After treating her wounds and freshening up, Bella found her way to the dining room. The maid who escorted her greeted Jenos, who was already seated, and then went away. Bella stood by the table with a somewhat bewildered expression, nervously fiddling with her hands.
“Sit,” Jenos said, lifting his coffee cup.
Before her eyes was a lavish breakfast spread, unlike anything she had ever experienced.
“I instructed them to prepare a variety of dishes since I wasn’t sure what would suit your taste,” Jenos explained. “Of course, you’ll probably enjoy everything. You must have grown up without enjoying a proper meal.”
Bella remained silent.
“What’s with that look? Sit down.” Jenos gestured to the seat across from him with a butter knife.
“Is this your true self, Your Grace?” Bella asked.
“What do you mean?”
Bella chose to remain silent.
“Ah, you find it impolite? You’re right. This is me. Keeping up appearances is quite tiresome. Trying to choose everything you say and do while watching others’ reactions is nauseating. Pretending to be a sweet and kind person is just plain fake,” admitted Jenos casually.
Bella still didn’t respond.
“You’re the same, aren’t you?”
“…Pardon?”
“In the alley. You jumped around before a corpse with a hole in its face, all excited.”
Bella bit her lips.
“I don’t think it was because of your awakening as a witch. I read your eyes when we were still at the White residence. They had a somewhat insane look,” Jenos said casually, spreading butter on a crispy croissant. “Are you planning to stand there forever?”
He gestured to Bella again with the knife.
Somewhat insane. Those words echoed in Bella’s mind. There was no better way to describe her. Bella forced her stiff body to move and took a seat across from him.
The table was excessively large compared to the mansion’s size. Designed for twelve people, there were five seats on each side, and each head had one seat. Jenos chose to sit in the center, allowing Bella and him to be quite close and face each other.
“This table was a gift from His Majesty. It’s made from a lightning-struck apple tree or something. To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention, so I don’t remember well. It felt quite crappy,” Jenos explained.
“Isn’t it too big compared to the mansion?”
As if liking her question, Jenos smiled briefly in response before quickly returning to his neutral expression.
“Yes, it was sent as a reminder to know my place.” Jenos took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “So, I’m thinking of expanding my place.”
“What…?”
“To rebel and become Emperor.”
Crash–! Bella’s teacup, which she was holding, couldn’t withstand her surprise and shattered into pieces. As she leapt from her seat in astonishment, Bella met Jenos’ smile, which was now much more pronounced than before.
“Off to a good start,” he remarked.
“I’ve never… something like this…”
“We’ll have to start training to control your witch’s powers as soon as possible,” Jenos said, approaching Bella with a napkin in hand.
He stood in front of her, gently took her wrist, and placed the napkin on her injured finger. She was bleeding.
“…Thank you,” Bella said, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
“It’s probably better to start with the meal. That way, my plans will have a chance to enter your ears,” Jenos said as he placed his hand on Bella’s shoulder, guiding her to sit down in the chair before returning to his own.
“The broken cup…”
“We can have the maids take care of it later. Let’s eat,” Jenos interrupted.
Bella looked down at the fine tableware and sumptuous dishes before her, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She had wanted to ask more about the incredible story she had heard earlier, but she couldn’t muster the courage.
“Eat,” Jenos urged.
Bella nodded, picking up her fork, instinctively putting her hands together, and lowering her head, as was her habit. Jenos, who had been slicing salted meat, stopped and regarded her with a quizzical expression.
In the Empire, there was religious freedom, not because they wanted to grant people freedom but to avoid the problems that would arise if they didn’t. If they established an official religion, they would have to appoint bishops, and that would undoubtedly challenge the authority of the Emperor, as history has shown in other countries. However, outright banning religion could also be unwise, as it might provoke unnecessary resistance from the citizens. Thus, they wrapped their fear in the term “religious freedom.”
When Bella finished her prayer and looked up, Jenos asked, “Do you have a religion?”
“Ah…” Bella let out a bitter laugh. “No, it’s just a habit. I’ve been doing it for so long. I prayed for something, and it has been granted.”
“What did you pray for?”
Bella hesitated for a moment before answering, “I prayed to have the power to exterminate the White family.”
At that moment, Jenos once again saw a subtle madness in Bella’s eyes. It needed refinement, but it was worth cultivating. He reached out and took Bella’s plate, serving her a mix of salad and meat.
“I’ll do it. Your Grace,” Bella hesitated, unsure of her manners, but Jenos gently placed the plate filled with neatly arranged food in front of her.
“You have another habit aside from praying before eating,” Jenos remarked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, your attitude right now.” Jenos leaned forward with a disgusted expression. “You’ve probably been pretending to be a foolish and timid person all this time just to stay alive.”
Again, Bella remained silent.
“But that attitude won’t help you anymore. You don’t really want to be timid and pathetic, do you?”
“. . .”
“Find who you truly are.”
Bella hesitated.
“…I’ve played this role for so long that I don’t even know who I truly am anymore.”
“Well, there’s a vivid memory I can think of,” Jenos said.
“What?”
“The time you danced before a corpse with a hole in its face.”
“. . .”
“That’s the real you.”
Bella’s hand trembled when she heard the words “corpse with a hole in its face.” She slowly clenched and unclenched her fist, taking a deep breath. The trembling soon subsided.
Bella picked up her utensils and began eating quickly. After finishing his meal, Jenos wiped his mouth and casually placed an arm over the adjacent chair. Although his posture was slightly off, he still looked like a handsome debauchee you might find in a tavern.
Feeling Jenos’s gaze on her, Bella picked up a piece of meat and looked up. She didn’t avert her gaze from him.
With a smile, he asked, “You didn’t wear shoes on purpose, did you?”
Bella hesitated for a moment, chewing and swallowing her food. She then took a sip of her drink. Through the transparent glass, Jenos’s face appeared to be full of interest as he looked at her.
“You noticed.”
“And you must have wanted to be stabbed with the brooch, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you think I might consider breaking off the engagement if you revealed that your family abused you?”
Bella met his gaze and replied,
“Yes, that’s what I tried to do—to make a hole in Rosalie’s chest. But I understand now that His Grace doesn’t care for Rosalie. Not really. The fact that you’re engaged to a wicked, cruel woman like her doesn’t mean anything to a man like you.”
“Right, that’s true,” the grand duke chuckled and tilted his head. “Since the moment I greeted her at the entrance, I found that worn-out brooch on Rosalie irritating.”
“Everything went according to plan, but I didn’t take into account Your Grace’s mask,” Bella admitted.
“Didn’t you consider the possibility of failing and that you would just get beaten up? That’s what happened in the end.
“I did consider it. But I thought I could handle it, even if I failed. I suspected that if His Highness visited, the guards would be dismissed. So, if my plan fails, and I’m punished, my plan B would be to find an opportunity to escape. The maids wouldn’t be watching over me.”
“Then you planned to leave the mansion and live on the streets?”
“I was destined to marry a widower from the south in less than six months. He’s in his fifties, and his daughter is ten years older than me.” Bella stabbed her fork into the salad, her movements rough, as if she were getting angry. “There are rumors that this man confined and starved his previous wife to death due to severe delusional jealousy. Is not it better to live as a street tramp than to marry him?”
Jenos listened to her story with an amused expression.
“Besides, this was my third escape attempt. After failing the previous two escape attempts and enduring beatings until I nearly died, I guess I wasn’t afraid anymore.”
“I see. Well, it all worked out perfectly in the end,” Jenos said, intrigued. “It’s fortunate that your abilities manifested before you had to marry that deranged widower. Divorce and remarriage are cumbersome, and people love to gossip.”
“What do you mean?”
As Bella asked with a puzzled look, he crossed his muscular arms nonchalantly and replied casually,
“Because I’m going to marry you.”
~~~~~
I have to say, I kinda don’t like Jenos as the ML but at the same time, I KNOW he is the perfect man for our coo-coo crazy Bella, cuz damn this girl is wild
As I said in LSVA ch I’m on kofi now~ Let me know what you think about adv chapters and leave a comment if you like my work! It means the world to me, thank you!!
