When Neil brought the car to a stop, they had finally crossed the grand driveway that offered a full view of the Zehren mansion's entrance. In Delilah's memory, the silhouette of the Marquise among the dark shadows recreated itself as if she had seen her once more. Although she had been ordered to remain silent, she couldn't help but wonder if the red-haired beauty was truly alright wandering alone in that place; and, as much as she tried not to dwell on it, she felt certain there was a connection between that fact and Neil's appearance shortly after.
—Before you go to your room, there is something I want to tell you.
Delilah had momentarily let her guard down. Her emotions were perfectly controlled, but her face was shadowed by an aura of exhaustion. Neil let the girl lose herself in her silence for a moment before speaking to her in a more serious tone.
—A large part of the mansion's territory once belonged to Dorotea Ritcher, my father's second wife… Andrea's mother.
Neil's dark eyes scanned the image of the mansion without revealing any emotion. The history hidden behind those walls seemed to be too important to him and, as one might assume, to Andrea and his father as well.
—Currently, it may look like a pretentious house built upon worthless land, but for many years, it was what earned the cunning Zehren his title of Marquis.
Neil expressed no clear sentiment. He was speaking of the common ways many obtained their wealth, and in this case, there was no exception. The lands of that marquisate originally belonged to the commoners who farmed the region: people who were deceived and compensated with a ridiculous amount in exchange for something worth far more than they could ever imagine. For years, a vast quantity of minerals was extracted and sold at the nearby border. It was a prosperous business that would only end with the death of the Marquises.
Dorotea Ritcher was the legitimate heir to the grounds where the grand mansion was built. Being the only one who stayed behind, she knew intimately the swindle to which all those peasants were subjected; yet, she knew there was nothing she could do to remedy it. There is no known story in which, after a dispute between nobles and commoners, the latter emerge victorious.
Dorotea entered the mansion as a servant. It was she who was responsible for designing the grand garden that the former Marquise Zehren was so proud of—a merit for which the Marquise even went so far as to take the credit.
Liam was at that time a merchant enjoying a small fortune. He met the peasant woman during one of his visits to the Zehrens and, over time, developed feelings that resulted in a deep enmity with the Marquises.
—In the end, it was too late by the time my father achieved a higher position —Neil continued coldly—. Dorotea died during a tragic accident, and all that gloom turned him into a rather absurd man. He developed an obsession with reclaiming these lands, but the Zehrens refused to lose them.
Neil's sudden conclusion to such a lamentable story was startling and unexpected. Calling a man who had experienced such pain "absurd" was, without a doubt, ruthless; however, his expression was not that of someone mocking those circumstances. At that point, there was something else Neil wanted to tell her, something that would gradually begin to involve her.
Lathasha had halted trade and abandoned the lands, including the mansion. Every time she stopped to observe a certain agreement she had made with her parents when she reached adulthood, her heart felt afflicted. A spoiled girl who grew up within a loving family will always believe her parents are good to the world simply because they are good to her. In the end, these lands should not have been sold; they were destined to belong to the Zehrens. However, the Marquises did not expect their generation to face decline.
—I don't want you to have strange ideas; my goals are not as insignificant as my father's.
Neil looked at Delilah, aware that there were things that could not be explained from one moment to the next. She had lost herself in thoughts provoked by the rooms on the top floor of the grand construction, feeling that all of it was too complicated to grasp. Only then did she stop to think that agreeing to be part of something she knew nothing about could harm her in the future, and her face—already pale from the cold—turned even more colorless.
—It's as if the Marquise hates this place…
—It is a curse that gains strength when someone is called Marquis —Neil responded with a slight sigh.
The young man with the arrogant gaze seemed to say it almost as if it were a joke.
—Don't think too much about all this. As long as you are obedient, I will create a safe path for you… one that you can walk freely.
Those were Neil's last words to the girl that night. A man who possessed the power to confuse people was definitely dangerous. Delilah felt that she had become the target of something truly problematic.
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