Chapter 246

“You must not cause a disturbance here!”

A staff member who had come running after hearing the shouting approached to restrain the Marquis.

And it wasn’t just the staff.

The invited guests who had heard the noise were also beginning to gather here one by one, some with curious expressions, others with displeasure.

“…Ian, I’ll discipline Richard properly even if I have to use the rod, so how about forgiving him at this point?”

After checking the onlookers gathering around, Marquis Ulverni changed his target to Ian.

That should be enough, so let it go.

It was a voice carrying a subtle pressure.

Despite the ear-piercing noise, Nina, who had been calmly observing the situation, let out a dry laugh.

‘…He really is cowardly and sly to the very end.’

He was drawing tears and snot from his son to the point it was embarrassing to watch, then using the crowd’s attention to force forgiveness.

If Ian were a kind and gentle child, he might have forgiven him, pushed along by the situation.

“I…”

When Ian frowned and bit his lip, Nina said firmly,

“Don’t forgive him, Ian.”

“What?”

Ian lifted his head sharply.

She looked down at his ash-gray eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment and smiled faintly.

You don’t want to forgive him.

But you’re worried that if you don’t forgive him, you’ll become a bad child.

Nina turned her gaze forward again.

“Even if you forgive him, I can’t forgive him.”

Just as Marquis Ulverni’s lips twitched, thinking it was almost settled, he shouted angrily,

“Duchess! I’ve gone this far, do you really have to blow something that happened between children out of proportion?!”

She was different after returning, but originally, she was used to playing the villain.

Being told he’d be discarded, and so on.

If she let it slide even after seeing that thing dig into her child’s heart and still never offer a proper apology to the very end, then she wouldn’t be Nina Bayern.

And in the first place, she had never intended to forgive him.

“Isn’t it time you realized that you can’t just brush things off by calling it a child’s matter?”

“Duchess!”

“Oh, how noisy. Is it acceptable for someone of a marquis’s standing to behave so disgracefully in a place that demands decorum?”

Nina stepped past Marquis Ulverni, then gently bent her knees and met Richard’s eyes.

A child born as the son of a marquisate, who had lived arrogantly without knowing fear of the world.

Now was the time to make him face reality.

“Richard, you insulted the sole heir of House Bayern. And the consequences won’t be as light as you think.”

“D-Duchess…”

“Not only will you be unable to transfer to another academy, but from now on, no one in high society will seek you out. I’ll make sure of it.”

Because he’s a child.

Because it was his parents’ fault that his misguided words and actions had hurt Ian.

Even so, the malice contained in what he said was far too strong to simply let it go like that.

And forgiveness is something that’s sufficient even once.

Expulsion had already been a lenient punishment compared to what House Ulverni had done.

Now this child had to learn how to take responsibility for his actions.

“It might not feel real to you right now, but it’s as clear as day that the life of a second son of a noble house who fails to form proper connections won’t shine the way it does now.”

Frost-like rage lodged in eyes as blue and clear as glass.

And cold words that forced him to recognize reality, as if icy water had been poured over his head.

As the terrified Richard stumbled backward step by step, Marquis Ulverni shouted with a hardened expression.

“Duchess, how can you intimidate a child like this? No matter how much my son may have made a mistake…!”

Was he now trying to pick fault with her supposed heartlessness in front of everyone.

When Nina let out a scoff and straightened her back, a dark, large shadow appeared behind her.

“…Are you daring to raise your voice at my wife right now?”

“Honey?”

Feeling the warmth pressed close behind her and hearing the cold voice steeped in anger, Nina lifted her head.

“A mistake, you say. I’d like to hear exactly what that mistake was.”

It was Ash.

At the murderous gaze in his twisted smile, it felt as though the temperature around them dropped another notch.

“Y-Your Grace…”

A sense of frustration surfaced on Marquis Ulverni’s face.

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