HST 44

Chapter 44

“Kyah!”

A dull thud rang out, followed by a thin, fragile scream.
Unable to dodge the sharp object flying straight at her face, the girl staggered. She then carefully brushed at her forehead where the impact had struck.

Her forehead was damp.
The girl stared blankly at her hand.

“Blood……”

What had gathered on her forehead was not sweat, but blood. Tears threatened to spill over from sheer misery.

“Hey. Are you really going to do it like this?”

The person who had thrown the object at the girl was Belliar, the youngest daughter of Marquis Dicar. With an expressionless face, she clicked her heels as she walked toward the girl, then lifted the bleeding girl’s chin with one hand.

“And you think you can imitate me properly like this? Get a grip. The wedding is tomorrow.”

Belliar looked at the girl with cold, unfeeling eyes, without a trace of apology.
Intimidated by her gaze, the girl could only chew on her lip, unable to say anything.

“Maybe because you were raised so lowly, every little action you take looks ridiculous. You’re not planning to make a fool out of me, are you?”

“…I’m sorry.”

The girl murmured the words without even wiping away the blood running down her forehead.

“I told you—if you act like this, you won’t get to see your little brother.”

At Belliar’s threat, using her brother as leverage, the girl merely lowered her head and shut her eyes.
Red drops of blood soon fell to the floor. With unfocused eyes, the girl stared at the carpet as the blood slowly pooled.

“Hey.”

“Aah!”

Belliar shoved the girl roughly to the side. Smiling faintly, she looked down at her.

“Do you know how much this carpet costs? How dare you drip your filthy blood onto it.”

Her voice was gentle, but her eyes were vicious. It seemed the carpet was something Belliar cherished greatly.
The girl quickly clutched her forehead and bowed deeply.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

“What, are you protesting because you’re bleeding? You’re not even wiping it off, just making a fuss over something so trivial.”

Belliar’s glare was filled with venom. She showed no remorse whatsoever for causing the girl to bleed.
Still covering her forehead with one hand, the girl clutched the hem of her worn clothes with the other and tried to wipe the bloodstains from the floor.

But instead of disappearing, the blood only spread darker and wider.

“Hah.”

Belliar clicked her tongue in irritation at the sight.

“Stop it. You’re only making it worse. This is a luxury item you slaves wouldn’t touch in your entire life. I paid more for it than your entire worth.”

Belliar’s giggling words filled the girl with humiliation.
That carpet beneath her feet—nothing more than an interior decoration—being worth more than her own life felt unbearably bitter.

The girl stood up with her head lowered and silently moved outside the edge of the carpet.

Belliar was upset about the ruined carpet, but she had no time to dwell on it.
The wedding was tomorrow. If she wanted that vermin-like slave to convincingly play her role, not a second could be wasted.

Suppressing her anger, Belliar stared at the girl with icy eyes.

“You’ve incurred another debt to me.”

She grinned grotesquely at the stiffened girl.

“Do it properly. Unless you want to see your innocent little brother die because of you.”

The girl closed her eyes at Belliar’s words. Her clenched fists trembled pitifully.

Why… why do you keep dragging my brother into this?!

It was unfair—yet there was only one thing she could do now.

Perfectly imitate Belliar.

I can do it… No, I have to. I must… succeed.

She reassured herself again and again.

I am Belliar Dicar. I am Belliar Dicar…

She hypnotized herself, vowing that the slave she once was no longer existed, and that she would flawlessly mimic the arrogant youngest daughter of the marquis without anyone noticing.

“Now that’s finally a look I like.”

Seeing her, Belliar smiled in satisfaction.

Knock, knock.

“My daughter.”

The marquis’s voice came from outside the door. Belliar smiled gently and replied,

“Please come in, Father.”

The marquis pushed the door open.

“I was worried, so I came to see if that lowly child was imitating you properly.”

His cold gaze swept over the girl—far harsher than when he looked at his own daughter.

Belliar glanced at the girl beside her and gave an inscrutable smile.

“Well… it’s not bad.”

The girl flinched at Belliar’s words. Just moments ago, she had been throwing things and demanding perfection, yet now she said it was “not bad.”

Is she… covering for me?

It might have been a misunderstanding, but the thought made the girl feel strangely grateful.

The marquis looked at her half-lidded, then withdrew his gaze and spoke to his daughter with concern.

“You’ll have to board a ship for a foreign country early in the morning. Why don’t you get at least a few hours of rest?”

“It’s fine, Father. I can sleep on the ship.”

At Belliar’s calm reply, tears welled in the marquis’s eyes.

“When I think of you suffering alone in a foreign land, my heart can’t be at ease.”

“Please don’t think like that. I told you before—I’ve always wanted to travel there. I’ll enjoy myself, so don’t cry.”

The marquis nodded and wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

Meanwhile, Rose lay on her bed in her room.

“Belliar…”

She murmured the name of the woman Eric was going to marry.
She felt like she had seen it in a book somewhere, yet she couldn’t remember clearly.

“Who was it again?”

Tilting her head, Rose stared at Eric’s wedding invitation.

After gazing at it for a moment, she suddenly burst into laughter.

Downstairs, Damon and Rivera heard her laughter and exchanged worried looks.

“It seems the shock was too much. She’s laughing like she’s lost her mind.”

“I told you we shouldn’t have said anything,” Damon replied with a sigh.

“No, she already knew. She even asked me first if Eric was remarrying…”

“Even so, there was no need to show her the invitation. No matter how much their feelings had faded and they divorced, finding out that her former husband is marrying another woman just three days later is quite a shock.”

Rivera drooped her head gloomily.

“You’re right… I shouldn’t have shown her. I never expected this kind of reaction.”

Rose’s laughter echoing through the mansion sounded pitiful to them—like someone with a screw loose.

But the truth was entirely different.

Rose was delighted.
She almost regretted not being able to see Doana’s face when she saw this invitation.

“Ha… seriously.”

Unaware of the concern downstairs, Rose laughed until tears gathered in her eyes, then finally caught her breath.

“What a cruel twist of fate.”

She toyed with the invitation, muttering to herself.

Rose recalled what Gyeoru had done to her in her previous life—the invitation shoved at her as if to show it off.
Inside it, her former husband Lee Dohyun was listed as the groom—marrying Gyeoru.

The shock of one’s husband marrying another woman was indescribable. And Gyeoru hadn’t even tried to hide it—she had mocked her by handing her the invitation.

If Gyeoru hadn’t gone that far, perhaps Rose wouldn’t have left her family and friends behind.

Rose let out a hollow laugh.

“How ridiculous.”

Despite the faint curve of her lips, her eyes were deeply sunken.

She stood up, placed the invitation on the desk, and left her room.

Hearing her footsteps downstairs, Damon and Rivera quickly stopped whispering.

“…Does she seem okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

They watched her carefully. Rose spoke to the Serviat couple in a bright voice.

“I’m going to take a short walk.”

“At this hour? Isn’t it too late?” Rivera exclaimed.

Outside, it was already pitch-dark.

“Yes, I just feel like walking a bit.”

Normally, Rivera would have told her to go in the morning, but given the situation, it was hard to say no.

After hesitating, she asked gently,

“Then… would you like to walk with Mom?”

Rose shook her head.

“No. I want to walk alone.”

She smiled faintly—an expression without any clear meaning, yet it looked heartbreakingly fragile to Damon and Rivera.

“All right. Don’t go too far—it’s dangerous,” Damon said in a low voice.

“Yes, I will. Don’t worry.”

Rose nodded to them and grasped the creaking door.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Without hesitation, she stepped outside.

“Our Rose… she’ll be okay, right?”

“Don’t worry. She’s not that weak.”

Though concerned, Damon tried to sound calm.

She probably needs some time alone to sort out her thoughts.

Even so, letting her go out alone late at night worried him. Still, he wanted to give her that time.

If only he knew she was walking lightly, even humming a tune, he wouldn’t have been so concerned.

Her humming rang cheerfully through the night air.

Because the Serviat estate was in a secluded area, only the sound of insects accompanied her song.

“Hm, I really want to go see Doana’s face.”

But tomorrow she already had a prior appointment.

The wedding overlapped with her meeting with Grand Duke Arteum.

There was so much to discuss as the business was finally getting underway—bringing Gwen in as financial director, choosing the department store site, deciding on brand tenants.

If this were Korea, she could have called and rescheduled, but this was a novel world.
Just exchanging letters took two or three days, and at this hour, all the shops were already closed.

Step—step.

“Is it unavoidable?”

Walking in rhythm, Rose suddenly stopped and murmured to herself.

Step.

She heard another footstep.

That was strange. She was clearly standing still—so whose footsteps were those?

Her calm expression stiffened with unease.

What… is that?

A chill crept over her. She had thought she was alone—yet she had heard footsteps again.

Lowering her gaze to the ground, Rose turned pale.

Her shadow was faintly cast on the ground.

But there wasn’t just one shadow.

Less than a meter away, another shadow was overlapping with hers.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

Since when…? I didn’t notice at all.

The fact that someone had come this close without making a sound meant they had deliberately concealed their presence.

And when she stopped moving, the person behind her also froze.

Swallowing hard, Rose clenched her fists. Her palms were slick with sweat.

Should I run? Or… scream?

Her mansion was right behind her. If she ran and got caught, it would be over—but if she screamed, the Serviat couple might hear her.

Making up her mind, Rose opened her trembling lips and shouted at the top of her lungs,

“Fire!!”

In Korea, there’s a saying: when chased by a stranger, don’t shout “Help me,” shout “Fire.”

Startled by her sudden cry, the assailant rushed forward and covered her mouth.

“Mm! Mmm!!”

Rose struggled fiercely, but her resistance stopped at the sound of a voice.

“My lady, calm down. It’s me.”

Only then did Rose look at the man’s face.

Jet-black hair and deeply sunken crimson eyes.

It was Sern, her escort knight.

When their eyes met, he gave her a playful smile.