Episode 7: Exile
“Luke!”
Caught for a brief moment in his thoughts of his father, Luke was scolded again. Hermine confronted him, striking him across the cheek with a closed fan.
“You don’t even have a word of apology?”
He had already apologized earlier, but since Hermine hadn’t heard, it was as if it never happened. It was always the same in this household.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”
The “ma’am” in question referred to Hermine. Even after she became August’s wife, Hermine never allowed Luke to call her “mother.”
—I have no recollection of becoming the mother of a child with such tainted blood as yours.
Hermine coldly declared this and ordered Luke to refer to her as “ma’am,” just like the other servants in the manor.
“Ma’am, I apologize that my incompetence prevented the engagement with Countess Cleves from being finalized. Of course, I have no intention of interfering with Matthias’s marriage. I sincerely hope he finds happiness with the Countess.”
“Quite right. I didn’t need you to tell me that. Matthias is a wonderful boy who deserves happiness more than anyone else.”
Energized by the words she wanted to hear, Hermine’s voice seemed to perk up, and she looked down at Luke with an almost gleeful expression.
“You likely won’t have any decent marriage prospects anymore, though.”
After all, what kind of sensible person would want to marry a miserable young man whose engagement had been publicly annulled and who had become a target of ridicule?
Picking up the fiancé that Natalia had discarded would be like admitting to being beneath the Cleves family.
Proud nobles wouldn’t stoop to pick through the leftovers of the Cleves.
“I’ve supported a worthless creature like you for so long, and you can’t even repay me! You’ve made all my efforts to arrange a marriage with the daughter of Count Cleves utterly pointless…”
While her tone may sound self-important, Hermine had merely broached the subject with the Cleves family and had offered no actual help.
The outfit Luke wore to the party was a formal suit—the only one he owned.
Hermine despised spending money on Luke and only allowed the bare minimum budget for clothes, shoes, and accessories—enough to avoid bringing shame to the baronial family.
Meanwhile, Matthias was getting new clothes for every party.
For this event, he had ordered the finest fabrics without a hint of frugality and summoned the most popular tailors from the capital to craft him an extravagant outfit.
Natalia shot passionate glances at Matthias, who was decked out in the latest fashions, while clearly displaying disappointment at Luke, who wore the same getup from the last party.
“Your only reason for existence was to marry Miss Cleves and become related to the Earl family, yet even that you can’t manage! How utterly useless can you be if you can’t even serve a political purpose?”
For years, Hermine had insisted that Luke’s sole reason for living was to forge connections with high-ranking nobles.
She would frequently yell at him to know his place, asserting that an illegitimate child inheriting the family title was unthinkable, often throwing tantrums over his perceived shortcomings.
Even as an illegitimate child, Luke was on the Valten family registry and had the right to inherit the baronial title.
Yet Hermine continued to ignore any semblance of law, insisting that Matthias was the only viable heir and adamantly refusing to acknowledge Luke’s rights.
Now, after the engagement with Natalia had been called off, any chance of marriage with a girl from another family had become utterly hopeless.
Hermine had one request for Luke.
Exile.
“You good-for-nothing! I have no obligation to support an illegitimate child who has outlived his usefulness. Hurry up and leave!”
“Father…”
Luke gazed at his father, August, with a final flicker of hope.
August met Luke’s gaze for a fleeting moment but quickly looked away, sealing his lips like a clam.
…
It was always the same. August never had a word to spare for his wife and never lifted a finger to protect Luke.
Even now, as Luke faced expulsion from the household, his father’s passivity became painfully apparent.
“I’ll at least arrange for a carriage. You can thank me for my kindness.”
“As you wish, ma’am…”
Luke complied with a resigned bow.
To be honest, at this point, anything seemed acceptable.
Having wrapped up her tirade, Hermine pointed at the door with the tip of her fan and urged him on with an overbearing look.
Luke no longer glanced at his father as he wordlessly exited the room.
Hermine promptly summoned the steward and mentioned sending him to a border region with the neighboring country.
“That’s right. We could dispatch him to the Rietberg territory in the north.”
The nobility ranks in the kingdom are duke, marquis, earl, and baron, but there is also the rank of margrave.
The margrave family governs perilous lands bordering foreign countries, expected to possess military prowess, and presently, the margrave of Rietberg is renowned for being a courageous warrior, with his daughter reputed to be a rough-and-tumble lady who embodies reckless bravery.
She is derisively dubbed the “barbaric lady” in high society.
“M-Ma’am, you’re sending Master Luke to the Rietberg territory…?!”
“Luke-sama?!”
“I-I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!”
The steward, bowing low, desperately clung to Hermine.
If Luke was sent off to such a treacherous place with only the clothes on his back, he would surely face dire consequences.
“But ma’am, that place is extremely dangerous…!”
“Indeed. It’s said to have vast forests teeming with wild bears and wolves.”
Hermine coldly replied.
The forests stretching across the frontier were notorious for harboring ferocious wild beasts.
Perfect! Of course, she had no intentions of sending advance warning to the lord of Rietberg.
Whether Luke was mistaken for an intruder and accused of a crime, or even killed on the spot, was of no concern to her.
“Isn’t it just right? Whether I see him devoured by the fangs of beasts or meet his end by the sword of that barbaric lady, it’s of no consequence to me.”
Hermine glared at the door through which Luke had departed, her eyes filled with loathing.
“That child is unwanted; it would have been better if he had never been born.”
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