Since When Were You The Villain?

Chapter 54.

 

Fortunately, Sophia preferred to engage in matters of the family’s finances and operations rather than tending to household chores.

If there were books required for her solitary studies, he would secretly obtain them as if he didn’t know, and he made sure to have ready the medicine she would need when she was unwell.

He had also ensured that the windows of Sophia’s room had warm and thick curtains, and he had arranged for a maidservant to attend to her when her mother didn’t assign one after moving to the attic room; back then, as a young boy, he had thought his mother had simply forgotten. Although he hadn’t anticipated that even the maidservant would ignore Sophia.

Nevertheless, he hadn’t only made life difficult for Sophia. If he were to mention these things to Sophia, she would probably retort, ‘Is boasting about causing the illness and then providing the cure something to be proud of? ’

Ian sat within the carriage, gazing at a distant place, periodically observing Sophia, who seemed lost in thought.

Her long brown hair flowed down to her shoulders, and her beautiful eyes were gazing at places he couldn’t see. Ian pressed his lips together, holding back the words he couldn’t bring himself to say.

It wasn’t just hatred.

He had disliked her, but it wasn’t only that.

Spending most of his time as a knight, whenever he returned to the Count’s house, even if he couldn’t see his father, he always saw her face.

For unknown reasons, whenever he went back to Fraus, he would visit Sophia as if it were a ritual.

He felt that he had truly returned to Fraus only when he saw her face.

He still vividly remembers the day he first met Sophia.

His life had not been as beautiful before he met her.

Through a relationship with the Count, the unmarried mother, who had a child out of wedlock, was expelled from the family.

Count Fraus arranged a place for the mother to stay and provided money, but the situation wasn’t ideal.

The world was harsh for an unmarried mother to survive, especially when the unwed mother was of noble birth.

Marriage was just a word.

Translator: HaileyFranchette. Read on moonlight novels only

From a young age, he could sense that his family wasn’t ordinary.

Fortunately, his proud mother endured even in the face of criticism.

She lived each day believing in the promise from Count Fraus that someday he would take them in.

Most of the money sent by Count Rubisella was spent on outward luxuries and Ian’s education.

“You are the young master of Fraus, so you must behave like a noble. ”

Even though the mother skipped meals, she bought expensive and well-off clothes for Ian.

She believed that they shouldn’t appear shallow, no matter how much people criticized them.

Continuing to enjoy luxuries while not being well-off in reality led to actual impoverishment.

When Ian put on those showy clothes, he felt strange.

Instead of this, it would be better to eat more delicious bread.

His mother instructed him to learn the elegant gait of the nobles and memorize the difficult words they used.

She also intended to have him learn from renowned tutors.

However, there was an obstacle in his education. Most teachers wouldn’t accept an unwed mother’s son.

She also tried to have him learn from famous teachers.

At such times, my mother would scold me, saying that I would regret it someday if I didn’t mingle with people.

Even though my mother was strong and proud, on days when she couldn’t endure a tough day even with her strong self-esteem, she would vent her frustration to Ian.

“You have to do better, Ian. If you become worthy of the name Fraus, your father will come looking for you! ”

Young Ian wandered between constant rejection from people and his mother’s anger, feeling like he didn’t belong to any world.

Especially when his mother, who had told him to take pride in being the son of Count Fraus, would tell him not to mention his father’s name when they were outside, he questioned who he really was.

But one thing was ingrained in his heart.

You can’t appear weak in front of others.

Count Fraus often visited them.

Partly to calm down the anxious Rubisella, and partly because he genuinely loved her.

One thing is certain: the Count and Ian’s mother, at least to them, shared a true love that could be called the romance of the century.

At that time, the former countess or, in other words, Sophie’s birth mother, frequently fell ill.

Her health had been fragile even before giving birth to Sophie, and in fact, Sophie’s birth took place in a cottage owned by the Fraus family.

When her health weakened during pregnancy, and she entered the delicate phase, the Count sent her to a tranquil and peaceful cottage.

Of course, by that time, the Count was already involved with Rubisella.

Whenever the Countess went to recuperate, the Count came to spend time with Rubisella.

Even though they met frequently, the Count seemed like a stranger to Ian.

Still, having received his mother’s repetitive education for a long time, Ian tried to appear as a proper lord in front of the Count.

Would he like me? Would my gait, speech, and gestures seem acceptable?

Whenever the count came, he felt like he was being tested.

Then, one day, the former countess passed away.

‘She died too late, ‘ said the mother, and now it was our turn.

Ian was extremely pleased. No matter how challenging Count Fraus seemed, it was better than being ostracized as the child of an unwed mother.

He could finally live the life of the nobility he had always admired and that his mother had talked about incessantly.

He was so happy that he even entertained the thought that maybe the Count and his mother had conspired to kill Sophia’s birth mother.

Of course, it was just an imagination without evidence, but it seemed that such a miraculous thing could not happen otherwise.

Anyway, for Sophia Fraus, the tragic incident involving her birth mother was a turning point. Rubisella and Ian found light in that tragedy.

Not even a year after the death of the former Countess, the Count married Rubisella

He kept the promises he had made to Rubisella for a long time.

The wedding ceremony was grand and splendid.

Though there were still those who whispered behind their backs, now they had to do it discreetly and cautiously.

His mother was very happy.

And thus, he was happy too.

On the day he officially entered the Fraus family, he met her for the first time.

His new little sister, Sophia Fraus.

Translator: HaileyFranchette. Read on moonlight novels only

A seven-year-old girl who had become his step-sister less than a year after losing her birth mother.

Ian still remembered that day’s Sophia vividly.

Brown hair was neatly tied with a ribbon, a pure white blouse with ruffles on the sleeves, a dark navy blue sleeveless dress over the blouse, that reached her ankles, and white lace socks that covered her ankles, along with dark brown shoes.

It wasn’t a flashy outfit, but Ian thought of her as soon as he saw her.

Like a princess in a fairy tale.

Even when she was still, there was an air of grace about her. Politeness and decorum flowed naturally.

He finally understood what his mother meant by ‘nobility. ’ Sophia was exactly what her mother wanted from him. (T/L: Means Sophia like demeanour.)

Certainly, on that day, Ian must have been dressed in very expensive attire. It was his first day entering the Fraus family, so maybe the clothes he wore that day were even more expensive than Sophie’s dress.

But he couldn’t carry off expensive clothing like Sophia could.

Ian wanted to become a wealthy nobleman like Sophia did, and he wanted to live up to the name Fraus.

When he stood side by side with Sophia, he hoped they would complement each other naturally.

But every time I try to act like a nobleman, it just doesn’t suit me, and it feels weird. I feel like I can’t become like you.

Ian tried hard to adapt to his new home, but it didn’t match his feelings.

As long as Sophia Fraus was there, he could only be an outsider entering someone else’s house.

Because he could never become like Sophia Fraus.

There were feelings of admiration and jealousy, love and hatred, possessiveness, and deprivation towards Sophia in his heart.

However, while he felt intense emotions, it seemed like Sophia had no emotions towards him.

Sophia Fraus always appeared melancholic and hardly spoke.

She seemed uncomfortable around Rubisella and Ian from the first day they met, before the abuse even started.

She avoided them, fled from them, barely spoke, and occasionally glared at them with sad eyes.

Watching Sophia like this, Ian thought to himself.

‘Surely she’s ignoring me because I came from the outside. ’

‘Do you think I’m shallow? Are you saying you can’t accept me as Fraus? Are you ignoring me for living in this house since you was born here? ’

Ian didn’t know what emotions a girl who had lost her mother less than a year ago would feel when facing a new stepmother and a new sibling.

Feelings of betrayal towards a father who abandoned her mother.

Resentment towards unfamiliar relatives who caused her mother’s abandonment.

Unsorted memories and longing for the mother she was left behind

Loneliness, sadness, resentment, and the exclusion of being left all alone.

Ian Fraus at the time, was too young to think about and consider such things, and he was not yet mature enough to adapt to his suddenly changed life.

Because of that, Sophia’s attitude infuriated him, and whenever that happened, he would seek her out and scold her.

As a result, she became both the person he most wanted to resemble and the person he despised the most.

Perhaps his mother had felt similar, if not even more complex, emotions.

She had intensely disliked Sophia, the daughter of her previous countess, and had openly discriminated against her.

During those times, Sophia would shed tears but never rebelled.

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