.

If she became his sister-in-law, he could at least see her face every day. But if she became a nun, he would never see her again.

Seeing the look in Alfonso’s eyes urging her to continue, Eloise spoke again.

After Cedric’s heir appointment ceremony ended and Eloise returned to the Vivarini marquisate, she felt increasingly cornered as time passed.

During the first and second weeks, the Marquis and Marchioness of Vivarini waited expectantly for a letter from House Calley. But by the third week, they began openly showing their displeasure toward Eloise.

When nearly a month passed without any contact, the Marquis and Marchioness of Vivarini began to doubt whether Eloise had even received a proposal at all.

“Are you certain you received a proposal?”

“Yes! I did!”

Eloise protested indignantly.

“They said the Count was indecisive, so I kept waiting, but for there to be no contact after nearly a month doesn’t make sense.”

They had made a mistake returning so quickly, displeased by how Count and Countess Calley avoided them throughout the appointment ceremony and how Cedric Calley, even after winning the joust, did not dedicate the honor to Eloise.

At Odessa Vivarini’s words, Maximo Vivarini let out a heavy sigh.

“Hmm… but we cannot appear desperate and beg from our side.”

If it weren’t for his daughter’s marriage, Marquis Vivarini had no reason to lower himself before Bernard Calley, and his pride was beginning to suffer.

Marquis Vivarini’s wrinkled, sharp eyes turned toward Eloise.

“Perhaps his interest has shifted to the Duke of Stacy’s heir?”

“Even so, if he truly proposed to Eloise, there should at least be some response!”

Eloise’s shoulders shrank at Maximo’s furious voice.

“Enough! Sending one child to a convent could set a fine example for others.”

Maximo spoke as if delivering the final conclusion.

Marquis Vivarini, unwilling to have his pride bruised or his strength drained because of Eloise, chose instead to preserve his social dignity.

At the mention of a convent, Eloise, who had been shrinking in on herself, suddenly flared up.

“I’m not going to a convent. I’ll go and get a clear answer from Young Count Cedric myself. That will settle it, won’t it?”

Eloise ran out of the room.

Odessa and Maximo’s voices rang out behind her.

“Where does she think she’s going, acting so shamelessly!”

“Leave her! If she wants to figure out how to save herself, let her try.”

Eloise ran down the corridor, her face filled with resentment. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She, too, had once thought it would be better to enter a convent than marry into an insignificant family.

But not now.

Cedric wasn’t the only man in the world, and there seemed no reason to go that far.

When she squeezed her eyes shut, tears fell freely. Somehow, Alfonso’s gentle face floated before her eyes.

Remembering that moment, Eloise’s eyes grew moist again.

“That’s why I came to ask the Young Count in person. To find out how our marriage is progressing.”

After hearing everything Eloise said, Alfonso clenched his fist and rose from his seat.

“I’ll go right now—!”

“No! I should be the one to meet the Young Count.”

Eloise rose after him and grabbed Alfonso, who looked ready to rush out immediately.

Even at her words, Alfonso did not relax his arm.

“I just needed someone to talk to before confronting the Young Count.”

“Eloise….”

Alfonso looked at Eloise with pity.

As she said, Eloise was meant to marry his brother.

If he confronted Cedric on her behalf, it would reveal that she had come to him first and confided in him.

“I thought meeting you would comfort me somehow,” Eloise said, looking at Alfonso.

She wished she could marry this man instead, but her father would surely choose to send her to a convent rather than marry her to a second son who wasn’t the family heir.

Even so, seeing Alfonso become angry on her behalf eased her heart.

“Fortunately, I’m alright now… ah.”

Eloise’s chin was lifted in an instant.

Alfonso’s lips descended onto hers.

Something hot and soft parted her lips and slipped inside.