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Chapter 14
There was only circumstantial evidence.
But why was I so certain?
At my question, Father slowly shook his head.
“I questioned her myself as well, but even after taking the truth serum, she denied everything.”
Truth serum was an extremely expensive drug traded for astronomical amounts of money, and its effectiveness was unquestionable.
If someone gave false testimony under its effects, it was only possible if they truly believed the lie themselves.
Even hypnosis could be detected, so making someone lie after taking truth serum was no simple matter.
“For now, I understand.”
The moment the investigation started closing in, the culprit suddenly appeared as if they had been waiting for it.
Whether it was truly the truth or not… only time would tell.
“Even so, you must not lower your guard, Sierra.”
Perhaps Father also felt uneasy deep down, because he added that warning afterward.
“Yes, I’ll be careful.”
Even during the tea party earlier, I had not eaten a single cookie.
Even the fragrant tea placed before me looked like poison.
Without realizing it, the trauma had already settled deep inside me.
And it would likely remain there for quite some time.
Seeing my expression, Father spoke quietly.
“Sierra, I will repay them twice over for what you suffered.”
“Yes. I won’t stay still either. I must have inherited that from you, Father. I’m very good at paying people back.”
Whether Hilda was truly the culprit…
Or whether it was Aunt, whom my suspicions pointed toward.
Either way was fine.
I would only be satisfied after repaying them twice over.
As Father and daughter exchanged cold smiles, only Arzen trembled slightly while standing between us.
“You look absolutely beautiful, Miss.”
The maids stepped back after adjusting the lace and let out admiring sighs one after another.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
Madam Cadil’s dress was far more beautiful than I had imagined.
It was not simply visually stunning. Every detail looked as though it had been carefully designed solely for me.
My honey-colored blonde hair looked even brighter against the black top, and the corsage matched my pink eyes so perfectly that it looked like a real flower.
Most of all, the layered red lace flowing along the hem added elegance instead of looking excessive, exactly as I had hoped.
But more than that…
‘Once properly dressed up, I look like a completely different person.’
I had already been fairly satisfied with my appearance before, but the person in the mirror now was so beautiful that I almost wanted to ask who she was.
The makeup itself was light and natural, yet I could believe Nella had cast magic with her hands.
“Your complexion improves more and more every day, and you’ve gained weight too. Soon no one in the Empire will be able to compare to you.”
“I want to paint you immediately and stare at it forever…”
The maids proudly praised their young lady while dabbing tears from the corners of their eyes.
Perhaps because they had watched me grow up for so many years, they seemed even more emotional.
“Looking at you now, you truly resemble your mother.”
“That’s true. Lady Sionera was known as the greatest beauty in the Empire, and you resemble her so much.”
I looked like Mother?
Long ago, I had once seen her portrait in the room at the end of the hallway, the one now covered with white cloth.
A dazzlingly beautiful woman smiling brightly beside Father while holding baby me in her arms.
Since the portrait was the only thing I had of her, I only knew her smiling face.
My own expressionless face in the mirror did not seem nearly as lovely, so I had never thought we resembled each other.
‘But maybe… we do look a little alike.’
According to Nella and the other maids who had served here for many years, she had been a warm and cheerful person who made everyone smile just by looking at her.
But she passed away from illness when I was too young, leaving me without even a single memory of her.
“She loved you very much, Miss.”
“She never wanted to be apart from you for even a moment.”
“She always whispered how much she loved you…”
Whenever I heard stories about Mother like this, my heart felt strangely warm.
Because hearing about such unconditional love was something I had never experienced even in my previous life.
[You take her! I don’t need her anymore!]
[Why me? If you hate raising her so much, then leave her with your younger sister! Didn’t she say her shop needed extra hands?!]
For a brief moment, memories from my previous life filled my head with the sharp and loud voices of a man and woman screaming at each other.
I laughed softly.
“I wish I could meet our mother someday.”
At my words, the maids fell silent for a moment with emotional expressions on their faces.
Perhaps they missed her just as much as I did.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Miss, the Young Master of Carsian has arrived to escort you.”
At the butler’s words, I turned around and replied,
“Tell him to come in.”
His timing was perfect, arriving just as I finished getting ready.
“Excuse me.”
The doors slowly opened alongside a deep, pleasant voice.
The moment I saw the man standing there, I was startled.
“…Lady Sierra?”
Without any prior discussion, Ludwig was wearing clothes that matched mine perfectly as though we had planned it together.
A face so unreal that I could completely understand why even someone as proud as Zeria had admired him since childhood.
He also seemed slightly surprised.
“How strange. We went to different salons and never discussed it, yet it looks like we’re wearing a matching set…”
Even after my words, Ludwig remained speechless for several moments.
What was this reaction? Was he not surprised because of the matching dress code?
Tilting my head slightly, I called out to him.
“Young Master?”
“Ah.”
Only then did his beautiful voice return.
“You are so beautiful that I momentarily lost my words.”
It was such an honest expression without even a trace of exaggeration that I became embarrassed instead.
What was this? You were not supposed to be the type to say romantic things like that.
Ludwig kept surprising me by acting differently from the person I thought I knew.
He held out his strong arm toward me.
“Shall we go together, Sierra?”
“Of course, Ludwig.”
Was it just my imagination, or did the way he kept calling me by my name sound like he was secretly complaining about why I would not call him by his?
Without realizing it, I called his name as well while taking his arm.
At that, the corners of his lips curved upward in satisfaction.
For some reason, the heat in the air suddenly felt stronger, and I lightly fanned myself as we left the room together.
It happened while Ludwig and I were walking down the stairs.
“Sister?”
A familiar voice came from behind us.
Zeria, dressed in dazzling luxury, approached while linking arms with Callic.
Zeria forced herself to hide her twisted expression as she slowly looked me up and down.
“You really prepared a lot since you’re attending as the Young Master’s partner… Your makeup looks so natural that people might mistake it for real skin.”
‘Your complexion is terrible, Sister. Men don’t like skin that pale.’
I suddenly remembered what Zeria once said in the past.
Now, however, a soft blush filled my cheeks with life, and no one would think I looked sick anymore.
It seemed Zeria believed makeup was hiding everything.
The maids had insisted there was barely anything to fix about my skin, so if even Zeria reacted like this, then perhaps I truly had improved a lot.
Since I saw my own face every day, I had not realized the difference myself.
“Thank you, Zeria. As you know, my skin is sensitive, so I couldn’t wear much makeup at all. Hearing you say that actually makes me shy.”
Instead of reacting to her obvious sarcasm, I answered brightly with a smile.
Zeria bit her lip hard.
“So you ended up attending with Brother Callic after all. Since you only recently returned from the Academy, I suppose it wasn’t easy finding a partner?”
At my words, Zeria looked resentfully at Ludwig standing beside me.
The perfect man looked at her with an indifferent face.
The moment their eyes met, Zeria immediately looked away.
Her ears turned bright red, revealing exactly what was on her mind.
“Y-Young Master. I heard my sister caused you a great deal of trouble before. I also heard that you saved my precious sister’s life.”
What?
Precious sister?
Had she eaten something strange?
Even Callic stared at her like he could not believe what he was hearing.
Only Zeria continued speaking to Ludwig with shameless confidence.
“I truly wish to repay you somehow… But my sister is too shy to express such things properly. So perhaps I could repay you on her behalf—”
“I have already received more than enough repayment from Lady Sierra.”
“What?”
“For two entire days, she is giving all of her time to me. That is the repayment I wanted. It is something no one else can replace, something only Lady Sierra can give.”
As he spoke, Ludwig deliberately raised the hand he was holding with mine.
“I was greedy and received repayment far beyond what I deserve, so this is not something you need to concern yourself with.”
Ludwig passed by the frozen Zeria and guided me toward the entrance.
A face handsome enough to resemble a sculpture, yet cold enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.
An unreadable expression that revealed not even the slightest emotion.
This was the Ludwig I knew.
With that cold face, he would eventually slaughter the elders of his family.
Later, after losing control, he would even kill the protagonists themselves.
And yet…
“Was what I said earlier alright? I feel troubled for being rude to your cousin, Sierra… but for some reason, I really wanted to do it.”
Ludwig turned toward me with a faint smile.
I could only stare at him silently, unable to answer.
Why did he show me a different side of himself?
Whenever I saw something completely different from what I firmly believed, I became flustered.
‘Am I truly that useful to Ludwig? Or…’
Was that smile genuine?
It felt like I was trying to solve the strangest riddle in the world.
Why was this man acting this way toward me?
