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Chapter 4
Good grief. This is miserable. I didn’t even get to meet a proper villain, and now I’ve been chased off by the gatekeeper.
It was pointless. And Arabelle was so pitiful it was almost painful to think about.
She had skills, but her body was so weak she couldn’t even use them.
There was probably going to be a lot more that needed changing than I had originally planned.
I hadn’t even done much, but the meager food had already made me hungry again.
To avoid wasting any more energy on useless things, I collapsed onto the floor of the punishment room.
Not long after, I could feel a chill spread across my entire body until my mouth practically went stiff.
There’s no need to waste energy. Cecilia will come looking for me soon enough.
Because I knew the latter part of the original story, I could wait calmly.
The next day, the red-haired maid who had splashed water on me, Eva, came to fetch me.
“Hey! Get out here now.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“What? What did you say?”
Eva looked at me like I’d lost my mind as I lay there quietly staring up at the ceiling.
“What are you even saying? You need to go out and accompany Miss Rosaline.”
“I’m not going. Staying here means I don’t have to work, which is great.”
“I’m telling you, you need to escort the young lady outside.”
“Do whatever you want. Tell them to bring another maid.”
I rolled over and faced the wall.
Eva kept shouting from outside the door, but I ignored her completely.
In the end, Marsha came in person and ordered the servants to drag me out.
I was taken out the exact same way I had been thrown in.
The servants let go of me inside the mansion, and I sprawled out on the floor.
Everyone around me gasped in shock at my behavior.
What are they so surprised about? I’m going to file complaints about everything that’s happened in this house so far.
At last, Cecilia appeared in front of me and said coldly,
“You’re exactly like your lowborn mother. Hurry up. Rosaline has to attend an imperial event.”
I rolled on the floor and turned myself around so I could look at Cecilia.
“Isn’t the truly lowborn thing here bullying and mistreating your own daughter just because she shares your blood?”
“Are you crazy?”
I grinned.
“No. I’ve finally come to my senses. Thinking about it, I was the one with the power all along, so I don’t know why I lived like that until now. Don’t you agree, Madam?”
Cecilia trembled with rage, gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.
No one in the Lewin household knew I possessed the power of water.
Only Duke Isco—my so-called father—along with Cecilia, Rosaline, and William, the loyal dog of the Lewin family and a knight, knew.
“Can you shut that mouth of yours at once? Why are you speaking so lightly?”
I sprang to my feet and approached Cecilia, meeting her eyes.
“Then should I speak heavily instead, Duchess?”
Cecilia looked at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, then ground her teeth.
“Get this thing into the carriage at once. By any means necessary.”
Without even glancing at me again, Cecilia left the room.
In the end, the servants lifted me by all four limbs and shoved me into the luggage compartment of the carriage like a stuffed sack.
Fine. This wasn’t going to be settled here anyway. Still, I think I’ve been carried around more than I’ve walked since coming here.
The trip to Evelyn’s Garden was part of my plan, so I didn’t forget to put on a dramatic show of resistance with all my strength.
A body without strength could resist all it wanted; it was useless. I probably just looked like a piece of paper flapping in the wind.
Acting takes stamina too, but Arabelle was too weak for any of that.
A body starved, deprived of rest, deprived of sleep, and constantly abused—wasn’t that one of the most fragile things in the world?
I need to build this body up fast. But what kind of exercise am I even supposed to do here?
While thinking ahead, the carriage set off for Evelyn’s Garden, where today’s event was being held.
I won’t even bother describing how agonizing the ride was while my emaciated body was jostled around in a luggage compartment with no cushion whatsoever.
There’s a lot I need to change. My schedule is going to be even harsher than in my previous life.
When I got out of the carriage’s luggage compartment, a colorful, fragrant world filled with blooming flowers came into view.
Evelyn’s Garden.
A place so shameless even its name was obnoxious, it was a huge private garden on the outskirts of the capital, created by the emperor for his beloved consort, Evelyn.
It was a beautiful garden where every flower in the empire had been brought and planted, complete with a glass greenhouse for temperature-sensitive flowers, a pond, a fountain, a gazebo, and even a lavish indoor space decorated in gold for holding parties.
I had read about it in the original novel, but seeing it in person felt completely different from reading the description.
When I had only read about it, I hadn’t realized it would be this enormous and extravagant.
Wow. Is this what it looks like when something’s so excessive it starts to seem vulgar? They really dumped money all over this place.
I couldn’t understand how the ruler of an empire could do something like this.
Honestly, everywhere you go, the problem is always people stuffing their own greed first.
Anyway, today was the official event where the emperor would grant the garden to Evelyn.
Not only high-ranking nobles of the empire, but also local nobles who had managed to get on Evelyn’s good side attended in order to be seen.
In other words, it was a greedy gathering where everyone with power—or everyone desperate to become the dog of power—had come together.
It was absurd, but my job here was to sprinkle water over the flowers planted in the garden during the ceremony, blessing them like rain.
Basically, I was a human sprinkler.
The goddess probably hadn’t given water powers for this kind of thing, but the emperor, who was completely smitten with Evelyn, was perfectly capable of such madness.
As I looked at the luxurious garden with mixed feelings rather than admiration, Cecilia approached me.
“You will stand near the tree behind the pond. Follow Sir William.”
At last, the moment I’d been waiting for.
I looked at Cecilia and smiled brightly.
“That’s going to be difficult. That’s why I wanted to talk at home. From now on, you should listen when other people speak, Madam.”
Cecilia glared at me sharply.
“Do you know where you are, acting so insolent?”
I casually looked around.
“Where I am is the place where carriages are parked. And insolent? Please refrain from using such rude language in front of me in the future.”
I looked at Cecilia and continued speaking in a gentle tone that was anything but gentle.
“If you’re uncomfortable, I can go back into the carriage. I’m generous enough to allow that much. As you know, I’m kind.”
The knights and servants around us were so shocked they could hardly close their mouths.
Even now, Cecilia remained calm, merely glaring at me.
As expected, dealing with someone with real composure was exhausting.
The fun part was poking people until they snapped.
For example, Rosaline.
But I didn’t back down and said flatly,
“If you don’t like it, then forget it. I’m not the one who’ll be losing out.”
“Have you gone mad because you want to die? Or because you want your filthy mother to die?”
“How shocking. The supposedly merciful and elegant duchess is threatening me like a common thug. I’m terrified.”
I leaned close to her ear and whispered,
“How can you use your power properly when you’re terrified? Isn’t that right, Madam?”
I stepped away from Cecilia and slowly lifted the corners of my mouth.
“Would you like to ruin today’s event and humiliate yourself in front of everyone? I can reveal the power of wat—”
“Enough! Get in the carriage.”
At Cecilia’s glance, the coachman quickly opened the door.
I got into the carriage first and, before Cecilia could block me, took the seat of honor.
Then I looked at her, standing there in disbelief, and smiled brightly like I was teasing her.
“Don’t stand there. Come sit down. It looks like this conversation is going to be a long one.”
Cecilia gritted her teeth and sat down.
For a woman who had spent her entire life controlling her emotions as the daughter of a count and as a duchess, this was a face I rarely got to see.
It was very satisfying.
“Are you trying to bargain with me?”
“Bargain?”
I wiped the smile from my face and added coldly,
“It’s a threat.”
At those words, I didn’t miss the slight shake in Cecilia’s eyes.
“Fine, Arabelle. Let’s hear what you have to say. What is it that you want?”
“It feels like I shouldn’t have to make something this obvious into a condition, but what can I do? This is all your doing, after all.”
I tried to look calm, but the flames in Cecilia’s eyes were impossible to hide.
“From today on, I’ll live as the daughter of the Lewin Ducal House. Like Rosaline.”
Cecilia’s brows shot upward.
“How dare a bastard child like you demand the same treatment as Rosaline?”
“Isn’t it unfair for Rosaline to receive the treatment of a duke’s daughter when she doesn’t even possess the water power that someone like me—a bastard child—does?”
I lifted the corners of my mouth and looked at her with a relaxed expression.
“Don’t you think so, Madam?”
