[TIDK] 101 – Villa Co-ownership

“I bought it and gave it to my mother, but now she is incompetent, and I am her guardian, so it is mine.”

Viktor got up from the chair.

“I’ll send you a carriage, so tell me the date.”

“We signed a prenuptial contract. Your property is yours, and mine is mine. I was overcharged for opening this store,” Scarlett said belatedly.

“That wasn’t alimony; it was a backdoor deal with my father, I didn’t know.”

“….”

A backdoor deal. That was not wrong, but saying it like that made Scarlett feel like she had committed a crime.

“It’s okay,” Scarlett replied.

“I think that’s the least loss to maintain dignity. I can’t believe my ex-wife has to hear that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“To introduce a woman from a family you've never heard of before to the social world. You were a member of the Dumfelt family. It is not enough even if they give all their money to make a request like that in such a manner.”

Even Scarlett thought that one day Viktor would take issue with her way of life. Instead, she inwardly praised him for the improvement in his understanding.

She was not confident enough to go against his stubbornness, and if she owned a vineyard and a villa in the countryside, she would not receive the same offer Mrs DeLouis had made earlier.

After the capital’s social season, being invited to a party at a countryside villa was something anyone who set foot in the social world desired. Not to mention that the person who could host such a party would wield influence.

Scarlett asked reluctantly.

“…You mean co-ownership?”

“It doesn’t come out to very much, but whatever profit is gained from the vineyard, we divide it in half, and when we want to use the villa, the person who wants to use it will use it.”

“What if the days we want to use it overlap?”

Viktor grinned at her question.

“You haven’t been there yet, and you’re worried about the days overlapping? Do you plan on going there that often?”

“I’m trying to be precise. Just in case, I don’t want to run into you. What if we both visit during the same time?”

“Then, of course, I’ll get out of the way. For the Lady.”

…Well.

Viktor was never one to argue that he came first in such situations. Moreover, after having lived with him for two years, it was unlikely that he would often visit the vineyard she did not even know he owned.

After hesitating for a while, Scarlett said.

“Around next Wednesday… No, Wednesday. Just Wednesday.”

Viktor replied and got up. As he headed towards the door, it was then that Scarlett spoke.

“Yes, Wednesday,” Viktor responded with a smile.

The wound on the back of his neck continued to bother her as he tried to leave. After some hesitation, Scarlett finally picked up the bag of bread and handed it to him.

“And take this.”

Scarlett, expecting him to find it troublesome, continued, looking down at the floor, trying not to make eye contact with him.

“It’s better to eat well. I heard you drink during breakfast these days. Does that make sense?”

“Don’t you remember I sent you to a monastery?”

Scarlett paused at his words and answered stiffly.

“How can I not remember that?”

“But why do you care whether I eat well and get better?”

“I am not interested… You’re bothered about me maintaining my dignity. Likewise, I hate seeing you getting hurt and starving yourself.”

“….”

“It differs from person to person. I will turn down the chaperone, so you take this.”

Viktor stared at Scarlett.

He couldn’t understand that part about her. He thought she had something to hide. What it was that she was hiding, he hadn’t discovered yet.

Viktor gazed silently into Scarlett’s chaotic eyes, which complicated the viewer’s mind, and then turned around after accepting the paper bag. And, as was his habit with any luggage, left the bag with Blythe.

♔♔♔

After watching him leave, Scarlett belatedly recalled Viktor’s coat that he left behind in the closet.

“Oh, his coat.”

Usually, wherever he went, there would be people who would accept his outerwear, and of course, people would return it.

No wonder he kept looking at her before going out; that seemed to be his signal to take out his coat. If there were no servants, the host should have returned the coat. Viktor was a man who would choose to throw away his coat rather than recklessly open a door in a house where a woman lived alone.

Scarlett grabbed his coat and rushed out of the house, but he had already left.

As she stood in front of the store, sighing, her next-door neighbour Liv who was passing by, stopped and asked.

“Whose coat is that?”