The Reincarnated Noble Lady is the Infamous Viscount's Heir - I've Accepted a Contract Marriage for Estate Management. - Chapter 1.13

The following morning, instead of Lord Rockwell, an uninvited guest arrived.

It happened while I was in the middle of getting ready under Jessica’s meticulous command, surrounded by maids.

“Isn’t it noisy at the entrance? Could it be the Earl? Oh my gosh, Grace, you’re so loved! Three dances in a row at the ball—how romantic! I’ll go check it out!”

Jessica, noticing the commotion downstairs, leaned over the staircase to sneak a peek at the entrance. Moments later, she came rushing back, flustered.

“Grace!”
“What is it?”
“An idiot showed up!”
“Huh?”
“Claude Autret is causing a scene!”
“What?!”

My immediate, instinctive reaction was one of disbelief.

“Why would he…?”
“Lady Jessica, Lady Grace, perhaps we should secure a place to hide, just in case,” one of the maids from the Russells family suggested.

Hearing this, I let out a deep sigh. Enough with the preparations. Grabbing a fan, I headed for the door.

“Hide? In our own home?” I asked.

Jessica’s eyes widened at my words.

Jessica, you may be a young mistress capable of summoning such skilled maids, but I am the head of this household.

“Lady Patricia is already handling the situation,” another maid informed me, following closely behind.

“Jessica, Patricia may be the young mistress of the Russells family now, but it’s not her responsibility to deal with problems concerning her childhood home,” I pointed out.

The maids exchanged glances, and I overheard someone murmur, “As expected of Lady Patricia’s younger sister.”

When I reached the stairs, I saw the scene unfolding in the entrance below. There, restrained by the butler and the gardener, stood the man himself—Claude Autret, my former fiancé.

Recently, I’d received a letter from Ada warning me about Claude. She’d seen me dancing three consecutive dances with the Earl at the ball and apologized for unintentionally making it public in the Ainsworth Gazette. She’d offered to investigate Claude’s motives when he showed up at the same event.

I held no lingering feelings for him, but his presence at the ball was suspicious. With his noble title revoked, he shouldn’t have had the means to attend. True to her word, Ada’s report confirmed what I had already suspected.

After ending our engagement, Claude had broken things off with the baron’s daughter within a month. She had been adopted by a viscount’s family and was likely pursuing a better match. Meanwhile, Claude’s family, under pressure from both the Russells Trading Company and the Mayfield Viscountcy, had disinherited him and named his younger brother as heir.

Stripped of his future as the next head of the Autret family, Claude had been sent to manage a single pasture on a baronial estate. It seemed the once-carefree nobleman had grown resentful of his circumstances and returned to the capital during the social season.

“Grace, you should be careful around men like him,” Ada had written. “They tend to delude themselves into thinking their former fiancées will understand their plight.”

Now, here he was, shouting at Patricia at the entrance.

“You’re not even a noble anymore! You didn’t attend the ball, so how could you know what happened? Grace has been taken in by the Earl’s flattery and is clearly getting carried away!”

You’ve got some nerve, considering you’re the one who lost your noble title.

Patricia, who had attended a different social event with her husband, responded with a calm yet cutting tone.

“I wasn’t at the ball, but I’ve heard the details. And frankly, what right do you have to speak to my sister? The Wilcox family has no ties to you anymore, as per the contract.”

“Grace is my fiancée!” Claude shouted.

Patricia turned toward me and sighed.

“Should we call a psychiatrist? He’s talking as if the engagement, which ended three years ago with his signature, is still valid.”

“Silence! Stay out of this, commoner!” Claude roared, cutting her off.

Excuse me? What nonsense is this? Patricia isn’t a commoner—you are. She’s the young mistress of one of the most powerful trading families, soon to be ennobled.

“This is all your fault! You brought common merchants into this house and sullied its name! You married a commoner, so you have no connection to this family anymore!”

“Wait, you’re the one saying that?” Jessica muttered behind me.

“This is Patricia’s family home, and you’re nothing but a stranger here,” she added.

“Shut up! You should leave this house too! Grace has become so cold because of you sisters!”

Jessica and I exchanged looks. What was going on in this man’s head?

This was the same person who had shouted “I’m breaking off the engagement!” three years ago, yet here he was, barging in uninvited.

“Is his head okay?” Jessica asked bluntly. “He’s the one who gleefully signed the paperwork, dumped Grace, and chased after someone else.”

Patricia didn’t hold back either. “Grace has no shortage of suitors. Mr. Autret, you’re not needed here. Please leave.”

“Should we notify the Autret family?” Jessica suggested.

I shook my head.

“That won’t work. He was disowned by them.”

As I said this, the front door opened behind Claude. The person who entered spoke in a commanding voice.

“I’ve already summoned the guards in my name. They should arrive shortly.”

Standing in the doorway, dressed entirely in black, was Abigail, the second daughter of the Wilcox family.