IGMIMYS 46

~Chapter 46~

“You said we were friends, but you never once talked about yourself.”

And then Ares’s words made it even worse.

“Hey, you stupid girl. Do you really think a young master with everything would ever take you seriously?”

Ares laughed at her.

“Even if he did, so what? The Grand Duke’s family would never accept someone like you. Are you planning to live as his mistress?”

Mistress.

The baron had said the same thing. Now, thinking back, it was a terribly realistic idea.

For Camilla to be with Dane, that would have been the only way.

“You act so proud. But do you really think you could do that?”

No. Camilla knew she couldn’t do that. Realizing this, her heart felt empty.

“Anyway, the baron hasn’t completely given up on using you yet. If you beg, he’s thinking of registering you as a branch member of the Mowin family.”

Now that the baroness was completely thrown out, it would be easy to give Camilla a minor position in the family.

“Of course, you wouldn’t be allowed in society anymore. You’d just work like a slave, making medicine!”

Know your place, Yun Mira.

She heard that familiar voice buzzing in her head again.

Only now did she realize—it was her own voice.

Yun Mira’s voice, mocking herself for not knowing her place, even after being reborn, and bringing herself to ruin.

“So just hurry up and apologize to the baron, and crawl in front of me too. Because of you, my life became a mess!”

Ares’s greedy eyes looked her up and down. But something was off. Camilla wasn’t moving at all.

Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was very weak.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Ares reached through the bars and touched Camilla’s forehead.

Her forehead was burning hot.

“Damn it, what’s wrong with you?! Hey! Mari! Call the doctor!”

As darkness took over her mind again, Camilla wished she would never wake up.

But her wish didn’t come true.

When she opened her eyes again, Camilla was lying in bed, wearing hospital clothes.

‘So, they didn’t mean to kill me.’

The wet towel and the smell of medicine told her that someone had taken care of her.

Then she saw someone’s face curled up next to her bed.

‘…Sonya?’

But when the sunlight came in, she could see—it wasn’t Sonya. It was a young girl with bright blonde hair.

“…Sister? Are you awake?!”

It was Nina. Nina jumped up and hugged Camilla tightly.

‘Ah.’

“I’m so glad, sister!”

Nina.

My little sister, Nina.

The main character of this world.

Everyone loves Nina, and everyone wants to ruin her.

But now, that same Nina was hugging Camilla tight, crying with worried eyes. Normally, Camilla might have told her it was okay and patted her head.

But this time, Camilla thought—

‘I hate this girl.’

She had only just realized her feelings for Dane, and right after losing him, she heard the news about Dane’s engagement to Nina.

She knew it wasn’t Nina’s fault.

But right now, it was just too hard to look at Nina’s face.

“Sister, you were so sick… I was really worried. I thought you’d leave me…”

Camilla hated her crying little sister—this girl with good blood, the lovely girl who was now engaged to Dane.

“Don’t leave me, sister, please… don’t be sick…”

But the way Nina hugged her, holding onto her like a small bird, made Camilla love her terribly, too.

She hated herself for being jealous of a girl like this.

Nina sniffled and lifted her head.

“I… recently got engaged. I didn’t want to, but…”

“With the Grand Duke’s son?”

“…Yeah…”

Then Nina pressed a note into Camilla’s hand.

It was a little wrinkled from being held tightly. Camilla’s eyes grew wide.

“The Grand Duke’s son told me to give this to you.”

Camilla’s hand shook as she opened the note.

“At the place where you can drink the trendy iced tea,

The last day of this month, at three o’clock.”

‘Ah.’

It was really Dane’s handwriting. Camilla’s face suddenly broke into a bright smile. Her face shone brighter than ever before.

All the hatred and jealousy disappeared in a moment.

Camilla hugged Nina tightly.

“Thank you, Nina. Thank you so much!”

“It’s okay… You’re feeling better now, right, sister?”

“…Yes!”

‘Dane wants to see me.’

A light returned to Camilla’s pale face that was close to death.

But for some reason, seeing her sister’s smile made Nina uneasy.

‘Why does it feel like my sister is about to leave somewhere?’

To Camilla, who was full of despair, meeting Dane felt like a ray of light.

Even if, like Ares said, there was no future for her and Dane, she didn’t want things to end like this.

She wanted to meet him, no matter what, and know how he truly felt.

‘For that, I need to…’

As soon as she was well enough, Camilla went to find the baron in his office.

Knock, knock.

As she stepped in after knocking, the baron’s cold eyes looked at her.

Camilla quickly knelt down and lowered her head.

“I was foolish. I was wrong, Father.”

“…Hmm.”

To go outside, she first had to bow her head to the baron and get rid of her criminal status.

The baron looked displeased and pointed with his chin.

“Camilla. Why did you do such a foolish thing and frame your own father?”

‘Frame? What a joke.’

But she couldn’t show her true feelings.

She had already prepared for this, so Camilla forced herself to cry even though there were no real tears.

“…I thought you had abandoned me, Father.”

“Hm?”

“That day, I really thought you and the baroness planned to get rid of me together and blame me for kidnapping Nina.”

‘That’s probably what happened.’

Maybe they didn’t plan to kill her, but the baron had quietly agreed to the baroness’s plans to hurt her.

Otherwise, how could they explain what the burned woman said?

‘Like in the original story, maybe they just wanted to use “Camilla” as a slave who made medicine, not as a real daughter.’

Camilla looked up a little, purposely wiping at her eyes.

“You weren’t planning to abandon me, were you?”

Then something unexpected happened.

“Oh, Camilla.”

Baron Mowin got up and walked toward her, then hugged her tight.

The strong smell of tobacco on his stiff clothes was awful.

“How could I ever abandon you? You’re my daughter.”

“…But you still treat me like an illegitimate child.”

And even though he wanted her to be with Dane, he ended up matching Nina with him instead.

“No, if you came to your senses, I was planning to officially register you as a member of our family. Now that you’ve apologized, you’ve met the first condition.”

“…!”

“Now, the family’s shame has been kicked out. No one will get in the way anymore.”

Hearing him call the baroness a shame and a bother was unbelievable.

But Camilla swallowed hard.

‘If I’m officially registered…’

Would that mean there was a chance with Dane again?

She was supposed to be ashamed to join a villain’s family, but that was the first thing she thought of.

‘No, it’s not just that. If the baron let down his guard, maybe she could run away again, too.’

Anyway, being registered wasn’t a bad move.

“But to do that, you’ll have to understand the family business better.”

“…What?”

The baron pulled a rope.

A moment later, shadows moved, and men in black goat masks came out and grabbed Camilla’s arms.

‘Wait a second.’

“Father?!”

“You’ve made quite a lot of medicine by now, haven’t you?”

Camilla realized who was holding her.

‘No way…’

Black goat masks.

The family business.

‘Agents of Glamis!’

The villains she only read about in books were now grabbing her.

“But that’s not enough, my dear,” the baron said, snapping his fingers.

“Take her to ‘the worksite.’”