Chapter 61
Cassis stood there, not moving.
When the people who saw his back were silent, the huge hall became silent.
At that time, it was difficult to even breathe.
“Duke Cassis. Even if she’s a direct descendant, mistakes can be made. The twin princes succeeded Magi anyway, so don’t be hurt.”
Duke Bell was smirking.
He seemed very satisfied with the situation in which the great Vallois was publicly humiliated.
It was then.
Even belatedly, Cassis covered my ears.
But I had already heard it.
Manage my expression.
Manage my expression.
I was muttering all sorts of things inside, but my eyes met with Dad’s.
It was a face telling me that I tried my best.
“…”
However, his chin, which had been silent, was getting more and more fierce, as if he had seen rabbit eyes that I couldn’t hide.
“Billie.”
“…Yes?”
“Go and play in the garden. Daddy will visit you later.”
He said in a slow tone, perhaps holding back his anger, and put me down on the floor.
I had to listen to him unconditionally.
Nodding steadily, I ran out of the castle and into the garden.
After a while.
Bella, who was hesitant, quietly left the castle, probably thinking that it wasn’t the place for her to join.
***
Cassis stared at the back of his daughter, who was running in a hurry.
And he turned his head around.
“!”
“!”
The vassals who noticed his bloody spirit closed their eyes or looked away.
It was true that Valois lost a lot in this incident.
But that didn’t mean that the vassals could beat the direct lineage.
“I must have heard it wrong, Duke Bell.”
Duke Bell flinched at the bloody bass, yet he cleared his throat and seized his body.
“Ahem, ahem! I’m comforting you, don’t listen crookedly.”
“On the subject.”
“The subject? Let’s be honest, Duke. You may have said that you’re delaying the release of Magi because she’s the daughter you care about, but honestly, you must be worried too, right?”
The corners of Duke Bell’s cunning lips went up.
“If that princess doesn’t have Magi, you’ll be worried about how to deal with it. It would be a fatal blow to Vallois.”
“For you, who has no Magi, whether or not you have Magi is important, but not me. Even if she doesn’t have Magi, Billishia is still a direct descendant of Vallois.”
“But really, if the Princess fails to release Magi because she doesn’t have any…”
“If the release of the Magi fails, it’s not a failure.”
Cassis moved on.
It was just a slow descent down the podium.
“!”
Some of the people of the collateral flinched at the sight of him pulling out a sword.
“If, as you say, she’s a failure because she has no Magi, then you’re saying that you’re also a failure.”
He marched directly in front of Duke Bell and answered quietly.
“Are you going to make all the vassal families here failures, Duke Bell?”
Duke Bell secretly broke into a cold sweat at the nape of his neck.
“No, why are you talking like that…”
Seen up close, Cassis was a handful taller than the average person.
Facing him right in front of him, Bell had to raise his head.
There was a frightening light in the purple eyes that looked down at him.
Black panther.
Duke Bell shuddered.
Only then did he realize why the family symbol exists.
Vallois’ eyes were uncontrollable predators themselves.
“…”
But everyone’s attention.
Duke Bell wanted to make a dent in Vallois that he had finally caught.
He wanted to prove he had the upper hand by somehow making that scratch.
In the end, he swallowed dry saliva and used his facial muscles.
At the end of his efforts, the Duke, who appeared to be smiling, opened his mouth.
“L-Look at you. Seeing that you talk a lot, Cassis, are you nervous right now?”
“I think you’re the one who’s anxious.”
“Me? It’s your family that lost Magi, so why me?”
Cassis looked down at the Duke’s performance with a relaxed gaze.
“Because you always rationalized that it was because you felt inferior to Vallois.”
“…What?”
“If a direct descendant of Vallois appears, isn’t that excuse useless now?”
“You. If you speak harshly just because you’re a direct descendant… ”
“It feels unfair to even talk to you because I’m a direct descendant.”
Cassis didn’t even smile.
“Then we can fight fairly.”
There was silence for a while.
“…!”
Duke Bell, who couldn’t avoid his gaze, couldn’t breathe as if he had been caught in a trap.
After a while, it was time for Duke Bell, who had finally regained his sanity, to step back from him.
Boomㅡ!
Suddenly, there was a rupture that shook the castle’s axis.
“What! W-What’s happening!”
“Where are the knights? Is that the sound coming from outside?”
‘What.’
Cassis, frowning at the sudden uproar, turned his head to the source of the sound.
Black smoke like needles was rising from the garden beyond the terrace that filled one wall of the hall.
It was a wildfire.
To be precise, it was where Billishia was.
***
30 minutes ago.
“…Princess. If you want to be alone, shall I just escort you to your bedroom?”
I was on my way out of the castle at Dad’s request.
Lisa was following me all the way to the garden, as if she was worried about me.
Shook, shookㅡ
I shook my head.
In fact, my heart was still beating at the ear-piercing criticism.
Half scary, to be exact.
And half of the hardships of putting up with my temper.
‘But it’s only at times like this that I have to listen to Dad.’
It was a public situation.
If I didn’t listen to my feelings, things could get more complicated.
I said with a smile.
“Dad told me to stay in the garden. That’s why being in the garden is right.”
“… B-But…”
“I’ll just eat cake in the garden. Could you prepare some tea and dessert?”
In this case, giving her something to do would be less of a burden on Lisa.
As expected, Lisa’s expression brightened.
“Ah, yes! I’ll be there in 10 seconds!”
She looked as if she was happy out of unhappiness that there was something she could do for me.
Lisa, who was breaking out in a cold sweat, walked away with a faint smile.
“…I should sit in the garden.”
I, who was left alone, stared at Lisa for a moment.
And right away I moved my steps toward the outdoor table and sat down in an adult chair.
I’m trying to sit the cat doll that I’ve been carrying around like that on the chair across from me.
“Billishia?”
A familiar voice was heard not far away.
Aah.
‘She was there.’
It was Bella.
“You’re here too? I also came out because the adults were talking.”
That lie.
She must have followed me after Cassis told me to go to the garden.
However, Bella had an innocent face, as if it was a coincidence.
Then she smiled and sat down on the chair across from me.
It seemed that she hadn’t forgotten that jingling rabbit doll today.
“I won’t take lose the rabbit doll this time. I’m a brave princess.”
Hmm.
She even believes that the situation she manipulated is the truth.
“…”
…Swishㅡ
I turned away from Bella with a thoughtless Tibetan fox expression.
When I think of our last meeting, I think I’m quite an idiot.
‘It’s better not to do it.’
At my silence, Bella played with her stuffed rabbit as if bewildered.
“You’re very upset.”
“…”
“Yes, that’s understandable. Since you’re a direct descendant, of course you would have thought you would have Magi…”
“…”
“Then what did His Grace do?”
“…”
“Are you really a direct descendant?”
“…”
“Are you not? If you perhaps aren’t a direct descendant… gasp. Then, shall I check with you? The two of us could have changed!”
It’s a constant spectacle.
‘What does she mean has changed? I’m really a direct descendant.’
Swishㅡ
This time, I even turned my torso to stare at the place where Lisa disappeared.
I tried my best to pretend nothing was wrong.
“Anyway, His Grace will be in big trouble. Honestly, you know too that you have a scary personality. You must have been loved because of your lineage, but if it turns out that you’re not…”
“Be quiet.”
Although I warned her, Bella smiled brightly.
“You’re a child who’s difficult to love.”
“!”
‘Is it like that without Magi?’
My eyes finally trembled at the words that followed.
Suddenly, the anxiety I had been ignoring came over me like a wave.
In fact, all of Bella’s words, which only hurt me, were true.
To be loved by Lisa.
To be loved by Dad.
To be friendly with my brothers, everything that allow me to do that.
‘It’s all because I tried to change it.’
But what if I turn into a nuisance again, like the villain’s daughter?
…Then what will happen?
Am I going to be despised again?
[You mean that a direct descendant can’t release Magi?]
Come to think of it, the vassals who liked me.
[…Shouldn’t the blood test be done again? If, by any chance, she wasn’t a direct descendant, but, as it turned out, she was a child of a vassal family…]
They criticized me right away because I couldn’t use Magi.
[If it’s a direct descendant, that Princess must be a failure.]
Jumpㅡ
“Billie?”
My heart was beating so painfully.
Run, runㅡ
“Billie! Why are you running away? You have to listen to me!”
If I stayed still, I felt like I would be beaten in the heart, so I ran somewhere.
Can I see Lisa’s disappointed expression on me?
Will I be able to endure Dad’s indifference again?
Yeah.
‘Because my goal is to survive in the first place.’
I tried to judge rationally, but as I ran, hot lumps formed around my eyes.
‘I can run away at 16. I won’t take away the money I’ve saved.’
Tears flowed down the cheeks and fell.
I didn’t care and kept running.
The place I go is the garden where Mom sleeps.
I felt like I should see Mom.
After all, the secret garden she was lying in was also a garden, so it wouldn’t matter.
That was the moment I was about to go down the stairs.
“Billisha, go with me!”
An unexpectedly strong grip pulled my shoulders, and my upper body swung to the right.
I finally exploded and tried to scream but hesitated.
I felt empty when my feet stretched behind.
A feeling of falling that tightened my heart.
‘…I don’t have a good feeling…’
“Kyaaak!”
“Aaakh!”
Losing our balance, we tumbled up and down the stairs.
“Ouch.”
My palms on the floor felt as if they had been burned.
Examining my body, my palms were covered with dark red scars, as if it was scribbled here and there.
My knee too.
My elbow too.
Even my pigtails were loose like puffy straw.
But Bella was just as messed up as I was.
“Ahhh!”
She cried even more bitterly when she saw her own blood on her lap.
I’m about to wake up to the groaning sound of Bella’s cries.
“What’s the matter!”
It was then.
A murmur was heard in the distance.
