This Is What Revenge Looks Like
Chapter 1

This Is How You End a Marriage

The fire burned strongly, and it smelled of well-cooked bread. This was because there was wheat in the open flame.

Having thrown another sheaf of wheat into the fire, the man swore. “How long do we have to keep up this madness? Why are we burning perfectly fine wheat? I’d rather feed the pigs with them.”

Another man who was beside him quivered fitfully and glared. “Do you have a death wish? Lower your voice!”

“So House Taylor meets its end. Things went downhill from the moment the previous duke and his wife suddenly died like that.”

“Keep your voice low!”

“They are using most of their wheat to pay off their various debts, but they’re doing things like this, too. To think that it took less than a decade for a house with such a long history to fall.”

The second man, who had been looking around nervously all this time, quickly shook his head and muttered, “Apparently, there’s money in it—the wheat we burn.”

“They think it’s fine, since the less wheat there is, the pricier it gets. But this is close to treason. Are they aware of that?”

The second man said nothing in response.

“At least their daughter, Lady Grace, is still alive. I was thinking they still had hope.” The man tossed the last few bundles of wheat remaining into the fire, then sighed deeply and at length.

“Well, she’s a daughter, not a son. Once she marries into some family, that will be that.”

The man was eventually moved to tears. “But to think that she is marrying a lout even commoners like us have heard about! It’s just too much.”

“Just you wait. I’m sure she has a plan,” said the second man.

The two men, standing before the huge fire, turned to look in the same direction. The grand, imposing castle of House Taylor stood in the distance. The darkness which had fallen over it felt wretched and sad indeed.

It was just like the night that the previous duke and his wife had succumbed to a sudden, mysterious death thirteen years ago.

***

“Mother! How do I look?”

Emma Taylor, the duchess, looked up. She had been leaning back, relaxing and having her nails trimmed. Her daughter, Rosette Taylor, was wearing a fancy pink dress and looking in the mirror, her shoulders gently swaying.

“You look beautiful, my lady,” said Lady Cornwall, who stood beside the girl.

“I know, right?” Rosette replied.

But the duchess simply looked her daughter up and down before remarking, unimpressed, “You really shouldn’t purchase so many. You look much more beautiful than the dresses ever will.”

Rosette’s expression hardened as she gazed avidly into the mirror. She spun around to face her mother and complained, “But I want to stand out the most at the wedding!”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be the most impressive person even then,” said Lady Cornwall gently. But the girl looked miffed as she opened a red jewelry case on the table.

It contained jewels that shocked even Rosette, a child of House Taylor, with their value.

“Grace is a nobody. She doesn’t deserve jewels like this.” Rosette felt upset and spiteful, even though she knew that they had been a wedding present from Grace’s husband.

It was only natural for the bride to be the most eye-catching person at her wedding, but the thought that all the nobles would have eyes only for Grace kept her awake at night.

The duchess smirked at her daughter’s childish complaint, then sent away the maids who had been tending to her nails. Inspecting her neatly trimmed nails, she said quickly, “Will you be marrying the son of Count Jaxen yourself, then?”

Rosette shook her head, outraged at the idea. “Mother!”

“That’s right. No daughter of mine is ever marrying someone like that. He has no less than six illegitimate sons, counting only the ones the public knows about, and he has a penchant for violence, I hear. So be kind to Grace tomorrow, at least for a single day.”

That wasn’t the only thing wrong with the man.

It was a tradition for a wedding to happen on the estate of the bride. As a result, Count Jaxen and his family were currently staying in Taylor Castle. Jack Jaxen, the son, had not only made passes at the maids, he had sometimes even laid hands on them. Apparently there were more than ten servants and maids already whom he’d beaten to the point of tears while they were attending to him.

Duchess Taylor gave a nasty smile, thinking about Grace Taylor, who was the spitting image of the previous duchess. “Grace is repaying our debt to House Jaxen by marrying such a man.”

Count Jaxen had not only agreed to not accept any dowry, but also to cancel the heavy debt House Taylor owed them. This extremely generous agreement went to show just how much trouble the son had made for the count.

In any case, from the perspective of House Taylor, they had a lot to gain from trading Grace away. Not only did they get to lessen their debt, they would enjoy the support of House Jaxen, the family of Empress Hetviga.

Rosette still pouted, murmuring, “That’s only right, given that you raised her until now.”

“That’s true,” the duchess said, getting up and patting her daughter on the shoulder. “So enough talk about jewels.”

“All right...”

The duchess sent Rosette back to her room and walked along the corridor, the spring in her step more pronounced than ever. The lamplight rippled in the corridor. She took a deep breath, then exhaled, swelling her chest.

Thirteen years ago, the previous duke and his wife had died at the same moment. They had only had a young daughter, and by imperial custom, a daughter could not become a successor unless she was married.

With no successor to the title of duke, the relatives from collateral lines who had been loyal to the duke all suffered mysterious deaths as well. As a result, John and Emma, who were from a mediocre baron’s family, were able to receive the title of duke.

They had been trembling so badly on the day they first set foot in this castle, feeling as though none of this really belonged to them. But Emma, the new duchess, had quickly hardened her resolve. This house had always been meant for her.

Emma removed the portraits of the previous duke and his wife, having them moved to a humid warehouse. She fired anyone who missed their previous master and mistress. She’d wanted to erase all memories of them from the house, and make it so as though she had been the lady of the house forever.

“Hello,” Grace said, calmly getting to her feet. She had been reading the family’s documents even though her wedding was only a day away.

Grace Taylor was the only remaining family of the previous duke, and the only real Taylor left alive. Emma had known the day she had first met Grace she would never be able to love this girl. The people of the Duchy of Taylor loved and cared about Grace like she was their own daughter, just as they respected her parents.

Grace Taylor was a trace of the previous duke and duchess, a shadow which simply could not be erased. But Emma had finally pulled it off. Everything belonged to her now, not Grace. The duchess smiled affectionately and said, “The duke has chosen a man that is too good for you.”

Grace said nothing.

“The wedding gift looks lovely.”

Grace, who had been gazing downward, looked up. Emma stared into those spring green eyes and slowly approached. She stood with the desk between them and covered her mouth as she smiled. “So you should be patient with your husband even if he brings home children he’s had with other women. Or when he lays his hand on you—as he will, every now and then. You will feel as though you are at the lowest point of your life, but what will you be able to do about it? All you’ll be able to do is endure. And that’s something you are quite good at, isn’t it?”

The ill will in her smile grew more and more noticeable.

“You will no longer be a member of this house when you marry. Don’t you ever even think about requesting help from this family. Do not be imprudent and cast a shadow on your family name. Just live with it. After you have put up with him for, oh, twenty years, you’ll be known as the lady of House Jaxen.”

That is, if you can bear such a hellish life for that long.

“In any case, have a good life,” the duchess said, having gracefully spat out what was almost a curse, and turned away.

Emma had hated Grace when she’d been a child because, even though she had only been ten, she’d had a dignity about her that suggested she was a grand noble. Not even Emma, who was a duchess by then, had something like that. Even now, Grace held an almost shameless degree of nonchalance and nobility in her features.

Emma shook her head rapidly, as if this disgusted her, and left the room.

Grace watched the spot where the woman had been standing, then locked eyes with Lady Cornwall, the head lady’s maid. The two gazed at each other quietly for some time.

Soon Lady Cornwall took her leave as well, and Grace turned toward the neat piles of documents on her desk. Surprisingly enough, the many documents pertaining to the financials and territory management of the house, something which was supposed to be handled by the head of the family, were before her.

The current duke, John Taylor, had been a baron only in name even before becoming a duke. He did not have the ability to head a large family such as this with such a long history. He had driven out everyone who had been loyal to the previous duke, but some of the vassals, he’d been forced to keep. That had also been because he hadn’t been able to handle all these documents. In fact, he had no intention of learning how to act the part of the head of the family, either.

The duke, the duchess, their son, and their daughter were only interested in enjoying the massive power and wealth of House Taylor they had suddenly come into. They weren’t at all interested in the house’s affairs.

But having only a few vassals was not enough to handle all the managerial work of the house. It had been Grace who had worked beside them, learning the ins and outs and dealing with all the matters which required the decision-making of a head of the family.

Grace was about to sit back down when a maid rushed up to her, badly out of breath. “Lady Grace! Lady Grace!”

“What’s the matter?!” Grace asked.

A shrill scream burst in the distance.

The maid said tearfully, “Lord Jack, he’s done something to Jesse...!”