TDWO Chapter 16
by xxsienna“What? Where and how did you meet, Ha?”
Candice followed Anri around, persistently asking questions.
After seeing the man escort Anri, she rushed to the front door, ready to follow her all the way to her room.
Usually, she didn’t care whether Anri came home or not.
“I just met him by chance.”
“No. I mean, how did you meet him by chance? Did you somehow manage to lure that gentleman away? You sly girl!”
“Ugh, seriously.”
It was getting annoying.
“Hey, Candice.”
Anri finally turned to look at Candice, whom she had been ignoring.
“If you’re not going to help me, at least don’t bother me. Stop talking to me.”
“…….”
Candice was stunned by Anri’s stern words, and her eyes widened.
Anri gave Candice’s shoulder a light tap and went into her room, slamming the door shut.
Only then did Candice, who had finally come to her senses, scream from the other side of the door.
“Hey!”
Anri’s blood pressure seemed to rise along with it.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she began to unwrap the painting.
The man’s tempting voice echoed in her mind like a hallucination.
“If you marry me, you won’t have to see your stepmother or stepsisters again.”
“…….”
It was strange.
Did he know how fed up she would be as soon as she got home?
Nope. She’d already turned him down anyway.
Shaking her head, Anri went back to unwrapping the painting,
‘You’ll enjoy many things as a duchess.’
“…….”
The man’s words resurfaced in her mind.
‘Geez!’
At this moment, she felt like leaving this miserable house, following the man, and transforming into a duchess, something neither Catherine nor Candice could dream of.
Speaking of a duke, in her previous world, what rank would that be?
A tycoon with both honor and title?
As a duchess, she would be comparable to the wife of a tycoon.
And the man wasn’t just a second-generation tycoon; he had already inherited everything.
Suddenly, she realized the position of a duchess.
It was almost as shocking as being a queen in the Joseon Dynasty.
‘What have I rejected?’
Wait, Anri, didn’t you reject it too hastily?
Provoked by the man’s word to “try” her “once,”
Although a duchess wasn’t a queen, a bitter regret suddenly hit her.
Is it because of this painting?
Anri stared blankly at the fully unwrapped oil painting.
A painting worth half a year’s living expenses.
And soon, a painting that would rise in value by dozens of times.
A painting whose price would skyrocket, boosted by the fame of the artist who became a star overnight.
‘Miss Anri can have anything she wants.’
The man’s dark, honey-like temptation seemed to linger in her ears again.
She couldn’t forget the deep and persistent gaze beneath his neatly groomed black hair.
Anri shook her head slightly to dispel the man’s lingering image.
It was an already rejected proposal.
A luxurious, affluent, and enviable life as a duchess—it was pointless to think about it now.
‘Dozens of skilled servants will be dedicated exclusively to Miss Anri.’
‘You can go wherever you want, and you don’t have to do anything you don’t want.’
‘I can buy anything you want. As long as it’s not a star in the sky.’
Anri snapped out of her daze, caught by the man’s enticing words.
‘No, why not the stars in the sky?’
Good thing she said no.
Consoling herself, Anri took the painting and walked around her room, measuring where to hang it.
‘It’s a gift, so it feels a bit strange, but if I sell it later, I can buy myself a house and a carriage!’
Oh wait, but unmarried women can’t own property, can they…?
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‘I can’t buy a house or a carriage.’
Anri’s mood soured.
Even if she had money, she was legally dependent on her father and couldn’t own property.
To trade real estate like a mansion, she had to sign the document, but women weren’t given that right.
In this 19th-century England-like world, women were excluded from legal protections and rights.
‘Then how am I any different from Marilyn?’
Even the painting the duke had given Anri would technically belong to her father.
She would have to hide it away secretly.
However, even if a woman marries, the situation isn’t much different, as her property, income, and inheritance all become her husband’s.
Of course, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that the law changed, allowing married women to keep the property they inherited from their family.
Much later, women would be able to request a divorce from their husbands, but how long must one wait for that…
In any case, an unmarried woman like Anri was in the same position as Marilyn.
“Ugh.”
Anri lay on her bed, feeling upset.
No matter how much money she has, the world is too unfair to live as a woman.
‘Author, don’t be so accurate with such details…’
She thought having a valuable painting would be beneficial, but it was just an illusion for her.
She wondered if there was any way to buy a male identity or title somewhere.
As long as she could protect her property, she wouldn’t mind living disguised as a man.
“Miss Anri!”
She was just about to get up, her stomach churning, when Barbara knocked and entered, unable to hide her surprise.
“My goodness, are you still lying down?! You should be getting ready for the ball!”
Anri lay sprawled on the bed in a disheveled state, burying her head in the pillow.
“I don’t feel like going.”
She tried to pull the blanket over her head, but Barbara quickly yanked it away.
“Get up now! The mistress and young ladies have been bustling about since early!”
“I’m not going…”
She didn’t want to miss the rare chance to be alone in the quiet house.
Days like this don’t come along often.
She didn’t understand why the house full of women was so busy and noisy every day.
She needs some time to be alone and depressed.
“What? You’re not going? If a lady like you doesn’t go, who will the Duke of Briston marry?”
“Ugh…”
Anri pretended to be sleepy.
‘The Duke of Briston would probably get along well with Princess Erze today anyway.’
When did Barbara become so good at saying flattering things?
“First, get up and have something to eat!”
“Alright.”
At the mention of food, Anri jumped up as if she hadn’t just been complaining.
She put on a robe, and with slightly messy hair, she stepped out of her room.
“Candice! Why aren’t you helping Eunice with her corset?”
“How can I put her in a corset after she ate so much this morning?”
Sure enough, as soon as she stepped out, the house was filled with sharp and irritated arguing.
If Anri’s real mother had been alive, she would have carried her around lovingly. Why was Candice so snappy with her mother?
Before going down the stairs, Anri peeked through the slightly open door into Eunice’s room.
Inside, her stepmother, Candice, and another maid were desperately trying to fit Eunice into a corset in front of the mirror.
Catherine had one foot on Eunice’s backside, pulling the laces with both hands.
On the other side, a maid was pulling Eunice in another direction.
“Ugh, ahh!”
Eunice, usually so quietly stifled, was flailing with her eyes closed.
She waved her chubby, white arms like a newborn baby.
As Anri shook her head in exasperation and was about to walk past,
“Anyway, she can’t wear that dress, so she can’t go! Just give up, mother. Huh? Who’s going to care if she goes anyway? She’s just gained weight, and it’s embarrassing!”
“…….”
Anri’s eyes narrowed again.
Candice was sitting on the bed, pouting and whining.
“What is it, Miss?”
“Nothing.”
Ignoring Barbara’s question, Anri turned her head and descended to the first floor, her eyes still cloudy.
She straightened her back and shoulders and walked down the stairs.
Barbara sensed a strange calmness emanating from Anri, like the stillness before a storm.
‘What’s wrong?’
Anri ate her fill of potato potage and roasted asparagus.
Though she craved spicy food, she still picked at the bread with her hazy eyes.
Strangely, she couldn’t taste much.
Barbara felt an unexplainable tension radiating from Anri and couldn’t bring herself to speak.
After finishing her meal, Anri read the newspaper and thoroughly enjoyed her coffee and pudding.
As soon as she returned to her room, she felt overwhelmingly sleepy.
Lying down, her drowsy eyes saw Princess Andromeda and Perseus.
Perseus was the son of Zeus.
‘Somehow, just hearing the name of his father makes me think he’ll be rich, arrogant, and rude.’
On the other hand, he might have been even more handsome than depicted in the picture.
Aside from that, he killed Medusa, saved Andromeda, and defeated Andromeda’s fiancé, who had left her to die.
After his death, he and his wife became constellations in the sky.
It seems that Perseus was a good man for Andromeda.
Otherwise, Andromeda wouldn’t have had six children with him.
And would have run away before that.
So, was she happy? …She must have, right?
Anri, unable to resist her drowsiness, slowly closed her eyes.
But Andromeda was born a princess…
As she succumbed to sleep, the sound of them still fussing over the corset gradually faded from Anri’s ears.
She didn’t hear Barbara silently come in and gently wake her up, saying, “Are you really not going? Miss, wake up.”
She might have muttered in her half-asleep state, “I’m not going, I’m not going.”
How long had she slept like that?
She awoke suddenly, sensing an unnatural silence.
For some reason, the house was quiet.
She thought it was the middle of the night, but when she looked out the window, it was still afternoon.
Catherine and the twins must have left.
Feeling unexpectedly cheerful, Anri jumped out of bed and went to the hallway. But,
“……?”
Her eyes locked with Eunice, who was just passing her room.
Eunice looked startled, as if surprised by the sudden opening of the door.
