Chapter 94
The large door opened and Count Canyon's family returned from outside, and the servants stood lined up on both sides, greeting them with a respectful bow.
Count Canyon, his wife, and his two sons passed by without even glancing at them, and headed straight to the second floor.
"Shall I bring you some tea?"
“No, later. Don’t let anyone into my office until I ask for it myself.”
Count Canyon coldly declined the butler's polite suggestion and went straight to his study. Now was no time for tea.
Once he closed the office door, he turned towards his family.
“You all heard at the party today, didn’t you? Edel holds a position in the Count Crisis family.”
“Everyone was bombarding us with questions about her in a very annoying way.”
The Countess said, taking off her gloves with a sigh.
The entire family attended the party today after a long absence. Since the Duke of Lancaster's failed secession attempt a year ago, they had been avoiding public appearances, but they felt the time was right to respond to an invitation from the Old Nobles party.
However, the party, which they participated in cautiously, put them in an embarrassing position under the spotlight.
“I haven’t seen you in a while, Count Canyon. But if you’re thinking of joining the Emperor’s party, there’s no need for you to come.”
Count Canyon was taken aback by a direct, hostile question that immediately made him tense.
"What? What do you mean? I am, as I always have been, a supporter of the Old Nobles Party!"
"So why are you allowing Idil to help that mercenary?"
"What do you mean by that?"
When the host noticed the expressions of bewilderment on the Count and his family’s faces, he realized that they were unaware of what had happened to Idyll.
He then began to explain to them in disturbing detail what had happened in their absence.
Idyll became a housekeeper for Count Crisis's family, and she successfully led Count Laszlo's first ball, and even danced her first dance with him.
“It turned out that the information we received from the spy was correct.”
"So said the eldest son, William, shaking his head sadly."
“When I was told that she had become a housekeeper in the Crisis family, I thought it was nonsense and I fired the spy.”
As for the youngest son, Jeffrey, he slammed his fist against the chair handle, seething with anger.
“Edel, it seems she has completely forgotten the honor of the nobility. Even if she has lost her status as a noblewoman, how can she live by flattering a mercenary?”
Even Countess Lyudmila could not hide her displeasure.
“Even if we cut ties with her, everyone knows she’s our daughter. She’ll be talked about at every party we attend. How are we going to live with this scandal all around us?”
But Count Canyon had a completely different opinion.
He looked at his angry family members with a mocking smile.
"Why are you so angry? This is an opportunity that fate has given us."
"An opportunity? What do you mean?"
In fact, when he first heard that Edel was working as a housekeeper at Count Crissis's mansion, he was furious.
Just thinking about Edel bowing down to the arrogant Laszlo was enough to make him feel ashamed of his family.
But during his conversations with people at the party today, his thinking completely changed.
“We can use Edel to gain access to the Winblir family.”
"What do you mean by that, Dad?"
William asked a lake.
Count Canyon smiled maliciously.
“The Winblair family are desperate to get any information about that mercenary. That guy seems to be very sensitive about information leaks. But now, Edel is working as a housekeeper at that mansion, which means she knows a lot of information that no one else does.”
"Well, that's true... but will Idil listen to us?"
"And if she doesn't listen? I fed her and raised her, and she has to return the favor!"
Count Canyon cried out in excitement, then realized he had been nervous when he saw William shrinking in front of him, so he gave a forced laugh to lighten the mood.
“In any case, she has no one to rely on. If we can persuade her well, she will quickly realize where her best interests lie in order to survive.”
Although William and Jeffrey did not appear entirely convinced, Count Canyon was confident that Edel was still under his control.
In his eyes, she was always the obedient daughter who met his expectations.
***
"Manor lady, there's a message for you."
One of the maids brought a letter to Idil, which she had received from a visiting messenger.
Recently, curiosity about Idil has increased, and some have begun to contact her, using old friendships.
Edel thought this letter was just one of those letters, and she intended to read it quickly.
"Who sent it this time?"
She lightly picked up the envelope to check the sender's name, but suddenly froze in place.
Her facial features hardened, her eyes fixed on the letters written on the envelope.
"The housekeeper...? Is there something wrong?"
The maid asked anxiously.
“No, nothing.”
Edel answered quickly, shaking her head to regain consciousness.
“Dustin Canyon.”
She would not have mistaken that familiar handwriting, or the name it was written with.
“Dina, has anyone seen this message before me?”
“No! I received it from the messenger and brought it directly to you.”
"I understand, thank you."
Edel forced a smile and thanked the maid politely before heading to her room.
Her steps were measured and her posture elegant as usual, but inside her mind it was the exact opposite.
'Why did my father send a message now? And why at this particular time...?'
Since Edel married into the Lancaster family, no one in Count Canyon's family has shown any interest in her well-being, neither before nor after she was taken prisoner.
On the way to the capital, one of the pieces of news I heard was that Count Canyon's family had given up all their rights to it.
Moreover, Dustin, as Idell knew him, was not the type of person to send messages just to exchange greetings or check in.
'There's something suspicious... but what could they possibly want from me now? ...No, I need to calm down. It might not matter.'
Edel held her breath as she closed her bedroom door and opened the envelope with trembling hands.
Inside the envelope, there was only one short message.
The letter began with the words “Edel, my daughter,” as if it were a faint greeting, and opened with a sentence suggesting that she was well after they had heard news about her, then proceeded to recount in detail how Count Canyon’s family had become in a very critical situation.
“…Although your brothers and I are working hard day and night to revive this family that has fallen into crisis, our situation is still like a small boat in the middle of a vast ocean.
Since you carry Canyon family blood, I'm sure you're worried about the state of the family.
Because I realize that contacting you might attract the attention of others, I decided that I would be the one to send this message first.
I hope we can meet soon and talk face to face.”
The letter was not long, yet Edel felt unable to comprehend what she had read, so she reread it carefully.
After that, I looked at the letter from front to back, and even searched the envelope for something else, but there was nothing extra.
"Do they want me to help the family?"
The idea that had started as a remote possibility was becoming more certain in her mind, and her hand holding the letter began to tremble.
“They sold me as a wife to an elderly duke for the sake of that so-called family! And when I became a prisoner because of his betrayal, the family did nothing to help me! And now… do they think they still have the right to exploit me?”
Her hand trembled, then her whole body trembled, and something hot was rising from deep inside her until tears flowed quietly from her eyes.
At first, Edel didn't know what this feeling was that had overwhelmed her, and she felt confused. But as she began to eliminate possibilities one by one, only one name remained.
Anger.
This was pure anger.
“How can a human being be like this? How can someone who gave birth to me and raised me do this?!”
Edel closed her eyes tightly, then took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to calm her thoughts and chest.
Because she knows very well that crying here and lamenting her fate will not convey her feelings of injustice and resentment to her father.
“True, if you think about it, it’s not surprising. Lynn and I were nothing more to him than tools for arranging alliance marriages.”
There was a phrase that her father always repeated whenever he was in a difficult situation.
“Do not forget the favor of your upbringing, even though you are useless girls. You must do your utmost to marry one of the members of the four great families. Do you understand?!”
Otherwise, he would consider them a mere, worthless burden. Yes, that was her father, and he couldn't possibly change his mind just because he faced some difficulties.
But this time, the situation is not the same as before.
"Because I'm the one who changed."