I Picked Up the Trash Others Threw Away - Chapter 28.1

Chapter 28.1

I greeted Count and Countess Malekiah politely, following the proper etiquette.

“Father, Mother, greetings. Did you have a good night?”

“Of course. You must be tired from the ceremony, but you even came here to greet us. You’re working hard.”

“I’m also a member of the family now, of course I had to.”

Seeing how the Counts were deeply moved by the words that might seem formal made me become more polite without realizing it.

Unlike Trish, who had a twisted personality, the Counts were truly dignified and cultured people, so much so that it made me wonder how they treated him as a child.

‘Usually, if a child is problematic, the parents will be at fault. But I can’t find any flaws in them.’

It was surprising that the Count slapped Trish in the face when I first greeted the couple, but in retrospect, it was even more surprising that the blame was not directed at me.

Even if he hated his son, wouldn’t he resent others more than his own children?

On the other hand, Trish, who had shown reluctance in following me, stood silently next to me without even making eye contact, let alone greeting them.

I poked his arm with my elbow, and Trish sighed loudly as if he wanted everyone to listen.

“Good morning, ah, it’s not even morning anymore. Good afternoon. Father, Mother.”

“… Ahem. Right. You also did well, Trish. Make sure to rest today.”

“A day is too little. Seeing how fatigued I am, I think I should stay locked up in my room for at least a week.”

He didn’t argue openly, but it was a strangely sarcastic tone. I interrupted him.

“Can’t you speak more nicely?”

“Why? I’m speaking in the same way as usual.”

“I’m telling you to say something nice. I’d like you to be more positive.”

Since I also didn’t speak politely to Baron Delphonie, I couldn’t ask him to be more polite to his parents.

Trish pouted and looked reluctant, but he lightly added that he had no intention of ruining the mood from the morning.

“I want to let Audrey rest for a bit. I also want to introduce her to the mansion.”

“Are you going to show her around? If so, you’re welcome to do so. Audrey, make the most of it. There are many beautiful places in our mansion.”

Hearing Trish’s justification, the countess rejoiced and smiled at me.

She didn’t seem to have put down her expectations of Trish yet. Now that Trish had found true love, did she hope he would change because of me?

‘She won’t cry when we get divorced, will she?’

If the innocent counts were to play and be hurt by our contract marriage, it would remain the biggest debt of the heart.

When I first offered Trish the contract marriage, I didn’t even think about his family. On the contrary, I thought that the couple would not be such good people since they had raised such a troublesome child.

But they were so warm-hearted that I was now feeling a prick of conscience for deceiving them.

‘I will do my best to serve them while I am in this mansion.’

While I was making a firm commitment to myself, the Counts said they didn’t want to interrupt our honeymoon time, quickly sending us away and telling us to take a walk in the garden.

Me and Trish crossed our arms and took a walk together, and each time we passed by the servants in the hallway, we received suspicious gazes from them.

As we walked past them and entered the quiet garden, I wiped the smile on my lips, which were now spasming.

“Why is everyone looking at us like that?” I whispered.

“It’s the gaze of bystanders looking for something to talk about. While they can’t leak outside what happens inside the mansion, they can talk amongst themselves as much as they want.”

“So you’re saying that our relationship is also great gossip for the people of the mansion.”

“Because it’s something they can talk about in such a quiet mansion. But won’t our relationship be less doubted the more they spread the word?”

That was true. I nodded silently.

The garden of the Malekiah mansion was even more abundant than the last time I saw it. The new seeds that had been planted were now in full bloom, and the roses on the rose vine that stretched from the entrance to the end of the garden were all beautiful.

“This garden alone is beautiful enough, so I’m curious about what other beautiful places there are in the mansion.”

“My mother likes shiny and beautiful things, and my father likes that she’s like that. That’s why there are so many different statues and paintings in the mansion.”

“What about you, Trish? You two seem to have a similar taste.”

“Me and my mother?”

“Yes. You look exactly like your mother too. Although the golden hair is a symbol of the Malekiah family.”