VGHA Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sitting in front of the vanity, Erina lightly tapped her fingers on her lap, enjoying the soft sensation of the brush gliding through her hair.

She couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Lenny nervously fidgeting behind her, reflected in the mirror.

“Do you want to go?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if you want to go to her.”

“Madam, I don’t understand what you mean…”

“Why not? She’s the woman monopolizing the Count’s love. Surely she’ll soon become the real power in this house.”

“Madam…”

The faint glimmer of pity in Lenny’s eyes was utterly ridiculous.

It had been just one day since Faylon and Rose’s disgusting appearance, and the drastic change in the once-docile Madam.

To the dozens of servants who had witnessed it, yesterday’s events must have felt like the world flipping upside down.

In a monogamous society like theirs, there was no precedent for people as brazen as those two, openly flaunting their affair and even moving the mistress into the mansion.

The reason Faylon and Rose’s shameless love affair had gone unchallenged in the original story was the absurdly convenient timing that seemed to cover up all their filth.

In the original, nothing ever exposed their relationship to others before Rose acquired the magic stone mine that justified their affair.

The family’s mansion, a fortress surrounded by thick walls, was like a self-contained castle. Unless all the servants banded together to spill secrets, the family’s internal affairs rarely leaked to outsiders.

This was why, in the original, Rose suddenly moving into the mansion didn’t become a topic of gossip.

All the servants, sharp and perceptive as they were, had subtly disrespected Erina Eols, the lady of the house who never once caught the Count’s favor.

Then Faylon brought in the sweet and gentle Rose, claiming her as the love of his life.

The servants, as if it were natural, spread stories of Erina Eols’s supposed wickedness while covering up Rose Asila’s flaws.

“Go on.”

“Madam.”

“Hurry, or you won’t have a place there.”

“I… I’m not going.”

“Why not?”

When Erina asked, Lenny hesitated, stopping mid-brush, and stumbled over her words.

“You must’ve been ordered to keep an eye on me until the end.”

Erina smiled faintly, her golden eyes gleaming coldly through the mirror, making Lenny involuntarily suck in her breath.

“It’s not that…!”

“You don’t have to feel guilty. I already knew.”

“Madam!”

“So, would you leave now?”

The frigid look Erina gave Lenny, as she continued brushing her own hair after snatching the brush away, was unbearable.

Eventually, Lenny fled the room.

She had no use for shallow pity.

From the moment she encountered them yesterday and heard their disgusting nonsense directed at her, Erina had vowed to herself:

She would take everything from them. She would destroy it all.

Just as they had thrown her into the mud and never once looked back, she would do the same.

Even the smallest connections to those associated with him were a luxury she could no longer afford.

After finishing her brushing, Erina stared at her reflection in the mirror for a moment before standing to prepare herself.

While they indulged in their happiness within the mansion, she had to complete her preparations in secret.

Having dismissed Lenny, the only one who remained by her side, Erina packed her handbag and parasol and stepped out of her room.

The knight who had been stationed outside her door under the pretense of escorting her was nowhere to be seen.

He must’ve been sent to his delicate little lover, unable to wait even a day.

Wearing a light navy-blue dress and a matching floppy hat, Erina walked out of the mansion for what seemed like an ordinary outing.

The usually bustling entrance, noisy even when Revil or that woman was brought in, was eerily quiet.

The silence was so strange it felt as if the events of the past few days had been nothing but a dream.

Closing her eyes, Erina slowly continued walking, savoring the calm.

Fearing that her resolve might weaken or even the slightest shred of pity might arise, Erina steeled her heart.

The weather, just as bright and clear as the day before, greeted her warmly.

At the end of the straight path, she could see a carriage waiting beyond the mansion gates, so she quickened her steps.

It was then that a conversation reached her ears from not far away.

“Is it because he’s an orphan? Really, tsk tsk.”

“Mother, please don’t say that. The child will improve once he learns. Right?”

The sharp, piercing voice followed by one as soft as feathers was unmistakable—it was Mireya and Rose.

It seemed the voices were coming from the garden.

The garden wasn’t far from the mansion, and if one spoke a little louder, the voices could easily be heard inside.

This was why Erina couldn’t help but know that whenever Mireya hosted gatherings at the Eols mansion, she would gossip about her daughter-in-law.

When the windows scattered throughout the glass-walled corridor were open, the conversations from the garden would echo clearly along the halls as one walked.

Even when Erina wanted to avoid hearing her mother-in-law criticize her to her acquaintances, she couldn’t.

Erina despised this garden to the core.

Crash!

“Oh my!”

“Good heavens! Do you even know how much this cup costs, you wretched orphan?”

Erina had intended to leave the garden immediately, wanting no part in the ridiculous spectacle unfolding.

Ignoring it and moving on would have been easier, but the image of the child, drenched in rain and trembling with his head hung low, resurfaced in her mind.

That child, whose existence was barely acknowledged even in the original story, kept tugging at her thoughts, feeling strangely similar to herself.

Her memories of a childhood spent longing for someone to rescue her from this place were painfully vivid.

Though she had resolved not to care about anything connected to the Eols family just moments ago, Erina found herself unable to move her feet.

She closed her eyes, bit her lip, and tried to ignore it, but it was impossible to just walk away.

“…Hah.”

A heart unwilling to live in regret any longer pushed her steps toward the garden.

The garden, much like Mireya herself—oblivious to how she appeared to others and proud of her ostentatious wealth—was a mismatched sight even from its entrance.

It wasn’t beautiful; it was simply filled with trendy or rare flowers, making the colors and sizes clash awkwardly.

Passing through the laughably short flower path, she arrived at the source of the voices.

The scene was exactly as she had expected, down to the last detail.

Revil, pale-faced and trembling on the ground; her mother-in-law Mireya, seething with anger; and Rose, wearing a troubled expression but making no effort to intervene.

Of course. People don’t change.

“Revil.”

At the sudden voice, Mireya and Rose turned in surprise to see Erina.

Revil, who had been trembling, cautiously lifted his head as well.

“Madam…”

Rose, who immediately put on a somber expression and began to rise, made Erina feel nothing but derision. It was almost impressive how predictable she was.

“Erina!”

Mireya, as always, raised her voice in a sharp, irritated tone, but unlike before, Erina did not respond politely.

“Revil, get up.”

“How dare you ignore your mother-in-law when she calls you?”

Erina’s gaze, which had been fixed on Revil, slowly turned to Mireya.

The icy stare she directed at her mother-in-law made her flinch, and in her shock, she shouted even louder.

“I hear rumors that you’ve lost your mind since yesterday, and it seems to be true!”

“Pardon me, Lady Mireya,” Erina said.

“What, what did you just say?”

“Is there any daughter-in-law in existence who would respect a mother-in-law who warmly welcomes her son’s mistress into the family mansion and affectionately calls her a new bride?”

Though her lips carried a bright smile, Erina’s cold, cutting gaze made Mireya falter.

“H-How dare you! It’s because of your attitude that my son—”

“Revil, get up. I told you to prepare for our outing, but you didn’t come, so I’ve been looking for you for some time now.”

Completely ignoring Mireya’s outburst, Erina spoke calmly to Revil.

Mireya, enraged by her blatant disregard, practically screamed.

“Erina!”

But Erina remained unfazed, her focus solely on Revil as she waited for him to rise.

Startled by Mireya’s loud shout, Revil, trembling, slowly lifted his head again.

His scarlet eyes, moist with emotion, met Erina’s golden ones, sparkling in the sunlight.

His gaze wavered.

Erina couldn’t tell what the little, innocent child felt as he looked at her.

Yet, from the fragments of emotions that were too complex to understand, she felt her heart tighten.

It was as if the child had just provided a reason for her to escape this place, but strangely, it felt as if he had reached out to her past self, the Erina of her childhood.

“Dare to mock your mother-in-law like this!?”

Erina, still quietly observing Revil, didn’t see Mireya quickly approach and roughly grab his shoulder, turning him around.

Before Erina could react, she felt a sharp slap from Mireya’s hand, adorned with a thick ring.

Slap!

The fluffy hat that had been neatly perched on her head fell to the ground, and Erina’s head jerked violently to the side.

The force of the strike was so strong that her cheek burned, and soon it began to feel like a stinging pain.

For a moment, her head spun.

Erina, who had endured criticism and disregard to the point of feeling like her dignity had been crushed during her marriage, had never been slapped like this before.

Even her uncle and aunt, in their attempt to fully claim the Medelia family, had never laid a hand on her.

Anger surged, and it felt like she might lose control, but oddly, Erina felt her mind growing eerily calm.

She carefully touched her stinging cheek and called out to Mireya in a low voice.

“Mother.”

“Maybe a good slap will bring you to your senses. You should’ve been this way from the start.”

Mireya’s haughty words, accompanied by her snorting, made those around them gasp.

The Count, the head of the Eols family, openly brought in a mistress, while the so-called lady of the house—Mireya—had the audacity to raise her hand.

If there were any other nobles present or even the unfaithful servants of the Count’s household, this scandal could have shattered high society.

“I never imagined I’d be the one to say this.”

Erina slammed the long parasol she was holding onto the ground with a loud ’thud’.

The sound of the parasol breaking seemed to echo her internal turmoil as it cracked under the impact.

“Don’t make decisions you’ll regret.”

Her plans, her desires, everything seemed to fall away in that moment. She only wanted to destroy it all.