When The Count’s Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married - Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Taking Laritte’s hand, Olivia stood up from the floor. Dust, garbage, and traces of insects from the ground stained her skirt. Olivia was about to say that she met Ian and Laritte while enjoying the market on her own. She did not expect this to happen, but she forced a smile and spoke.

“Oh my, Laritte….. I did not expect to see you here. Isn’t this town quite far from the Duke’s mansion? Your mother came to see the place, and it’s amazing. After all, we mother and daughter have something in common, don’t we?”

Her heart pounded as she spit out the words.

‘But did you hear what those men said before?’

Laritte stared at Olivia with vague blue eyes. Indeed, they were alike. The same silver hair and blue eyes. Of course, Olivia was a bit taller and spoke lies better than Laritte. At this moment, she came to the conclusion that if it hadn’t been for this alleyway, Laritte would never have known the truth.

“Have you come to find me at least once after you left me at the County? Is it true what they said?”

Laritte had no reproach, she was only curious, but Olivia felt terrible all the way to the end of her spine. The fake smile disappeared from her face.

Laritte recalled how she was bullied by the Count’s people.

“You are trash! You have been abandoned by your mother!”

“No one is happy with your birth, haha.”

The sound of such derisive laughter was always cold. That feeling was only destroyed when Ian gave her the title of his wife on a spring day.

Olivia stepped back as her back hit the wall behind her. She locked eyes with Laritte, who silently demanded the truth. It was when they heard a strange noise. The noise of someone punching a sack of food.

“Ian, won’t the blood splatter all the way here?”

Ian looked at Laritte holding the two men by their collars. He was very angry. Insulting Laritte was the worst choice they made. The men who had been harassing Olivia up until now were in a very bad state. Ian affirmed, grabbing them by the collar and them following helplessly.

“That’s right. I can’t show blood in front of you. Let me take them somewhere else and continue.”

‘No, I meant to stop beating them….’ Laritte shook her head. ‘Do whatever you want.’ She pouted, while Ian dragged the men and disappeared further into the dark alley. The men were begging for forgiveness. Olivia thought this somehow would change her mood, but it didn’t. She asked in a different tone than before.

“How do you remember me?”

Laritte did not need to be dishonest, so she said everything she thought of.

“Always scolding me. You were scarier than merchants trying to kick off a kid. I’ve seen you smile, therefore you looked awkward at the Duke’s mansion.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Do you need more excuses?” Giving up her acting, Olivia brushed away her hair roughly, revealing her deep wrinkles. She was also a forced child, but she wasn’t thrown away on the streets for eight years. Her depression was to be blamed for her anger on Laritte. The child was afraid of her mother, so she went climbing a mountain to dig up herbs at a young age.

‘In the end, only Laritte received bad memories of me……’ Olivia lowered her eyelids. It was her fault.

“Why are you quiet? Why do you judge our story alone?”

Why had everyone always speculated on Laritte?

The people at the Count’s house used to bully her. It was no different when she came to the Duke’s. The knights of noble origin disliked an illegitimate girl like her. It was speculated that Laritte would handle them at will. Even Ian left her without discussing it when he found out that he shouldn’t be with Laritte.

All of them evaluated Laritte. Until now, she had been a person who sat calmly even if others locked her up in a frame of prejudice. However, Laritte chose to kiss Ian on the promenade. It was a huge step forward for her to walk through the frame.

“If you’re the only blood I have left, don’t even try to measure me at will.”

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“Then will you leave with me if I tell you the truth?”

“What?”

“I won’t let you starve like before. I will buy you a dress even if I have to work all day and night. I will pay you back even if it’s little, so let’s quit here and leave. I don’t know if I can say this, but I don’t want to see you get beaten anymore!” Laritte listened quietly. Olivia looked sincere about what she said.

“No one is beating me here.”

“I saw everything. What are you talking about!”

Laritte recalled last night. Olivia was waving the candle to check her body. Olivia frantically explained her plans, “I brought things that we can sell. We can settle in a small village in a mountain valley. Wouldn’t it be nice to go there by boat?”

“Hold on, Olivia.”

“Has the Duke been beating you? Does he show any kind of sexual desire every night? Doesn’t he get excited without beating you?”

Meters away from them, Ian finished tying up the collapsed thugs. His excellent hearing picked up Olivia’s words.

‘…….What do I do at night?’

By the time he returned to the women, Laritte was resolving the misunderstanding.

“Ian and the employees only taught me love, they’ve never been bad towards me. It was only Ian who left me recently because he was feeling uneasy.” It felt like her words were digging into Ian’s heart. She continued, unaware that Ian was behind her. “In the end, it was because of me, though it was no different from self-satisfaction without consulting me.”

Ian banged his head against the wall.

“Then during the outbreak of the epidemic, she secretly came back, kissed me, and tried to leave again…”

Again, his head banged against the wall. This time, Laritte discovered Ian. Oh! Why was he doing that to a dirty wall? She rushed and separated him from the wall. She patted Ian’s forehead as she asked Olivia.

“Did you even love me a little bit?”

Ian calmly entrusted his head to Laritte like a puppy. Olivia’s eyes widened at the scene before she felt tears in her eyes.

‘My child lives with people who love her.’

Laritte was curious about Olivia. Did all the imaginations that Laritte had about Olivia actually happen? Perhaps she forgot all the good memories she had because of what the Count’s people continued telling her?

“I thought Ian was the first one to care about me. It wasn’t true?”

Laritte wondered how she would react if the woman before her said it wasn’t true.

“L-Laritte….. Your….. mother.”

“I asked if you have loved me at least once.”

Olivia’s eyes saw the eight-year-old Laritte standing instead of the current Laritte. There was no expression on the child’s dark face. She was old enough to have a doll bigger than her own body, but in her rough hand was a basket of grass. The child asked cautiously.

Mom, do you love me?

Tears trickled down Olivia’s cheeks and drenched her lace collar. She should’ve told Laritte that she loved her and smiled when she was young. Then, Laritte wouldn’t have asked this with a mysterious face, unaware of what expression she should make on her own.

***
Ian rented a horse to return to the mansion in a wagon. When the wagon rattled on a large stone on the road, Olivia caught the sleeping form of Laritte leaning against Ian from falling.