Annette was riding in the carriage back to Scheringen Palace.
The Marquis's carriage was as large as the one she had ridden in at the Flores Palace, but it was not comfortable.
Today, there was no one to hold her in his arms even if the carriage shook and her head hit the ceiling.
It was funny that the Marchioness of the Scheringen was not accustomed to the family carriage.
The road to the Scheringen Palace was not far from the Flores Palace, but Annette felt very tired when she got home.
Annette had come to Scheringen Palace with the idea that she should get away from Theodor immediately, but she had forgotten that unpleasant things could happen in that place as well.
"You-!"
Unsurprisingly, an unwelcome voice called out to Annette.
“Why are you here?
Didn’t you cut ties with the family the last time you abused me!”
The smell of alcohol hit Annette's nose as Björn approached her.
Annette was already tired from her carriage ride today, but Bjorn's loud footsteps and shouting gave her a migraine.
Annette frowned and asked the butler.
“Who let this man in?”
“Maybe the guards didn't stop him at the entrance.”
The butler looked puzzled.
Björn has been trying to meet Annette since his pension was cut at the last family meeting.
However, Annette always refused to meet him, and the strict Flores Palace guards would not let him enter.
Then, when he heard the news of Annette's arrival at the palace, he ran madly to meet her.
“Who would dare stop me from entering my home!”
“You are still wrong.
This house is no longer your home.
The person who should cut ties with the family is my uncle, not me.”
“Don’t you know how to respect adults?
How many times have I visited you at your husband’s house but I never got an answer!”
“You were obviously going to try to convince me in an illogical way, so there is no reason for me to agree to meet you.
Get out of here before I fire you.”
"Before you became the head of the family, I was your uncle and had my own pension.
You can't do this to me-!"
“As you heard through your lawyer, there are no legal problems with cutting off your pension.”
“Because of you!!
I, the man of the Scheringen, have to extend my hand to insignificant people-!
How can I accept this?”
“Are you proud to say that you hang out with this kind of guy even though your name is Sheringen?”
Annette's face hardened at Björn's protest.
She had already received reports that he had been hanging out with dirty people lately.
Most of them were moneylenders.
(M.M.: A usurer is a person who lends to people at an extremely high and unreasonable interest rate~ the word is derived from usury.)
No matter how much was cut, Bjorn's pension was higher than the cost of living for the common people, but of course it was not enough for Bjorn to live an extravagant life as before.
His desire to live at the same standard of living as before was steadily making him a clumsy man who borrowed money from back alley criminals.
“Do you think I don’t know what kind of people you meet, uncle, and what you are doing behind my back?
My uncle is the one who is tarnishing this family’s name, not me.
If you continue to hang around with those people, I will take away your title as the head of this house.
If you want to retain some dignity and the amount of money you are paid every month, then behave yourself and stop this nonsense.”
"What did I do wrong!
I, Shiringen, are much more qualified than you.
Do you think a lowly woman like you can snatch away my title so easily?"
“It is my duty to expel those who abuse the family.”
“Have I now become a disgrace to this family?
I don’t know why you act with such arrogance when because of you all kinds of rumors have begun to spread that mock our family?
Do you know what is said about us in the Lieder?
Because of you, they say that the Grand Duke treats the Scheringen like dogs.”
Annette decided to change her attitude in which she was responding to Björn appropriately while ignoring his lack of respect for her all the time, so her eyes lit up coldly.
“Do you think I don’t know who the source of those rumors is?”
Every day, all the newspapers were filled with rumors and low-level articles about the Grand Duke and his wife.
There were a lot of simple rumours, but there were also many detailed articles that included minute details of the family's internal state mixed with some dirty lies.
It was clear that the source of this secret information that only family members knew was one of the residents of Scheringen Palace.
But no matter how much Casselia hated Annette, she was not someone who would tarnish the family name, so of course the only person involved was Bjorn.
The gossip thing was annoying, but it wasn't something worth dealing with, so Annette didn't dwell on it.
But Bjorn seemed to have misunderstood and thought that Annette was afraid of him because she couldn't catch him, so he started spreading more and more outrageous rumours.
He even spread rumors that Annette had used Theodor to get closer to Hugo and that she still couldn't let go of Hugo.
These were all rumors coming out of Bjorn's mouth.
Of course, all the reports reached Annette, but she did not bother to laugh at her, thinking that the perpetrator was just an insect and insects did not deserve attention.
But if this bug spits dirt in your face, that's a different story.
"Since you lived as a parasite sucking the blood of the Grand Duke, do you think you have become something important?
You are not even worth a small insect in front of him.
What would make you different from the whores in the brothels if it were not for your high status as the Marquis of Scheringen?"
Bjorn's eyes burned red.
He didn't even know what he was saying because of his drunkenness and anger.
“Didn’t that bastard Theodore ruin my business too-!
He ruined my yard work while his wife stole all my investments from me, so what the hell are you planning to do to me in the future!”
“Your investments?”
"Stop pretending-!!
Aren't you the one who incited that slut to spoil all the money I invested in that project by seducing him into fucking you like a whore?
Do you think I'll believe that the Grand Duke did it alone?"
Annette rubbed her temples when she heard Bjorn's angry screams.
Annette really couldn't understand what Bjorn was talking about or why Theodor's name had suddenly come up after she had come to Scheringen to avoid him.
Björn thought that today was a golden opportunity to meet Annette, but unfortunately for him Annette was in her worst mood.
However, Bjorn made things worse by spitting out the name that only made her feel worse.
If Bjorn wanted any mercy, he shouldn't have mentioned Theodor's name in front of Annette today.
After things went in an unexpected direction, Annette decided to ignore Björn as before.
Annette decides to go up to her bedroom and investigate what happened between Theodor and Bjorn and deal with it.
“Butler, it looks like my uncle is going to die of anger, so take care of him.
If he doesn’t leave the palace calmly, there is no need to be polite to him and kick him out arbitrarily.”
Annette said coldly and turned around without even looking at Bjorn.
Bjorn's pent-up emotions exploded when Annette treated him like an insect not even worth caring about.
“Where are you going again!
Give me my monthly pension-!!
You must give me all my money back-!”
Björn firmly grabbed Annette's shoulder, who turned while coldly ignoring him, turned her towards him and tried to grab her by the collar.
Annette's thin body swayed in the air due to his violent movements.
Servants and knights from nearby rushed to Bjorn in an instant and pulled him away from Annette, then made him kneel on the ground.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
The butler supported Annette's trembling body with a stunned expression.
Annette was momentarily surprised because she had no idea that Bjorn would directly use violence, no matter how drunk he got.
However, she quickly calmed her mind and straightened her stance.
“Make this man kneel before me.”
At Annette's command, the knights grabbed Björn's arms and legs and made him kneel at Annette's feet.
“Leave me-!
How dare lowly servants like you do such a thing to me!”
“Then how did you dare to do this to me a while ago even though I am the head of this family?
It seems that you misunderstood and thought that you were higher in status than me just because I was speaking to you with respect-!
You seem to be someone who is really eager to be humiliated by others in order to know your status.”
Bjorn felt humiliated and began to tremble.
Annette, on the other hand, became calmer and colder.
There was no reason for her to worry about what would happen to him anymore.
“Make him lie on the ground under my feet.”
At Annette's words, Björn fell like a dog at her feet.
His limbs were seized by the knights and they pinned him to the ground so he could not move.
The insulted man's eyes were bloodshot.
“See?
This is something I can do for you with just a few words, and I can do so much more for you.”
“You can't do this to me.
Annette, you...don't you remember how much I loved you when you were little?”
"If you really loved me, you should have respected me as the head of the family without me having to teach you respect again.
Therefore, from now on, you must get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness.
How can I forgive you if you are so quick to anger and utter such obscene words that even your begging for mercy will not be enough to make up for it?"
Bjorn struggled to free himself from the knights' grip with a tense face, but his already drunk body couldn't even raise his head properly to look at Annette's face.
“Did you say you don't have enough money?
I guess you still have money left then, don't you?
It seems that it would be better if I completely cut off your pension so that you don't have money to buy alcohol anymore.
You are doing nothing but tarnishing Scheringen's reputation with that money.
Your pension will be completely cut off from this moment on.
If you want to lose your life as well, try another foolish thing and you will find your head cut off in your hands.”
Bjorn shouted, but Annette didn't care anymore.
“In the future, when someone lets this person into my house, he should be prepared to be kicked out too-!”
Annette shouted for everyone present to hear, then turned around coldly without saying a word or telling the guards to let Bjorn, kneeling on the ground, get up.
At that moment, anger flared in Björn's eyes as he was subjected to this heinous insult.
* * *
“Contact the Flores Palace.
Ask Hans to come and meet me, tell him to tell Ernst to take care of buying the mine and calculate the cost of supporting the restoration of Morata Island, and to bring the reports with him here.”
“Your command.”
After the butler left, Annette sighed and wiped her face with her hand.
After Björn is banned from the palace, he will be almost neglected in the social world.
Annette acted decisively to make an example of Björn, but anger interfered with her decision.
It is true that Björn crossed the line, but she could have given him another chance before making the firm decision she made today.
Since he was an immediate relative of the family, she could have been more tolerant of him.
But Annette wanted to surround herself with ice walls from everywhere, as if to show everyone that she was not the real Annette, that she had no emotional relationship or blood relationship with anyone in this world, no matter who he was, and that she could treat Annette's family coldly and mercilessly.
She wanted to scream with every cell in her body that she was not a person bound to this world and that she would not be affected by anything that happened to any individual living in it.
But the moment Theodore's name was mentioned, Annette lost her temper.
She came here to forget him, but his name appeared out of nowhere.
Annette didn't know that he was involved in the Scheringen family's affairs.
Why in God's name would Theodor interfere in Bjorn's business?
Annette, who was comforting herself by biting her fingernails as usual, looked at her hands and stopped thinking for a moment.