Episode 16

It was inside the carriage returning to the Duke’s mansion after leaving the temple. The Duke, who seemed to be lost in thought and calculating various things, spoke to me.

“…Mindia.”

Hearing him call my name, I knew he had an ulterior motive. I was always weak whenever the Duke called my name.

Soon, he declared magnanimously.

“I will lift the ban on attending events that was imposed on you.”

“But… I made a big mistake this time.”

As I lowered my posture deliberately, the Duke nodded.

“That is that, and this is this.”

“……”

“The previous event ban was long enough. I will impose a separate punishment for this incident.”

“…Thank you.”

I bowed my head, pretending to be deeply moved.

‘He only acts like a kind father at times like this.’

Even though I doubted Chris, I thought that maybe, just maybe, he was really considering using me as bait to catch Chris. It was a laughable thought.

The Duke continued seriously.

“The Grand Duke is different from other men. He is not like those you just had conversations with and tried to probe.”

“Of course. I think so too.”

“This time, you must approach it seriously. Do you understand?”

“……”

“The Grand Duke of Elzerian is treated like a king in the North. He might even be a better groom than His Highness the Crown Prince.”

That was his way of telling me not to aim for the Crown Prince. The Duke wanted to leave the Crown Prince for Aria.

‘Don’t worry, I wouldn’t take him even if you gave him to me.’

And honestly, he was right. The Grand Duke was a much better groom than that unusable piece of trash.

I straightened my back as if I had never bowed. Then, with a slight smile, I spoke.

Having lowered my posture enough, it was now time to get what I wanted.

“What if I seduce him?”

“…What?”

“What will you give me if I seduce him?”

The Duke’s eyes briefly showed a hint of bewilderment. It was the surprise of seeing me act differently than usual. It was quite an enjoyable experience.

“I also want to receive something soon. I’ve been working hard for Your Grace all this time.”

“That is presumptuous…”

“Feel free to call it an audacious remark. I’m not asking for much. I just…”

I rubbed my eyes hard.

“We’re family, but we can’t even eat together. Even the servants don’t eat alone in their rooms like prisoners.”

“……”

“I want to be a part of the Duke’s family. I also want to call Your Grace father in front of others.”

“Is that all you want?”

“I want to freely enter every part of the house. There are many places that are forbidden to me, aren’t there?”

“Hmm.”

“Aria reads newsletters and fashion magazines in the library, so why can’t I even enter the library?”

“I never forbade it.”

“Sir Servi doesn’t like it when I go to the library.”

“I’ll tell him not to do that.”

“Prove it to me. Give me the key to the library or something. Give me confidence that I’m a member of the Duke’s family.”

“…Ask the butler for it.”

The Duke spoke as if granting me a great favor, patting the back of my hand. It was a method he often used to silence me quickly.

I endured the feeling of bugs crawling on my hand and stopped crying.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I felt the Duke’s tension disappear at once. He must have been worried that I would ask for something significant.

‘But this is enough.’

The library was one of the places where I was told evidence of treason was found when I was dragged away and interrogated for treason.

 

‘Tell the truth! We have all this evidence that you attempted treason!’

‘I don’t know! I don’t know!’

‘How can you not know about the documents you hid in the library yourself!’

 

‘So there must be something there.’

Real evidence. If not, then something that could be helpful.

Just then, we arrived at the Duke’s mansion. Seth, who was standing at the front gate seething with anger, and Aria, who was standing behind him, met my eyes.

“Seth.”

Seth approached me with clenched fists. Aria followed, as if trying to stop him.

“Brother! I’m okay!”

“I’m not okay!”

As the Duke raised his hand lightly, the Duke’s knight approached and blocked Seth.

“Father!”

Seth shouted, unable to contain his anger.

“Are you going to let that woman be? Our reputation is about to hit rock bottom!”

“Do not interfere.”

“But!”

Seth’s eyes blazed.

“Didn’t Aria’s first social activity get ruined because of that woman?”

Seth turned to look at Aria. The Duke briefly showed a pitying expression but quickly returned to his usual look, perhaps thinking of my usefulness.

Aria spoke earnestly.

“I’m okay. There will be many more social activities in the future.”

“Aria.”

“Please have pity on her. Mindia can’t go out often…”

“There will be many more in the future.”

Aria’s eyes widened at my words.

“You didn’t usually attend social activities, did you?”

“The ban has been lifted.”

Aria looked puzzled. I added quietly.

“So I have to participate diligently in social activities as a lady. After all, I’m also a daughter of this house.”

“…I see.”

Aria said in a somewhat wistful voice.

“That’s right. Originally, you were the real lady of the house.”

“What are you talking about, Aria!”

“You are the real lady. Saying such things makes this father’s heart ache.”

In an instant, the looks directed at me turned hostile again. Right. This was my place.

‘A fake who stole the place of the real lady for over ten years.’

There was nothing new about it. Everyone began to comfort Aria.

“You are truly our joy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Getting you back feels like reclaiming my world. No one can replace you.”

Hearing those words, Aria’s eyes welled up with tears.

I simply watched the entire scene indifferently. It wasn’t anything new.

And then Seth, who had been glaring at me with clenched fists, spoke forcefully.

“…Anyway, is that all? My reputation has also been tarnished. I’ve been branded as an indiscriminate and violent person!”

Tarnished reputation, he said. He was actually an indiscriminate and violent person. He had beaten me countless times, leaving me bruised.

If his reputation fell because I revealed those bruises in front of others, that was his fault. It wasn’t my fault for being beaten, but his fault for beating me.

The Duke, knowing this, remained silent on that matter.

“I need to teach her some manners!”

“Brother?”

Seth finally pushed the knight away and grabbed my wrist. And I remembered the moment when Seth had grabbed my wrist like this before.

 

‘Sa-save me…’

‘……’

‘Save me, Mindia…’

The moment I had retaliated against him for the first time in my life.

In fact, it wasn’t intentional retaliation. When I came to my senses, Seth’s sword, which was meant to slash my face, was stuck in his stomach.

 

‘Ah.’

‘Hahahaha.’

 

It was so funny and so sad. If I had known it was that easy, I would have done it long ago.

And how pathetic you were, crawling on the floor after being stabbed like that. You had stabbed, beaten, and humiliated me countless times, yet you were begging pitifully, crawling on the floor after just one stab.

Thinking of that, I met Seth’s eyes. I briefly glimpsed the fear seeping into his eyes.

Seth flinched momentarily and let go of my wrist.

“Crazy…crazy…thing…”

“……”

“After causing such a scene, you…you laugh…?”

There was a clear tremor in Seth’s voice. Aria also turned a little pale.

Ah, I must have been laughing.

I couldn’t help it as I recalled the moment Seth had been crawling on the floor. Then suddenly, I felt like crying. When my laughter turned to tears, Seth’s face turned even paler.

“Truly crazy…”

“Sethril Reinhardt.”

The Duke called Seth in a stern voice.

“Are you in your right mind?”

“F-Father… that thing…”

The Duke quietly approached Seth. He seemed to want to whisper something to Seth that I couldn’t hear, but I quickly read the Duke’s lips.

“Don’t you know that thing is what will lead us to the Grand Duke?”

Seth, facing my smile again, turned as white as a sheet and shouted.

“But…!”

“Are you really going to be so foolish!”

Seth trembled and closed his mouth. The Duke moved away from Seth and raised his voice again.

“Listen well. If you so much as scratch Mindia from now on, I will personally punish you. Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

The Duke said this and then turned to look at me. Should I show an expression of being moved at times like this?

I put on a face that showed I was finally being recognized and walked toward the main building. Then I suddenly turned to Aria.

“By the way, Aria.”

“……”

“Thank you so much for the dress. Thanks to you, I was able to enter the communion ceremony.”

“…Yeah. I’m glad you could go.”

“It wasn’t my fault that your communion was ruined, right? If it was, I would feel terribly sad.”

A shadow briefly crossed Aria’s eyes. Seeing that she couldn’t properly respond, it seemed she was actually upset that her first social activity hadn’t gone well.

‘So you have things to be upset about too.’

I had always seen her happy and joyful.

This must mean I am fitting the role of a villain. The role of making the gentle and kind true lady miserable.

Even as I thought that, my mouth tasted bitter. Aria slowly began to speak.

“…It’s okay. There will be better opportunities next time.”

“That’s right. You can surely make it happen.”

That was the one thing I genuinely meant. It would indeed be the case.

I carefully observed the shadow on Aria’s face and then headed toward the mansion. There was still much work to be done.

First…

“Butler.”

I entered the house and faced the butler, Harold.