˗ˏˋChoosing The Villainess As My Mother ࿐ྂ
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Ilarion Bosworth (POV)
I just stepped into the villa, and the shouting inside is already audible.
(His grace must be present.)
"You cannot adopt a child! You must not have a child! You must marry Prince Lucien and give birth to his child first! Don't bring shame to our family's name!" the grand duke exclaimed, and I entered the main lobby.
Numerous maids and other staff members had gathered in one place, witnessing his grace berating Lady Cynthia.
"Stop yelling at my mother! She's not deaf; she can still hear you!" the little lady shouted in response as she stepped in front of Lady Cynthia. The grand duke then lowered his gaze to look at the little lady.
I was genuinely surprised by her courage in intervening in the argument between his grace and Lady Cynthia.
"So, let me guess. This is the child you choose to adopt?" the grand duke remarked, and I found myself glancing back and forth between his grace and the little lady.
"You're going to adopt a child that looks like this!? You don't have a keen eye for selecting the perfect child to adopt!" the grand duke criticized, causing Lady Cynthia to appear visibly angered.
"What are you even thinking, Cynthia!?" the grand duke questioned.
"You're already engaged to Prince Lucien; stop this nonsense of adopting a child!" the grand duke insisted, and I couldn't help but observe the unusual sight of his grace acting in such a manner.
"What does it have to do with you if I'm going to adopt a child, Father? What is so wrong with what I'm doing? You kicked me out of the duchy and left me to live here, so why are you still trying to control my life?" Lady Cynthia retorted, her voice echoing with frustration.
"Yes, I am Prince Lucien's fiancée, but he doesn't even consider me as such! He keeps claiming he's too busy and doesn't want to see me, yet I always catch him flirting with other noble ladies!" Lady Cynthia revealed.
"That's because you two are still not married yet! Every man can do whatever he wants if he's still not married yet! You should have already known this, Cynthia!" the grand duke asserted.
"Nonsense!" the little lady exclaimed.
"If that ugly prince can do whatever he wants since he isn't married to my mother, then my mother can also do whatever she wants since she's not married yet! What happened to equality!?" the little lady shouted, drawing his grace's attention once again.
Everyone present was shocked to witness the little lady once again intervening in the ongoing conflict between Lady Cynthia and his grace.
"How dare you interfere in a family dispute! And how dare a commoner like you use such words toward a member of the royal family! You need a lesson!" the grand duke declared, raising his hand to slap the little girl's cheek, causing her to fall to the floor.
*gasps*
"Father! How could you hurt my daughter!?" Lady Cynthia exclaimed, and the grand duke appeared even angrier when Lady Cynthia tried to help the little girl up.
"The little miss," I heard Madeline say, and I suddenly realized that everyone, all the workers here in the villa who are present wore expressions of anger.
"You call this commoner your daughter? Disgusting! You don't even know where this child comes from, who gave birth to her! This child is nothing but trash and dirt!" the grand duke declared, prompting my eyebrows to furrow.
"Enough! I don't want to hear any words from you, Father!" Lady Cynthia yelled.
"You want to know who gave birth to her? I did! I gave birth to this child! She's not disgusting; you are! I've heard enough from you, Father, so please shut up!" Lady Cynthia asserted, leaving everyone in shock.
(My, my...)
(Goodness. What on earth is happening with this family?)
"You! You've gone insane, Cynthia!" the grand duke exclaimed, delivering another slap to the lady's face. However, his subsequent actions fueled anger among those present.
Following the slap, his grace grabbed the little lady by her hair and forcibly dragged her outside of the villa.
"Your grace!" I exclaimed, following behind.
"Father! Stop what you're doing!" Lady Cynthia implored. Once everyone was outside, his grace released the little lady.
"You! Stay away from here if you don't want your life to become even more miserable than it is!" the grand duke warned.
"No! I will never leave my mother, Cynthia! You can't make me disappear!" The little lady boldly retorted to his grace, further fueling the duke's anger.
"How dare you talk back to me!" His grace declared, delivering a slap to the little lady's face.
(My goodness.)
"Your grace, please stop what you're doing," I saud, attempting to intervene.
"Do not interfere, Bosworth; this child must have corrupted your mind too!" His grace insisted, causing my eyebrows to furrow.
(What? The only corrupted mind here is yours, your grace.)
"You, child, leave this villa and never return, or I'll have to hire someone to dispose of you!" His grace ordered.
"My daughter cannot adopt you, and she never will! She must marry Prince Lucien and give birth to his child! And you! You must disappear," His grace asserted, but the little lady bravely spoke up.
"I won't leave my mother, Cynthia, especially when a devil like you is around! I will never leave or disappear! You won't make me!" The little lady declared, prompting his grace to raise his hand.
Then he uses his fire element to attack the child, causing everyone to gasp in terror.
"My little miss!" Madeline exclaimed, rushing towards the little lady.
"The little miss, my goodness," David, the gardener, added, also hurrying to the little lady.
"Father. You," Lady Cynthia spoke, her expression seething with anger – and rightfully so.
"You have crossed the line, Father," Lady Cynthia declared, her purple eyes glowing.
(Ah, her grace is truly furious.)
"I only did what I had to do to get rid of that child, Cynthia! You mustn't adopt a child! You must marry the prince of this empire! You will give birth to his children and become the Que—" the grand duke began to say.
"Enough! I said enough already!" Lady Cynthia declared.
"Ever since I was born in this world, all I ever hear from you is that I must become the most perfect lady in society. You keep telling me that I am to be wed to Prince Lucien!" Lady Cynthia expressed.
"I did exactly what you told me to do! I let you control my life!" Lady Cynthia emphasized.
"I always thought that if I would become the perfect daughter that you always wanted to have, you would finally be happy and praise me!" Lady Cynthia confessed.
"I thought that following everything you want me to do would make you look at me! As your daughter! The only thing I have ever wished for is for you to love me, Father, but..." Lady Cynthia continued.
"But everything that I always do is just not enough! I am not enough! You don't appreciate everything I do! You don't see me as your daughter but a piece on a chessboard!" Lady Cynthia expressed.
"And I always believed that maybe once I become the Queen, you'll be proud of me," Lady Cynthia shared.
"But no, you will never be proud and contented," Lady Cynthia added.
"No matter how I let you control my life, you will never be contented, Father! I did everything you told me to do!" Lady Cynthia asserted.
"You never give me the attention that I needed the most. Now I want to find it from someone else. I found Prince Lucien. But you two are just exactly the same!" Lady Cynthia concluded.
"You told me to do this and do that, so I did," Lady Cynthia stated.
"You told me to be a good future wife and queen, and I did what you told me to do," Lady Cynthia continued.
"And the Prince? Oh, Father, he goes flirting everywhere, and what did I do? I did nothing because 'I' want to be a good wife and queen, right? That's what you told me," Lady Cynthia explained.
"I gave Prince Lucien a chance; I thought that he would change. But guess what? How many times have I caught him? More than just once, Father! I've had enough!" Lady Cynthia declared.
"I tried to love and be a good future wife, letting everything slide because I always thought that maybe things would change," Lady Cynthia added.
"No! Prince Lucien sent me another letter, asking me to come see him, and when I did, he was smiling while surrounded by five women!" Lady Cynthia exclaimed.
"I wasn't angry because of what I saw; I was angry about how that stupid prince had to call me to see him, so I would catch him flirting again!" Lady Cynthia expressed.
"I'm so frustrated with everything! I'm telling you, Father, my love in this world has died since I was fifteen!" Lady Cynthia revealed.
"You keep telling me to marry Prince Lucien and become a good future wife and queen?" Lady Cynthia said as she then smiled.
"Father, why don't you marry Prince Lucien yourself? My love for him has already died the day I caught him ten times with other noble ladies," Lady Cynthia suggested.
"What?! You really have gone insane, Cynthia!!!" His grace exclaimed.
"Father, how could you say that? Me? Insane? No, I'm completely fine, Father," Lady Cynthia responded, but her smile finally disappeared.
"I followed everything you really wanted me to do, Father. I did everything you told me to do until the very end. I followed everything until I died because of you!" Lady Cynthia revealed.
"I did everything you told me! I did! But what price did I receive at the end of my life!? Nothing! I received nothing, Father!" Lady Cynthia exclaimed.
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