The Viscountess is Clever [Romance/Kingdom Building]

“T... That necklace.. it is something our late mother specifically wished for me to have.” Francesca protested, her agitation rising as she held her breath. “It is the only item I have left behind from her.”

Miller raised an eyebrow in concern. Reaching over, he held her hand tightly and looked across the table at Ivan. “Is it truly necessary to demand such a deeply personal item, Lord Ivan? I understand that siblings often have rivalries, though I don’t have personal experience with them being an only child... but I am more than willing to negotiate using assets of far greater material value—”

Before he could even finish his offer, Ivan casually picked up his glass of wine and interrupted smoothly, “Yet that trinket is of the utmost importance to me right now. Think about it logically, Lord Miller. I am offering to use a simple heirloom to not only drop the murder charge against Lord Jeckson Libert, but I will also actively halt my aggressive lobbying among the neighboring territories regarding the mutual trade policy.”

Miller’s eyes widened in sheer shock. But right beside him, a bitter scoff resounded from Francesca.

“As if you would ever dare go directly against Father’s orders,” she sneered. “The murder might be a petty scheme you engineered on your own, but the mutual trade policy is Father’s grand strategy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, go ahead and make light of it as much as you want,” Ivan replied nonchalantly, taking a slow sip. “But I have always taken your side and protected you in the shadows, even if I resent you, don’t you think? I have loyally kept my promise to—”

“—to Mother!” Francesca finished his sentence for him with another harsh scoff. Raising her glass, she downed the remaining wine in a single gulp, her voice rising sharply as her emotional composure cracked. “You always say that! I get it, alright?! Mother made all of you swear on her deathbed to look after me, and you were the only one who actually kept it! But so what?! You just desperately want to prove to yourself that you’re the noble, good guy here! Promise this, promise that!”

Slapping her palm violently against the wooden table, she glared at him. “All I ever hear from your mouth is that stupid promise! So what?! Did I ever once ask you to look out for me?!”

Miller was completely taken aback by Francesca’s sudden, raw outburst. The elegant, composed, and calculating mask of the Viscountess was completely shattered right before his eyes.

“So you dare call me selfish? What about you?!” Ivan snapped back, throwing his glass onto the table with enough force to crack the stem. His voice boomed through the parlor as he stood up. “You didn’t even get to meet Mother, yet you hoard her precious necklace like a mermaid! If that isn’t the very definition of selfishness, then what on earth is?!”

“Francesca, please, calm down...” Miller tried to intervene, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ignoring him entirely, Francesca gripped her cane with white knuckles and slammed it forcefully against the floor. “As if! You just want to gather artifacts to build that ridiculous Grand Library! It is still all about Selena, isn’t it?! You are nothing but a pathetic hypocrite!”

Standing up to face her brother, her golden eyes burned with fury. “It’s a childish fantasy! Even if you somehow manage to defeat our eldest brother and actually become the next Duke, do you honestly think the Imperial Family will just sit back and let anyone construct an open library that freely distributes magic to anyone and everyone?!”

Miller didn’t even know what the argument was about anymore, but he desperately tried to hold Francesca back and calm the room down. Francesca completely ignored his efforts, her eyes locked onto Ivan.

Finally, Miller stepped physically between them, spreading his arms. “Lord Ivan! Francesca! Please, let us all just calm down for a moment! Shall we?”

“You don’t get to say a word, Lord Miller! How dare you even utter Selena’s dream in such disgusting mockery Francesca?!” Ivan roared, his voice shaking the walls as he closed in at his full height, glaring over Miller's shoulder. “Don’t you feel a single ounce of guilt, Francesca?! Huh?!”

“What do you could possibly know about my guilt?!” Francesca shouted back, attempting to push past Miller as tears began to swell at the corners of her eyes. “Every single day... every single time I hear a young child giggle in the streets, there is nothing but agonizing guilt clouding my heart as the image of Selena’s bright, innocent smile echoes in my mind!”

Her voice trembled with raw pain as she yelled, “But I am not someone who lives my life hopelessly clinging to a dead little girl’s naive ideals! It’s just a delusion, Ivan! A delusion!”

“Pfft!”

A loud, cruel scoff left Ivan’s lips. Peeking around Miller’s shoulder, his expression twisted into a bitter sneer.

“See now who the true hypocrite is? Aren’t you helplessly holding onto a dead woman’s memory with that very same necklace, too?”

Ivan grabbed the wine carafe from the table, poured the liquid straight into his open mouth, and aggressively wiped his lips with a linen napkin.

Turning toward the parlor doors, he shot her a icy, disgusted look.

“Stop preaching to me from your moral high horse and just admit it, Francesca... you are nothing but a selfish bitch who doesn’t give a damn about the people who struggle and suffer for you.”

Ivan looked at Miller one last time, his voice cold and transactional. “I will wait until tomorrow’s Council meeting. Decide what you truly want by then, Lord Miller. This decision rests entirely between you and your wife now.”

Without waiting for another word, Ivan turned and slammed the parlor doors shut behind him, the violent thud echoing through the hallway. Miller and Francesca simply stood in place as the resounding slam of the heavy wooden door lingered in the tense air for several quiet minutes.

Sniffing softly and hurriedly wiping away her tears with a linen napkin, Francesca collapsed heavily onto the sofa, looking as though every last ounce of energy in her body had been completely drained.

Her shoulders trembled faintly as Miller slowly walked over and knelt down beside her on the floor, gently taking her cold, trembling hand into his own.

“Let’s... let’s just calm down a bit, alright Francesca?” he whispered softly.

“I... I...” As she struggled to form words through her choked throat, Miller reached up with his free hand, slowly caressing her soft hair to soothe her.

“Take your time. Just slowly... take small, deep breaths,” he reassured her gently.

They stayed in that quiet position for several long minutes, the heavy weight of the room slowly lifting until Miller finally broke the silence in a soft tone.

“So... what was all of that truly about? Who... who is Selena?”

Francesca tightened her grip around his hand, holding onto him as if he were her only anchor. A bittersweet, solemn smile forced its way onto her face as she looked into his warm red eyes.

“She was a little girl who changed both of our lives forever, I suppose...” Francesca began, her voice dropping into a quiet, distant whisper as memories long buried easily resurfaced thanks to her recall.

“It happened seven years ago... just before my twelfth birthday...”

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