IVGC 16

CHAPTER 16…………………………………………………………….

“Come back home. After all, you’re the only one we have left. Your mother… she misses you very much.”

“So you’re going to put me back on the family registry?”

I asked, pretending to be slightly surprised.

Adelaide had been disowned by her family and removed from the Seaton Count’s family register.

Restoring her name would damage the authority of the head of the family.

“Ah… Adelaide.”

Count Seaton hesitated for a moment.

“You know this well. A member of the count’s family cannot… work as His Majesty’s chef. So we thought you wouldn’t want that.”

So that was the issue?

A strange anger rose within me.

Did Count Seaton and his wife think I was an idiot?

Unless I was officially reinstated in the family register, I was not a noble.

What they really wanted was for me to continue working—while still being their obedient chess piece, just like the old Adelaide.

“H-however, even if you’re not restored to the family register, you will always be our daughter. Everyone in the Empire will know that!”

Yes. They had always been like this.

From the moment their late-born son was born, Adelaide had been nothing more than a useful chess piece.

‘How pitiful.’

I muttered inwardly.

The original Adelaide in the novel likely never realized what she truly meant to her parents until the moment she died.

Glancing sideways, I saw quite a large crowd of onlookers had gathered.

I took a deep breath.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

To sever all ties with Count Seaton’s family once and for all.

And to clean up all the atrocities Adelaide had been blamed for until now.

“After being cast out of my home like that, I finally realized what kind of person I was.”

“Adelaide.”

There was hope in Count Seaton’s voice.

“Yes, given the situation, we had no choice but to disown you. But now that you seem to have properly reflected…”

“I was just a fool who obeyed only my father’s orders.”

The Count wasn’t the only one shocked.

Whispers spread through all the nobles around us.

After regaining his composure with difficulty, Count Seaton swallowed and spoke.

“What…?”

I shrugged.

“I said exactly what I meant. I was a fool. I shouldn’t have listened to my father and bullied Lady Sabrina… why did I even do that?”

“Adelaide, what are you saying!”

“You told me to do it, didn’t you? At the ball—you told me to humiliate Lady Sabrina and throw wine in her face. Don’t you remember, Father?”

“T-that is!”

Count Seaton stammered in panic.

But only for a moment.

He quickly regained his composure and began spouting blatant lies.

“Adelaide, there were more than ten witnesses to your misconduct that day. And now you dare try to pin your own wrongdoing on your old father… have you lost your mind?”

“Well…”

I chose my words slowly.

“If you hadn’t told me in advance, how would I have even known Lady Sabrina would be attending that ball?”

“Of course you wouldn’t have known. You thought she wouldn’t attend, but when she unexpectedly showed up, you got angry and harmed her, didn’t you?”

For a moment, I was speechless.

In the novel, Count Seaton himself had handed Adelaide the invitation to the ball and told her exactly what she had to do.

He had even placed a specially prepared bottle of wine in her hands, insisting she use it.

‘Yes, that’s it!’

I glared at Count Seaton.

His shameless gaze met mine without a hint of guilt.

“I find it fascinating that you say that, considering you personally chose the wine I was supposed to use on Lady Sabrina. You even secretly mixed in a skin-irritating substance…”

Count Seaton’s face turned pale blue.

“What slander is this…! It was perfectly ordinary wine. Unfortunately, Lady Sabrina just happened to be allergic to grapes from that region.”

“I had been holding back all this time for your sake, Father, but I can’t anymore. You only told me after Lady Sabrina fell ill—that the wine had been mixed with a strong dyeing poison.”

I continued slowly, enjoying the Count’s frozen reaction.

“How exactly was I supposed to obtain such a substance?”

Now it was Count Seaton’s turn to be speechless.

I suppressed a smile.

The foolish Adelaide had been completely used by her father, yet she never once spoke out.

But I was different.

Unlike that pitiful girl, I felt no affection for the man in front of me.

This was a decisive move to destroy what little reputation Count Seaton had left.

“Although it’s late, I would like to sincerely apologize to Lady Sabrina. Even if I acted under my father’s orders, I cannot deny my own wrongdoing. Furthermore, if Lady Sabrina agrees, I would like to request a full reinvestigation of this matter.”

A wave of commotion spread among the nobles.

If I had only accused Count Seaton, they would have treated this as mere gossip.

But a request to reopen a settled case?

If I were found guilty again, the punishment could be even greater. This was no empty threat.

Naturally, their perception changed.

“Adelaide…!”

Count Seaton called out to me in a flustered voice.

“Didn’t you already admit everything you did? And now you’re changing your story? Have you completely lost your mind?”

I stared straight at him.

I had so much I wanted to say.

No.

The one who had lost her mind was the old Adelaide who wanted to be loved by someone like him.

What right did he have to speak, after abandoning a devoted daughter like that?

But I swallowed those words quietly.

What mattered now was not emotional release.

“Father.”

I called him softly.

“What I am requesting a reinvestigation for is not just that incident. For example… the greenhouse…”

“…!”

I saw Count Seaton’s pupils shake, clearly understanding the implication immediately.

The Seaton estate’s greenhouse grew various poisonous plants.

Count Seaton had used Adelaide to distribute those plants to various noble houses.

Adelaide had not known how or where they would be used.

She had simply obeyed her father’s orders.

And I, too, had no idea where those poisonous plants had gone.

But I could easily imagine how much trouble a formal investigation would cause for Count Seaton.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

“What do you want? Are you trying to be reinstated into the family register now?”

“No.”

I smiled sweetly.

“Just don’t bother me again. If you keep that promise, there’s no need to dig up the past with a reinvestigation.”

I decided to take a step back.

A full investigation would hurt Count Seaton significantly—but it would also hurt me.

If I had nothing at all, that would be one thing. But now I was the Emperor’s personal chef.

There was no need to give up such a sweet position for a risky gamble.

“Very well. If that is what you want, I will never seek you out again. However…”

Count Seaton’s icy voice echoed through the corridor.

“Even if you are briefly in the spotlight, you are nothing more than a mere cook. You will soon learn how difficult it is to live your entire life as a commoner chef.”

With that, he turned and left down the corridor.

“….”

As I stood momentarily dazed, the nobles began whispering again.

“Something felt off… so the Count was using his daughter.”

“Indeed. To think he would do such a thing… I suppose if she wasn’t the heir, it didn’t matter what happened to her.”

“How terrifying. We should never send invitations to the Seaton family again. Who knows what might happen if we do?”