Chapter 26

Odelliana blinked, surprised. The eldest Grüsewald son? Belatedly, she recalled there were other members of the family besides Blair. Their returning sibling, who had resided in a foreign sanatorium, was met with a strange absence – none of his parents or siblings coming to greet her.

“What is this filthy act in broad daylight?” boomed a voice.

Filthy act?

Odelliana slowly shifted her gaze. A man and woman sat on the bed, entangled in a seemingly passionate embrace. The scene, while certainly open to misinterpretation by an unexpected guest, appeared innocent enough.

Blair, who had accompanied Hermann, stood frozen in shock, his mouth agape like a fish. Hermann, however, erupted in fury.

“I heard you took in some pretty boy off the street! Was this your plan all along?”

Odelliana rose calmly from the bed, Matthias instinctively reaching out to steady her.

“People see what they want to see,” she countered coolly. “What do you think Matthias and I were doing? He was simply comforting me after I’d been crying.”

“That ‘comfort’ seems awfully intimate,” Hermann sneered.

She knew the situation was precarious. If Blair had been the one accusing her, she might have struggled to defend herself. While there had been no intimacy on the bed, the pose they were in was undeniably compromising.

What truly galled her, however, was that Hermann, who hadn’t even bothered to show his face earlier, was now the one throwing accusations. It was utterly laughable.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” Odelliana insisted, her voice firm. “There’s no need for this outburst. Unless you have some authority over me, I suggest you stop making such vulgar assumptions about people you barely know.”

Hermann bristled. “What did you just say?”

“This is my room,” she continued, regaining her composure. “No one enters without my permission. Is barging in considered polite behavior?”

Hermann lunged forward, hand raised in anger. But before he could make contact, Blair, who had finally found his voice, stepped in.

“Stop it, brother!” he commanded.

“Blair, get out of my way!” Hermann snarled.

“Odelliana is a patient,” Blair countered, his voice calm but firm. “Regardless of any disciplinary measures you intend, raising your hand to her is unacceptable.”

Hermann scowled, his anger simmering. “You saw it too!”

“As Odelliana said, it’s likely a misunderstanding,” Blair reasoned. “After all, he did save her life. Perhaps she trusts him more than the other servants. Maybe keeping him close is simply a matter of adjusting to her new surroundings…”

“Enough with the excuses!” Hermann boomed. “Bringing a man onto your bed is inappropriate, no matter the explanation.”

The situation was both laughable and infuriating. They never treated her as family, yet they demanded she adhere to their standards of propriety. Did they have any shame?

“What propriety can you possibly expect from someone branded a madwoman and left to rot in a foreign land with no education?” Odelliana scoffed. “You’ve done nothing for me, yet expect me to behave like a proper lady? Isn’t it ridiculous to hold a ‘madwoman’ to the standards of a sane person? At least Blair has shown some decency by speaking up for me. And frankly, even if I did share my bed with a servant, what business is it of yours?”

The notion of them lecturing her about nobility was absurd. They had no right to discipline her, no right to expect anything from her. They weren’t family.

“Hold on, both of you,” Blair interjected, trying to mediate. “Brother, please take a breath.”

Hermann shot Blair a cold glare. “You’re such a fool, Blair. This whole mess is because of your misplaced kindness! You’ll only anger Father by defending that… that vulgar woman!”

“Brother,” Blair pleaded, “I still don’t understand. Why can’t we punish the servants who were abusing Odelliana?”

“It’s ridiculous to entertain the ramblings of a madwoman,” Hermann scoffed. “Those servants have cared for her since she was a child. How could you make such a unilateral decision without even considering their side?”

“Stop calling her that! Odelliana is our sister, not some stranger! And she’s not mad! The servants were abusing her, do you understand? Horrifically abusing her! If you’d seen it yourself, you wouldn’t be spouting such nonsense!”

Odelliana listened to their exchange, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. So, Blair was punished because of me.

Blair had acted completely reasonably, yet the family had blown it out of proportion. Even now, he continued to defend her with unwavering conviction, emphasizing her sanity and the injustice of abandoning her because of her condition. His voice vibrated with urgency as he pleaded for their understanding.

“Don’t even think about considering her your sister,” Hermann spat. “Detach yourself from that discarded child. Odeldette needs your attention. What good can come of clinging to that woman? Do you want to be ostracized too?”

Blair remained silent, his jaw clenched.

“You claim she’s not mad? Does her behavior scream sanity to you? Stop stirring trouble and get out. Don’t come back here. And you,” he turned to Odelliana, his voice laced with venom, “stop manipulating Blair. Nothing will change. Just keep your head down like you have been. If you incite him into causing more trouble, you’ll answer to me.”

With a final roar, Hermann stormed out, clearly eager to put as much distance between himself and the situation as possible. His departure left a heavy silence in its wake. Blair let out a string of frustrated sighs, burying his face in his hands.

“I’m such an idiot,” he mumbled, his voice muffled. “I’m so sorry.”

Even now, with everything stacked against them, Blair was apologizing. It was Hermann who’d created the chaos, so why was Blair taking the blame? Shouldn’t it be Odelliana apologizing for the trouble she’d caused?

Odelliana’s heart ached. “Because of me,” she whispered, “you’ve fallen out of favor with the family.”

“No, Odelliana, absolutely not!” Blair protested.

“I wondered why you hadn’t contacted me,” she continued, her voice trembling. “I even foolishly thought you might have grown tired of me. But all this time, you were suffering because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Blair insisted, shaking his head. “It’s mine. My parents were furious that I replaced the servants without consulting them. I was put under house arrest, but that’s all.”

“But you did it to protect me.”

“Yes, but it was still my decision. I dismissed them without informing the family. They held me accountable for the process, not the outcome. Please, Odelliana, don’t blame yourself for this.”

Odelliana leaned heavily against Matthias for support, her eyes fixed on Blair, who worriedly chewed on his lip.

How could siblings raised in the same household be so different? Blair, consumed by worry for his sister’s well-being, readily accepted blame. Meanwhile, Hermann harbored open disdain for her, his contempt as palpable as a physical blow. He couldn’t even tolerate sharing the same space with her.

And then there was Odette, the third sibling, a stranger Odelliana had yet to meet. In her past life, she’d been her husband’s mistress. Now, she was Odelliana’s twin sister.

“It seems our parents and eldest brother have nothing but animosity for me,” Odelliana concluded bitterly. “That leaves only my sister. Why hasn’t she appeared?”

“Actually,” Blair hesitated, “she’s not at home right now. Odette is volunteering at a relief center.”

“Volunteering?” Odelliana echoed, her voice laced with disbelief. A sneer twisted her lips.

A cruel woman, devoid of compassion or empathy. Even on her deathbed, Odelliana could recall with chilling clarity Odette’s cold, triumphant smile amidst the bloody chaos of the overthrow. And now, this woman volunteered at a relief center?

The absurdity of it fueled Odelliana’s anger. Of course. Odette had a cultivated reputation, a moniker that glittered in high society: ‘The Saint of Reveln.’