My Husband Hates Me, But He Lost His Memories - Chapter 2.2
Chapter 2.2
Translator: Yonnee
—
Owen spoke in a dry voice that was scratchy like dry sand. I nodded silently, refusing to look at Lennon’s side.
“That’s right. I’m on my way back from my bridal classes.”
“Valentino. That guy has always been on my nerves. It’s great that you’ll marry him so we can hold him on a leash.”
“……”
“I hope you can be useful this time, Lily Everett.”
A cold gaze was looking at me like I was not more and not less than a tool of the household.
If I were truly their full-blooded family, would the men in this house ever respect me?
Would they see me as a human being?
A dark fog seemed to enshroud my mind as I thought of this. At the same time, someone’s hand was placed heavily on my shoulder. When I looked up in surprise. Lennon was staring at me with a lustful smile. Goosebumps rose up my spine.
“Don’t worry too much. I can marry you if it becomes too burdensome for you to be Duchess Lily Valentino.”
“…Thank you for your words.”
My voice that answered him trembled slightly. Lennon leaned in as though he was going to caress my lips, then he whispered.
“Come on, call me ‘Brother’ Lennon.”
“……”
“Hm? Aren’t you going to call me that? You’re making me upset.”
“…Brother Lennon.”
I clutched the hem of my dress tightly and trembled. I was both ashamed and angry, so it felt like I was about to cry, but I held back these emotions and forced my eyes not to shed tears.
“Right. See you later.”
Chortling, Lennon patted my shoulder twice more, then stepped away. I quickly bowed my head and rushed towards my room with restrained steps.
Click. After barely arriving at my room and closing the door behind me, it finally felt like I could breathe. With my back to the wall, I slid down.
Sitting while crouched into myself, I stared blankly into space. When can I get out of this hell?
It felt like there were insects crawling on the place where Lennon touched. I wanted to twist his hand if I could.
‘… Will Duke Valentino really marry me?’
Would I be happy if I married Duke Valentino and if I finally escaped this place?
There’s no way.
Everett and Valentino were two households that were rivals for so long. Valentino was a family that defended justice and morality, while Everett was their exact opposite.
Under Everett’s influence, countless people died and lost their homes. The Duchy of Everett did everything they could to get their hands on more wealth and power.
Everett and Valentino clashed with each other in almost everything. The two families had been antagonizing each other for many years, shedding blood many times and building mountains of corpses in between them.
Over time, the power of the two families were on equal terms, but a difference between them arose more than a decade ago. The Everett family, which had grown exponentially like a monster, eventually became powerful enough to swallow the entire kingdom.
‘…Theodore Valentino won’t like me.’
It’s not just because I was a daughter of the Everett family.
‘Because I am flawed.’
To the public, I was an illegitimate child that Duke Everett had with a maid. However, I was clearly not Duke Kasef Everett’s biological child.
‘Dirty and lowly wench.’
That was how Hessen called me. Owen did not use such harsh words to address me because he pretended to be a good nobleman on the outside, but I could see with the way he looked at me that he despised me. And my father…
‘You have to achieve as much as I invested in you, Lily Everett.’
The Duchess who had given birth to her children had long since passed away. The Duke, who had only two sons, needed a daughter who he could raise well and sell at a high price.
However, Duke Everett wanted to avoid spending useless money on a new wife or a lover. That’s why he decided to just adopt a child rather than siring an illegitimate child.
And that child was me, Lily Everett. I was a lowborn maid’s child who didn’t even know who my father was.
Duke Everett was satisfied with me because I had a good enough face and white-silver hair that was similar to the silver hair of the Everett family. In other words, my appearance was all it took to get me here.
‘All you have is your face and that white-silver hair. Useless.’
Shortly after adopting me, Duke Everett deemed that I was not worth even half the amount of money he used to invest in me.
Still, the Duke did not throw me away because that would mean throwing away his investment entirely. But the members of the Duchy, who had already been cold to me, began to openly treat me harshly.
Owen tried to control me to his standards, and Hessen was always enraged at me. Even when Hessen would harass me and when the Duchy’s servants bothered me, the Duke continued to ignore me.
And so, I’ve been living in this hell for over a decade. There were times when I truly wished to die, but I didn’t have the courage to take my own life. All I could do was endure it all over time.
There was a weak hope in me that someday, somehow, there might be a person who would reach out to me.
“…….”
I got up from the floor, but there wasn’t any strength in my numb legs. I barely staggered over to my bed.
I fell on the sheets that had a pleasant scent and lay down without tucking myself in, closing my eyes. Soon, a maid would come in to wake me up and urge me to go to my next schedule, but I wanted to rest even for a moment.
* * *
The next morning, here at the Everett estate, Theodore Valentino came to visit.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
