Chapter 27

Viscount Liden had no right to complain—this situation was entirely of his own making.

He had worked tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare Bunny for her debut into high society, yet he never could have anticipated that his own efforts would come back to slap him in the face like this.

“There are limits to frugality! My Lady, you are not a maid—how could you appear wearing clothing with holes in it?!”

“Hmm, but that’s just what I wear every day. It was the cleanest one I had…”

Doha fidgeted with her fingers, her gaze darting around like a child unsure of what she had done wrong.

“I didn’t order any new dresses, and the ones Ophelia used to wear are too small now. If I just wear something on my own, I might get scolded again…”

“No… Never mind.”

Viscount Liden exhaled a loud sigh and ran a hand down his face in exasperation.

Then, after rummaging through his coat, he pulled out a small glass vial filled with neatly packed pills.

“Take this.”

He held out one of the round tablets.

“…What is it?”

“A drug that temporarily enhances memory. I went to great lengths to procure this just for you, My Lady.”

That was suspicious.

No matter how naïve Bunny might appear, she wasn’t foolish enough to thoughtlessly swallow a pill given to her by someone else.

Doha met his gaze.

His unusually small pupils clung to the upper rim of his eyelids, gleaming with a venomous glint as they flickered unsettlingly.

Yet, instead of reacting with doubt, she smiled.

‘So, you wouldn’t leave any physical evidence, but you’re willing to go this far…’

This only confirmed just how enraged Fluvia had been by Doha’s actions—and how devastating the fallout had been for Liden himself.

If he was resorting to something like this…

“Wow, really?”

She tossed the pill into her mouth. Then, skillfully tucking it under her tongue, she made a show of swallowing, her throat bobbing for effect.

“Am I going to become a genius now?”

“Haha, let’s see just how well it works.”

As soon as Viscount Liden turned his attention away during the lesson, Doha discreetly spat the pill into her sleeve.

‘Guess I should act the part.’

Since she had taken the drug, she would have to display some kind of reaction.

But without knowing its exact effects, it was risky to overdo it.

Silence was the best tactic for now.

Doha kept her mouth shut and simply waited—waited for Liden to reveal his true nature on his own.

His lesson was half-hearted at best, his eyes constantly flicking to the clock.

Then, after enough time had passed, his usual oily grin vanished without a trace.

“I never told you such things, My Lady.”

…Huh?

The sheer absurdity of the statement nearly made Doha break character, but she simply blinked slowly, as if dazed by the effects of the pill.

“Really?”

“Yes. I never once told you to dress modestly, nor did I ever say that those of lower status must greet others first.”

“Oh, I see.”

“That’s right. As always, I have been nothing but your diligent instructor. I have only taught you the proper ways of a noble. If you acted improperly, it was because you are inattentive and foolish.”

Well. That was an impressively creative pile of nonsense.

He proceeded to repeat variations of the same lie in at least ten different ways, as if hoping sheer repetition would make it true.

But by now, Doha had a good grasp of what kind of drug she had been given.

‘A substance that impairs judgment.’

Exactly the kind of thing someone like Liden would use in a situation like this.

“You’re right, Viscount. It must be my fault. I’m just so scatterbrained and stupid that I misunderstood everything.”

Only after hearing those words did Liden finally seem to relax, exhaling in relief.

“Tsk, should have done this from the start. Wasting time running in circles only made things harder for myself.”

Muttering to himself with a self-satisfied smirk, he finally dropped the mask entirely and looked Doha dead in the eye.

“Let’s make this clear. If Lord Angelus ever questions you, you will tell him that you simply failed to remember your lessons.”

The following day, and the day after that, Viscount Liden handed Doha the same pill.

And day after day, the stolen pills piled up neatly in her jewelry box.

* * *

“Brother! Look forward to your birthday present!”

Gasp!

It felt like something was choking him, cutting off his air supply. His eyes snapped open.

“Cough, cough…!”

Angelus bolted upright, clutching his throat as a harsh coughing fit wracked his body. It took a moment for his breath to steady and the coughs to subside.

Regaining his composure was easy. He was used to this.

‘This is… my office.’

The same scenery he saw every day.

Letting out a deep sigh, Angelus ran a hand through his disheveled bangs, smoothing them back into place.

‘That dream again.’

Ever since that day, he had been plagued by nightmares every time he fell asleep.

The hours he spent sleeping grew shorter, while the nights he spent awake grew longer.

He could no longer tell whether his lack of sleep was causing the nightmares or if the nightmares were keeping him from sleeping.

‘An incurable disease, it seems.’

He let out a short, mirthless chuckle and reopened the documents he had been reviewing before dozing off.

Angelus was a middle manager.

His primary duties involved attending meetings on behalf of the Grand Duke and reviewing the reports that were passed along to him by the administrator before they reached the Grand Duke himself.

It wasn’t as though his workload was so overwhelming that he had to sacrifice sleep to keep up. He was still in the process of learning from the administrator, after all.

But in an effort to drown out his thoughts, he had taken on more and more tasks—until he reached a point where stopping was no longer an option.

“……”

Yet, today, for some reason, it was especially difficult to concentrate.

Was it because he had stayed up all night again? Or because of that dream?

Glaring at the documents as though they were his sworn enemies, Angelus leaned back into his chair and pressed his fingers against his eyelids.

Just as he straightened his posture and picked up his pen once more—

“Lord Angelus.”

A hurried knock sounded at the door, followed by the rapid approach of his aide.

“What is it?”

“There’s something you need to be informed of.”

The aide reported every detail of what had transpired in the greenhouse a few days prior.

In summary, Bunny had barged into a gathering of noblewomen and thoroughly exposed her ignorance to all present.

“The ladies of the Lily Society witnessed every bit of the young lady’s… let’s say, raw mannerisms.”

“……”

In other words, it was exactly the kind of reckless stunt Bunny would pull. It was so characteristic of her that he found it hard to believe.

“That can’t be right…”

Angelus flinched as soon as the words left his mouth.

Not ‘I expected this,’ but ‘That can’t be right’?

‘No… I can’t deny the truth.’

He had to admit it. He had seen for himself that Bunny was no longer the same as before.

Ever since moving into the main palace, Bunny had changed.

Her gaze had grown calmer, her posture straighter. She never crossed the line but always conveyed her thoughts clearly.

‘She seemed to remember everything Viscount Liden had taught her.’

Her behavior had been impeccable. Even when she moved freely, every action carried a subtle grace.

It was the kind of refinement that could only come from proper education in noble etiquette.

It was no illusion.

He had reinstated Liden as her instructor precisely because Bunny had seemed to have learned.

After a long pause, Angelus asked,

“Could she have been falsely accused?”

“Well…”

The aide hesitated, as if weighing the possibility. But soon, he shook his head.

“There were too many witnesses.”

“Then why am I only hearing about this now? The gathering was over a week ago, wasn’t it?”

“The Grand Duchess deliberately kept it quiet, both internally and externally. It was an incident that could tarnish the Kredel name… and could bring harm to the young lady as well.”

Angelus pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“From now on, I’ll behave. I’ll play the role of Lady Ophelia’s substitute perfectly. I’ll never bring disgrace to the Kredel name.”

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’ll take care of everything myself.”

This was the result of trusting her words.

He had believed she had come to her senses.

He had accepted that she was now a member of the Kredel family and decided not to hold the past against her.

And yet, he had been utterly deceived by that same Bunny.

“I was so sure…”

He ran a hand through his hair, undoing all the effort he had put into neatening it.

Then, he reached for the bottle of headache medicine he kept nearby and downed its contents in one go.

As he carelessly tossed the empty bottle aside, he muttered under his breath.

“…I told her. If she so much as put the slightest stain on Ophelia’s reputation… I’d throw her in the tower.”

A dark shadow loomed over his already sunken eyes, a chilling glint flickering within them.

It wasn’t entirely of his own will. It was something far more unsettling.