Chapter 1

Prologue

“Come in.”

In an indifferent tone, Diego permitted the person to enter.

The crack in the door widened with a chilling creak. A thin woman opened the door and entered the room. She walked in cautiously, her nervous expression evident.

She said, “I heard you called me.”

Diego gazed intensely at the woman approaching him. She was neatly dressed. Her clothes were clean but did not look expensive. Her blonde hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, was matted, perhaps because she had not taken care of it.

She had probably looked more presentable when she was still attending social events, tea parties, and the like. But now that she was a governess and had joined the working class, dressing like the daughter of a powerful noble family would have looked odd.

Diego knew very well the investment required to maintain a noblewoman’s appearance.

Moving his gaze away from her, Diego sat down on his sofa.

In a casual tone, he said, “Have a seat. I asked for you because we need to have a talk.”

As the woman sat across from Diego, her hands twitched slightly. Diego leisurely clasped his own together.

He called her name in a soft tone, “Miss Estella.”

“Yes, Lord Diego.”

“Are you afraid of me?”

Estella did not answer.

Diego slowly reclined against the sofa’s backrest. In contrast to just a moment prior, his tone turned blunt, “I believe you’re the one who asked to speak to me in the first place.”

“...”

“Tell me, Miss Margaret. Why did you attempt to attract my attention?”

At the end of the question, he raised the corner of his mouth.

Surprisingly, Estella did not make Diego wait long. She took a quick but deep breath and said, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m someone who can be of help to you, Lord Diego.”

“Is there something you want from me?”

Diego was not one to exchange pleasantries with someone who wanted to exploit his weaknesses. Instead of wasting time, he always went straight to the point.

In a bitter tone, he said, “Your incompetent father frequents the gambling den, your younger siblings can barely eat, and your mother has been depressed for a long time.”

Estella’s silence seemed to confirm Diego’s information was correct. He was a bit annoyed by her unreadable reaction.

He asked, sarcastic this time, “What can I do to save you from that life? Do you covet the position of the next duchess?”

This time, her reaction was a bit over-the-top.

She had been bowing her head just a moment ago, but now with wide eyes, she glared at him. It seemed as though she was about to snicker, but she hurriedly raised her right hand to cover her mouth. That soured Diego’s mood all the more.

When she finally managed to control her oddly contorted face, Estella said, “Lord Diego, there’s only one thing I want from you.”

“Tell me,” Diego kindly urged Estella.

Looking straight into his eyes, she answered, “Please don’t kill Lady Cecilia and Lord Cedric.”

Diego’s face froze for a moment.

Cecilia and Cedric were the names of his half-siblings. They were also the reason why Estella had moved into the mansion as their governess.

Diego narrowed his eyes.

The reason she was asking him not to kill his siblings was probably because he had already killed his father.

He had never intended for the intrepid governess to learn of his secret.

Diego recalled the voice that had stopped him in the hallway not long ago.

“Lord Diego, you’ll need a black bow tie.”

When she had said those words to him, she’d looked just as nervous as now. Diego had frowned at her incomprehensible words.

It was only when Diego had been on the verge of leaving through the door downstairs that he understood her. He had casually brushed off her words and left her, but he couldn’t help but halt for a moment.

It was that day. The day he had executed his plan to murder his father.

Diego’s father, the former Duke Bertha, was a man who’d had many enemies. However, if anyone in the capital held the greatest resentment toward him, it was his son, Diego.

As was customary for nobles, the former Duke Bertha married a partner chosen by his parents the year he came of age. The woman who had the misfortune of entering a binding agreement with him on paper was Dolores Botry, Marquess Botry’s eldest daughter and Diego’s mother.

Lamentably, Dolores was an ugly woman. Her looks were out of step with the world’s aesthetic standards, but she also possessed a pragmatic personality that allowed her to take this disappointment stride. Her husband, however, did not possess her maturity. Thus, the fact that the world was indifferent to those in it was proven to her in a rather unfortunate manner.

She died of heartache after suffering many long years of her cold husband’s abuse.

Diego, the child born of her womb, was equally despised by Duke Bertha.

“It’s a good thing you don’t look much like your mother, but your sinister red hair gets on my nerves.”

Duke Bertha had often said this to Diego. The abuse did not stop at words. Until Diego was old enough to rebel, his father had often slapped him simply after falling into a bad mood.

But even such a monstrous man changed once he met a new lover.

Duke Bertha remarried a woman named Anna, a courtesan of commoner background. She had a talent for manipulating men.

When she clasped her arms around the duke and whispered sweet nothings into his ear, even Duke Bertha’s countenance relaxed into that of a kind man. Thanks to this skill, Anna precured herself the position of duchess and gave birth to a son and a daughter.

Though Duke Bertha’s legitimate first son, Diego, was his successor, the duke preferred Cedric, the son he’d had with his second wife, to become his successor because he loved her. Despite his sons’ eighteen-year age difference, Duke Bertha was so set on Cedric’s succession that he had tried to maim his eldest son.

Diego glanced down at his left hand. The robbers he’d met on the street not long ago had been persistent as they targeted his hand. But the shallow sword marks were insignificant considering what the robbers had originally intended to do. Diego didn’t even have to think about who had been behind it.

And so, Diego had become a monster who wished to kill his father. He had never felt guilty about that fact.

With cold, sunken eyes, Diego asked, “Miss Estella, have I ever sent poisoned tea to my half-siblings like my stepmother has done to me?”

“You just haven’t done so because it’s not time yet.”

“It’s not time yet...? Then when is the right time to kill my half-siblings?”

“When their father is not there to protect his children, and when their mother gets on your nerves.”

“You must be out of your mind, Miss Margaret,” Diego said, giving her a disdainful look.

It was then that Estella urgently made a proposal. “I can help oust the former duchess from this mansion.”

“Is there any reason for me to keep listening to this nonsense?”

“I know a way to get her out of this mansion legally.”

Estella was almost pleading, but she did not look servile. Even as she made this ridiculous offer, she had an earnest look on her face.

The motive behind her actions was mysterious. Where on earth was her brazen confidence coming from?

Diego crossed his arms. After a short sigh, he asked in a blunt tone, “What do you gain by helping me?”

“I told you. What I want is the safety of the children I teach.”

“Do you really think I would keep the seeds of conflict alive? My problem can easily be solved by getting rid of everyone, including you.”

“Cedric is a good boy, not to mention young Cecilia as well. The duchess was a courtesan, so once she is kicked out of the mansion, no one will give her support. As part of my request, please provide enough financial support to those ousted from the mansion so that they can survive.”

“That’s neither your concern nor a request for someone in your station to make.”

“If you were the type of person to believe all children are innocent, I might have requested something slightly different.”

Estella’s attitude was resolute. Her eyes, which had been filled with fear when she walked in, were now shining with determination.

Diego was somewhat at a loss. He even felt a bit foolish for thinking that she would ask for money. Instead of reaching for the easiest reply, why had he chosen to find fault with her?

No. The problem wasn’t his. She had been the one to make a preposterous request.

She had asked him to spare the lives of his half-siblings.

Diego quietly thought about her proposal.

When she’d asked him not to kill Cedric and Cecilia, he had become agitated because he felt that she had seen through him. His plans to kill Duke Bertha naturally extended to killing his half-siblings, of course.

It seemed that even he, the one who had come up with the plan, knew that it was a craven act. Her request had touched the edge of his conscience, one he hadn’t realized he still had.

“Very well, Miss Margaret. I accept your offer,” Diego answered. His tone sounded refreshed despite the tension-filled atmosphere from a moment ago.

Putting his clasped hands under his chin, he continued, “But I have no intention of putting the seeds of conflict out of sight like you suggested. I will keep Cedric and Cecilia in this mansion. And I’d like you to continue to be their governess.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I trust you to provide good guidance so that my younger siblings won’t become ungrateful children.”

His last words were more of a warning.

The succession ceremony when he would officially receive his title would take place soon regardless. He could kill the governess and silence her, but he wished to avoid a fuss before an important event. As long as he refrained from touching his siblings, she would keep quiet as promised. Diego knew that she was a softhearted woman who cared greatly for the children.

Now that the negotiation was over, Diego was about to get up.

No matter what plans the brazen governess had, he saw no reason for her to reject his offer. She would accept even if she was only saving Cedric’s life to use him for her future ambitions.

But Estella blinked and said, “But I was planning to leave the mansion with them.”

With annoyance, Diego looked straight into her eyes behind her thick glasses. He couldn’t guess what she was thinking beyond the cloudy lenses.

“You have two options. Either you look after the children here, or leave the mansion after seeing the spilled blood of your pupils.”

Diego’s tone was cold as he summarized her options. Besides getting rid of his half-siblings, he had many other things to worry about.

In the end, Estella’s shoulders drooped.

After a small sigh, she quietly answered that she understood. Then she left the room before Diego could tell her she could leave.

With a dumbfounded expression on his face, Diego stared at the closed door.

In more ways than one, the woman had clearly lost the ability to feel fear. If Diego had been the type of nobleman to fly into a murderous rage at any sign of arrogance, she would have lost her head already.

But then again, he wasn’t a kind person either.

“Killing a woman like her would be easy for a man who murdered his own father, wouldn’t it?” Diego muttered with self-deprecation.

The hazy smile soon disappeared from his lips.

Diego got up from his seat and went back to reviewing the documents he had been reading. It was time to sign his father’s death certificate.

Diego almost wrote the name Estella Margaret Montiel, the name of the woman who’d left a deep impression on him just moments ago.

Chuckling, he fixed the grip on his quill.

Shortly after, his perfect signature embellished the paper.