Chapter 72

Grace had long understood how much “words” could influence people, so she used them as her weapon.

In both magic and the social world, words were a very powerful weapon. She loved watching people stumble around just because of something she said.

She planted words in people’s minds, manipulated them cleverly, and if someone was annoying, she took care of them without anyone noticing.

This was something her late mother had taught her:

People hate mean children. If people hate you, you won’t be able to do what you want. So what kind of person do people like? They like people who treat them well and benefit them. And they trust those people.

Then, I just need to make them think that way.

Even before Florence changed, Grace had still disliked her.

She didn’t whine, and she was stupid in an obvious way, which made her easy to overlook…

But “Florence” received so much love and attention. After the change, she gained many talents and became far superior to Grace. Grace hated it. The only tolerable part was how “Florence” treated her with affection and acted submissive.

If Grace couldn’t escape being a 5th-class mage, she could at least get a strong tool.

But I failed…

Grace had long favored Lishi. She could anticipate Grace’s wishes and, as long as she was paid enough, never refused a job. Naturally sly and cruel, she enjoyed using Grace’s influence to bully other servants.

But Lishi wasn’t refined enough to keep around forever, and more importantly, she knew too much about Grace.

I was so young back then.

To Grace, Lishi symbolized the raw, ugly parts of her childhood that she didn’t want to remember. She didn’t doubt Lishi’s loyalty, but as an adult, she no longer wanted her around.

When she worked as a royal court mage, it was convenient—there were plenty of annoying people.

She had ordered Lishi to steal the heirloom Grandmother had left Florence as a test—to decide if she would take her along after her marriage. She hadn’t expected much, but if Lishi succeeded, she would still be useful.

Lishi failed. There had been some small incidents along the way, but nothing worth worrying about—Lishi usually cleaned things up. Grace was disappointed but decided to abandon her at the mansion as punishment.

If only I had gotten Grandmother’s staff… I could have wielded the power of a 6th-class mage…

She wasted a precious teleport scroll, and even now, she regretted it. She had spent a fortune to make sure the Marquis didn’t notice.

Grace could not stand being inferior to Florence in any way.

Luckily, “Florence” was too stupid to know the value of the treasure she held. She only cared about men. She even made a contract with a great spirit that some kingdoms worship as a god and easily used 6th-class magic Grace could never master—yet she didn’t even realize how blessed she was. To her, all of it was just decoration to stand beside Linus.

It’s nice when someone pretty and stupid smiles, but knowing I’m inferior to her twists my insides.

After her marriage, Grace distanced herself from her family.

Though her husband wasn’t as powerful as Linus, the Marquis had carefully chosen him—a wealthy cadet royal. And he was very, very kind. Grace preferred kind, manageable men over difficult ones like Linus.

Her husband firmly believed she was a good and wise person. Society thought the same. She was known as a capable royal court mage who could tell witty jokes and, like the Marquis, showed mercy to those beneath her.

Grace liked people who were completely obedient or completely stupid.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

On the other hand, she hated people like Florence, who never gave up and always argued. Florence had cried loudly as a baby, and as she grew, she yelled at Grace constantly. Grace hated noise.

“What do I have to do to be forgiven? I’ll do anything you want, just tell me.”

“Your very existence is a sin. What can you do about that?”

“I didn’t choose to be born!”

True, she couldn’t have chosen…

Grace liked how Florence was helpless before her, like a trapped animal unable to escape.

Florence had inherited the traits of their mother—dark brown hair, pale blue eyes, stubbornly closed lips, and a tear-streaked face.

Grace had not.

“Florence” once said:

“Everything was destined, sister. Someone decided I would be loved by you, brother, and father like this. The past doesn’t matter.”

“Who would decide something like that?”

“Who knows? But I’m not the same as before, and I love my family now!”

When “Florence” spoke so brightly, Blake and the Marquis’s faces softened. Grace saw “Florence” smile proudly at that.

“Please forgive who I used to be. It was all my fault. I’m sure my kind family had a hard time dealing with me. Why was I like that! I’ll do better now. So let’s forget it all and just live happily.”

“Shall we?”

“Sister wouldn’t hate me for no reason. Brother and Father wouldn’t either. It must have been my fault. I was really wrong. I’m sorry.”

The apology was so light and easy Grace nearly burst out laughing.

Wrong? What wrong?

Florence had done nothing wrong. The two men of the Seymour family found her awkward because they knew that truth. Unlike Grace.

“It was all necessary. To ask for everyone’s forgiveness and live happily. It was all destined.”

Necessary. Destined. How convenient.

Grace recalled those words “Florence” used so often and looked at her reflection in the mirror. The woman there resembled her father, with her sharp features, long neck, tall height, and slender limbs, giving her a cold air when she didn’t smile.

Florence’s words were foolish, but destiny or not, nothing changes.

There had never been a reason from the start.

“If only there had been such a thing, Florence…”

The question Florence had desperately begged to be answered had no answer from the beginning.

Just as “Florence” had said, maybe it had been decided before she was even born.

But the one who had decided it was Grace.

“Ma, ma! Ma!”

“Yes, my son. My sunshine. You’re awake?”

“Mama.”

Her two-year-old son was warm and soft-skinned. Grace held him and remembered Grandmother’s warning with a smile.

There’s nothing to regret. No punishment to fear. I won.