Episode 17
“It’s hard to touch Father’s belongings. You know that…”
“I’m not talking about Father’s things. What about Mother’s belongings?”
“Those are also… too difficult.”
Isabella had a hard time stealing the young duke’s belongings. She had to sneak in like a cat and barely managed to steal them herself.
“If it’s something already stolen, wouldn’t it be easier?”
“What? That old woman is really a thief?”
Eliano brought her index finger to her lips. Isabella lowered her voice.
“What did she steal?”
“Earrings with jet-black obsidian. They’re hoop earrings… and they’re magical tools.”
Eliano described the appearance of the magical tool, and Isabella nodded.
“When we search, we must find that too. But you must not show that you know about its existence.”
“Then how do we find it?”
“If she’s a habitual thief, she must have stolen other jewels too. Wouldn’t it be among the items in her jewellery box?”
“…I’ll search Pamela’s room. But what if she already sold it?”
“That’s unlikely. If it had surfaced as stolen goods, Father or our maternal family would have heard and taken action.”
According to Eliano, it was a family heirloom passed down in the duchess’s family. She had given it up to hide the birth of her illegitimate daughter. At the time, she thought it was out of love for her daughter. So Eliano never doubted her own birth.
Not long after Eliano left Isabella’s room, Pamela entered. She approached with a smile and grabbed Eliano’s arm.
“Young lady, the Duke is looking for you. This nanny will accompany you as always.”
Eliano’s face stiffened. It was a summons from Duke Rosana.
Before Duke Rosana knelt a woman with black hair, as if she were a servant.
“Lia, Viscount Albich sent you a marriage proposal.”
Whenever they were alone, Duke Rosana made Eliano kneel. Sometimes he offered her a chair, but most of the time he demanded she kneel. He did it to plant obedience deep into her bones. In her past life, Eliano thought this was normal.
Even now, her body moved on its own before she could even feel shame or humiliation. That’s the kind of space her father’s office was. It had been so long that she had forgotten. But as soon as she entered, she knelt naturally. What was different now, though, was that she felt shame and disgrace.
Even so, Eliano couldn’t bring herself to resist. Her mind went blank at the sound of her father’s threatening voice.
“Did you shamelessly seduce a man?”
Her father was just as frightening in this life as in the previous one. Even when she had become a mighty empress, that fear never changed. Eliano couldn’t stop her trembling.
“N-No, Father…”
“Then why would a proper man like Viscount Albich send you a proposal?!”
The letter was thrown in her face and dropped to the floor. Eliano bowed her head to hide her emotions. She couldn’t tell if she was shaking from fear or anger.
“They say you’ve been dancing at parties lately?”
Is dancing a bad thing? I only danced.
Eliano wanted to say that, but no voice came out. Only her lips trembled. Before her father, she always became a powerless child. She hated herself for that.
She forced herself to speak. She wasn’t that foolish, weak girl anymore.
“I-I just… danced. Father, that’s not… wrong, is it? I only…”
Duke Rosana slammed the desk. The loud sound made Eliano flinch. A dark shadow loomed over her.
“Pamela says you’ve changed. I see she’s right. How dare you talk back to your father?”
Pamela stepped forward from behind.
“This young lady needs discipline, my lord.”
“We’ll see for sure. Tie her up.”
Pamela pulled Eliano up. When she started to undress her, Eliano shook her head and shouted.
“D-Don’t!”
“Young Lady, be quiet! You’re in front of the Duke!”
“No―!”
A flash went across Eliano’s eyes. She had been slapped. It was Pamela who hit her. Eliano clutched her cheek with wide eyes. Pamela had started undressing her.
The shame was worse than the pain. When Eliano struggled again, another slap came. As her strength faded, her clothes were all stripped away. Pamela tied Eliano’s bare wrists to a ring on the ceiling.
“My lord, I’ve been checking her body every night.”
“You’ve been away for a while. Who knows what my daughter’s been doing in that time?”
Pamela and Duke Rosana thoroughly examined Eliano’s body. Eliano cried, trembling with shame. It was Pamela’s job to check Eliano’s body each night. She bathed and cared for her, so it happened naturally.
Whenever Eliano didn’t act according to the Duke’s standards, he summoned her. Before giving punishment, he hung her from the ceiling and personally checked her body.
Like inspecting pork, his eyes were cold and indifferent. Even a tiny scratch would lead to punishment. He’d strike the wound with a cane while scolding her. Eliano had to beg for forgiveness, promising never to “misuse” her body again.
The punishment was so cruel it made her forget she was naked. In the past, she didn’t understand what this meant. She thought it was punishment for not properly managing the body her father invested so much money in.
But now she knew. He was checking if she had slept with a man.
“Today, I’ll fix that disrespectful mouth of yours for good.”
She heard the drawer slowly open. Eliano shook like a leaf. The desk slammed again. In her father’s hand was a whip.
“No! Why are you stopping me? I said I’m going to see Father!”
The butler tried to block Isabella from entering the Duke’s office. She pushed past him. But she stopped in her tracks at the sound coming from inside.
The sharp crack of a whip and a woman’s screams.
“I was wrong! I’ll never… Aah! I won’t do it again… I’m sorry, Father! I—Aah!”
Isabella’s eyes widened in shock. There was only one other girl in this house who would call the Duke “Father.”
The butler, seeing her frozen, said,
“I told you not to. The Duke is disciplining Lady Eliano.”
Isabella wasn’t unaware of Duke Rosana’s “discipline.” She had been hit with a cane by him too. But this sound… wasn’t from a cane. It didn’t sound like someone being hit on the calves or palms. It was… worse.
“I’m sorry… sob… Father… I’ll never… Aaagh!”
“Will you lose your noble dignity again and seduce men like a lowly woman?”
“I-I won’t… sob… Father… please forgive me… sob…”
“I hope I won’t have to use the whip again.”
Isabella couldn’t believe what she just heard. A whip? Her father was whipping her sister like a servant? Again, the sound of the whip echoed, along with her sister’s weak cries. Even Pamela’s voice, saying she deserved more, rang out. Isabella’s face went blank.
She couldn’t just listen anymore. Even if her sister really did seduce a man—or even many men—this was too much. This wasn’t discipline. It was violence.
“Stop, Isabella.”
It was Damian Rosana who grabbed her hand just as she tried to open the office door.
“Brother, what did you say?”
“I said stop.”
Isabella looked shocked, not believing what she’d just heard.
Inside, Eliano seemed to have fainted—only the sound of whipping remained. Isabella trembled at the horrible sound. But Damian’s face didn’t even change.
Looking at his cold, blank expression, Isabella realized— This wasn’t the first time. He knew. He had always known.
Anger lit up in Isabella’s eyes.
“How could you…? She’s your other half!”
“My other half? Oh, right. We were supposed to be twins.”
Damian replied with a cold sneer. Isabella couldn’t believe he was ignoring his twin’s pain.
“If you don’t want to be punished too, stay out of it.”
“Brother…! How can you be like this?”
Damian whispered in her ear.
“You’re old enough to know the truth. Eliano is not my twin.”
Isabella’s eyes shook.
“Besides her eye colour, she doesn’t resemble me at all. Haven’t you ever wondered?”
Even their eye colour was slightly different. Eliano’s were darker.
“Even so, this is wrong—”
“So what are you going to do? Get whipped in her place?” Damian mocked her.
“Go ahead. Open the door. Eliano would be so touched. Father too—he’ll be moved by your sisterly love.”
In the end, Isabella couldn’t turn the doorknob. Her head dropped. The sounds from inside were terrifying. Isabella wiped her tears with a sob.
“Don’t jump into things when you can’t even handle it. I don’t want Father to lay a hand on you too.”
Damian pulled her away from the door. Then, looking at Isabella’s tear-stained face, he gave an order to the butler.
“Take Isabella to her room. She was never here.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Inside the office, Eliano’s voice begging for forgiveness was growing faint. Damian frowned. He ordered that no one be allowed near the hallway. Soon after, Isabella appeared again in the empty hallway, her eyes red from crying.
Beside her, Emily nervously watched the corridor. Luckily, no one was guarding the area anymore. No one would dare disobey the Young Lord’s orders. Still, if someone caught Isabella lingering here, she might get whipped too. Emily muttered anxiously to herself.
Why did the Young Lady insist on going to the Duke’s office today of all days?!
It was a well-known secret in the mansion that Duke Rosana whipped the eldest daughter. Only new servants, and Isabella didn’t know the truth.
The Duke’s mansion was very large, and his office was in a restricted area. That’s why Isabella hadn’t known what was really happening in her own house.
Emily tugged on Isabella’s sleeve.
“The Young Lord said no one is allowed near this hallway tonight, my lady. Let’s go back.”
“If we get caught, what’s the worst that could happen—getting whipped too?”
“My lady!”
Just then, the office door burst open.
