Chapter 104

“What? Sister…”

“You framed me and trapped me, and almost getting me divorced wasn’t enough for you?”

“Sister, I didn’t do that! You know that!”

“It doesn’t matter who you are—mmph!”

Linus covered Grace’s mouth. Startled, Marquis Seymour stepped between them and shouted,

“Don’t touch my daughter!”
“She’s the one who started talking rudely. Don’t act like a victim.”

Marquis Seymour supported Grace, who was gasping for breath. Hyunji softly said, “Father…” with teary eyes. Whenever she called him like that, acting pitiful, he always dropped everything to come to her—like the kind father she had always wanted—hugging her tightly and saying, “My dear youngest, what’s making you so sad?”

She believed without doubt that, although he loved Grace, “Father” loved her the most. That’s why she was shocked when “Father” didn’t even look at her.

“Father…?”
“I have no reason to be called that by you.”

That person? No reason?

Finally, Marquis Seymour looked at her. Just as Hyunji had first felt, he clearly separated Florence from an “outsider.” His cold gaze was directed at her like she was something lower than a stranger—like he was looking at filthy trash.

Marquis Seymour glanced at Linus, who was clearly displeased beside the shocked Hyunji. No matter if Linus had been disowned by Lindquist and lost the crown prince’s trust, he was still Marquis Baldwin and the kingdom’s strongest knight. Sensing the tension, Marquis Seymour added,

“You are not a Seymour. And you are not my daughter. There’s no need to continue this meaningless act.”

Hyunji opened her mouth, then silently closed it.

“You should leave now.”

At that moment, Grace burst into tears and shouted,

“How can you just send her away like this? You should make her fix this!”
“Sister, why are you treating me like this…”
“Hah, no matter what’s inside you, your habit of treating people like criminals hasn’t changed?”

Linus warned,

“Watch your mouth. She is the marquis’s wife.”
“I’m a marquis’s wife too!”
“A former one. Or have you not started the divorce yet?”
“And whose fault is that?!”
“Your own, isn’t it?”

Linus shrugged mockingly.

“No one told you to kill people or live a debauched life.”
“I didn’t live a debauched life! I picked partners who wouldn’t cause trouble and made sure they were dead myself!”

Marquis Seymour rubbed his forehead and sighed.

“That’s not the point right now, Grace.”
“You knew everything! You knew and turned a blind eye!”
“…”
“You told me to clean it up so nothing would get out!”

Grace felt it was unfair. This really wasn’t her fault.

It was common among nobles for a woman to have lovers before marriage. If they worked as a magician, spirit user, or knight, people were even more understanding, since they served the kingdom and royal family.

And she had no reason to take responsibility for quarrels between a few commoners. She had never personally committed an illegal killing. So when a maid acted on her own out of loyalty and a lover from before marriage had a tragic accident, she couldn’t accept being treated like she planned it.

“Give it back!”
“What? I didn’t take anything!”
“You did! You took magic away from me and Father!”

Hyunji looked at them in surprise.

“How can you take magic away?”
“I don’t know, but who else could have done it but you!”

Linus studied them closely. Marquis Seymour and Grace, who used to glare and posture during arguments, couldn’t move a single thread of magic now. They were completely still.

Without power, words were just empty bluff. Holding their heads high and pretending to be strong only made them look like barking puppies to Linus.

Sensing Linus’s scornful gaze, Grace snapped,

“It’s your fault, isn’t it? You made me and Father end up like this!”
“No, Sister, why would you say that…”
“Ahh!”
“You can’t possibly have lost your magic. You must be mistaken. Who could even do such a thing? Suddenly not being able to use what you always could is strange…”

Linus leaned toward Hyunji and whispered,

“It’s Laila Green’s doing.”
“That woman again?”

How had Florence managed to get that woman on her side?

Magic was as natural as breathing—like using wings you were born with. For Hyunji, if she decided she could do it, she could.

Yes, definitely.

“What?”

While Hyunji froze, Marquis Seymour sighed, understanding the situation. Just dealing with Grace was exhausting enough.

Maybe it was a good thing Florence had become “normal.” If they announced it was all a misunderstanding and their relationship was good, at least the rumor of abusing her sister could be cleared. But with Grace’s current state, that act was impossible.

For Marquis Seymour, his children were most important—the son and daughter left by his late wife. Compared to Grace, the “Florence” before him, who had once received a little affection, was just an outsider.

“She’s no longer a Seymour.”

The “Florence” who now bore the Baldwin name could no longer bring any glory to the Seymour family.

If she was as powerless as the old Florence, there was even less reason to care.

‘Even strangers make the same resentful face.’

Seeing it reminded him of the old Florence, which made it unpleasant.

Sensing the cold distance in Marquis Seymour’s eyes, Hyunji spoke nervously,

“I think it’s best if you leave. We have enough of our own problems.”

Without magic, he could no longer work as a royal magician. His daughter was about to be divorced. His son was missing with no contact. The Seymour family had no territory, living off inherited wealth and business. Though they still had money, public opinion might soon make it impossible to live comfortably in Redamas.

A stranger had stolen his late wife’s heirloom—a Seymour treasure—right from his hands. And he had lost it to a mere Class 1 Lightning spell, which was humiliating enough. Even worse, the one who took it was the useless Florence.

Florence had looked down on him with cold eyes, not trembling or crying, but as if it were just a necessary step.

The voice of the little girl who used to follow him calling “Father” had always felt unpleasant… yet now he couldn’t stop remembering it.

If she had just hated and resented him, he could have easily cut ties forever.

Florence had brought them down while acting like it was just procedure. That was exactly what they had always wanted from her.

Not being able to love her was no sin—it was simply that she wasn’t the kind of child you could love.

But once Florence became someone else, they couldn’t say anything to her.

Who was it that had been spilling all the resentment?

A cold realization passed through his mind.