Chapter 87

It was early summer. When I had returned, the days were still cool, but now, after three months, the wind felt heavy and warm. It was the height of social season, with afternoon tea parties and evening garden parties happening everywhere. Before her marriage, Grace was more active in the Magician’s Association and only attended social gatherings occasionally, but now it was the opposite.

“Her father handles the Magician’s Association… and without surpassing the 6th-class barrier, becoming the head is impossible.”

Still, she hadn’t completely abandoned the association. Because of her pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, she was focused on taking control of society first. Once she managed to break through the 6th-class barrier, she would make a grand comeback.

“That’s why she targeted Grandmother’s inheritance back then.”

Since I knew Grace better than anyone, I could easily guess her intentions. She was stuck at the 6th-class barrier, while the “Florence” she underestimated so much was freely using the magic she had always desired.

“That must have driven her crazy inside.”

In the Royal Magician’s Association, Grace was talented, but not extraordinary. Those who once praised her for being capable gradually left her side. With her marriage and childbirth keeping her away from the front lines, she was now treated as just another mediocre magician. Grace would never tolerate that.

What Grace valued most wasn’t family love, authority, or status as a magician. It was something much smaller and more trivial: appearances and pride.

I looked down at Axel sleeping peacefully in my arms.

In the days I had spent working at the Ingram mansion, I had at least learned one thing: Axel was nothing like Grace.

It wasn’t hard to get a job at the Ingram mansion. With the right connections and a little social backing, it was easy to slip in. Servants came and went so often that no one noticed new faces. Marquis Ingram didn’t even find it strange that longtime servants kept leaving.

Enoch scoffed coldly.
“That’s not cluelessness, that’s stupidity.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t care,” I said.

“About his own family?” Enoch shook his head.

“Just stay there and hold the child,” he ordered me.

“Okay.”

“Laila, just do what I asked,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Laila replied.

After casting an invisibility spell on me and a noise-canceling spell on Axel, I knew no one could find us, even if someone screamed right next to us. I removed the ring and returned to my original appearance. Laila stepped forward, acting like a loyal servant waiting for orders.

At the garden tea table, five noblewomen sat, surrounded by elegant flower scents and sweet-smelling tea. The small desserts looked as sweet as they tasted.

Grace was smiling gracefully.

There had been many days when I longed for that smile to be directed at me.

“My sweet little sister, Florence. Did you take a nap?”
“Yes, sister… you’re here…”
“Go back to sleep. It’s fine. Blake and I will eat all this cake.”
“No, I want some too…”
“Then you’d better wake up quickly.”
“Help me up…”
“You spoiled little child. How long will you act like a baby?”

Now I could finally understand what both of them were really thinking during those conversations—Jang Hyunji seeing Grace as a trophy that naturally loved her, and Grace secretly envying her while laughing at her stupidity.

The memories of Jang Hyunji that once hurt me so much now felt like nothing but a fake performance.

Enoch gave a signal with his eyes, and Laila stepped back. From the bushes, “Lishi” moved.

“Lady Grace! Please save me!”

Covered in blood, “Lishi” staggered out from the neatly trimmed garden bushes.

“W-what? Who are you?!”

“Stay back!”

The elegant tea party turned into chaos in an instant.

Grace skillfully cast a spell, pushing the screaming women behind her. Spears of earth formed as the ground split apart.

“Lishi” stumbled onto the table, flailing strangely, then jerked her head up and looked around like an insect. Even Grace’s guests trembled in fear behind her.

“Lishi?”

Finally recognizing her, Grace unconsciously said her name.

“Do you know her, Lady Ingram?” one of the women asked.

“No, I—” Grace stuttered.

Before she could answer, “Lishi” screamed, pointing at a man appearing from thin air.

“Save me! Lady Grace, that man is trying to kill me!”

Even while confused, Grace pushed “Lishi” away with an earth wall. She fell clumsily to the ground but didn’t die. Of course not. Lishi was already dead.

“Try running again,” Keith said.

I had to stifle a laugh—Keith’s acting was terrible.

“It wasn’t me! I-I only did what I was told! Lady Grace told me to kill your father—”

“Shut up, Lishi!” Grace shouted, panicked.

The suspicious glances of the guests grew sharper.

“Call the guards! Now!” Grace shouted at Laila, then yelled at Keith and Lishi,
“Stay away! If you come closer, I’ll kill you!”

“I only chased her here. She killed my father,” Keith said coldly.

“N-no!”

Keith approached “Lishi,” who wet herself in fear.

“I-I only did what you told me to! Right, Lady Grace? You told me to go to Grandmother Dagrev’s house and steal the relics!”

Grace’s face turned ice-cold. She understood the situation now.

“You told me to kill anyone who got in the way! You even gave me scrolls and said you’d take responsibility! So it’s not my fault—ahhh—!”

Foaming at the mouth, “Lishi”’s eyes rolled back. Grace’s earthen spear was now in her stomach.

“Surely you don’t believe that crazy woman,” Grace said calmly.

The noblewomen looked away from the horrifying corpse and turned to Grace, who continued without hesitation,

“Lishi was a maid I had as a child. I left her at the family home after marriage and haven’t seen her since. Who knows what’s happened to her since then…”

As expected, Grace had cut “Lishi” off easily.

Keith dropped “Lishi”’s limp body onto the ground and looked at Grace.

“Can you swear you had nothing to do with my father’s death?”

“Why should I swear to someone whose identity I don’t even know?”

“You stole my chance at revenge. How can I not wonder why you silenced her?”

Keith shrugged nonchalantly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I only dealt with an intruder in my home.”

Laila stepped forward. Grace turned to her and froze.

“Y-you…”

“Grace, it’s been a while,” Laila said.

“No… it can’t be. You’re dead…”

Laila was disguised as a man Grace had once loved—the royal magician she dated before her marriage. Grace completely froze, forgetting everyone else.

“Honey!”

“Grace! Where is Axel? Florence—”

At the same time, my father teleported in with Marquis Ingram. Grace was still frozen as Laila stepped forward.

“You thought you killed me, didn’t you?”

“This can’t be…”

“If I knew you’d kill me, I never would have agreed to marry you. Was I such an obstacle to you?”

As Grace stumbled back, “Lishi,” who should have been dead, suddenly grabbed her ankle—or rather, the hem of her dress near her ankle.

“Ahh! Let go!”

Father kicked “Lishi” off, pulling Grace into his arms, but “Lishi” wouldn’t let go.

“Lady Grace told me to! She told me to kill!”

“Shut up, Lishi!”

Father quickly understood and cast an attack spell at “Lishi.” Fire arrows struck her body, burning like hellfire. Even as she screamed, “Lishi” cried out,

“Lady Grace! It hurts! I’m sorry! I’ll kill everyone! Please stop hitting me!”

“What nonsense is this? That crazy woman is making up lies about things that never happened!”

Grace looked back at her husband, Marquis Marius Ingram, who now wore a shocked expression. Keith casually pulled something from his coat.

“So you’re saying this is all a lie?”

“You insolent brat! How dare you! You planned all of this, didn’t you?!”

He didn’t attack Keith directly because Keith had appeared through teleportation—a 6th-class spell. He knew he wouldn’t win. Keith spoke calmly,

“Lishi was loyal, but she clearly didn’t trust you. She carefully saved proof of everything you ordered her to do.”

“Honey, why are you just standing there? Call the soldiers and drive this lunatic out!” Grace screamed.

Keith handed something to Marquis Ingram. His face hardened as he looked at it. Grace screamed,

“Father!”

“Don’t move,” Keith warned.

His magical staff was now under Father’s chin. Father recognized it instantly—it belonged to his own mother.

Grace still hadn’t lost her composure completely. She might still be able to cover it up. After all, it was just an old lover returning…

Keith smirked and tilted his head toward me. Grace and Father’s eyes followed.

I stood there holding Axel, smiling softly.

“Florence!”

Grace’s eyes turned blood-red.