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Chapter 12
“If you don’t believe me, ask the servants yourself. There are plenty of them who saw a knight from the Kreuz Order personally come escort me yesterday.”
“That nonsense can’t possibly be true, right?”
Edward spun around to look at the servants. One of them, looking troubled, hesitantly spoke up.
“Master, the thing is…”
“What?”
After the servant whispered something, Edward’s face turned ashen.
“You’re saying… a knight really came?”
He glared at me, seeming deep in thought for a moment before abruptly turning his back.
“Ciela. Let’s go.”
“What? Brother! What about disciplining her?”
“Do it yourself. I’m leaving first.”
“What?! Brother! Brother!”
Edward strode out of the house, and Ciela, flustered, hurried after him.
“….”
Silence instantly filled the lobby.
The servants, who usually looked down on me or mocked me, quietly slipped away, sneaking glances at me as they went.
Of course, it wasn’t out of respect — it was more like avoiding a lunatic.
I just stood there blankly, staring at the door Edward and Ciela had left through.
To think they’d retreat so easily after just one little pushback.
‘I honestly thought I’d at least get slapped.’
Why had I put up with people like that for so long?
Because I was afraid of being hated? Because I was afraid that, after losing my parents, my relatives might abandon me too?
That fear now felt like something from a past life.
‘It’s like the fog that used to cloud my head has finally lifted.’
Ever since the day Felix betrayed me, I’d been feeling this way.
They say people change after a huge shock — maybe that’s why.
With this new clarity, I could finally see how I’d been treated all these years.
Of course, the ones who betrayed and insulted me were at fault — I knew that logically.
But even so, an irrational sadness crept in.
‘Even a dog gets affection if it rolls over and shows its belly. Why was I, another human being, treated as if I was worth less than that?’
Was I really that useless? So worthless that they felt justified in trampling me like a weed on the roadside?
As old habits of self-blame began to crawl back into my mind—
[Benefactor.]
Pipi’s small, cautious voice called out to me.
Since I had disconnected our synchronization, she couldn’t read my thoughts — but she must have sensed my mood anyway.
Her soft yellow down brushed against my palm as she burrowed into it, two black sesame-seed eyes gazing up at me.
Was she trying to comfort me in her own way?
A faint smile tugged at my lips — but at the same time, my chest ached.
‘Pipi used to do this too…’
Not this chick Pipi — I meant my first Pipi, my dog.
Whenever I got scolded by my mom for eating sweets without brushing my teeth, or when I sulked because I didn’t want to do my homework, my dog Pipi would nuzzle her head under my palm just like this.
And when I reluctantly petted her, she’d wag her tail wildly, so happy.
No matter how down I was, I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw her like that.
‘They don’t even look alike, but somehow… it feels the same.’
Maybe I just missed her so much — the Pipi I’d lost so suddenly — that this little chick reminded me of her.
Anyway, I couldn’t stay gloomy forever. I deliberately brightened my voice.
“Pipi. How was I just now? Did I look rude and arrogant?”
[Yes! You looked like an absolutely shameless, imperious brat! You’re improving every day, Benefactor. You’re the best!]
“Really? That’s a relief.”
I chuckled and ruffled her soft yellow feathers. Pipi wobbled happily, shaking her little tail feathers in satisfaction.
“Brother! How could you just leave without disciplining her? It’s like we lost to Frisia! I’m so mad!”
“Be quiet.”
“What?!”
“I said shut your mouth, I’m thinking!”
Edward snapped, and Ciela clamped her mouth shut, her face wounded and sulky.
Ignoring her, Edward recalled the conversation he’d had with their father two days ago.
‘What do you plan to do with Frisia?’
‘If she can’t become Felix’s wife, then that girl is useless. She has no title now — if I throw her out, she’ll wander the streets and die somewhere for all I care.’
Throw her out?
Edward hadn’t liked that decision.
Frisia was clever.
He knew Felix’s perfect grades were all thanks to her.
And though she didn’t know how to dress herself up, her face and features were decent enough.
Not knowing how to dress up was even an advantage — she wasn’t the type to waste money on vanity.
She was like a caterpillar: easily crushed, never daring to squirm back — but still smart, gentle, and thrifty.
The perfect type of wife to manage a household.
Felix, the fool, hadn’t realized it, but Frisia would’ve made a fine wife — certainly better than that commoner girl, Lorena, who was pretty and nothing else.
Edward had already felt a twinge of regret whenever he looked at Frisia. So when he heard she’d been dumped, he made up his mind.
‘Marrying cousins isn’t common, but it’s not illegal under imperial law.’
He’d propose to her — offer her salvation when she was drowning in despair.
‘That way, I get a capable wife, and Frisia doesn’t lose her family name. Perfect!’
What a generous, benevolent decision! Edward was quite proud of his own kindness.
And yet, instead of being grateful, she had the nerve to talk back to him earlier!
Just thinking about her defiance made his blood boil.
‘And now she’s claiming she’s been hired by Duke Kreuz? What nonsense.’
At first, he’d been shocked enough to believe it, but thinking back — it made no sense.
Timid, slow, and barely able to graduate from the academy — there was no way someone like her would be employed by that Duke Kreuz.
“Employed,” she said — more like she’d committed some crime and was now paying it off with labor.
‘Calling that “employment”? How vain.’
Edward chuckled bitterly. He’d thought she was above vanity and pretense. What a disappointment.
‘Still… the sudden change in personality, and being involved with the Duke? She must’ve done something big.’
Whatever it was, it wasn’t ordinary.
‘I’ll have to look into it.’
If the trouble she’d caused was too severe, he’d have to cut ties to protect the Violet family’s reputation.
But if it was something he could clean up…
‘I’ll handle it myself and tame her again.’
Today’s behavior had been shocking and disappointing, but her true nature — the timid girl he’d known for years — couldn’t have changed completely.
If he helped her fix this mess and magnanimously forgave her, she’d surely become completely devoted to him.
Edward believed it without the slightest doubt.
The next day.
I arrived at work twenty minutes early, trying my best not to look nervous as I stepped into the Mage Tower.
The wizards bustling through the corridors gave me curious glances.
“That’s her?”
“Yeah. The new assistant. They say she’s the one who restored all that data that went missing yesterday.”
“No way. Must’ve been dumb luck. Didn’t she barely graduate from the academy?”
‘…Wow, they’re not even whispering.’
I ignored them and walked toward my destination.
Taking the elevator — powered by magical engineering — up to the top floor, I was greeted by a familiar face.
“Ah, Miss Violet!”
Aaron waved cheerfully. His desk was buried under a precarious mountain of papers that looked like they might collapse at any moment.
When I approached, he peeled off a portion of the pile and handed it to me.
“Sit here and sort these documents in ascending order, please. I’d appreciate it.”
He said that in a rush and disappeared somewhere in a flash, clearly swamped with work.
Left alone, I stared blankly at the stack in my arms.
“Sort in ascending order”?
Each cover page had a small number written on it.
Was I supposed to arrange them by those numbers?
‘No, that can’t be it.’
Even if this was my first day, he wouldn’t give me something that simple, right?
Looking closer, I noticed there were not just numbers but formulas written on the pages too.
‘Ah, of course.’
Now I understood what Aaron had actually asked me to do.
I nodded to myself — and began the task.
