I Will Become the Ex-Wife of the Beast - CH 3

“Bella, are you going to stay there?”

“…”

“Well, no wonder. It’s cold out there and it’s warm here.”

She was determined to do what she’s doing without even caring if I was here or not.

I shook my head at them when Elijah turned her attention back to Max.

Never mind, don’t worry about her.

Even without words, I could hear it clearly.

It was louder even compared to if she said it clearly to my ear.

As she left me speechless and staring blankly at them, my sister smiled and continued whatever she was doing.

“Oh right, Bella. Isn’t father returning today? I think he is.”

“…”

So you actually remembered that?

It was almost like a miracle that my eyes went narrow.

Max was startled hearing that my father was coming back, I guess he wasn’t that manly after all.

Either way, Elijah tapped his chest to reassure him.

“Oh my, Max. You don’t have to worry. I am not going anywhere.”

“Elijah…”

“Bella, tell father my apology that I am unable to go home. I have a prior engagement to go see the fireworks.”

Our house was going to turn into a fire pit soon, why would you even want to go see a firework?

I could even hear the sound of firecrackers exploding in my head. I could not believe that I was trying to get hold of something by trying to change her mind.

To be honest, I had a glimmer of hope until I came here.

… which was advising my eldest sister to end all of her relationships and be a virtuous Grand Duchess.

“Bella, what is wrong? Do you need anything else?”

“…”

However, when I saw her with my own eyes, I just realized how absurd that ‘hope’ was.

Forcing my eldest sister to live virtuously, was no different than telling a fish to live well out of the water.

Was it how it felt? Telling a lion to live a vegetarian life or telling people who wore heel shoes to walk without any sound.

I had the hope because I had not seen her in person, but as soon as I grasped the reality of my eldest sister as it was, I went dejected in no time.

I guess there was no other way.

I thought about it for a moment on the way here. I did not want to do it, but now I really had no choice.

Even while I was contemplating the wretched thought of becoming a Saints of the Dead*, Elijah’s giggling sound overflowed.

(*Old idiom from to describe virtuous people with high intentions teach that they should do things that benefit others, even if they risk their lives)

“Come on, Max. If we get out of here, we could find another–”

“Sister, let’s go home.”

“What?”

“Let’s go.”

I leaned against a pile of straw and called my sister.

My eldest sister, who had the serious face that Melanie had a while ago, laughed hysterically.

What’s wrong with her?

“Bella, did you not hear me? I said I can not go home today. You really need to go and prepare dinner for father. But, why are you suddenly clenching your wrist– Kyaa!”

My sister, who didn’t let out a yelp even when she was caught earlier, screamed when I threw her a pile of straw.

Elijah, who was dumbfounded, struggled under a pile of straw.

“Big sister.”

With a soft and gentle smile, I approached her.

Apparently, Elijah knew men well, but she didn’t seem to know how much work her younger sister had trained her muscles.

I brought my face closer to her and I said to her nicely.

“Shall we go?”

“My dear daughters! How have you been?”

“…”

How have you been?

I, who sat on the nearest seat to my father, held my breath.

No matter whether he’s the father in the novel, looking back at what he did in the past, I could not say that I was glad to see him.

Viscount Mayfield.

With the abundant amount of inherited assets, the Mayfield family could be considered a noble family with a long history.

He could live and save himself his aristocratic reputation if he had just breathed still, however he couldn’t even do that.

Everything he had his hands on would hit the bottom and dig itself a tunnel.

You could say he was like the medieval king of destruction.

If he invested in tea business, all the tea leaves of that year dried up, and if he invested in a guild, the place, which was doing okay at first, went bankrupt.

Even some of the new businesses would simply shut and lock their door after hearing the arrival of Viscount Mayfield.

But more unfortunate than all this combined, it was the fact that he was my father.

“My dear daughters must be missing me, but this old man can’t do anything about it.”

“Yes..”

Because you couldn’t do anything, so it was all screwed up.

I chuckled with a gloomy face.

My father, who misunderstood that I was happy to see him after a long time, patted me on the back of my hand satisfactorily.

“Yes, I am sure our dear Bella misses me the most.”

“Ah… ha ha..”

I couldn’t do anything recklessly, so I better read the atmosphere first.

In fact, in the original story, the details of how my father entered the North were not even revealed.

He had to send his daughter because of the flow, so I guess the writer just lumped it at the beginning and moved on after just one line.

One day, Viscount Mayfield, who returned from the far north, sat down with his four daughters and could not hide his sorrow.

“Ah, really.”

How could the writer be so dismissive about other people’s lives?

If the writer had a little conscience, she should have let him live with his daughters sitting around him.

The picture of the eldest daughter Elijah excitedly looking at the unexpected gift, while the second daughter Melanie wondering if he got any books for her.

I mean, at least write about how shy the youngest daughter Rose was to see her father after a long time.

“Rose, it is okay.”

I held the youngest’s hand tightly with the other hand that was not held by my father.

I mean, how much time did you leave the house when your daughter felt this awkward?

It was only natural that my eyes were not pretty towards my father.

“Father, why did you look like that? Did things go badly?”

“Well..”

I thought he would say nothing happened, but my father snapped at the bait as if he had waited.

Since the elder sisters had been in this situation before, they were already beginning to show signs of leaving.

“Now that I saw you return safely, I will excuse myself..”

“Me too. There is a book that I have not read yet.”

“Sit down.”

My sisters who tried to leave, as well as my father who was holding my hand, were stunned at my warning.

Did we hear it wrong?

My second sister looked at my eldest sister with a face full of shock, but she didn’t say much because she had already gotten the taste of a pile of straw at the mill.

“Bella..”

“Father is not done yet. Please sit down.”

“Oh, well. Sure.”

Elijah sat down first before pulling down Melanie with her.

Looking at my spiteful smile, she slowly raised her arms and wrapped them around her body, wondering if I would throw anything at her again.

Meanwhile, my father was trying to show his saddest feelings as much as he could.

“To tell you the truth, there was an accident back on my way back home.

“Again?”

“Well, I thought it was gonna work out really well this time. It was just when I arrived in the North. Ever since I got on the wagon, the sky was so blue…”

“Wait a minute!”

Gosh.

There I raised my hand and stopped my father.

Do you really have to recall from the time you got on the wagon? It would be midnight when you got to the main problem.

Experience taught me that the longer the beginning, the bigger and more dramatically ruined it is.

“I will go straight to the point. How much did you borrow?”

“Be, Bella..”

“No, let me change the question. Was it a scam or bankruptcy?”

When my father’s wailed loudly, I was sure it was one of either. I tried to ask my other sisters for help, but they all looked at me the same.

In the end, my father opened his mouth with the ‘he couldn’t help it’ face.

“B–.”

“Did you go bankrupt?!”

“No, I gambled…”

“Gamble? You gambled?!”

My eyes went wide as I could barely hide my shock. What did you mean by gambling!

If he had prepared gifts for his daughters like the fairy tale, I would have at least a little sympathy.

However, my backbone had stiffened from months of paying gambling debts.

“Father, how could you do that? Gambling in our situation, no, that is not the only problem. It is against the law in the first place. You shouldn’t be doing that!”

“T- That’s because.. I have to pay the balance due, but there is no one to borrow from.. so, I did not have any choice.”

So, to sum up, the story of a breadwinner, the money that he took was used up before he arrived in the North. And since merchants have to pay tolls in the Northern area, he had no choice but to get a loan if he wanted to do as much as he could with the remaining travel expenses.

But my father underestimated the gambling house too much, while the gambling house was having fun with Viscount Mayfield.