ZOE knew that she should act like Zoanne as much as possible.
But she wasn't a talented actress, and she would always forget everything once she stepped into a kitchen to cook or prepare food.
Just like now.
She was back in the kitchen to serve the rack of lambs that she cooked a while ago.
After cutting the rack, she placed the lamb cutlets on a plate and spooned over the Salsa Verde that she made. The rack of lamb really looked elegant, with its clean bones and perfect pink flesh. It looked more fabulous because of the Salsa Verde's vibrant color.
For the side dish, she made Spring Salad. The crispy greens, peas, goat cheese, and lemon dressing that she put in the salad would play nicely against the richness of the lamb meat.
[The plating is simply… chef's kiss!]
"My lady, I didn't know that you were this good at serving food," Dal said, her voice filled with admiration. Then the young attendant looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Lady Zoe, when did you learn all these new skills?"
"I learned a lot of amazing skills when I was in the temple, Dal," Zoe lied smoothly, then she changed the topic. "Dal, bring our plates out," she said, then she patted the young attendant's shoulder gently. "You may eat the rest and share it with the others."
***
WHILE having dinner with Marquis Hendrix Rochester, Zoe finally realized why the marquis was blessed with a youthful and handsome face.
[What he lacks for personality, he makes it up in his visual, huh?]
Her shoulders hurt from carrying on the conversation for the past half an hour.
Since they were practically strangers, she tried to break the ice by opening a small talk. She asked her "father" some stuff regarding his territory inspection, his travel, etc. But the marquis would only give her short answers.
If her question was answerable by yes or no, he'd simply nod or shake his head.
"Zoanne."
"Yes, Father?"
"It's alright, you may stop talking now," her father said. "Just finish your food."
Zoe gripped her steak knife tight.
She couldn't taste the food or appreciate the luxurious dining hall because of her father's stoic personality. The table between them wasn't that long, but because of the marquis's indifferent attitude, she felt the distance between them grow wider.
[No wonder Zoanne didn't have that much memory of her father.]
To calm herself, she grabbed the bottle of the red wine that she chose. It was a light-bodied one that wouldn't overwhelm the lamb. Plus, the wine's berry and woodland notes were the perfect flavor complement.
"Father, we have something important to talk about, right?" she asked boldly while pouring wine into her glass. "Aren't you going to ask me why we practically don't have servants anymore?"
She didn't fire anyone because she needed a few maids who would take care of Millicent Ashmore whom she locked up in the guest room. Even if she hated the bitch, she wasn't that cruel to torture or starve her while she was pregnant.
She may not like kids, but that didn't mean she would punish a baby for their parents' sins.
"Is it your doing?" her father asked hesitantly. "I also heard from the other knights that you locked up that lady in her room."
She almost laughed at how her father referred to Milli-bitch.
["That lady," huh?]
And hey, who knew the marquis could talk and speak long sentences?
"Father, I hate Miss Ashmore," she said bluntly, then she sipped her wine before she spoke again. "But you running away after she told you she's pregnant isn't very nice of you either."
"I didn't run away," her father denied. "My inspection of our territory was scheduled before Miss Ashmore announced her pregnancy. It was a trip that I couldn't cancel or reschedule."
"Uh-huh," she said, not believing that bullshit. "Father, you ran away."
"I didn't," he denied in a defensive voice.
"Then, why didn't you just deny that lady's claim, huh?" she confronted him. "I'm pretty sure you know nothing happened between you and that woman."
"If I denied it without proof, it would have looked like I was running away from responsibility. As the head of House Rochester, I can't allow that to happen," her father said seriously. "Thus, while I was in our territory, I looked for a sorceress with the ability to look into a person's memory. I wanted the sorceress to extract Miss Ashmore's memory to prove to everyone that I shunned her when she entered my room that night."
[I'm really inside a fantasy book, huh?]
"Noice," she said, then she cleared her throat when the marquis gave her a confused look. "Then, did you bring the sorceress here, Father?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I wasn't able to wait for her," the marquis said, then he averted his gaze away from her. "I heard you fainted, so I hurried back home."
She almost choked on her lamb.
[Does it mean the marquis really cares about Zoanne?]
Come to think of it, based on Zoanne's memories, it wasn't like she had a bad relationship with her father. The two weren't just close because of Zoanne's introverted personality and Marquis Rochester's stoic personality.
Ah, she just remembered a term from her world that would best describe the marquis.
[He must be a 'tsundere.']
"Thank you for worrying about me, Father," she said genuinely.
It wasn't like she was trying to improve Zoanne's relationship with her father.
She was merely touched by Marquis Rochester's concern for her daughter, albeit in his awkward way of expressing it.
Well, she wouldn't say that she had a bad relationship with her biological father.
[It's just that my family, in general, is dysfunctional.]
Since her family was a crime syndicate, her parents were involved in several shady and illegal businesses.
And her parents taught her how to run the "family business" at such a young age.
[No wonder I grew up with a loose screw.]
But she had to say that compared to what kind of person she was in her teens, she was a lot calmer and "kinder" now.
"I am only doing my job as your guardian," Marquis Rochester said, calling himself her "guardian" instead of "father" just like what a tsundere father would say. "Anyway, I heard you punished Captain Brook."
"Yes, I did," she admitted. "Father, Captain Brook is the baby daddy. By that, I mean he's the father of Miss Ashmore's baby."
Of course, her father's stoic face didn't even crack. "Proof?"
"I got a confession from Captain Brook," she said. "Dal is taking care of the documentation of his confession."
Surprisingly, there was a device in this world that could take pictures and videos.
[Wait, this is a fantasy novel so I shouldn't have been surprised.]
Anyway, the recording device looked like an old big camera. But instead of batteries, Magic Stones powered it.'
[Convenient, right?]
"That won't be enough," the marquis said sternly. "Our vassals will definitely think that I'm forcing one of my servants to take responsibility. Some of them are itching for me to make a mistake that will ruin our family so they could steal our wealth. I have to shut them up with some solid evidence."
"Oh," she said. "Then, should we just get Miss Ashmore to confess the truth?"
"I already tried to do that, but the nobles around me accused me of threatening the young lady," he said while shaking his head. "House Rochester is the empire's symbol of honor. I have to clean my name with evidence that our enemies won't be able to refute. It's either we find the sorceress to prove my innocence, or wait for Miss Ashmore to give birth to her child so we could do the paternity test."
Millicent Ashmore would prefer the latter.
After all, she was confident that the current empress would back her up.
[I have to get in contact with Isaak Viotto as soon as possible. He's smarter than me, so I'll make him do all the thinking. My head is only filled with violence after all.]
"Okay, Father. I agree with your plan," she said, then she raised a brow at her. "But just because we're letting Miss Ashmore live doesn't mean we have to treat her like the next marchioness, right?"
Her father sipped his wine before he spoke. "Of course not."
"While you were away, Miss Ashmore acted like she was the ladyship of the mansion."
"I heard you let the young lady do whatever she wanted while you locked up yourself in the room."
[Tsk. That's true. Zoanne, why did you act like a pushover?]
"I thought you wanted me to be forced to marry Miss Ashmore as a way of having your revenge on me."
She stopped chewing when she heard what the marquis said. "Revenge?"
"Don't act as if you've already forgotten the argument that we had before I left, Zoanne," he said sternly. "You swore that you'll make Miss Ashmore the next marchioness to make me suffer. And it's all because I didn't let you return to Evalyn."
Based on Zoanne's memories, 'Evalyn' was the name of the temple where she spent her adolescence. It was in the neighboring kingdom called Langhuie, where Zoanne was born in. After all, the original owner of this body didn't grow up in the empire.
But she couldn't remember the argument that Zoanne supposedly had with Marquis Rochester. Was it because her brain wasn't that big to store all the memories of Zoanne?
[Anyways, making an enemy out of the marquis wouldn't do me any good.]
"Father, let bygones be bygones," she said, acting seriously. "I don't want to return to Evalyn anymore. I will stay here with you and help you run our family business."
The stoic look on Marquis Rochester's face finally cracked when his eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious about that, Zoanne?"
"Yes, Father," Zoanne said, then she smiled brightly at the marquis. "But in return, please give me access to all the wealth that our family has."
***
[OH. MY. GOD. I'm a hotel heiress in this world!]
Zoe, who was sitting on the sofa comfortably, read the newspaper again.
After she read the article regarding Isaak Viotto and the fighting dogs, another article caught her eye. It was an "exclusive expose" regarding Marquis Hendrix Rochester's scandal. In that article, her father was referred to as the 'Hotel King.'
Anyway, that stupid gossip article ended with a stupid question: ["Will the pregnant Miss Ashmore become the future 'Hotel Queen?'"]
She crumpled the newspaper in her hands.
"Zoanne?"
Zoe smiled and turned to the marquis. "Yes, Father?"
Right now, she was lazily spending her free time in her father's office.
Marquis Hendrix Rochester was sitting behind the big office desk while his table was filled with mountains of paperwork. It seemed like being away for more than a month was the cause of several piles of paperwork in his office, huh?
"My secretary is arriving soon," Marquis Rochester said. "How long are you going to stay here?"
She pouted because she didn't miss the implication of her father's words. But she instantly lit up when she remembered why she was there. "Father, let's sue this tabloid for speaking nonsense about our family."
"Everyone knows that the tabloid only exists to entertain the nobles," he said bluntly. "Don't take it seriously, Zoanne."
"Father, they're harming your reputation," she insisted. "We should teach them a lesson and make them apologize for writing their opinion as if it was the truth. So let's sue them."
"Do we really have to?"
"Yes," she said while nodding eagerly. "Let's demand a private and public apology to all the people hurt by the fake news that they published in their tabloid. If they don't apologize, let's use our power and money to shut them down."
To be honest, she just wanted the tabloid to apologize to Isaak Viotto.
And she would make sure that the ghoul duke would know that it was thanks to her that the tabloid apologized to him.
[I want my warm feelings to reach you, Isaak Viotto.]
"Why are you doing this, Zoanne?"
"I'm just protecting our family," she said, then she paused. "By the way, Father. Just call me 'Zoe' from now on. I prefer to be called by that name from now on."
"I politely refuse," he said. "I will call you by the name your mother gave you."
Tsk, she couldn't argue with that.
"Fine," Zoe said, giving in. Then, she gave her father a puppy dog eyes. "But please, let's sue the tabloid, Father."
Marquis Rochester just let out a deep sigh while shaking his head.
***
"YOUR GRACE received a letter of apology from Viscount Jones."
Isaak Viotto raised a brow when he heard Sawyer's report. "A letter of what?"
Right now, he was standing on the edge of a cliff where he threw the bodies of the Grimlings that he had slain a while ago.
"A letter of apology," Sawyer, his right-hand man, said with a blank look on his face. "Viscount Jones owns the tabloid that takes pleasure in demonizing you in his weekly articles, Your Grace."
"Ah, that scum," he said while wiping the blood off of his hand using a white handkerchief. "What made him apologize?"
"Apparently, House Rochester threatened to sue him and shut his tabloid down if he doesn't apologize to all the people harmed by the false news they published."
Okay, that piqued his interest.
After all, a few days ago, he met the supposedly elusive daughter of House Rochester.
[I don't know if that lady is bold or naïve.]
"And one more thing…"
He turned to his attendant. "What is it?"
"Viscount Jones said something weird," Sawyer said hesitantly. "He begged us to let the daughter of House Rochester know that he sent a letter of apology to Your Grace. It seems like he's desperate to appease Lady Rochester."
"Does it mean Lady Rochester pressured Viscount Jones to apologize to me?"
"That seems to be the case, my lord," he said. "We should be wary of Lady Rochester. After all, I heard from our spy that Lady Rochester is a part of the clique that Count Nigel created to mess with you in the upcoming banquet. We don't know what their plan is, but we know who is involved this time."
Count Nigel was Emperor Rino's younger brother.
So, yes, the count was also his half-brother.
But unlike Rino, who had always been kind to him, Nigel had always hated him. Even though he gave up his right to the throne, that prick never stopped harassing him every chance that he got.
"My lord, should I investigate Lady Rochester?" Sawyer asked carefully. "It seems like the lady is trying to gain your favor. Perhaps, under Count Nigel's command."
"It's too late for that since the banquet is happening tonight," Isaak said, then he began to walk away from his attendant. "If Lady Rochester tries to mess with me later, I'll kill her right away."
***
NOTE: Hi! Please consider ADDING 'I Won't Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!' to your LIBRARY. Thank you! <3