Lara once had a thought.
If Lara did not become a good daughter as her father wants, if Lara became a bad daughter and hurt his pride, how would he react? Would he try to control Lara by force, or would he quickly abandon Lara and ignore her?
Marquess of Bailey was the former.
Slap!
What Lara had expected happened.
The Marquess had become frighteningly angry and was unable to control his anger.
Slap!
He raised his hand and slapped Lara in the face, it was so strong that it made a loud sound. Moreover, he did it twice. The startled attendant quickly averted his eyes and went outside. That was not the end. He hit and hit his daughter—who winced and staggered—on her head over and over again.
Until Lara fell to the ground and stumbled beneath his gaze.
“Go to your room. Don’t take a step outside until I give you my permission. Don’t even eat. Get down on your knee and beg for forgiveness until the problem is solved.”
Lara could feel something bloody in her mouth.
It seemed that her lips were cracked. Her head rang to the point of dizziness, but Lara did not groan even once. Rather, she opened her eyes wide and made sarcastic remarks sharply.
“Then, will the problem turn out to be something that did not happen?”
“Laviore!”
Marquess of Bailey was so furious that he did not know how to get angry. He had to make sure several times that the girl standing in front of him was really his daughter. He wondered how a person can change so much in just a few days.
As if she was under a dirty curse.
“Laviore Ria Bailey! Remember who you came from, I will not tolerate disobedience.”
Lara was confined.
All her maids were chased away. Let alone eating, no one was allowed to talk to her. Soldiers were placed outside the door so that Lara could never escape. And that night, Marquess of Bailey threw a pocket full of gold coins to his attendant and ordered Lara’s slave, who was in the arena, to be killed without leaving any trace.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Rumors spread quickly that Young Lady Bailey indulged in sensual pleasures with an arena slave, and that they kissed and got physical in a public place.
The noble community in Hautean was small.
In addition, Marquess of Bailey recently became an aide of Prince Sidhar, while Marchioness of Bailey abandoned her husband and left the house, making the interest in him higher than ever. Meanwhile, as soon as the Marquess’ one and only daughter became an adult, she got into major trouble. Whenever two or more nobles gathered, all they chatted about was the House of Bailey.
As imagination was added to the curiosity, all the scandals had ended up like a novel.
Laviore Ria Bailey.
There must be a good reason why a girl, who was such a modest model student when she attended the academy, became a prodigal daughter as soon as she held her coming-of-age ceremony. Someone was convinced that the feud between the Marquess and Marchioness of Bailey was the cause.
Someone speculated that the slave who kissed her might be a fallen noble somewhere.
In the arena, a feud broke out between the group of girls that insulted Lara and the group of girls that said they also would want to try kissing a slave as charming as Demian, consequently making the arena rowdier than ever.
The fallen angel.
Such a nickname was given to Lara for fun, and soon everyone called her like that.
She had only changed a few little things.
She just wore a red dress and frequented the arena.
She just ran after her mother and suggested to her to divorce her father.
Instead of begging for the Prince’s love, she just rejected any contact with him.
While Lara was locked up in her room, so much has changed.
The big change was that Marquess of Bailey’s plan was disrupted. The small change was that after much consideration, Konny, the maid who was encouraged by Lara’s deviation, visited Marchioness Isadora Bailey.
Her mother was the only warrior who could save her from her father’s claws.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
“Milady.”
Someone was calling for Lara.
“Milady… Open your eyes, how long are you going to sleep?”
It was Konny’s voice.
Lara, who had been sleeping late, forced her heavy eyes to open at the sound that had tickled her ears. Seeing the brightness of the room, the sun seemed to be high up in the sky.
It had already been three days since she was locked up in her room. Originally, she would have rushed to the temple from dawn at his father’s suggestion and sat there pretending to pray, to attract the attention of the Prince. However, after finding out that his daughter had caused a scandal with a slave, Marquess of Bailey ordered her not to take a step out of her room until the rumor subsided.
It was a boring time.
A day or two later, Lara’s patience had run out.
She was thinking about whether she should threaten to commit suicide, or if she should bribe the soldier. Whatever it is she had to do, Lara was determined to leave the house when this situation was over.
Moreover, she could not even eat anything but water.
It was fine because Lara was used to starving, but when she was about to get annoyed because of how frustrated she was, Konny showed up.
“…Konny?”
How did you come in here? I didn’t think father would give his permission.
When Lara asked with her eyes, Konny smiled brightly and answered.
“Madam is here!”
“What?”
Lara thought she heard it wrong.
As Lara sat in her bed half asleep, blinking blankly, Konny grabbed her hand with a flushed face and shook it up and down.
“Madam is here. I told her that His Lordship slapped you in your face and locked you in your room! Did you know what Madam said? She really made my heart beat fast…”
“What did mother say?”
“Madam slammed down the table, and with a frown on her face, she got up from her seat and reached her hand out to her secretary!”
Konny took a moment, made the grimmest expression she could do, and said slowly.
“Bring me the divorce document.”
“…What?”
She could not help but ask again.
Knowing that her mother said that, Lara was wide awake and brought up her full attention.
The Isadora Bailey whom Lara knew was a woman of few words and was also careful with what she had said. She was someone who would never create vulnerable points or make big fights just because of impulsive remarks that were stained with momentary anger.
Mother, who had always been careful, decided to divorce father like this?
Konny, who was excited, was chattering in front of her. It was a bunch of ramblings, but Lara knew perfectly what Konny was saying. When her mother instructed her secretary to bring the divorce document, her secretary rushed to prepare the document. Konny said admiringly that it was fast as if the document had been prepared in advance.
Then, they rode the carriage at full speed to meet the Marquess of Bailey.
“It’s all right now. Madam will solve everything. Milady, you must be hungry. I have brought you soft soup and bread. It’s lukewarm, so you can eat it right away.”
Konny put a tray on the table.
The smell of savory soup and freshly baked bread was fragrant. She did not even realize how hungry she was because she had gotten used to starving. But suddenly, she became very hungry.
However, now was not the time to be eating.
“No.”
“Milady?”
“Where’s mother?”
“Huh? She is…in His Lordship’s study.”
Lara stormed off from her seat.
She was still in her pajamas, but she ran out of her room regardless. In the hallway outside her room, two soldiers, who were supposed to watch her, stood helplessly.
“Milady!”
“Move.”
The soldiers did not stop her.
They did not have any choice.
Because Lara’s mother, Marchioness of Bailey had given her order through Konny for the soldiers to step away from Lara’s room immediately. They were obliged to obey orders from both the Marquess and Marchioness of Bailey.
Lara pushed her way through the soldiers and ran. The Marquess’ study was on the third floor. The sound of her footsteps running up the stairs rang busily in the quiet manor. When she came upstairs, the raw air filled the hallway.
As Lara had suddenly moved after she had just woken up, she was out of breath and turned dizzy. But despite all that, Lara still walked firmly and stood in front of the Marquess’ study.
“Milady.”
It was her mother’s secretary.
He stood in a neat position, holding a thin file.
“My mother…”
When Lara was about to open her mouth, a loud voice could be heard from the Marquess’ study.
“Are you in your right mind?! You’re a marchioness! No matter how lowly you came from, you’re no different from a noble now… As the lady of the house and the role model of the family, what are you saying now? A divorce document?”
It was Marquess of Bailey.
He was getting a lot angrier than when he slapped Lara in her face. His voice was coarse and trembled. On the contrary, Isadora’s voice was as icy and cold as a block of ice.
“I’m in my right mind. And I’m setting the perfect example now.”
“What…?”
“I don’t want to be associated with people like you anymore. I want a divorce. Before we become enemies, let’s at least go back to being strangers.”
“Isadora!”
“As if it was not enough that you confined my daughter who is a full-fledged adult, you even hit her? You should be glad that I’m not setting your study on fire. I don’t know who’s the lowly one here. I will take Lara with me.”
The Marquess was silent for a moment.
Lara knew that was her father’s way of resisting. He had a habit of using silence to press against his opponent.
But there was no way Isadora did not know about it.
“Sign this paper.”
She seemed to throw the divorce documents on the Marquess’ desk without giving him a chance to fight back.
Lara could hear the fluttering sound of the paper.
