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CHAPTER 10
The guards who had been standing outside hurriedly rushed in, but perhaps because the aggressor was Elforten, none of them made a strong attempt to stop him.
“You dare disgrace me?!”
Elforten, his face bruised, glared at me furiously. Luna, terrified, stepped in front of me to shield me from his gaze.
I looked at Luna’s small back for a moment before slowly rising from my seat. Though Luna was older than me in years, in a society ruled by social class, age meant little.
No matter how old Luna was, she couldn’t protect me in an empire built on hierarchy.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You went to Father. You told him to send me instead as the prince’s companion, didn’t you?”
“Yes. You seemed eager to go in my place.”
“Don’t act like you’re special just because you’re going to the palace first. Do you really think His Highness will be happy to have you, a useless disgrace to our family, as his companion?!”
Elforten’s eyes were wild, as though he might tear me apart.
But I wasn’t afraid. Luna once told me that Elforten had hated Elufe since they were young.
So I’d long decided there was no need to pretend to be kind to him.
“Entering a lady’s room without knocking isn’t exactly noble behavior, is it? If we’re talking about disgraces, you should look in the mirror—since you still haven’t even learned basic manners.”
Elforten instinctively raised his hand.
One of the maids who brushed my hair had once told me that everyone in the house knew about Elforten’s habit of hitting people.
But so far, he’d never dared to lay a hand on me—possibly because I held the Count’s attention.
“You little—!”
He raised his hand again, and my legs trembled. But the one who fell to the floor with a loud smack wasn’t me—it was Luna.
“Luna!”
Startled, I ran toward her, her cheek red and swollen, but Elforten twisted my arm harshly and sneered.
“Insolent wench. A lowly maid dares to block me?”
Elforten, now completely out of control, glared between me and Luna with crazed eyes.
Then he grabbed a luxurious-looking vase and smashed it against the floor with a sharp crash.
Shards of glass flew everywhere. Luna ducked instinctively, terrified. And then—Elforten kicked her hard in the back.
“Ah…”
“Perfect. Let’s see how it feels to take her beating for once!”
Apparently thinking I cherished Luna, Elforten turned his rage on her instead.
So this pathetic excuse for a man is the villain?
I was disgusted, feeling like all the time I’d spent playing the game had been wasted.
“Stop it.”
“Shut up. Keep running your mouth and next time, I’ll break your precious maid’s legs. Got it?”
He was taking out his frustration on someone weaker because he couldn’t stand his own inadequacy. And that made it even worse.
“You know, they say frightened animals make the loudest noises.”
“What? Frightened animal?”
“Yeah. You’re yelling because you’re scared. I get it. You couldn’t awaken your dark magic—so of course I must terrify you.”
Elforten’s face turned pale, and he suddenly pulled a dagger from his coat and swung it at me.
I dodged backward, but now frenzied, he began slashing at me wildly with the short blade.
“What are the guards doing?! Restrain him—now!”
As I turned my furious face toward them, the people watching froze in place.
Then I felt it—a hot, sticky sensation on my cheek. When I raised my hand to touch it, red, viscous blood was dripping down my face.
“What the…?”
My light pink dress—handpicked by Luna that morning—was instantly soaked in red before I could even raise my hand to stop it.
Elforten, realizing what he’d done, began stumbling backward in a panic.
Pain started to radiate from my cheek, sharp and cutting, but it felt so unreal that I was momentarily dazed.
“Young Lady!”
Luna scrambled to my side, pressing a handkerchief to my face. The guards, finally moving, ran after the fleeing Elforten.
“Are you alright? Where did he hit you?”
I looked at Luna’s swollen cheek and asked. And at that, she finally broke into sobs.
“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have stepped in…”
Glancing at the blood streaming down my cheek, a strange thought came to me. I closed my eyes and wished the wound would heal.
The sensation of blood flow stopped. When I opened my eyes again, Luna looked confused.
“My Lady? The bleeding—it suddenly stopped…”
Even I was surprised.
I vaguely remembered the Count once mentioning something about having rare, unusual blood.
Could there be some kind of powerful ability hidden in my blood?
“Maybe I should try something else.”
I reached toward the blood on the floor and imagined everything becoming clean.
Then, miraculously, the bloodstained floor sparkled like new. Even the handkerchief Luna had pressed to my face returned to its original state.
And my own bloodied dress? Immaculate.
“That’s the second time…”
Luna muttered in awe, and I tilted my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen you heal like this before. When Madam—that is, your late mother—coughed up blood long ago, you healed her just like that.”
Now that I thought about it, there was barely any information about Elufe Inferna’s mother in the game.
The only mention was that she died before the main story began—I knew next to nothing about her.
“She coughed up blood? Did you ever tell Father?”
“No. Madam made me promise to keep it secret until her death. I never told anyone.”
I nodded quietly.
“Do you think I should hide my powers from Father too?”
“…Madam only ever wanted you to be safe. She said if the world found out about this power, even the Imperial Palace would try to control you. It would be dangerous.”
I had never met Elufe’s birth mother. But for some reason, I felt instinctively that I should follow her advice—for now, at least.
After all, her other parent—the Count—was a man plotting to overthrow the Emperor.
If he found out about this dark magic, who knew how he’d exploit me or what he’d do to me?
In the days that followed, Elforten locked himself in his room, terrified.
Apparently, he expected my face to be horribly disfigured and cause a huge scandal.
Some of the guards and mercenaries, fearing they’d be held responsible for not stopping him, even submitted their resignations.
Because of that, even though the Count was informed of what happened, he took no action.
‘Honestly, that might have worked in my favor.’
Elforten’s increasingly bizarre ramblings were now dismissed as nonsense.
Sometimes, when our eyes met by chance through a window, he would go into a panic attack.
‘Unbelievable. If anyone saw this, they’d think I was the attacker.’
Elforten never even apologized. It was infuriating—but I wasn’t foolish enough to stir the hornet’s nest further.
Besides, once I entered the palace, I wouldn’t have to deal with him much anymore. I could only hope time passed quickly.
Still, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. If I wanted to avoid the fate set out in the original story, I had to act.
Like… proving I wasn’t a villain.
‘If I’m going to the palace anyway, why not show them that I’m a good person?’
If I couldn’t stop the Count’s ambitions, then maybe I could shift the palace’s view of me and avoid being caught in his schemes.
If one day the Count did aim for the crown princess seat, I could make it clear I’d severed ties with my family—and maybe, just maybe, I’d escape death.
With that thought, I began looking forward to the day I’d enter the palace.
And now, a few days later—
I was staring at Lekanon, who was lying on his bed throwing a tantrum.
I had thought being a “companion” meant idle chatting from time to time—but I was so wrong.
If I had known this is what it entailed, I would’ve dragged my feet much longer before coming here. Sigh.
“Companion” really just seemed like a substitute for “personal assistant.” Or maybe it was a sugar-coated term to avoid accusations of child labor.
Whenever he studied, I had to sit in on his lessons too.
Despite this being a magical world, its math education was shockingly poor.
For example, thirteen-year-old Lekanon was currently twisting his body in frustration over basic fraction multiplication.
Is this really a royal education?
“Was stalking me around the palace not enough? Now you’re in my room too?!”
Despite his complaints, Lekanon didn’t push me away like before. As if I came here by choice.
He was the one who insisted I be his companion, and for some unknown reason, the Emperor approved it and kept me close.
“Well, you skipped class. Because of you, Mr. Kroon was furious.”
And that fury landed on me. I had to solve a hundred fraction problems. At this age!
“Hah. I am the sun of the Empire. Even if Mr. Kroon teaches me, that doesn’t mean our ranks have reversed. His anger is something I simply must endure.”
…What absolute nonsense.
Watching Lekanon spout his nonsense so confidently, I simply nodded and silently handed over the pile of homework Kroon had assigned.
“You’re supposed to finish all of this by the next class.”
