Chapter 53 Thought It Was a Big Deal
Trion has been really exhausted lately.
Ever since Holden brought Candy home as his wife, this woman seems to have some deep grudge against her. No matter what Trion does, Candy acts like she's being deliberately targeted.
Just now, for instance, she was simply sitting in the hall having a cup of tea when Candy walked up to her and sneered, "Didn't you say there was no money? How can you still afford to drink such good tea?"
Trion glanced at the black tea in her hand. This tea wouldn't have been considered good by the old Titan family standards. When Anne was in charge, they always had the finest tea and pastries. Now with insufficient funds and no connections, they could only buy ordinary tea from nearby towns.
And the tea that Trion used to consider beneath her had now become the best they had.
She pressed her lips together. "This is from the tea plantation in my dowry."
Candy sneered. "If I didn't ask, you wouldn't say anything. Who knows if you secretly took money and spent it behind our backs."
Sometimes Trion really didn't understand why Candy always had to think the worst of her, always speaking with barbs, as if being even slightly nice to her would be some kind of insult to herself.
But watching how Candy treated other women, including Nina, she vaguely understood that arrogance and superiority in Candy's bones.
She seemed proud of her military achievements and becoming a knight captain, and therefore looked down on ordinary women like them.
Trion said, "This is my dowry. If you don't believe me, you can go check directly, or you can ask. But a dowry belongs to me personally, and how I use it is my business. If you're not happy about it, you can go back to your family and have them prepare one for you."
After all these days of provocation, even a saint would lose their temper, let alone Trion.
She knew Holden and Candy's marriage had been arranged without any bride price or dowry—supposedly for love, not money. But lately, she'd noticed they weren't as affectionate as before. Reality had set in after the romance wore off.
The reality was, if a woman had no dowry and happened to meet a penniless man, the only outcome was starvation.
And Candy still couldn't see the situation clearly. When she heard Trion's words, she only heard the last sentence and immediately decided that Trion was deliberately provoking her.
"Bitch, you think you're so great just because you have a little dowry?"
Trion didn't even lift her eyelids. "Not really that great, just happens to have a tea plantation when I want to drink tea."
Candy was about to continue when the old lady's voice cut through from upstairs. "Enough. Both of you, stop talking."
Trion's heart jumped. She looked up to see the old lady on the stairs, staring back at her. Her sickly face showed no expression, but her eyes were frighteningly dark.
After the old lady had been angered into unconsciousness by Holden and his wife, and they couldn't find Dr. Pascal, they had no choice but to get a traveling doctor nearby to treat her. Through bloodletting, they actually managed to wake her up, but her body was extremely weak and she was no longer as lively as before.
But this wasn't good news. The cost of treating the patient was considerable. Even though the Titan family had collected quite a bit in wedding gifts and barely had money to use, it wasn't a long-term solution.
While caring for the old lady these past few days, Trion felt constantly watched and evaluated, like prey being sized up. She didn't need to think hard to guess the old lady was eyeing her dowry.
Although it couldn't compare to Anne's amazing wealth, it was enough for Trion to maintain her own life. But she remembered how the Titan family had even hired assassins to seize Anne's dowry, and just thinking about it was terrifying.
The old lady stood on the stairs, her gaze falling on Trion's slightly trembling shoulders. "Trion, why didn't you give me some of your tea?"
At this moment, Trion didn't dare say this was from her dowry. That gaze was like a greedy snake flicking its tongue, almost ready to pounce on her. "Mother, I'm a bit overwhelmed with managing household affairs. It seems I'm really not suitable for this. Why don't I hand over the housekeeper's authority to you or Candy first."
She was determined not to touch this hopeless mess. But the old lady's eyes sharpened. "Candy is about to go to the eastern battlefield with Holden, so naturally she has no time to handle these matters. As for me." She sneered. "I'm already in this condition, and you still have the heart to give me such exhausting work?"
"Or are you clutching your little dowry tightly, afraid I'll ask you to hand it over?"
Trion lowered her head. Cold sweat was already breaking out on her back, and her voice was as low as a mosquito's. "...No, I wouldn't dare."
The old lady let out a cold snort.
The footsteps on the stairs faded away. Candy beside her laughed disdainfully again. "I thought you were so great, but you're just a woman who won't even take out her dowry to help the family. Really scheming."
Holden finally spoke, his voice full of exhaustion. "The law states that a dowry belongs exclusively to the wife, not to the husband's family. We have no right to demand that Trion hand over her dowry."
"Ha, having no right is one thing, but if she had any sense, shouldn't she have voluntarily handed it over from the start?"
"What nonsense, when Anne left before, she also..."
Candy's voice suddenly rose. "You're still thinking about that woman!?"
"Now that you know she's going to become a duchess and her husband can inherit the title too, your heart is stirring, isn't it? You'd love to crawl into her bed and beg her to spread her legs and welcome you back?"
"Shut up! What are you saying!"
Trion was caught in the middle of the couple's quarrel, but her heart gradually came alive.
Right, Anne...
Trion remembered that Anne was now a duchess. Although the succession ceremony hadn't been officially held yet, she was definitely going to be a duchess. If she could get her help, that would be best. Even if she couldn't help directly, with Anne's intelligence, she should be able to find a way out for her.
With this thought, Trion ignored the arguing couple and returned to her room. She told Mephist about her plan, and he was surprised, especially after learning what his mother had done to Anne. From his heart, he didn't want his wife to experience the same thing, so he held Trion's hand and said seriously, "Go ahead, I'll wait for you to come back. No matter what the result is, I'll do my best to protect you."