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chapter 06
“Doesn’t matter.”
Ivnia’s voice came out sharp, trembling with suppressed anger.
She could feel heat rising to her face.
Her hands, resting on her thighs, clenched tightly—but she couldn’t bring herself to swing them at anyone.
Instead, Ivnia turned her attack toward a much easier target: herself.
“Why would it matter? You said I’m not needed anyway, and that you’re looking for my sister. A bride who came to the wrong place… it wouldn’t matter even if she died somewhere, would it?”
She felt embarrassed—like an uninvited guest who had stumbled into a party she was never meant to attend.
Why did I ever believe my death meant something special?
Was there anyone else as unnecessary as I was?
“Honestly, it’s annoying. Stop being so picky and just eat anyone you want. It would’ve been better if you really were a monster…”
If that were the case, she wouldn’t be having these miserable thoughts.
She wouldn’t be comparing herself to her sister and suffering like this.
She could have died while still denying the truth—that she meant nothing to anyone.
“If you never planned to eat anyone anyway, then why did my parents tell me to die? Why did I have to hear that from the very people who were supposed to be my parents? If none of this was even necessary, then why…!”
Ivnia bit her trembling lip hard, trying to hold back the surge of tears.
She wished this was all just a dream.
If she had never had anything to begin with, she wouldn’t have had to feel the pain of losing everything.
In truth, her family had once been warm.
Until her sister died—or rather, until she faked her death and disappeared—Ivnia had never once doubted that they were a real family.
Her gentle parents raised their daughters with care, and her sister, two years older, never found her little sibling bothersome, always taking her along to play.
Back then, Emilia had been everything to Ivnia.
When they raced together up the hill near their home, they felt like childhood friends. When her sister picked up fallen leaves and explained, “This is a plane tree leaf,” she felt like a kind teacher.
Sometimes she was like a mother, taking care of her. Sometimes she was annoyingly mischievous, like an enemy.
To Ivnia, her sister’s meaning constantly changed—but one truth never did:
Ivnia loved her deeply.
She had been so dazzling that even the substitute meant to be sold in her place ended up helplessly falling in love with her.
After that light left its rightful place, those left behind began wandering through an endless night as if it were inevitable.
The count and his wife no longer cared for the household, and the once-lively mansion grew cold and silent.
Left alone in their neglect, Ivnia desperately tried to cling to the happiness that had slipped away like a mirage.
Whenever she stood before her family, she imitated her once-cheerful sister to lift the mood.
She learned to cook her parents’ favorite dishes because they often skipped meals.
She put aside storybooks and playing with dolls and focused on studying. She learned embroidery—the “virtue of a lady,” as her mother often emphasized.
Sometimes she even went down to the riverbank where her sister had disappeared, searching for a miracle that might not exist.
Staring endlessly at the still water, Ivnia repeatedly made a vow:
She would not make her parents sad like her sister had.
She would not let them lose her as well.
If they had already lost their first daughter and fallen into despair, losing their second to a monster would destroy them completely.
So maybe—if she pleased the monster, if she proved she had some use beyond being eaten, if she somehow survived—then one day she might return to her family’s arms.
“…I’m sorry. If I had explained properly in advance, none of this would’ve happened.”
The man who had been silently watching her for a long time spoke in a low, apologetic voice.
Ivnia slowly shook her head.
He didn’t need to apologize.
The ones who had deceived him and orchestrated all of this were her parents.
No—those who pretended to be her parents.
In a sense, he too was a victim, robbed of a reunion with the wife he loved.
In a cracked, exhausted voice, Ivnia finally managed to speak.
“…I’m sorry for taking my anger out on you.”
“You’re a good kid.”
“I’m not a kid.”
“No, you totally are.”
“My sister would’ve been about my age too.”
“I’m a thief.”
He withdrew the hand he had offered her and pulled out a handkerchief from his coat, wrapping a piece of candy in it.
Then he placed it firmly into Ivnia’s hand.
“Listen. Even when you’re very sad and it feels unbearable, there will come a day when you think you can overcome it. But to reach a better tomorrow, you need a good today. Whether it’s people or things, the more you fill your surroundings with what you love, the easier it becomes to start over. That’s why I can’t just let you wander off anywhere.”
To Ivnia, it was not something she could easily agree with.
A day when she would overcome this grief?
That this man—someone she had just met, not her parents, not her sister—would help her reach such a day?
“…If I still don’t want to write that future plan you mentioned?”
She lifted her heavy gaze from the floor and looked up at him.
Their eyes met immediately.
Perhaps because she had spent so long living as a substitute for her sister, forgetting herself in the process, she was slightly startled by how attentively this man was listening to her.
He laughed faintly at her childish question, then narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Then I’ll just eat you for real.”
“Hello, Lady Ivnia! From today on, I’ll be your maid. My name is Hanna. I look forward to working with you!”
The loud greeting made Ivnia stiffen the moment she opened the door.
After finishing her conversation with Agram and returning to her room, she found a dedicated maid who hadn’t been there before, as if she had sprung up from the ground.
Is she the one maid they said was hired specifically for the bride?
Ivnia had doubted whether someone like that would truly be normal—but contrary to her expectations, the girl looked surprisingly ordinary.
Her straw-colored hair was neatly tied back, and her youthful face was free of makeup.
At least by appearance, she didn’t seem as strange or inhuman as Guillermo or Agram.
Reassured, Ivnia stepped inside.
“You must’ve been uncomfortable without being able to change your clothes while I was gone. I’m sorry. It was my day off, so I went down to the village.”
Hanna bowed repeatedly with an apologetic expression.
Flustered, Ivnia waved her hands to stop her.
“No, I should be the one apologizing for making you come back in a hurry. The reason I didn’t change isn’t because no one helped me—it’s because I didn’t bring any belongings with me. Don’t worry about it.”
“Eh? Did you get robbed on the way here?”
It seemed the people of this castle had no idea at all how this marriage had been arranged or perceived outside.
Ivnia only gave an awkward smile instead of explaining her complicated situation.
Hanna misread her reaction and suddenly clenched her fist with determination.
“Don’t worry! We already prepared clothes for you, my lady!”
“Prepared clothes?”
“Yes! Please come this way and choose for yourself.”
Nodding enthusiastically, Hanna guided Ivnia into a room connected to the bedroom.
Ivnia had thought she had been placed in any random empty room—but apparently not.
Inside the dressing room, which was larger than most reception halls, were hundreds of dresses lined up neatly.
As if they had been prepared with extraordinary care for a bride they had long been expecting.
