Chapter 3
And upon analyzing them, I found that three things were necessary to obsess over male leads.
Money, power, authority.
If these three were not met, before showing proper obsession, the bad-tempered male leads could deal with them.
Then, what about the Ariadne Veloa I possessed?
Money. The Veloa Duchy is the wealthiest among the four major duchies, owning large farms and major mines.
Power. In this country, special abilities are inherited in the four major duchies.
In the north’s Calisto Duchy, there is the ability of fire.
In the west’s Douglas Duchy, there is the ability of wind.
In the east’s Shenan Duchy, there is the ability of water.
And in the south’s Veloa Duchy, there is the ability of earth.
So, those who inherited strong bloodlines could use the special abilities passed down from their families. They were called the chosen ones and welcomed anywhere.
Ariadne Veloa was on the chosen side. And she could use quite a powerful earth ability.
“Of course, compared to male lead characters, she’s somewhat weak….”
Anyway, objectively, Ariadne is strong. For now, that was enough.
Finally, authority. Ariadne is a noblewoman of the Veloa Duchy. What more needs to be said?
“All right. Perfect. Now all the preparations are complete.”
I came out of my room with a refreshed feeling. I wanted to have a delicious dinner at the Veloa Mansion after a long time.
As always, there was a face in the dining room that I didn’t welcome at all.
“Ugh, how annoying… Who called Ariadne?”
Lawrence grumbled, slamming the knife onto the table.
I greeted Julieta, who was sitting opposite Lawrence, with a nod.
Julieta, Ariadne’s confidante and a friend from the Veloura Duchy, was living with us.
Fortunately, it was a year before the original story began, so Ariadne and Julieta’s relationship wasn’t that bad.
“Hello, Julieta. Good evening.”
“Oh, Ariah! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Julieta smiled brightly at me.
She hadn’t even touched her utensils, as if she had indeed been waiting for me.
“Huh? You didn’t have to wait for me… You could’ve started eating first.”
Julieta shook her head at my words.
“No, eating together tastes better…”
Julieta was always like this. She always waited for Ariadne in the dining room to have meals together.
And the original Ariadne, since Julieta’s debutante, had always avoided dining with her in the room because she couldn’t stand her.
Maybe she hated Julieta so much that she didn’t even want to eat with her. I sighed quietly and sat next to Julieta.
Then Lawrence, as if he had been waiting, picked a fight with me.
“Hey, you, just look at your attitude! Are you going to fill your stomach without even greeting your elder brother? It must be because you’re from a commoner background, there’s no trace of manners in you even if you look for them with your eyes closed.”
“…”
“Even though she’s from a commoner background, Julieta is so polite and kind. Sigh. How nice would it have been if Julietta were my younger sister!”
In fact, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the original Ariadne had been twisted because of Lawrence.
Ariadne had never received proper love from her family.
A father who was indifferent to his children. A mother who passed away when Ariadne was five years old.
Ariadne had step-siblings from her mother’s previous marriage. Especially Lawrence, her step-brother, truly hated Ariadne.
Of course, a sibling born from a commoner stepmother wouldn’t look pretty. But that was just a superficial reason, and Lawrence had a real reason for hating Ariadne.
“It’s because Ariadne was born with the power of the land.”
Children born with the power of the land have blonde hair and green eyes. Ariadne was the chosen one with blonde hair and green eyes, and Lawrence wasn’t.
Lawrence could never bring himself to admit this fact.
He felt extremely uncomfortable that a child from a commoner background possessed abilities beyond his own.
So, he constantly tormented Ariadne whenever he had the chance. He incessantly compared her to Juliette, Ariadne’s close friend, and belittled Ariadne in the process.
Ariadne, who suffered from severe lack of affection, began to resent Julieta, who received her brother’s love. And when she discovered that Julieta, whom she only considered a friend, had managed to captivate even the Duke of the North and the High Priest, and had even stolen her fiancé’s love, jealousy drove her to madness.
“But that’s Ariadne’s problem, not mine.”
The original Ariadne would have been frantic to please Lawrence in this situation…
Why should I bother with that trash?
I raised the cup and poured it on Lawrence’s face, looking at him defiantly.
Huh. I’ve wanted to do this since the last chapter, but now’s the time.
I have a lot of pent-up anger towards you, Lawrence Veloa.
Splash—
Lawrence, now a mess, jumped up from his seat.
“Hey! Are you insane? What the hell are you doing?”
As expected, Lawrence’s first reaction was to get worked up.
I chuckled and casually crossed my arms.
“I guess it’s because I’m from a commoner background and lack manners. My noble brother should understand.”
“What? Have you finished talking? And dare you speak informally to your older brother?”
“Why not? What’s the big deal? Anyway, the age difference between you and me isn’t that big.”
“…What? …You? Did you just call yourself ‘me’ to me?”
Everyone in the room looked at me with eyes of disbelief.
Right. They probably won’t believe it. Surely, just yesterday, Ariadne would have been swayed by Lawrence’s words.
“But I have no intention of doing that.”
I sneered at Lawrence. It was a mocking laugh full of clear contempt.
Then Lawrence, his forehead creased, shouted at me.
“Hey, Ariadne! What kind of attitude is this towards your older brother? Aren’t you going to apologize quickly?”
“….”
“What? You’re not going to apologize? You’re as ignorant and stupid as your dirty commoner mother!”
“….”
As expected, Lawrence immediately latched onto Ariadne’s mother.
“Well, it was kind of expected. The fact that her mother was commoner was the thing Ariadne disliked and wanted to hide the most.”
“But really, what’s the big deal?”
But it didn’t bother me at all. What does social status matter, anyway?
I smiled at Lawrence.
“Well, you don’t even know your manners?”
“What… what do you mean?”
“You called her a commoner. You should speak properly.”
For a moment, Lawrence looked shocked at me.
Even though her mother’s background was mentioned, I didn’t flinch, which seemed to confuse him.
“Yeah. Your attack doesn’t work on me.”
I stood up confidently. Then I glared coldly at Lawrence and said,
“Lawrence, it’s true that our mother is from a commoner background. But just because of that, doesn’t mean she’s a commoner.”
“What?”
“Mother was granted the title of Viscountess by His Imperial Majesty as a 6th class magician. So, when you call her like that, it’s like disrespecting His Imperial Majesty’s favor, isn’t it?”
“Hey, you, what’s that supposed to mean…”
“It’s not like that. Speak properly. I don’t want to see my brother being dragged away on charges of treason…”
When I visited him in prison, the once proud Lawrence couldn’t bear it anymore.
I pretended to wipe away tears with a handkerchief as I sat back down.
I could feel Lawrence glaring at me with anger, but I didn’t care at all.
“Oh, damn… Ariadne, just wait and see.”
In the end, unable to contain his anger, Lawrence left the dining room first. Thanks to that, I could have a pleasant mealtime with Julieta.
Ah, having a meal with just Julieta was so peaceful and nice.
Listening to Julieta’s chattering, I took a bite-sized piece of steak into my mouth.
As I chewed, the juice burst out, and the meat melted in my mouth. It was so tender that it felt like eating sherbet.
Hmm. It’s so delicious. Home-cooked meals are the best, after all.
I involuntarily drew a smile on my lips. But as soon as I heard Julieta’s next words, my heart sank.
“Oh, by the way, Ari, Douglas Youngsik sent you a bouquet.”
“Huh? A bouquet?”
Oh, this is ominous.
Jeffrey might be Ariadne’s fiancé, but he really disliked Ariadne, who was greedy and selfish.
But Jeffrey sending a bouquet to Ariadne? There’s no way that could happen…
“Yeah. But it seems like the delivery got mixed up. Didn’t your bouquet come to my bedroom?”
“Haha. Is that so?”
“It seems like the delivery person made a mistake. I’ll bring it to your room tonight.”
“Uh-huh. Thank you.”
Julieta seemed to think it was a mistake, but it wasn’t. Jeffrey’s intention was to send the bouquet to Julieta, to express his interest in the heroine.
