8.
“Now I see why my husband went to such lengths not to entrust his nephew to you, Uncle.”
“What?”
“Because it’s revolting—I can’t bear to hear another word.”
“What are you ….”
With that, Nina hurled the little glass vial toward the floor as if it were a chess piece being slammed down.
Crash!
The vial shattered into fragments, its contents spilling out across the carpet.
Count Acelot lurched to his feet, stammering like a machine caught in a buffer.
“Wh–what on earth do you think you’re doing?”
“I should be the one asking that.
You knew full well my grandfather is a Supreme Justice, and yet you dared to suggest I degrade my husband with this filthy potion, Count Acelot?”
Stripping away even the slightest pretense of respect for her in-laws, Nina pressed him sharply, and Count Aethlott broke into a sweat as he stammered out a defense.
“W-well, I think there’s been a misunderstanding… This is for your own good.
You’ve been married for two years now — it’s time to think of an heir.
If there’s a child, Ash won’t be able to act so freely, will he?”
“Don’t be absurd.
Just because I’ve shown him the worst of myself doesn’t mean I’d stoop to this petty trick—using some filthy potion to harm my husband and then frame him with perjury.”
“It’s a misunderstanding!
It’s not a dangerous drug — it’s merely an aid to marital relations…”
“An ‘aid’?”
Nina twisted her lips in a scornful sneer.
There was no shortage of dubious so-called remedies on the market.
If it were simply an ambiguous health tonic, that would be one thing.
But a concoction brewed from cheap ingredients could leave the body with deadly aftereffects.
If it were a refined tonic used by nobles, that would at least be one thing—but it would still mean a lifetime of groans in the bedchamber.
And yet he planned to disguise a dangerous drug as a harmless aid and give it to my nephew.
A man like that didn’t even deserve the courtesy of restraint.
Chin tilted, Nina looked down at Count Aethlott with haughty disdain and said,
“Lick it.”
“W-what…?”
“You just called it an ‘aid,’ didn’t you?
Then prove to me this thing is safe.”
“Surely you don’t mean for me to—lick the floor…?”
Her voice was icier than winter as she addressed his stunned incomprehension.
“Why are you still standing there?
If you heard me correctly, then get on with it.”
Once a man entered the ranks of the titled nobility, unlike counts or barons, he governed vast lands and was treated almost like a king.
To command such a man to kneel and lick the floor was no different from telling a king to cast away his honor and proclaim himself a slave.
“Are you mocking me right now?”
Count Aethlott’s face flushed red as he trembled with outrage.
Nina, her expression grave as if she were deadly earnest, replied,
“What possible amusement could I find in this?
I am merely giving you the chance to prove your innocence.”
“You call that a chance?!”
“And what about you?
Do you think it was proper to spill such filthy, indecent words before your nephew’s wife?”
Every fiber of her being wanted to shred the man’s mouth to pieces and run to the bath to scrub her ears clean.
An uncle who claimed to care for his nephew’s marriage, and yet brought along an aphrodisiac?
It was nothing but vile and repulsive.
Yet the man had not lived his years for nothing.
After a moment of shaking fury, he forced himself to swallow his temper, speaking again in a calmer tone.
“Do not misconstrue my intentions.
As his uncle, I mean only to correct my nephew’s failing sense of duty—I have no ill intent.”
“So prove it—show me you mean it,”
Nina said, tilting her head with feigned casualness.
The gesture was enough to make clear she had no intention of indulging his excuses.
“…Continuing this conversation will only deepen misunderstandings.
I will take my leave for now.
If you change your mind, contact me.”
“No need to wait.
I will never accept your filthy proposal.”
“If you truly wish to win your husband’s heart, you’ll need an heir—are you sure you’re willing to forego that?”
Nina snorted,
twisting the corner of her mouth.
“You meddle too freely in other people’s affairs.
Enough of your disgusting talk—be gone.
Or shall I have someone drag you out myself?”
She spoke with the kind of cold finality that shattered any remaining hope.
Still, the count persisted as if he would not give up, promising to return another day.
“…I do hope that by the next time we meet, you’ll have changed your mind.”
Without the Taylor dukedom’s backing, winning the lawsuit would hardly be easy.
“…Filthy bastard.”
The moment Count Aethlott finally left, Nina slumped onto the sofa.
Holding herself rigid to avoid appearing weak despite her indigestion had left her flushed, dizzy, and overheated.
It felt like pulling an all-nighter to finish a thirty-hour assignment only to come down with a fever and then downing straight soju on an empty stomach—her body had no strength left,
and she half-wished someone would carry her back to bed.
‘…He may be my husband, but his judgment was spot on.’
Reliving the scene once more, she saw every detail unfold before her eyes with painful clarity.
If she were to side with Count Aethlott, her husband stepping down from the guardianship would become a foregone conclusion.
That man still clung to the position, scheming endlessly—and with a would-be traitor (the Nina von Bayern of her past life) lurking within the household,
adoption must have seemed the only way to protect the child safely until he came of age.
Still… he must have heard what I said, right?
No matter how violently Count Aethlott raged, as long as she—backed by her grandfather, the Chief Justice—refused to support him, he could never wrest the child away.
And since she had no intention whatsoever of siding with him, if only her husband would trust her, it would mean there was no need to keep dragging out their miserable marriage.
If this affair could earn her even the slightest bit of his trust, that would be enough…
“Haaah…”
Nina slumped against the armrest of the sofa, letting out a heavy sigh.
Thud, thud— the sound of a man’s boots echoed closer.
Nina, still sprawled against the armrest and gasping out hot, ragged breaths, forced her head up.
“……”
Ash was standing over her, those frost-edged gray eyes cutting down like a blade of ice.
If he had heard even part of the exchange just now, there should have been at least a flicker of confusion in his face…
Yet his gaze was unchanged—the same cold, crushing stare as though she were nothing but a crawling insect.
Without a word, he swept past her.
Did I misjudge the timing…?
Or was this simply proof that such a paltry display would never shake him?
She watched his frigid back retreat with a dazed expression, until brisk footsteps approached.
“…Milady, are you all right?”
Ah—so the shadow she had glimpsed at the doorway earlier hadn’t been her husband’s after all, but Melanie’s.
The housekeeper’s hazel eyes trembled with barely concealed confusion.
If she was the one showing this reaction, then it must have been Melanie who overheard the earlier conversation.
“I’m fine.
There’s no need to worry.”
“I’ll help you back to your chambers.”
“No.
I can manage on my own.
For now… put that away somewhere safe.
It’s dangerous—make sure no one can lay a hand on it.
Understood?”
If Count Athelott ever tried to cause trouble again, it might come in handy.
At the very least, it was worth keeping as evidence.
“Are you truly all right, milady?”
Melanie asked, her voice careful, subdued.
Nina forced a weary smile and gave a small nod.
“I leave it in your hands.
I’ll go upstairs now—don’t mind me, see to your duties.”
She wanted nothing more than to collapse back onto the sofa and rest, but staying there meant she would likely drift into sleep on the spot.
With effort, she pushed herself to her feet.
“……”
Perhaps I really ought to retreat somewhere with clear skies and clean air… to convalesce, even if just for a while.
Dragging herself up the stairs, Nina paused on the landing and wiped the cold sweat beading on her forehead with the back of her hand.
Even with one hand gripping the banister, every step felt like sinking deep into a mudflat, her legs heavy and unsteady beneath her.
Behind her, Melanie’s unsettled gaze lingered on her back for a long time.