Chapter 6 (1/2)

Chapter 6

Eric’s gaze hardened coldly.

“Yes. That’s what I think.”

After Chloe said this, Eric let go of his grip over her shoulders. Once again, he brushed up his hair and gritted his teeth.

“That’s what you, my wife, thinks…”

He looked down at her with an unreadable look that she had never seen before.

“Even when I don’t do anything, they still say that kind of sh*t.”

In the end, her husband grew livid.

Eric wasn’t the type to be angered easily.

It was normal for thorns to rise or the temperature to drop around him, but he never fully expressed his anger through his facial expressions or through his gestures.

At this moment, his black eyes were hazy and his cheeks were flushed red.

Both of his hands felt weak as they trembled, and there was a stiffness in the back of his neck and on his shoulders that wouldn’t go away.

With his anger so visibly palpable like this, Chloe’s shoulders quivered.

‘I don’t think I should say anything more.’

And so she took a step back, with the intent to keep quiet from now on.

But then Eric’s lips opened.

“Daniel!”

He shouted in a loud voice, and the previously shut door immediately opened halfway.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Daniel peeked through the open gap.

Yet Eric didn’t even glance at him.

His eyes were still intensely focused on Chloe with a burning gaze.

“Send a telegram to the estate at once with the order to get rid of all the maids serving my wife.”

“Darling!” Chloe cried out as she heard this, then lowered her voice to try and convince him. “They didn’t say it to my face—I only happened to hear it while they were talking. I was the one who overheard it, so… don’t fire them for something as trivial as that.”

“Trivial? Is that something trivial?”

She could see him shaking in anger.

“Servants have a duty to keep their mouths shut. Whether you overheard it or not isn’t the point.”

Eric’s words weren’t wrong. Of course, it was the servants who were at fault.

But Chloe didn’t want them to suffer because of her.

She didn’t want to be burdened any further. She already felt terrible because her marriage was failing, so she didn’t want to think about ruining other people’s lives on top of that.

“But— Darling, it’s winter now. You know how difficult it would be if they left the estate on a cold day like this.”

That’s why Chloe kept dissuading Eric.

However…

“…Darling?”

Chloe unconsciously reached towards Eric.

Because his face suddenly turned white.

His eyes were swirling with many different emotions.

Those emotions came and went in a flash, so it was hard to guess what they were.

But Chloe could see that Eric was definitely shaken at this moment.

‘Why? Was it something I said?’

Thinking about retracting her outstretched hand, it froze in midair.

Feeling embarrassed by the look Chloe had as she stared at him, Eric brushed a hand over his face and pushed back his fringe once more. Then, he raised his chin.

“Any husband wouldn’t be able to stay calm after hearing such insulting words. If I could, I’d send those maids to the guillotine for blasphemy against an aristocrat.”

“But Darling…”

“Thanks to you, I’ll be a merciful nobleman who’ll only fire them. Daniel, take care of this matter.”

“…I understand.”

Wary of the tense atmosphere between Chloe and Eric, Daniel closed the door without saying anything more.

It was just the two of them again.

Chloe glanced at Eric, whose shoulders no longer trembled in rage.

He was the same as usual again, but there were still traces of strong emotions in his stance.

So Chloe focused more on composing herself. She drew in her thoughts and focused on calming her mind.

‘…Let’s try to avoid a fight.’

In any case, their relationship would end soon, so she didn’t want to argue with him anymore.

But this was still too much.

Not just because Eric was adamant about firing the maids.

There was nothing for her to be upset about regarding their dismissal, and the guilt she felt could be pushed to the back of her mind for now.

There was only one reason why she felt so incensed at this moment.

Because Eric had ignored her opinion yet again.

As expected, it was always going to be like this.

She at least wanted to be heard. She was still his wife and the Madam of the estate—if she was treated with any respect at all, she would have been able to decide on her own!

‘But why is he so affected by it?’

Chloe wiped the cold sweat off her chin with the back of her hand. Then, she took a large breath and spoke.

“Those maids reached a reasonable conclusion anyway.”

And at that, Eric’s expression became distorted.

“Just what are you—!”

“Because you’re never by my side in the first place!”

Chloe raised her voice for the first time.

It was disgraceful to do so, but it was even more disgraceful to keep holding it in.