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Episode 5
For a moment, Sara’s smile sent a chill down my spine, but I forced myself to ignore it.
No matter how much of a villainess she is, she can’t take on the Wintersore family all by herself.
Besides, Sara was a dark mage hiding from the Empire’s watchful eyes.
The reward for reporting her disguise as a maid in the ducal household was worth more than an entire house…
But I firmly believed she wouldn’t risk her life for that amount of money.
With a lukewarm ice pack pressed against my cheek, I sat there lost in thought.
Before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived, and a knock came from outside my door.
Knock. Knock.
“Sara, who is it?”
“I’ll check.”
Sara, who had been spending the lazy afternoon with me, got up and walked to the door.
The moment it opened, I saw a familiar face.
That’s Marta’s closest maid.
My expression instantly soured.
The kind of person who boosted her self-esteem by bullying a noblewoman like me.
“Lady Marta is taking a walk right now, so please take another route.”
“I’ll give this dress to Lady Marta. Don’t clothes deserve to be worn by someone who makes them look better?”
“The food went bad? Lady Marta didn’t say anything, so I’m afraid I can’t replace it.”
All the ways she’d treated me flashed through my mind.
But even she seemed to turn into a meek little lamb in front of a real villainess.
“W-Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Sorry. My eyesight isn’t very good. What do you need?”
She must have been overwhelmed by Sara’s cold expression as she looked down at her.
For once, Marta’s maid looked nervous.
“Lady Marta asked me to tell her sister she’d like to have tea together.”
Ugh, no thanks!
She couldn’t see it, but I shook my head violently behind Sara’s back.
“Lady Enrica isn’t feeling well today, so that won’t be possible. Please tell Lady Marta she’s sorry.”
Bang!
Sara shut the door without even waiting for a reply.
I stared at her in disbelief.
Do dark mages have eyes on the backs of their heads or something?
“Sara, how did you know I didn’t want to see Marta?”
“If I didn’t know that, I’d be an idiot.”
Anyway, I thought we’d successfully avoided a crisis.
I relaxed and slumped back into my chair.
Then.
A few minutes later.
The door suddenly opened without a knock.
“Big sister!”
Ugh, my blood pressure.
Marta came striding toward me with her eyebrows drooping dramatically.
“Marta, what brings you here?”
“I heard you were too sick to accept my invitation, so I got worried and came to check on you. But…”
She was clearly planning to mock me.
Then her expression stiffened slightly when she got a proper look at my face.
The injury was worse than she’d expected.
No matter what kind of person she was, she seemed genuinely shocked.
After all, this was probably the first time she’d seen visible evidence of physical violence on me.
“That must’ve hurt a lot. No matter what, Father really went too far this time—”
Marta cut herself off midway through the sentence.
“A-Ah, anyway. You’re there. Did you treat this properly?”
Why are you picking on Sara all of a sudden?!
I covered my mouth in horror.
“I applied ointment last night.”
“What if it leaves a scar on her face?”
“It won’t. But if, by some chance, a mark remains, then I’ll”
A terrible feeling told me I shouldn’t let Sara finish that sentence.
“S-Sara! That’s enough. Marta, as you can see, my maid is taking good care of me.”
For a moment, I was stunned by Marta’s unexpectedly obvious concern for me.
But more importantly.
If I left these two together any longer, my heart wouldn’t survive.
“Hmm…”
Marta stared at Sara.
Soon, her eyes returned to normal and sparkled briefly.
“Then, how about we have tea together in the garden? It might help you feel better.”
If I sent Marta away after she’d come all this way, things would probably become a huge mess.
Sara was looking at me with concern, but there wasn’t much choice.
“Alright. I’ll come.”
I reluctantly nodded.
A sunny afternoon with a cool breeze.
A teapot filled with fragrant jasmine tea.
Everything was perfect—
Except for the fact that Marta was sitting across from me.
As I poured tea, I found myself lost in thought.
Why do Father and Marta hate me so much?
There had to be something I didn’t know.
It felt like I was missing an important piece of the puzzle.
I can’t exactly ask them directly.
Maybe she noticed me sneaking glances at her.
Marta spoke first.
“Actually, I wanted to hear about yesterday’s banquet. Father told me you met His Grace the Grand Duke.”
Ugh.
I worked hard to forget about that.
“He’s incredibly handsome, isn’t he?”
Marta suddenly looked like an ordinary young girl and blushed slightly.
Just how handsome was he supposed to be?
“Is he? I don’t know.”
I doubt he’s as handsome as Kael.
I answered indifferently.
Marta flinched before letting out a mocking laugh.
“Well, what does it matter if he’s handsome? He’s a murderer who killed his entire family just to take the position of Grand Duke.”
A murderer.
I already knew that.
The information barely affected me.
If he’d only killed his family, that would’ve been one thing.
He was also supposed to kill his bride on their wedding night.
Ignoring the comment, I calmly sipped my tea.
Marta’s eyes trembled.
“You’re not speechless because you’re shocked, are you? He’s the man you’re supposed to marry.”
“I’m fine, Marta.”
The hand holding her teacup trembled slightly.
It looked as if she desperately wanted to shock me.
“I heard he’s violent. That he drinks every night and enjoys beating women.”
I had my own reasons for not worrying.
Still, imagining the original timid Enrica hearing all this made me feel sorry for her.
Frustrated by my lack of reaction, Marta kept talking.
“You don’t hate the idea? Your marriage will be horrible! You’ll share a bed with a murderer and get beaten every day—”
Suddenly, Marta’s face turned pale.
So pale that even I, who had only been half-listening, immediately noticed something was wrong.
What?
What did she see?
“AAAAH!”
I turned around, expecting maybe a giant bug.
Instead, I was shocked too.
“K-K-Kael? What are you doing here?!”
Kael was standing in the garden of the Wintersore estate.
A sight I’d never imagined.
No matter how much I doubted my eyesight, he was really there.
As he approached, a large shadow fell over me.
“I promised I’d come see you again soon.”
That’s true, but this is way too soon!
“How did you even get into the estate?”
“I introduced myself properly and asked for permission. The gatekeeper was surprisingly friendly.”
While I was still trying to process his unbelievable initiative—
A strange sound came from behind me.
“Hic… hic…”
Marta’s face had turned bright red.
She was desperately trying to stop her hiccups.
What is this? Why is she more shocked than I am?
She’d reacted like she’d seen a ghost.
And now she had hiccups.
As I stared in confusion, Kael spoke.
“The weather is nice for a walk. Would you care to stroll through the garden with me?”
“Y-Yes.”
It felt like he was trying to rescue me from the situation.
Besides, listening to Marta’s hiccups wasn’t exactly pleasant.
I immediately stood up and followed him toward a more secluded area of the garden.
Without hearing Marta’s whisper behind me.
“A-What do I do…”
After Enrica left, the pale-faced girl stammered.
“I really wasn’t planning to do that today. Not this time. I just…”
The tube of ointment in Marta’s hand slipped from her fingers and fell to the ground.
Thud.
“I was just jealous…”
Lush green trees.
The cheerful sound of birds.
The carefully maintained ducal garden looked especially beautiful on a summer day like this.
Once we were far enough from the tea table, Kael slowly spoke.
“That cheek.”
I thought he was deliberately ignoring it.
But his gaze was fixed directly on my swollen cheek.
“I didn’t let you go yesterday so I could see you like this.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. I just…”
Suddenly, my ears felt warm.
After all, between my conversation with Marta and Father’s violence…
It felt like Kael had already seen exactly what my position in the family was.
So this is my house.
Wow, it’s really ni— nice…
It felt like bringing a new friend home for the first time—
Only for them to immediately discover that your family was a complete disaster.
“…If I said I got hurt because I fell, would you believe me?”
“If that’s what you want, then I will.”
I hadn’t expected him to agree so easily.
His calm answer reassured me.
I sighed and finally spoke honestly.
“As you can see, I wasn’t exactly raised with love.”
“I heard the Duke treasures his eldest daughter so much that he rarely even allows her outside.”
“That’s all a lie.”
Kael’s brows furrowed slightly.
“He demanded an enormous dowry while claiming I was his most precious child.”
“Father has always loved money.”
I answered gloomily.
Then I suddenly realized something.
“Wait. What? He demanded a dowry?”
“Ah… I heard that’s what happened with the Grand Duke. Since it may become something I need to deal with as well.”
“Oh.”
Yesterday, he hadn’t even known I’d been proposed to by the Grand Duke.
And yet he’d already looked into rumors about me.
The realization made me oddly happy.
While I was at it, I thanked him.
“I was surprised, but thank you for coming to keep your promise today.”
I giggled.
“Marta seemed even more surprised than I was.”
Kael looked down at me with eyes so gentle they almost felt unreal.
Then he answered.
“I met your younger sister at a banquet several years ago. She probably remembers my face.”
I blinked.
“What does that have to do with her being so shocked when she saw you?”
He raised an eyebrow as if asking whether I truly didn’t understand.
Then I thought about it for a moment.
“Well… I guess if you were talking badly about someone and then that person suddenly appeared in front of you, you’d be shocked.”
Convinced by my own explanation, I nodded.
Kael lowered his head slightly, looking oddly awkward.
Then he asked,
“Do you believe all the rumors about the Grand Duke?”
The Grand Duke of Cronhart.
Honestly, the original story barely revealed anything about him.
His past, his family—everything was shrouded in mystery.
Most of his appearances were alongside Sara.
Still…
As popular as he was as a villain, he didn’t seem like the type to beat women.
Kill them?
Maybe.
I thought for a moment before answering.
“No. I don’t believe them. And that’s not why I’m trying to avoid marrying him, either.”
For a split second, something flashed in Kael’s eyes.
Then it disappeared just as quickly.
Did I imagine that?
Tilting my head, I suddenly looked around.
“Wait… where are we going?”
I’d been so focused on our conversation that we’d wandered beyond the garden.
“At this rate, we’re going to get lost. We should head back to where we came from—”
“We’re going to my carriage.”
“Huh?”
Kael answered as if it were obvious.
“Did you really think I’d leave you here after seeing that injury?”
Then where exactly were we going?
As if reading my confusion, he answered.
“Let’s go to my home, Enri.”
