MPNV 18

~Chapter 18~

“You’re grounded for a month.”

Count Herolds, who’d been busy and only returned home a week after the debutante, gave Aveline her punishment for the incident that day.

“But that young lady started it…!”

“Enough. How much more embarrassment do you want me to suffer?”

Aveline tried to argue, but her father cut her off immediately.

“Father, don’t you think this is a bit much…?”
Ares tried to help, but was also silenced by his father’s cold stare.

“Nonsense. And Ares, from now on, you’ll come with me to the council chamber. His Majesty and Marquis Nor seem to think highly of you.”

“But—”

“It starts tomorrow. Be ready.”

Count Herolds was about to leave, but stopped as if he’d remembered something.

Aveline hoped, for just a moment, that maybe he would change his mind about the punishment. But those hopes were quickly crushed.

“Actually, I’ve changed my mind. Make it two months. Keep an eye on Aveline so she doesn’t leave the house.”

“…Understood.”

Only after leaving these instructions with the butler did Count Herolds leave the parlor completely.

While Aveline spent two months under the butler’s watch, Ares built up his reputation as a promising young noble of the Emperor’s faction.

People who used to gossip and compare the twins slowly stopped mentioning Aveline at all. Everywhere Ares went, he was praised.

It was as if no one even thought to compare the two of them anymore.

Instead, all eyes were on Ares—watching, judging if he was really as impressive as his reputation.

Because of this, Ares became more sensitive about how people saw him.

Aveline, on the other hand, shrank further into herself.

Even after her punishment ended, she couldn’t bring herself to go out.

People have probably just now forgotten about the debutante scandal. If I go out again, will it all just come up again and embarrass Father?

She remembered how pleased her father looked every time someone talked about Ares’s good reputation.

I want Father to be proud of me too.

For now, I’ll just keep quiet and try to find a way to earn Father’s trust. Maybe then, when I show myself again, it won’t cause him trouble.

But since no one paid attention to Aveline, she had nothing she could really show.
Tired of waiting for an opportunity, she ended up staying in her room, reading novels to pass the time.

As Aveline remembered the past, her eyes snapped open.

The reason she’d felt so nervous seeing Serbell and the group of young ladies earlier was because one of them had once insulted her at the debutante.

It was Melina Srun, the eldest daughter of the Srun Count family.

At first, Aveline didn’t recognize her because she was focused on whether Serbell might recognize her. But then she felt a piercing stare and realized it was Melina.

She first thought Melina had recognized her, even with her face hidden. But soon, she realized that look was for another reason.

Melina, who’d shown no interest in the strange-hat-wearing girl, suddenly started glaring after Ares spoke to Aveline.

The emotion in her eyes was obvious: jealousy.

There were plenty of young ladies who liked Ares.
He was one of the Empire’s three most handsome men and a promising young noble.

Even Aveline had to admit he was someone everyone would want as a husband.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Melina was jealous.

But something about Melina’s actions back then had been odd.

No matter how much she liked Ares, it was strange for her to insult Aveline so harshly when they’d barely ever spoken.

Could it be…?

Aveline remembered reading in novels about girls taking out their anger on others after getting rejected by the boy they liked.

Did she ask Ares to dance and get rejected that day?

It made sense. There had been other young ladies who, after being rejected by Ares, would pick fights with Aveline.

But none of them had ever gone as far as Melina did.

To plot behind her back and cause trouble—Aveline had only read about that sort of thing in books.

And to think I was the victim!

Even today, Melina had glared at Aveline just because Ares talked to her.
It was clear she’d hate anyone who got close to Ares.

That’s some twisted obsession.

“If it were me, I’d have tried to get on my good side instead. That way, you’d get to see Ares more.”

Other girls who’d gotten mad at Aveline soon realized it was easier to be friendly with her—since she was Ares’s twin.

“What an idiot. Does she really think glaring at me will get her any closer to Ares?”

Aveline grew angrier the more she thought about it.

“It’s even more annoying. I stayed inside for four years because of something so stupid?”

“If I see her again, she’s dead.”

Aveline clenched her fists in determination.

“I’ll stick to Ares like glue just to annoy her.”

“Hehehe…”

Aveline pictured Melina shaking with anger and smiled mischievously—a face that didn’t suit her gentle appearance.

She’d read plenty of stories where the main character gets back at a bully even worse.

Now, the idea of getting revenge made her a little excited.

All that’s left is to try it for real.

But another problem remained.

“But what am I supposed to do about this?”

Aveline put a hand on her stomach.

Even if she could handle Melina, she still didn’t know how to deal with Theron, who even chased her into her dreams.

Theron’s magic stone was supposed to be inside her, but she couldn’t feel a thing under her skin.

“He’s not going to leave me alone until I fix this.”

Judging by how Theron acted, he’d follow her everywhere—dreams and reality—until he got it back.

“As if he just happened to pass by…”

Remembering how he showed up at the dessert shop earlier, she knew he’d come looking for her on purpose.

If this was a novel, Theron would be the possessive, obsessive male lead—but he was really after his magic stone, or more specifically, the magic inside it.

In a way, he was just obsessed with himself, which made him more of a narcissist.

“Should I just cut open my stomach and get it over with?”

He said he was good at it, after all.

But she doubted he’d give up until he got the stone back.

Still, she couldn’t just agree to have her belly cut open so easily.

“No, my life is important.”

She almost let her feelings carry her away for a moment.

After Theron suggested surgery, she’d read medical books—but the list of complications had terrified her.

No one in the Empire had ever fully succeeded in such a surgery.

She didn’t know the limits of Theron’s abilities, either, and she wasn’t about to trust her life to someone who wasn’t even a real doctor.

With only one life, she couldn’t agree so lightly.

“Is he going to chase me into my dreams tonight too?”

Even saying it out loud, she knew it was likely—Theron didn’t seem ready to give up.

“Haa…”

Getting mixed up with a weird duke, not even being able to sleep in peace—Aveline felt sorry for herself.

What was the point of having a powerful magic stone in her body if she couldn’t use it?

“It’s just unfair.”

Aveline got up and took a determined pose.

“Hmm. Focus your energy in your core…”

She’d read in books that you could sometimes use power that way.

But in those stories, there was always someone to help.

“Close your eyes and feel the energy inside your body!”

Or,

“If your fingertip even brushes it, I’ll praise you, rookie.”

But Aveline had no one like that.

Remembering scenes from supernatural stories, she tried to sense Theron’s magic in her body.

Gather the energy. Gather the energy…

Then, as seriously as she could, she pointed her hands at the closed window.

“Hiya!”

Of course, nothing happened.

“Ugh, really?”

Reality was nothing like books.

She was feeling embarrassed when—

“Aaaaaaah!”

Ares came running in, pale-faced and clutching his pillow.