The Soulless Duchess

Chapter 4

Yvona saw Tristan. He was the cousin who always appeared so well-meaning and claimed everything he said was out of concern for her.

“Why are you so keen on my alliance with Lord Gaspar?” she asked.

“Because I wish for your happiness with Lord Gaspar. I truly believe you two are a perfect match,” he replied.

“Hmm. Is there really no other reason?”

“You talk back to your father, and now you’re talking back to your cousin who’s always been good to you?” Colin barked. He was quick-tempered and generally lacked insight, which was a condition exacerbated by his alcohol dependency.

Fortunately, Yvona knew exactly how to manipulate her father.

“You receive many things from Lord Gaspar, don’t you, Tristan?” Yvona said. “All the support that was given to the Bote family was cut off. But... how about you?”

“Naturally, whatever was given to Tristan would have been cut off too! I suppose you received them as the cousin-in-law. See how you’re ruining his life, too?” Colin cried.

But Tristan didn’t respond right away. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “Your father is right. The things I received from Lord Gaspar—”

“So why am I hearing different accounts? I know that Lord Gaspar visited your mansion the day before yesterday with gifts. Didn’t you split the gifts from the Emperor, too? Wasn’t there more than what you usually receive?”

“What? Is that true, Tristan?”

“I don’t know where you heard that... but you are mistaken. That couldn’t possibly be true.”

“You’re wrong. Divine beasts do not lie.” With those words, Yvona summoned a divine beast.

It was Asula, a spirit with attributes of darkness and water, whom she secretly attached to Gaspar’s carriage.

Asula appeared in the form of a rabbit with jet-black fur and eyes the color of water. As Yvona instructed, Asula created a magical mirror with water.

“This... is Lord Gaspar and Tristan, isn’t it?” Reflected in the mirror were Gaspar and Tristan from the day before yesterday.

Tristan’s genial expression changed.

Yvona saw a glint in his eyes as he said, “You... can summon Asula? Since when?”

Asula was a divine beast that she could not summon at this point in her past life. Even in this life, she could not summon higher-level spirits due to insufficient mana, but there were exceptions. The spirit of darkness and water, Asula, had the ability to absorb mana on its own in its environment.

“That’s not what’s important right now.” Yvona gestured toward the mirror with her chin.

Although the magic was impressive, Colin had little interest in summoning magic and couldn’t care less about Asula. Instead, he turned his attention to the images reflected in the mirror. He seemed entranced by the sight of Gaspar unloading boxes from his carriage.

“A summoned spirit in the carriage? Yvona, were you spying on Lord Gaspar?”

“I wasn’t spying. You’re a summoner, too, Tristan. You know as well as I that summoned spirits react to the emotions of the summoner. Asula just attached to the person I desperately wanted to know about. It just happened to show me the two of you.”

Yvona shrugged. In truth, she had very deliberately attached Asula to Gaspar to spy on him.

She cast down her eyes and feigned disappointment. “Not only does my own cousin lie to us, but he also accuses me of spying.”

“I just didn’t want you to get distracted from what really matters here. His lordship mentioned you were behaving oddly, and I suppose it’s true. You’re so different now. What happened to you? It’s not like you to be so insistent.”

When Tristan would speak like this, Yvona in her previous life quickly stopped herself. She didn’t want to make him angry nor disappoint him.

But the Yvona of this life didn’t respond. She only wrapped an arm around herself.

“Father, the reason I fought with his lordship was because of Tristan.”

“Yvona, what…?”

“He was meddling in my relationship between his lordship and me. I felt like he was using me to get closer to Lord Gaspar and benefit himself while driving a wedge between us. He gained even more for himself in the process.”

“That’s not true. You know I was friends with his lordship long before you even met. It had nothing to do with you. He was being generous simply out of friendship.”

“Yes, it’s nothing to do with me. You and his lordship have your own relationship. While we struggle to repay debts, you’re receiving lavish gifts.” Yvona bit her lip sadly as she avoided Tristan’s gaze.

“I wonder if you’re here today not as my cousin, but to secure your future by keeping my alliance with his lordship, whether I want to or not. Aren’t you here under his orders? I can’t help but wonder since you stand to gain so much,” Yvona continued.

“How could you say that to me? You know how much I care for you.”

“I can understand why you’re so keen on this marriage. With all he’s given you, it’s only natural.”

Yvona knew the truth, of course.

It was advantageous for Tristan on many levels to have her as Gaspar’s betrothed. This way, Tristan could receive more from his lover as he gained riches and power thanks to Yvona’s summoning powers, and she could potentially bear a child resembling both of them.

However, Tristan would never admit that Yvona was Gaspar’s shadow. After all, Tristan was Gaspar’s lover as well. Those were two facts they had to keep secret.

Colin was the kind of person who would abuse even his own daughter. Instead of protecting his nephew Tristan, there was a good chance Colin would exploit that weakness.

After a moment of silence, Colin said, “Yvona has a point. What have you done to deserve what should rightfully belong to his lordship’s fiancée?”

“Uncle, Yvona is mistaken,” Tristan appealed to Colin with a pleading voice.

Unable to reveal the real reason for receiving the gifts, all Tristan could do was appeal to Colin’s emotions. Tristan’s expressive face could stir the heart of anyone.. His youthful innocence and charming appearance were his strongest weapons.

But Colin was devoid of emotion.

“I doted on you after your no-good father died! Who supported you when you were a boy? I did! And this is how you repay me? I guess you won’t be needing anything from us in the future since you’re leeching off your cousin’s fiancé!”

For Colin, there was nothing more important than money. He had a habit of losing his cool when it came to matters of money.

Now that he was having financial troubles, he needed an outlet for all his stress. All the rage that would have been unleashed on his daughter was going to his nephew today.

“Uncle, please calm down. Just listen to me. You know how hard I worked to get Yvona and Gaspar together.”

“I never get to call his lordship by his name. I guess you two are very close.”

Yvona was never allowed to call Gaspar by his name. Tristan, it seems, just had a slip of the tongue—a catastrophic one at that.

Colin’s face turned a deeper hue of red upon hearing this. He called his knights and gave them an order: “Tristan Bote is banned from this house until further notice. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your lordship.”

“Uncle, I don’t know what I did to deserve—”

“Get him out of my sight!”

The guards seized Tristan at once. He cried as he was dragged out of the house, “Uncle, you will see once you calm down that Yvona is gravely mistaken!”

But Colin would not change his mind.

Once Tristan had disappeared from sight, Yvona sighed. “I am as shocked as you are by Tristan.”

“To think I cared for him like my own!”

“Father, don’t listen to Tristan for the time being. I have a plan. I’ll fix things with his lordship.”

“Alright. I’m counting on you.”

Colin tried to wrap his arm around his daughter. Now that he had cast out the nephew who had always taken his side, he was hoping for a little affection from the daughter he had never failed to neglect.

But Yvona slipped away before he could reach her. “I’m a little tired. I’m going to retire for the day. Goodnight, Father.”

“Sure. Of course.”

Disappointed, Colin said goodnight to his daughter. He noted as he watched her go that she seemed very different from the acquiescent girl he had always known her to be.

***

Without Gaspar and Tristan dropping in on her at all hours, Yvona had plenty of time to herself. She went into town to sell the engagement ring Gaspar had given her.

This is all it’s worth, huh?

The ring didn’t look like much, and it really wasn’t worth a great amount. For an engagement ring that the son of a duke would give to his betrothed, it was a travesty. She thought of all the things Gaspar gave to Tristan.

Looking back, she couldn’t believe how blind she was, given what she knew about how Gaspar treated Tristan. This engagement ring was the one thing Yvona begged for and received. It was the first and last time she worked up the courage to ask something of Gaspar.

How little he must have thought of me...

Yvona sold the engagement ring because she didn’t want it anymore, but more importantly, she did it for the money. Her father had stopped giving her an allowance. She could not buy so much as a new dress without his permission.

With the money she got in exchange for the engagement ring, she set out to buy the rest of the ingredients she needed for the elixir and the most important ingredient of all: the Kiridan fruit.

“People from the north buy these things for indigestion... Why do you need so many?”

“Yes, I know. Don’t worry.”

“The fruit may be smaller than a coin, but you’ll feel the effects after taking just one. You don’t need all this. I can’t in good conscience let you buy so many you won’t need. This is no ordinary fruit.”

Regardless of the kind merchant’s concern, Yvona bought every last Kiridan fruit she could find at the market. Still, she couldn’t find much. Kiridan fruit, mainly distributed from the north, wasn’t widely available in the capital.

But even so... I can’t believe this is all I can get.

She was planning to get a servant or divine beast to help carry things back to the mansion, but she’d only managed to get a basketful.

The duke in the north stopped the circulation of Kiridan...

Yvona had learned about Kiridan fruit because of the elixir. She didn’t know that the supply had dried up at this point in the capital.

I’m sure it’s some mass indigestion in the north that’s keeping the Kiridan fruit from reaching the capital. I’m sure it’s not because someone discovered its magical properties.

Kiridan fruit was the key ingredient for the elixir that boosted mana. This was a fact only Yvona knew. For reasons unknown, time was turned back, and she was the only one who had memories from before.

Yvona prepared to return to the mansion, but then, she heard a voice calling her.

“Yvona?”

“Fancy meeting you here.”

She ran into Gaspar and Tristan, who were pressed against each other as they strolled through the market. Gaspar frowned upon seeing her, but Tristan waved and led Gaspar by the arm toward Yvona.

“Why should I—?”

“Gaspar, it’s Yvona. Let’s go say hello.”

Past Yvona would’ve thought the two were just hanging out, but she knew the truth now.

They’re on a date.

Gaspar refused to look at her, but Tristan looked straight into her eyes.

“I’m so glad we ran into each other. Your misunderstanding has been weighing so heavily on me that I could hardly sleep.”

“My misunderstanding?”

“Yvona, I hope you know how much I cherish and love you. It hurts to see you so distant. You’ve always been good to me since you were young. You were so adorable back then, like an angel descended from heaven.”

Reminiscing, Tristan stared dreamily off into space with a wistful smile. He played the part of the doting older cousin so perfectly.