🔊 TTS Settings
~Chapter 45~
“Did you hear the news?”
“Oh, about Camilla Mowin!”
“They say she was just an illegitimate child pretending to be a noble and tried to seduce the Grand Duke’s heir!”
“Yes, but the Grand Duke’s heir came to his senses when he saw Camilla’s beautiful younger sister and decided to marry Nina Mowin!”
“Wow! Nina must be very beautiful if he chose her over her sister.”
“And the baroness was banished, right?”
“Yes, but now the Mowin family will be related to the Grand Duke’s family anyway!”
Clack.
The sound of a fan snapping shut echoed loudly.
“You’re all quite chatty.”
The noble ladies flinched at the firm voice.
“M-miss Eugenia, we were just—”
Eugenia’s cold eyes flashed.
“If you think the honor of the Escalus family is something to gossip about, you must be taking the Grand Duke’s house too lightly.”
“W-we misspoke.”
“Sorry, Miss Eugenia!”
The ladies bowed with stiff faces.
Eugenia, a powerful presence in high society, turned away from them and whispered sharply,
“If you insult my cousin or our lord, you’ll pay the price.”
“Miss Eugenia.”
A sweet voice called from behind. The ladies straightened up. Amelia, the flower of the capital, was smiling.
“Lady Hayden.”
“Why get so upset over rumors that are true?”
“…What?”
“After all, wasn’t I a witness at the engagement? No one can blame us for talking about the truth. I’m just a bit worried…”
“About what?”
“The Grand Duke’s heir changes lovers so often. It’s only natural for his people to worry. Haha.”
“You—!”
“Oh, how scary. Well, I must leave early today.”
Amelia left the party with a clear smile. Her servant followed.
‘How humiliating. How could the honor of the Escalus family be dragged through the mud like this?’
Eugenia clenched her teeth, thinking of the girl who caused all this—
the kind face that gave her medicine under the moonlight, but lied about her status and used Dane.
‘It’s all because of her.’
Eugenia’s hand shook.
Meanwhile, as soon as she left the party and reached the corridor, Amelia’s lovely face turned cold.
“Ugh, Mowin family, Escalus family… I’m so sick of them.”
She still couldn’t forget that humiliating day.
“Even if the Empress Dowager excused me, I can’t forgive the Grand Duke’s heir for using me as a tool for his engagement to a mere baron’s daughter.”
Lux, her servant, whispered behind her.
“What will you do, my lady?”
Amelia suddenly smiled brightly.
“What do you think? I’ll make the Grand Duke’s heir crawl at my feet, and I’ll tear both Mowin sisters apart.”
Her cheeks were red with anger at being upstaged by such young girls.
She could not bear it unless she destroyed the sisters.
“Did you know? In some countries, they cut off a criminal’s arms and legs and feed them to pigs.”
Clasping her hands dreamily, Amelia smiled.
“I’ll cut off the Mowin sisters’ arms and legs and make them beg me like pigs!”
In the underground prison…
The air was thick with the smell of mold and blood. Camilla slowly lifted her heavy eyelids.
‘How many days have passed since that day?’
Her whole body ached with pain.
She had been whipped and chained up in the underground prison. She’d suffered at the mansion before, but never such violence.
Camilla gave a faint smile.
‘I must have spoiled you. A bad child who tries to betray her own father needs discipline.’
‘He never even adopted me, but calls himself my father.’
It was the baron who made her status a weapon. It made her tremble with anger. But then his next words chilled her blood.
‘I still wonder… Why did the Grand Duke try to search our secret basement right after you were kidnapped?’
The baron smiled, watching Camilla closely.
‘Well, at least there was nothing to find back then. Even if you bared your teeth at me, you’re still my precious child.’
‘What a joke.’
Camilla glared with a defiance she’d never shown before.
‘Apologize.’
Camilla clammed up, lips tight. The baron’s forehead bulged with anger.
‘Don’t stop beating her until she begs.’
They beat her until she nearly passed out, then treated her wounds. It happened over and over.
‘You have a natural talent for medicine. But that’s all.’
The baron tried to break her spirit since she wouldn’t give in.
‘Who would want a child abandoned by her own mother?’
But Camilla couldn’t stand that.
Gritting her teeth, she listened as he whispered:
‘Who would have cared for you except the Mowin family?’
‘Shut up.’
‘Were you ever as lovable as Nina? Or as noble as Lady Dunburton, who’s all the rage in society these days?’
She knew all this already. She could bear the pain, but not this.
‘Maybe you don’t know, but even the Grand Duke’s heir seems to prefer Nina these days.’
Camilla’s eyes widened.
‘Aren’t you curious what’s happening outside? If you want to know, just apologize.’
Alone again, Camilla dropped her head.
‘What does Dane think of me?’
Did he feel betrayed? Was he disappointed?
Even with her eyes closed, she remembered Dane’s shocked blue eyes.
That hurt more than anything.
‘I might die here. How stupid.’
She’d acted too fast. The baron would never trust her now.
Even if she escaped, could she get away?
‘If only I hadn’t acted like that at the trial.’
If only she could turn back time.
Just then—
Step, step.
Heavy footsteps approached. Camilla narrowed her eyes.
‘Not the baron. These footsteps…’
“Hey, are you alive?”
Ares looked at her through the bars, his eyes shining cruelly and his sharp fangs visible.
He hadn’t been banished with the baroness, after all.
“You look terrible, huh?”
He stood over her, grinning.
“Do you know what happened outside today?”
“…Go away.”
Ares smiled and reached through the bars, grabbing her chin.
“Nina and your precious Grand Duke’s heir had their engagement ceremony.”
It felt like a club had hit her head. Her mind buzzed.
“Why the face? You seduced him first, but that flower-brain stole him from you. Doesn’t it make you mad?”
Thump, thump.
Her heart hurt.
She remembered reading about Nina and Dane’s engagement in the original story.
Nina’s engagement. It was the best day of Dane’s life.
The words echoed in her head.
“Ha! At the trial, he was holding your hand, but now he’s smiling and holding hers.”
“…Lies.”
Dane had confessed his feelings. Even if he got engaged, he wouldn’t turn his heart so quickly…
‘No, I lied to Dane first.’
Her heart felt as heavy as lead.
