OYVT 12

Chapter 12

“Zachary, you said you had something to tell me.”

So stop fighting with Eustace and come over here. I don’t want to be humiliated.

Whether he understood the hidden meaning or not, Zachary shot Eustace a fierce glare before ending the standoff and walking toward Yurita.

Eustace pressed his lips tightly together and disappeared back into the banquet hall.

Zachary stopped in front of Yurita and crossed his arms with a dissatisfied expression. But his eyes were carefully examining her face.

Yurita stared elsewhere with a hardened expression. She looked like she didn’t even want to make eye contact with him.

Snowflakes began drifting in one by one through the windows of the outdoor corridor.

Zachary spoke first.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“What?”

“I asked if you’re cold.”

“I am. So if you have something to say, say it quickly.”

Suddenly, Zachary took off his jacket and held it out to her.

“What’s this?”

When Yurita didn’t take it, Zachary tried to drape it over her shoulders himself.

That only made her angrier. Yurita smacked his arm away hard, and the jacket fell to the floor.

“Ah…!”

Yurita groaned.

His arm had been so solid that although she was the one who hit him away, her own wrist throbbed painfully. She had clearly sprained it.

As Yurita clutched her wrist, Zachary moved closer again. Finally, a sharp cry burst from her stinging throat.

“Don’t come near me!”

“You sprained your wrist. Let me see.”

“Who do you think you are? Why are you suddenly pretending to care now? Stop acting one way and then another—you’re confusing people!”

“What exactly are you dissatisfied with?”

“Dissatisfied? I’m dissatisfied with all of this! Marrying you, and the fact that you’ve neglected this marriage endlessly!”

“I let you hold the banquet like you wanted, and I even attended it.”

“Yeah, an hour late. The ladies already knew you hadn’t attended our wedding. Do you know how much they must’ve mocked me inside their heads again, you bastard?!”

“That’s why I warned them. I told them not to pay attention to stupid rumors like that.”

“But they aren’t rumors—they’re true! And on top of that, in the middle of the banquet with the imperial family watching, you were thinking about kissing me… Do you have even the slightest respect for me? Are you out of your mind, treating me like some woman off the streets?!”

“I wasn’t treating you like that. I wasn’t actually going to do it.”

“No, I don’t believe you. Who knows if you really would have? You’re Zachary Killaster!”

The most terrifying villain in this world.

Yurita wiped away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and forced herself to speak calmly.

“I’m going back to my room. You handle the rest of the banquet, Duke Killaster.”

“…Feels like we’re not done talking yet.”

“I’m done.”

Yurita turned and began walking away. When Zachary tried to follow her, she stopped and glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Don’t follow me. I’ll kill you.”

At those words, Zachary hesitated. Before he could stop her, Yurita disappeared like the wind.

“I’ll kill you…?”

Chuckling in disbelief, Zachary picked up the jacket from the floor.

Snowflakes slowly settled onto his shoulders one by one.

***

The next morning.

Swish. Swish.

Servants’ brooms swept away piles of snow gathered in front of the Killaster estate.

Outside, the pumpkins from last night’s party—each carved with different expressions—were piled up together. Crows landed atop them, pecking at the leftovers.

Among the crows, a tiny white ghost could occasionally be seen fluttering playfully around the pumpkins.

“The praise for yesterday’s banquet has been overwhelming, my lady. Especially the pumpkins hanging from the ceiling… everyone loved them!”

The butler Toby spoke while barely concealing his pride.

Yurita weakly stirred the eggs and scones on her breakfast plate with a fork. Since her injured wrist happened to be her right one, she was awkwardly using her left hand even though she wasn’t left-handed.

“That’s good to hear. You worked hard hollowing out all those pumpkins, Toby.”

“Ah, it was nothing. It was fun giving them all different expressions. Though, since the master dislikes banquets so much, I was surprised he attended yesterday—”

Toby quickly shut his mouth after sensing the sudden shift in Yurita’s mood.

‘This is… the kind of atmosphere where you die if you keep talking!’

With forty years of experience as a butler, Toby knew exactly when to retreat and stay quiet.

‘I thought things between the two of them had gotten a little better…’

After all, they had even danced together yesterday.

Just then, speak of the devil—when Yurita barely managed to put a piece of egg into her mouth, Zachary entered the dining room wearing a robe.

“Oh.”

The sound slipped naturally from Zachary’s lips when he saw Yurita. Yurita, still holding the fork between her lips, stared back at him without moving.

Silence filled the room.

Trying to ease the tension, Toby asked Zachary,

“Master, shall I prepare your breakfast?”

“I’ll eat here.”

“Pardon? Here?”

The moment Zachary sat across from Yurita at the table, Yurita slammed down her fork and stood up.

“Toby, please prepare the carriage like I asked this morning.”

“Yes, my lady.”

With her hair swaying behind her, Yurita strode out of the room.

Watching her until she disappeared, Zachary slowly raised one eyebrow.

“Hey.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Does that woman look angry to you?”

“There seems to be no other explanation besides anger.”

Toby heard his master click his tongue.

‘To think he’s actually asking about someone else’s feelings. You really do live to see everything.’

Toby thought quietly to himself.

Zachary ruffled his hair as though he had a headache, then ignored the breakfast Toby had prepared and said,

“Prepare a horse. I’m going into town.”

“Yes, Master.”

Meanwhile.

Yurita sat inside the rattling carriage.

‘It’s not like I had anywhere specific to go.’

She had simply felt an overwhelming urge to get out of that house.

The shabby house she used to live in had already been sold by Baron Cinet, and there was no one close to her in this novel world anyway.

‘Ah, Theo.’

Then she thought of her younger brother.

Ever since leaving him with Baron Cinet, things had been so chaotic that she hadn’t gone to see him.

‘Maybe I should visit him.’

It was also the perfect excuse to leave.

If she ran into Zachary at the estate even one more time today, who knew what kind of disaster would unfold?

‘…I told the villain I hated marrying him.’

How would Zachary retaliate? Was this the beginning of the scenario where he locked his wife away and neglected her?

‘Absolutely not.’

Before Zachary could make up his mind, Yurita decided to leave first.

According to the letters she’d received, Baron Cinet had sent Theo to a boarding school in the capital.

It was an excellent school attended only by prestigious noble children. Academically rigorous, with a strong faculty.

‘Since when did that miserly baron start spending money on us?’

Yurita could vividly picture Baron Cinet looking pleased that her wedding hadn’t cost him a penny.

“My lady, we’ve arrived.”

At the coachman’s call, Yurita checked the fit of her red dress.

‘…I do like black and red, but this is getting tiring.’

Every dress provided by the Killaster estate was one of those two colors.

‘What strange taste.’

Yurita—who herself had bizarre occult tastes—shook her head as she stepped out of the carriage.

The distant sounds of children laughing and playing drifted through the air.

‘Looks like it’s a decent school.’

Theo was ten years old.

An age where many children still hadn’t lost their innocence.

‘I wonder if he adapted well. That’s reassuring—’

Just as she was looking around the school grounds—

“S-stop it!”

‘Huh? That’s Theo’s voice.’

Sensing the desperation in his voice, Yurita hurried toward the alley where the sound came from.

The sight that greeted her left her utterly shocked.

“Hey! This bastard’s crying again. This damn loser never stops crying.”

“Crybaby Theo, why’d you even come to school? You’ve got no money and your family’s ruined.”

Theo was surrounded by boys around his size.

One of his shoes had been taken off.

The other children were tossing Theo’s shoe around like a ball.

It looked like he had already been harassed in other ways too—one of the buttons on his shirt had been ripped off, leaving it hanging loose.

Something inside Yurita snapped.

It was probably her patience.