The next morning, Louis was found locked in Melza’s room, and the entire cottage—no, the entire Grenville household—was thrown into an uproar.
But that was only to be expected. To think he’d had the audacity to try sneaking into her room at night. This was Archduke Woodstock’s granddaughter we were talking about, and my future fiancée.
If the archduke were to learn of this—or the public at large, for that matter—the damage to House Grenville’s reputation might very well destroy it. What’s more, Louis would be absolutely finished as a noble.
“…What is the meaning of this?” Marquis Grenville murmured darkly. He was glaring down at Louis as the latter knelt on the floor in abject humiliation.
“Y-you’ve gotta believe me! …That’s right! Hugo called me over to the cottage, and then he locked me in that room! I told him I couldn’t go, seeing as how you’d ordered me to keep away, but he insisted! I—I didn’t have a choice…!”
Ha-ha… That idiot’s trying to blame me for his own actions.
An excuse like that would have worked before the plan to marry me off to the archduke’s daughter, of course. But now… Now, I was destined to become Melza’s fiancé, and she was right here, witnessing it all.
My boneheaded brother still hadn’t realized that no matter what he said, all it would take was for Melza to relate her version of events to the archduke to bring House Grenville to its knees.
“…Marquis Grenville,” said Melza. “Fortunately, I was speaking to Hugh in his room at the time, so nothing came of it. But if I had been in my own room, your other son would surely have assaulted me. How are you going to take responsibility for this outrage?”
“…I am truly sorry…” Marquis Grenville gritted his teeth and bowed deeply. It was clear he was no longer in control of the situation.
“I don’t need an apology,” she said, shooting him a cold glare. “What I need is to know how you plan to punish this craven beast.”
“…Louis.”
“F-Father! Please believe me! I would never—”
“Quiet!” the marquis roared, causing Louis to recoil in alarm. “I’m confining you to the north tower! Take him away!”
“W-wait, please! Father…? Fatheeerrr!” Louis shouted as a pair of knights dragged him kicking and screaming out of the room.
“And you! I have no need for servants who can’t even protect our house from intruders! You, Molly, and everyone else working in that cottage, are dismissed from my service!”
“What?! Y-Your Lordship! Please reconsider!”
“Enough! Remove these incompetent fools from my property!”
In remarkably short order, Molly and the other servants were evicted from the cottage.
Ha-ha…Well, this is probably a better fate for Molly than being discovered embezzling the Marquis’s money.
“Once again, I, Jacob Grenville, do most sincerely apologize for this affront… You lot—bow your heads!” the marquis barked.
“…I-I’m so sorry!”
“My deepest apologies!”
Everyone—from my stepmother to Anna to the head steward and all of the maids—fell down to their knees and hung their heads.
Melza heaved a sigh. “I will have to ask my grandfather to send some servants from our estate. From this moment until the engagement ceremony, I ask that no one from House Grenville approach Hugh’s residence. I also ask that you refrain from speaking to us or otherwise approaching us, even outside the cottage. Those are my conditions for accepting your apology.”
“…Understood.” The marquis nodded. “You heard her! Leave—now!”
“O-of course!”
My stepmother, Anna, and the army of servants beat a hasty retreat, scurrying to and fro like spiders.
“…Then I too shall take my leave,” the marquis said with a final bow.
“Thank you,” Melza replied, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.
And just like that…she and I were left all alone in the cottage.
“Ho-ho… Maybe now we can finally relax,” she said.
“Will your grandfather really send over more servants…?”
“Yes. I have a group of them on standby at our secondary residence here in the capital. Once we send a messenger, I believe we can expect them within an hour.” She chuckled. Something told me she had anticipated this situation.
“Ah-ha-ha… I wish you had told me what you were planning…”
“I must say, I never thought he would be so stupid. And I knew you would protect me, Hugh. Frankly, I believed I was overthinking things…”
…Well, there’s not a whole lot I can say to that.
Not even I had expected that wretched half brother of mine to be so unprincipled…
“Ho-ho… I suppose we will have to wait for the servants to arrive before we can have breakfast… P-perhaps we should relax in your room a little longer…?” She glanced timidly up at me. Naturally, I wasn’t about to object.
“Ah-ha-ha… Let’s.”
“Yes!”
Accepting my hand, she followed me back upstairs.