The Troublemaker Daughter of the Grand Duke Wants To Live Alone

“Father.”

Aiden, who discovered the light first, called Estin. Only then did Estin raise his head and look at the light. Estin stared blankly before opening his mouth.

“I think it’s asking us to follow it.”

“Is that really the case?”

“Hmm.”

“Perhaps they’re attempting to mislead us,”

The words of Aiden made sense. But Estin was pressed for time. He was too exhausted to think critically.

“Let’s go for now.”

“Lucas, as I said before, take the Knights to the mansion for the time being.”

Aiden and Estin disappeared after following the light. Only Lucas, who had been left behind, was perplexed. It was because he had never seen them make such rash decisions before. Lucas, however, was aware. He would have followed the light right away if it hadn’t been for Aiden’s order.

“Please.”

Please keep the young miss safe.

***

It was freezing cold.

Mary was unable to shed a tear. She was afraid that if she cried, her face would become frozen. The knight leading her to her exile glanced at her and clicked his tongue. Mary pretended not to hear anything.

She felt as though the wind was clinging to her body. Demimore told Mary that she has poison in her heart, not love, and looked at her with disdain. He squeezed Astina’s slender shoulders at the same time. Mary wanted to ask back. What do you then have? Demimore and Astina’s appearance was obscured by her tears. She was unable to see Astina’s expression as she looked at her. Was it also filled with disdain as Demimore, or is she acting sweet or pitiful once more.

She immediately thought of her family’s faces. Despite working so arduously and painstakingly for nine years to find her, her father and brothers, who had lost her the moment she was born, didn’t care for her. Do they harbor sympathy for her? She spent her early years in a deplorable orphanage where she was denied everything she deserved.

Orphanage? It was there that she first met Astina, whom she hated. Her smile shines as if she were the sunshine in the gloomy orphanage, lifting the yellow dust up. Finally, she drove her to a place where there was no sunlight. Taking away everything she has.

Where did it go wrong?

It’s strange how she wasn’t remorseful or reflective. Simply put, she was extremely curious. Where did everything go wrong, and where should she start looking back? Mary raised her gaze to the sky. Clouds filled the sky.

Just like Demimore and Astina’s last images.

Then the scene changed.

There was a lake. It was a lake surrounded by tranquility. Except for one side, the lake was surrounded by thick bushes. On the other side, there was a mowed meadow with a temple.

Temple? Is that a temple?

With pillars forming a circular chapel, the two white stone buildings were set back from one another. A laurel tree was located nearby. A man could be seen pacing behind the tree.

The man continued to focus on the temple. It was a lonely and persistent gaze. The man, who had only been staring, made his way slowly toward the temple as the surrounding area grew darker.

It wasn’t long before the lonely, unwavering gaze became depressing. The laurel uttered a somber sound.

Again, it’s that scene.

Originally, she would have woken up at this point, but the scene went on.

The man seemed to have heard the mourning of the laurel tree. With a sly smile, the man snapped the branches of the laurel tree. Following that, he wove it into a coffin. A woman emerged from the temple. The man approached and continued to mutter.

I love you, I love you. Be mine.

His love-filled words carried too much weight. The impurities were smudged. A large black dog interrupted the man. The man appeared to be enraged……

“You’re disturbing me again!”

The man’s cry woke me up.

‘Where am I?’

There was a sharp sensation on my cheek caused by the grass. Is this the lake? I was startled and attempted to get up quickly, but my body didn’t feel strong. I gave up after failing to stand up several times and only moved my eyes to look around the area. In contrast to my fears, I was in a thick forest. It was only for a brief period of time, but I was relieved there wasn’t a lake.

‘Who am I?’ 

I think I felt a little disoriented because my dream had so many different scenes. My eyes seemed to be spinning. I’m beginning to doubt whether this is the reality. I blinked my eyes as I lay there thinking.

‘Am I Mary now or Ha Sohee? Or… who else?’

I’ve never dreamed of the original story before, now that I think about it.

It was also the scene in which ‘Mary’ was exiled to Nicor. My body trembled uncontrollably because I could still feel the chill. ‘Mary’ resented Astina until the moment she left in the original.

Her father and brothers, who did not love her.

The three brothers were definitely not friendly toward me at first, but they were by this point. And if I give it some thought, I believe Grand Duke Estin had some kind of affection for me from the start.

I did cause a lot of trouble and I didn’t do anything well, but why wasn’t I ignored like the novel’s ‘Mary’? That said, I don’t want to be ignored.

‘Did the author feel bad for Mary when she wrote this?’

A villain who wasn’t well-liked. Was it necessary to play this role in order for the female lead to shine? The Conlers I encountered don’t live up to the book or the rumors about them. Or, at least in my presence, they are concealing that fact.

‘But why is my body so weak?….’

I blinked. The view was still blurred as if I was drunk. I could not stop thinking, even though it was annoying. I tightly shut my eyes. I finally felt a little at ease after such a prolonged period. Why am I lying in this position?

I visited the Imperial Palace today. I finally met Astina, became friends with Demimore, and read a romance fantasy novel written by Lausanne. Following that, I rode in a carriage and parted ways with Grand Duke Estin.

“You’re awake.”

Yes, I met the director.

“What are you doing?…”

I’m so sick of it. As soon as I woke up, I had to see his face again. Looking at his smug face made me feel irritated.

“Just kill me.”

My mind suddenly went blank just as I was about to stand up. It had to have been the effect of whatever they made me smell to put me to sleep. Nonetheless, I was more alert than when I first attempted to get up. Is it because I saw a face that irritates me?

“I want to kill you, too.”

“I told you to kill me”

“But they don’t want me to kill you.”

“What?”

The director giggled as if my stupid face was funny. I asked urgently.

“Who?”

“The one who entrusted you to me.”

“Who is he?”

The director was now smiling and staring at me without saying anything. But it wasn’t entirely fruitless. In other words, the person who kidnapped me when I was a baby left me with the director, and he’s doing it again now.

Why don’t you kill me?

Isn’t it better to kill me?

“Come with me, Mary.”

“Where?”

“Let’s go, Mary. Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.”

What an irrelevant answer. This person can be even more annoying than he already is. It didn’t appear that we could effectively communicate in the given circumstances. I didn’t feel as though he was looking at me while calling my name.

“I’ll be nice to you.”

“Don’t look this way.”

“Let’s go, Mary.”

“Your ugliness is contagious.”

The director suddenly bowed his head in response to my words. Are you hurt? No, I’m hurt by your face, too.

A moment of silence followed. I was staring at the director, who was looking down and calculating the best time to escape. Is it possible to escape by running and rolling around? Aiden and Lucas will be looking for me, so we might cross paths. Perhaps Grand Duke Estin has also arrived.

The director suddenly raised his head as I was deeply contemplating. His strange condition had gotten even stranger. His eyes were empty and his mouth was dripping with saliva.

“Let’s go, Mary.”

The director made a low murmur as he slowly drew nearer to me. I now realize that the director was not the one speaking to me. The moment the director walked up to me, I took another step back.

“Let’s go with me. Let’s go. Let’s go. Come with me. Come with me. Come on, Mary. Let’s go. Let’s go with me. Let’s go. Let’s go. Please. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go. Come with me. Let’s go. Huh? Let’s go. Let’s go. Mary, come with me.”