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Chapter 23
Merlin understood right away and shouted,
“Y-you…! How dare a nouveau riche’s daughter lecture me?!”
When Merlin called her a “nouveau riche,” the baron gasped, but surprisingly, no one cared.
Solia just laughed quietly, stood up straight, and walked forward.
“I hope you learn your place, Merlin.”
She turned and looked Merlin up and down with a cold gaze. Merlin’s fingers trembled.
Solia left the drawing room without looking back, her posture perfect and graceful, like a knight who forgot about pain on the battlefield.
“That crazy girl dared say that to me…!”
Merlin yelled, but then stopped, breathing heavily. Her shoulders shook, and her nails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists.
Solia was the one hurt, but the real loser was Merlin, shaking with her iron stick.
Baron Rotten was hopeless. Even Merlin, who was famous for being cruel at Leona Port, was useless in the end.
No one could break Solia Rotten’s spirit.
‘…What a wicked girl!’
Baron Rotten swallowed hard. He knew Solia was already one step ahead and knew everything.
“Your daughter… She’s too good for Count Lenister. With her looks, she could even be the empress. If only she had a better family, maybe she could be the crown princess.”
“My daughter really is especially beautiful. Your Grace, as you wish, I’ll make sure she marries Count Lenister! But… if my daughter can’t get a proposal from the count, would you accept her instead?”
“You want to send your own daughter as my mistress instead of letting her be the countess? Isn’t she your real daughter?”
“O-of course, she’s my real daughter. But… if Your Grace ever gets lonely…”
“You would send your only daughter to an old man like me? Even animals wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I just meant well…”
“Baron Rotten. No matter what, make sure your daughter marries Count Lenister. Don’t disappoint me or His Majesty.”
“Y-yes…? Is… is His Majesty really supporting this marriage?!”
“That’s right… But you have to take care of it, Baron. You bought your title with money, so even if you’re bankrupt, you want your daughter to marry into the famous Lenister family, don’t you? His Majesty wants it to look that way in public, too.”
Duke Benzo smiled mysteriously and added more strange words.
“His Majesty cherishes Count Lenister. You should listen to your daughter’s requests, too. But the marriage must be ‘Count Lenister’s choice.’ Don’t threaten or force the count to propose. And make sure your daughter doesn’t fall for another man.”
“Ah, yes… Count Lenister is very handsome, so I’m sure my daughter will like him.”
Baron Rotten said all this, but he was thinking to himself. Who could predict the future?
‘If the marriage with Noah Lenister fails, I was planning to send Solia to the duke as his mistress…’
He was keeping it as a backup plan, but now he realized,
‘I almost dug my own grave! No matter what, I must make Solia marry Count Lenister.’
His back turned cold. If Solia didn’t marry Count Lenister, the duke would bury him for sure.
Even if he had to sell his daughter, it had to be to the Lenister family.
‘Even if I get her married off… I need to know why she suddenly started treating her father so badly!’
Baron Rotten tried to control Solia but realized he wasn’t strong enough. His daughter, hiding behind a veil, was like a devil he couldn’t face.
‘That’s it! I’ll call a shaman to drive out the demon inside Solia!’
His eyes flashed. He had four years. Before a grandchild was born, he would get rid of the demon.
If he succeeded, as the grandfather of the future Lenister heir, he could take over their house.
‘Just wait! I’ll find someone even scarier than the demon in her!’
A shaman with purple hair and deep red eyes. The master of goblins and evil spirits.
Baron Rotten thought things like goblins and spirits were just fairy tales. He didn’t really understand what they were.
But, as the shaman once said, demons and spirits are all the same at heart.
Aren’t they all things that hurt and destroy people?
In the east, there were only priests, but on the western continent, there were still a few shamans left.
The shaman said his mother came from a faraway place—not from the east or the west, but somewhere even farther.
He learned all about shamanism from her.
Even to Baron Rotten, the shaman didn’t seem quite human.
As long as he paid, the shaman would get rid of the evil spirit in his daughter.
That beautiful, heartless boy had once really cared for Solia.
After leaving the drawing room, I went straight back to my bedroom.
I changed clothes and collapsed on the bed.
As I fell asleep, an old memory washed over me. When I opened my eyes, I was in the hot summer countryside.
That’s how I got to see memories from Solia’s life before I possessed her.
“Solia!”
A boy’s voice, calm but kind, called to little Solia.
She slowly opened her tear-filled eyes and saw a beautiful boy standing there.
“Where are you going, big brother?”
Four-year-old, scared Solia grabbed the sleeve of the eleven-year-old boy.
The boy patted her head, seeing his little sister wouldn’t let go.
“I’m going to the western continent. My teacher is there.”
“Is that the mercenary you always talk about?”
“You shouldn’t say bad things like that. You’re always cute, Ria, no matter what.”
He tugged softly on Solia’s chubby cheek and smiled.
The boy, once kidnapped by the Rotten family, became a real big brother after a week.
Holding tightly to Alexei’s sleeve, Solia mumbled,
“Big brother, don’t go see the mercenary. Stay with Solia. I’ll take care of mom!”
Even seeing her sick mom, Solia’s only big brother seemed distant. Whenever Alexei acted like a stranger, Solia got scared.
At first, Solia wondered who Alexei really was, but since he was so kind, she got attached to him.
She had finally opened her heart to the brother she once didn’t trust, but now he wanted to leave—without even telling her why.
“I have to go now. You need to stay here and be healthy. Promise me, okay?”
Alexei held out his pinky finger, but Solia refused.
“No! I want to go with you! Please, let me go with you…”
She held onto Alexei and started crying.
“Don’t go. Please don’t go, big brother.”
Tears filled her big eyes. Her nose stung, and she felt sad, but that was all she could do.
Gentle Alexei became cold, pried her hand off, and said goodbye.
“It’s dangerous now, so you can’t come with me. When I heal my broken heart…”
Broken heart? Did big brother have something like that?
‘But he always looks happy. Even though he’s just a kid, the neighborhood girls say he’s handsome and like him a lot.’
Solia liked her pretty brother with jewel-like eyes and a smile as soft as spring wind.
‘I like him so much—I don’t want to say goodbye. If he leaves, I’ll really be all alone. There won’t be anyone left for me.’
Just then—
“You crazy brat!”
Solia, still crying, looked up at the loud shout from behind.
“Don’t listen, Ria.”
Alexei ignored the yelling and first wiped away Solia’s tears.
At that moment, Rotten raised his voice, his neck red and shaking.
“You psycho! You even killed the wildcat I kept! Are you going to kill people next? Just like your useless dad taught you?”
“…Ah.”
Alexei finally clicked his tongue and looked back.
When his red eyes met the baron’s, Rotten dropped his bottle in fear, his hands shaking.
“Even if I get angry, I can’t kill you. Ryan always told me to only hurt when it’s needed.”
Alexei smiled, but his eyes were cold.
A few days ago, Solia’s baby chick had been eaten by a wildcat. Yesterday, the wildcat tried to hunt another chick Rotten had given her, so Alexei killed the wildcat—right in front of the baron.
Alexei had now lived with four-year-old Solia for seven months after being kidnapped.
He’d seen Rotten shout and hit Solia many times.
The first time, Alexei just watched. The second time, he got hit instead. The third time, when Rotten passed out drunk, Alexei tried to cut off his fingers, but didn’t succeed.
After that, Rotten still yelled at Solia but stopped hitting her.
Once, Rotten yelled at Solia to go beg on the streets instead of wasting time with chicks. Alexei saw that, too.
