So Merha went out for a walk to calm his temper. Instead, what caught his eye was Elisha and Nora taking a walk.
‘Who is that woman?’
She was a beauty dressed neatly, but in a luxurious outfit with milky skin. From just a glance, he could tell she was no ordinary woman.
Additionally, the woman following her like a shadow was Nora, the most famous female knight in the Empire. Merha belatedly recognized her.
‘Ah. If she’s with her… That’s Lucerne bride.’
His anger exploded as soon as she saw Elisha.
‘That bitch—the source of trouble in my family—is now proudly wandering around the temple’s establishments under my influence?’
Lately, the family has not been the same. Merha, Arien and Marco lived together in a private mansion in the capital. They fought every day, blaming each other for the failed auction.
He knew his son was unsightly, but his daughter-in-law was equally ghastly, so many days the residence was full of hostility. Arien always repeated the same words:
‘It’s because Lucerne took in the wrong woman that it’s like this, Elisha is scheming something, that bitch is our family’s troublemaker! That’s how she got Marco to move first.’
Merha strode up to her and shouted,
“How dare this lowly thing roam around the temple arrogantly! Do you know where you are?”
Nora and Elisha saw a middle-aged man approaching in a blaze of outrage. The priests walking by stopped, wondering what was going on.
“What do you mean by that? This is Rosaria’s disciple. Rosaria-nim also gave permission, so there is no place in this monastery that our lady cannot go. Besides, this monastery is under Rosaria-nim’s jurisdiction,”
Nora declared sternly. At that, Merha snorted.
“The Archbishop of Rosaria raised a prostitute. huh? A whore that suits an illegitimate child has been brazenly showing off her face in front of God in broad daylight. Hmph, really— You are Archbishop Rosaria’s blunder.”
Nora’s face turned blue at that insulting remark. She clenched her teeth tightly. If he had not been a member of the Cartier family, she would have drawn her sword.
“If you see me, you should run to me first and say hello politely. What adult doesn’t know this?”
Full of spite, Merha shouted even louder. Then Elisha took a step forward. She asked softly,
“Does that mean the superior of the whore’s household is a pimp?”
Nora and the priests who had stopped to look around, stopped breathing. Merha doubted his ears.
“You don’t look like that. However, if you wish, I will greet you. It’s not difficult.”
This time, Merha’s face turned blue.
***
“W-what are you saying? This bitch.”
Merha was so angry that it seemed that his brain was running out of oxygen. Sensing he was about to lose himself and go on a rampage, he reeled in his anger. He recalled Elisha’s notoriety that had spread to the public.
‘A crazy viper bitch that sleeps with a viper, with a glib tongue.’
He chuckled. He believed he was an expert at dealing with mad dogs. At the same time, the cruelty peculiar to the Cartiers flashed through his mind. There was one common talent among all the members of the Cartier family. It was knowing how to effectively bully others. Surprisingly, it was a talent that was also acquired by all members of the family who had entered the household through marriage.
“You’re the girl I heard about. Well, your husband was always a lowly and filthy man even in youth. Since he’s an illegitimate child.”
How could Elisha reply to that? The Cartiers insulted Lucerne for being illegitimate, it was an irrefutable fact, his existence itself was proof of the defilement of the house without a legal wife present.
His mother was known to be a poor commoner, so she could not marry him, but Lucerne’s father had only one child in his lifetime, Lucerne. The two loved each other, risking their lives and giving birth to him.
‘It’s strange, it’s not a day or two that the people of the Cartier family has said this. Why am I so angry?’
Elisha couldn’t understand herself. A fierce hostility, burning and freezing swept through her chest. In the past… … she didn’t know what changed, but she didn’t like Lucerne being insulted now.
Although her expression continued to stay monotonous on the surface, Elisha’s ensuing words were spit out coldly.
“I don’t know why you abruptly appeared and said this, but I wonder if you can say the same thing in front of my husband.”
“… … .”
“Nora, let’s go. I don’t think it’s worth talking to anymore.”
“Because this humble bitch needs to be instructed!”
Merha’s hand went up. The priests screamed.
“You must not do this!”
“Let it go. These bitches can’t be taught with words. I’ll have to thoroughly beat them for them to learn.”
Merha shook off the priests and raised his hand to Elisha. She stared at him without even the slightest flinch. She was not afraid to get hit.
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