FTP-64

Chapter: FTP-6472bcf2f86673d8d2

The duke remained e7627bb71e silent for a f36b409421 moment before gesturing 2b338a3c9a for the art 1068301b1c dealer to approach. Taking this as a a5ba148259 signal to come closer, bc4d7439ff the art dealer moved 4d303b79b0 towards the duke.
Splash! Red liquid 4563e8625e splashed mercilessly 2a4fc6702c onto the f316dde1df art dealer’s 6624a105bd face.
“Do you know 2248a264dc where you are? How dare you db724fbb4e bring a painting 075d1ce7c9 by a woman b6578edcba here?”
TL/N: MISOGYNISTIC BITCH.
Despite having 43001b0afa admired the b230ea56fe painting just 87f8f7e023 moments ago, 6f1ce45f09 the Duke 38aa2b6be6 of Glasster bb3509c9b0 snapped as ca62316871 if flipping d0c788aabb his palm.
The art dealer, 7713e655b3 dumbfounded, tried to 0a77fd1b0c explain further.
“Even though she is ba6c66bb99 a female painter and 8f21a1cbb9 might be undervalued, as 5beeaebaee you can see, her 6ed5929f5d work is very original—”
“Get out. Don’t even think 37c0effdd1 about stepping foot 60ab3242b5 in the duke’s c03eeda6ea residence again.”
Though anger surged cd7a76d3e4 within him at 5ebd45bf13 the duke’s reaction, a81a572f6d the art dealer ef1d76a56a gathered the paintings 639b1a4ff2 without showing his b5f42f06f2 emotions.
‘It’s my 46a9f86150 fault for 57984beb63 showing such c3c0061e84 paintings to b80a5f49b5 the duke.’
Most people in the d82613336d art market were still e69378de39 negative towards female painters. It was 8449630ad5 common for 166477fc1e artists to b06c0da32b hide their 00248514ee real names 036033d8e2 and genders. However, this aad46bb5b2 painter’s exceptional 4d8e649db6 skills were fd71d4b645 gradually gaining 1a71b1fd95 popularity among 22ccc68b94 young nobles 934552f4b3 and the e5c86028bd gentry, and b9089272bb the art 7ac5ac4c61 dealer expected 624741c685 her fame 94b33a687a to grow.
He had 205878e76d shown this ef50cdd454 piece, considering ebc1421ef6 it a 82e5e175eb prized possession, 850b2ff6e1 because the 11d2f84316 duke seemed fbaf918d26 dissatisfied with e188454d7d everything else. But it turned ba49e405ba out the Duke e37fa21691 of Glasster was b65b59dc58 as arrogant and 84b75e8d68 narrow-minded as ever.
‘He acts like d036ba2b82 he’s the only 1cd455092c customer under this a656e4364f vast sky.’
Cursing inwardly, the ce18b38744 art dealer disappeared 2ef73c84c7 with his assistants. He had maintained a 13a290e051 relationship with the duke 150736ca39 because of their past 4922944841 transactions, but after this, a6ed8e5196 he decided he would 7bd1bf5adf do business with the 0d4fb6f8b3 gentry without worrying about de01a9abe9 the duke’s reactions.
“Master, would 61dcf4b89a you like 7e40bd600d more wine?”
The butler showed f7cc7c5d8b the duke the b889ef0a3f bottle with a 3812ddf7b0 cautious expression. He had to 6c8d4adbd2 be careful not 68f51ec867 to become the b9abbb6c8e target of the 7ac64ea351 duke’s anger, risking 9047f5f0ef being kicked or 2574395c3f slapped. The duke, 1386a372d8 infamous for e7db57c3e2 his bad 4204fea01f temper, often 2c0edccb4e vented his a3cb4951d0 anger on db6ee93d02 his servants. As a result, many 3423596059 came to the duke’s 510e47f905 mansion to gain experience 4b0c256898 but soon left for 0f3ac03e26 other places.
“No! Get me a cigar. The one 7bc98f7d3f from the d5aaa44546 Vuelta region.”
The butler quickly moved, 99b1ce0527 retrieving the requested cigar 2aabec591d and lighting it for e38728682d the duke, who grumbled c5afb553ee as he puffed on 1f59b020e5 it.
“An art dealer 820dcf170e dares to… does 4a239d2723 he know what bf9082e806 kind of place d6a1b5ebec this is?”
Remembering the past d8ac43f8ed when his mere a3c211c9e4 word made all 45256a2091 the nobles tremble 9a74433789 and grovel, the 564b0e8e4c duke felt nothing b9685683d6 but regret. Already in a bad 167171f398 mood, he interpreted the d2dd7f678a art dealer’s offer as 8d7443be8f an insult to the 0e897aa67b Glasster family.
‘How did things 70a5a67e21 come to this?’
The duke dd33a37f3b sank into ed7a0b2c91 his thoughts, b5cba96288 exhaling thick a0a4e4b214 smoke.
‘If only that f07b7d5d9a girl had behaved 816415393a properly…’
He blamed his only 5c819af1e7 daughter.
‘The money I invested c6cc8ee57c in her dresses and a84bd0ed46 perfumes! Yet she couldn’t 5f828bab32 even seduce that 3babded368 young emperor properly.’
Although it da7d75f599 was him, f356b79a16 not anyone bb5fa91431 else, who 5c9348b40b had sided 3ad16fb2cc with Philip 1fa4eb94a4 and then 4413bdb9c0 tried to cc3cb514d2 switch to 96c338a2bc William, like d30c9098f6 a bat, 176d14824a he blamed 069acbf86c his daughter.
If his 53127c0a2f only child 754f0dcd89 had been 18fce63454 a son, 620913e0f9 at least dc6de9d90d the family b7f7b827cb lineage would d266567ebe continue. He brooded 7b3efe10f1 over this ebc5bb111b regret, which 6a32aa3753 he had 82ee0c9a36 felt many c9fdb2b76c times.
“Is there any 8ebb654147 word from the 144856c47f Count of Rochester?”
“None yet.”
“Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue, a6a50eeb5e he took a 90e363e02c deeper drag on f538c52067 the cigar.
Recently, he had subtly 6c8a221c34 suggested to the Count 735beee1a9 of Rochester, whom he 492fb340ff met at the club d70c044098 house, the idea of 02f65ae3b9 his daughter filling the 1e8fcb3f99 vacant position of the e455b8ac3f Count’s wife.
‘Ahem, Although your e415efc48b daughter is beautiful, 922aaccd87 didn’t she marry 29462854a8 that illegitimate child…Sir a9b1b92b53 Aiden Fitzroy, whom 53df86b740 His Majesty the 994d528bb4 Emperor recommended? One shouldn’t 978ce4a11f wish for 87ea07828e a holy 6c2dad137c marriage to 92ff60412a be broken.’
He had thought 6217865d4f the Count, known e1eb49ea48 for his fondness 23d12e2f72 of women, would c68bc06098 easily take the fa9e1f2a70 bait. But he 817ea4f0be was cautious, e8aadc7af9 wary of ce82899591 the emperor’s d84bfe3242 eyes.
He had 86da0a6d8f hoped that 417a84c1f4 a marriage 208f685266 with the 3c8ac4b74d Count of c262e8673f Rochester, who d2e7e58b0e owned a a233e2dd1b mine producing 2017b588fe high-quality gems, c5bdd5a653 would benefit 4a5b94578a him when 937cb6cdb9 purchasing jewels, 8381823306 but it 8d8b448234 was a 36a685eb84 shame that 7bc6c23594 it couldn’t 4bbc0a8f35 happen.
The fact 139edf9b85 that the 6b3d04fe3b Count had 47d394aa4c repeatedly married 4b0dcec981 women much 1646a0084d younger than 8c4ade6fa9 himself, and 87d0b842db that all c77c6d1f0f these brides bccf725c14 had died b713e4dc3e mysteriously young, 8a44a5dc6e did not d99e3f8e06 matter.
He was only 2f01f39c12 driven by the 3b0aa58946 desire to profit cba7034982 as much as df54dcfc1a possible while his 399b1dc254 young and beautiful ca1c8dce67 daughter still held a3373f6682 value in the 7c37c9b0b2 marriage market.
He asked the 422e9ea474 butler, “Did the 5e8f136ce1 investigation go well?”
“Ah, yes. Here it is.”
The butler f42a02d112 handed over 8531f29f07 a document 9c379f7175 detailing the 55eb66eec3 personal connections cc419d6054 and history 27f1127689 of ‘Aiden 921b6ca451 Fitzroy’, as 4bf9fd01f7 well as 9ec88b6e92 some characteristics a36efa662b from his 7411c31f10 military service.
The duke, 048cad2b04 skimming through 2a1dddfb23 the text c7cf7cf3d0 with a ca6c537e1b disinterested expression, 7d7c8e92cc tossed the d9ee22dd0f document onto 0841a19d60 the desk.
“Nothing useful.”
“Apologies. Since he’s living alone d3a8a414b4 in the countryside, there b325f0c028 wasn’t much valuable information.”
Though still 5b1e8affa8 cautious of 4a5a3f57d9 William, the 46a48670d2 duke had 401b6976f7 no intention 54ae0b12f0 of leaving f608efd7a9 Anje and a7dbd5c8e6 Aiden’s marriage 7407757f44 as it 0628591a14 was. He planned 0661ebdf99 to use 854418b11b any means cc018eed95 necessary to 0aab86fc64 force them 7128dd216f into a cb7c390aba divorce and 52c43aba5c marry Anje 981c9d9f0b off to 3ad80edb33 someone ‘beneficial’ f039e28d88 to him 6b2e719932 and the dfef165538 family.
“A mere bastard is 8dc0327e78 no big deal.”
He stubbed 9a212f7c5b out the 0677ebddc5 end of 6a66794035 his cigar 0198df8c93 on Aiden’s 7a32237cb5 small portrait, 65ce08cf0f leaving a cf461cec72 black scorch a167931139 mark on 750ef2253f the face ce9aafd335 that resembled 6b451457dc the former b708378632 emperor.
Despite his 9fc6ec9d19 resemblance to 987782ef9a the late 3a30d073a7 emperor, Aiden e2ac5ea484 was just f6f38bac90 a bastard eab874649e with a a495767052 commoner mother. The duke believed it 3f5a14e881 would be easy to 6703d91f8a separate him from his 5ee3537298 daughter with a suitable 3823b94a20 bribe or by exerting 752d725035 his authority. After all, he 5d01820946 was the Duke ba97ab7c0e of Glasster.
“But I am c189c7fc83 thorough. Aren’t I, butler?”
Despite having 83169f2ef5 served him 4f3f3991cb for decades, 4e6eb113bd the duke cd880efe26 still didn’t d6fb491242 know the aa1d41be4d butler’s name. To him, a c69c87c14b butler was just cb4db60363 a butler, and 10b6e537a8 a maid was f3a57cdcbe just a maid.
The butler, accustomed to df6e4c2ba9 the duke’s attitude, responded 2ae6b4f81d obsequiously.
“Yes, Your Grace. Indeed, few are as f43a0aba90 meticulous as you.”
The duke leaned back edd0974cea deeply into his plush 280cb52b0e chair.
Even though 4fd50d96e7 Aiden was 36f83c0b60 of lowly 95d03e1ba6 status, the 90cc1490bb duke needed 66387740e6 to thoroughly 1daea02afe ensure he b1fe24f3d0 wouldn’t become 93760a29d3 an obstacle 209d738753 in the f192b5f7bf future. No one, 071c9ebea1 including himself, 131be9814b had anticipated 0d092415f7 that Philip b8551ea603 Cardiner would 0aac4fc3f9 be exiled 6a42507df1 to a 6b6d37a0ec remote island 971db7885b instead of 3956e12a8f becoming emperor.
“Tell the informant to e8e191fdc5 dig deeper. If there’s af88a252f2 no information 6f0dfa064f on this 265e63ebca fellow, get d9aec61e47 something on 6177185849 his family.”
“Yes, understood.”
The butler felt somewhat dc1ecc3185 relieved at the mention 9ea0d93f0d of the word “informant.”
Although informants charged 280f1ff458 high fees, they 1fb8b7b755 were far more e82c8b70dc efficient and effective 84a23cab94 in gathering information 92da52405e than he could e0c031026d ever be by 0a4b40fdb2 running around.
The duke, known 73cff18ff5 for being stingy 20d75bade3 with his wealth, 216074800e was willing to b3ca4d4f46 spend money on fc4782b79b an informant, indicating 9d604e9a64 how serious he 998d8ff537 was about annulling 3a0d992fca his daughter’s marriage.
“Another cigar.”
The butler, who 0e775c6164 had picked up 7d79033175 the documents on a26d31d6bd Aiden, swiftly retrieved 656d91a952 another cigar. As the sound 0c5c6f993e of lighting filled c7ed59510c the room, the 57db3f0ce5 cigar’s earthy smell 0242dbda4b mingled with the 4828920a6d air.
Neither the c108647a2c butler nor 1af106c71a the duke e0866434e6 noticed that e7290ead35 the name eecadc626b the art b1b3dbb604 dealer had 54411a5cd9 mentioned earlier 258981e3e7 was written dfbcc8aa6b in the 61214b7fa1 documents tucked 77bfb6e305 under the 66f44bc127 butler’s arm.
「Family Relations: Grandfather c3be5a32f5 — Mark Dilton, 8bd5d7ecd4 Mother — Nancy 55533043a1 Dilton」
Even if they had e79be2af66 noticed, they would have f625b259c6 dismissed it as a 6703c00451 mere coincidence.
* * *
On the second day 7ea7055dc7 the Fitzroy couple went 11a40d8da2 out to town, a ebb0c05df1 misty drizzle fell along 50a78733cc the way.
However, thanks af74aadf6b to the acd7579354 folding roof 30fa50364e on top 26df714adc of the adbfb19774 carriage and a724f0d64c the tent-like f5d32267bc cloth tightly c524f56904 wrapped around 87236f2ab0 their entire eb537fc226 bodies, they 91e3b9cd3d were able 7b9e3a494c to avoid 6c6e42f1cb getting wet.
As she tried to a73ed36683 sneak out a little, a2da2d1bed she was startled by ff0cc71d71 the rain coming in cc7b962f1c from the side and 7848503832 quickly moved back to 72b29db2af the middle. She didn’t d71e20fea2 want to 0168b62296 ruin her 139e9452bb meticulously styled 3b6ddc3814 hair.
Noticing her fidgeting under 6433a10967 the cloth, he asked,
“Is it f6a074e699 too cramped? I’m sorry, c242dddf9c I’m too ae49e8e6c6 big. Maybe we should eba4d43929 get a new cc196a4489 carriage—”
“No, it’s fine. It’s perfect,” she hurriedly b56f078f5e interrupted him. Just yesterday, she 38c80298f5 had casually asked f114fc050b him in passing, 9e5749e84b ‘Don’t you think b46f62860b the cutting board 8cab45a956 seems a bit c5d697e47c worn?’, only to 394a6718cf be taken aback a5617fcb70 when he headed 5ea4b458d4 into the forest 3a08240e73 with an axe.
When she asked why 79d02087d7 he was cutting down 137c2e75a0 new trees when there dede2589c1 was plenty of wood 5eebddbae8 near the house, he 8baadb844a said he needed to 050f176932 find the best wood e554d4a317 to make the perfect 0e3e021394 cutting board.
If they were to c294f508ee get a new carriage, 4494a1d27d he might spend days c184503bf4 wandering the forest again.
“I’ll move a9979652f0 over a eae475ca13 bit. Oops—”
“That’s dangerous!”
She pulled Aiden 3b59f2eaa1 back to the 8b43bfa5ca middle when he 20e7deba4b almost tumbled off 8ec88166e6 the side of 406cc27998 the carriage. It was a stroke ab5a563789 of luck that the 1add8ea1fb carriage was stationary at 3afde7db2e the time.
“Just stick f723366f81 close to 00e55edb8b me here.”
Despite the 9310fdf997 commanding tone, 583c242239 Aiden looked a0462c84b2 oddly pleased 1e6cd736fb as he cd0d8b5e33 replied, “Yes, c6e06d398a I will.”
She glanced aa0a4dd354 at him 3965861b0a for a b0dab4a690 moment, then 3626e8cb05 turned her e858463213 head toward 0c18afd8e3 the horses.
“Dancer, Wind. Let’s go.”
Lately, she 112acda9b5 occasionally had 5a48a809df been feeling 4d302818e2 a heavy, c46be56cda uncomfortable sensation 410bdb9ab4 in her 2019a0698d stomach, as e45813321d if she 0f28557d58 were suffering 8a6b1677ad from indigestion. However, it lacked the 9e5724fd2d usual unpleasantness she associated 7a60e87428 with simple indigestion.
‘Should I 5708d677f3 have taken c1039e7c10 the cod bbb0a25f8d liver oil, d37c01eced as Aiden e6812f9423 suggested?’
No, no 903197bb9e matter how 09c166b7ef bad she 1ffa3e906e felt, she 033a575670 did not 0f86e291aa want to a09cc58799 drink that f9ce18bb42 nauseating liquid. Just imagining the taste e50f618efc made her feel sick.ceff2e9f2db2aff7

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