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Chapter : 29
“Frea… I like that you never change, but that’s one thing I wish you would change.”
Raiden let out a small sigh and looked at her with a regretful expression.
“What is it that I don’t change?”
“Underestimating yourself. I was surprised and amused to hear you say the exact same thing as before, but for me, it’s not very pleasant.”
“I… said the same thing as before?”
“Yes. Back when we were at the academy, working together in the student council, I told you that I liked working with you, Frea. And just like a moment ago, you replied, ‘You have quite unique tastes.’”
“……”
Did I say the same thing as the ‘Frea’ in the original story? What a coincidence.
“Don’t you remember? It was a long time ago, so that’s understandable.”
“You remember it well, Duke.”
“Well… because it was special. That remark, back then.”
“Why?”
I really don’t see what was so special about it. When Frea looked at him with puzzled eyes, Raiden blushed, averted his gaze slightly, and answered,
“Because the way you looked surprised when you said it… was cute.”
“Cute…?”
This man really does have strange tastes. Definitely.
“Aaah!”
“M-Miss!”
Crash!
The vase Astella threw hit the floor and shattered into pieces. As if that wasn’t enough, she hurled everything she could see and grab.
“Hah… hah….”
In an instant, the room was in shambles. Broken and shattered objects littered the floor, and cushions and tablecloths were torn and scattered everywhere.
In the midst of it, Astella couldn’t calm her fury.
‘Why! Why did it turn out like this?’
The day she had lunch with Frea, she left the restaurant like that and went straight back to the ducal mansion, where she told her father and brothers everything—adding a bit of exaggeration about how cruelly Frea had treated her.
As always, they took her side.
‘We’ll fire her at once. How dare she do such a thing to my daughter.’
‘Is that woman crazy? Does she think she’s something special?’
‘She’s getting too bold just because she’s backed by Marquis Valche. Just a mere marquis’s daughter.’
Her father said he would immediately send a letter of protest to House Valche, and her brothers said they would storm over themselves. With them completely on her side, she felt reassured and proud.
That night, Astella fell asleep without a worry.
But when she woke up, overnight she had become a “liar.”
Because the Betelheim ducal house suddenly sent an engagement proposal to House Valche, suspicion was cast on her—the one who had been known as Raiden’s “lover.”
All this time, she had gone around spreading rumors, brainwashing young ladies and noblewomen alike.
She had laid it on thick, so it wouldn’t unravel quickly, but the impact of the engagement rumors between Raiden and Frea was so great that she felt uneasy.
At this rate, doubts would gather toward her, and the brainwashing might break.
“An engagement….”
When did those two plan something like this? Why all of a sudden?
“I brainwashed them so thoroughly, yet it didn’t work… Was my power too weak?”
But it had worked on everyone else. So why couldn’t she completely brainwash Raiden and Frea?
‘They were definitely brainwashed partway through. So why did it come undone again?’
Frea had listened to her very well, and Raiden had also been kind and gentle. They hadn’t even managed to go on a proper date, but they met often, talked a lot, and she thought the distance between them had narrowed.
She was sure of it. But she had been wrong.
“…Even back then, I thought something felt off.”
She had sensed something strange from the moment she was prevented from attending meetings that Raiden and Frea held together, but she never imagined it would lead to this.
‘But still, sending an engagement proposal so suddenly makes no sense. Their relationship was transparent. I didn’t see any deep feelings between them.’
Basically, even before being brainwashed, Raiden and Frea had been favorable toward Astella. If there had been something between the two of them, she couldn’t have failed to notice it.
‘And the fact that it’s Frea, my older sister, is strange too. There are so many other young ladies—why her? Don’t tell me it’s because she was the closest to me?’
If there was someone who didn’t want her and Raiden to be together, that person might have deliberately staged this.
To connect those two and bring her down.
‘If that’s the case… there’s only one person.’
Savanna Betelheim. She was the only possible mastermind. As clarity filled her mind, Astella’s lips twisted into a smile.
‘That woman hated me to an abnormal degree. And the brainwashing never worked on her at all.’
Astella knew Savanna liked Frea. So she must have wanted to pair her with Raiden instead of Astella.
At every party and tea gathering, she had openly shown it—and now she had finally gone and done it.
She had sensed something when Savanna kept rejecting her, but she never expected to be stabbed in the back like this. And even Frea, who had been so obedient, had turned against her.
‘I need to take action first. What should I do?’
Already, rumors about the two of them and herself were spreading throughout high society. If things went on like this, she really would be branded a “liar.”
As Astella anxiously bit her nails, a knock sounded, followed by Duke Binoc’s voice.
“Astella.”
It was low, but warm when he spoke her name.
“Your father believes in you.”
Short as it was, it was firmer and more resonant than anything else.
“Yeah, kid. We believe you.”
“We know better than anyone that you’d never do such a thing.”
Her second brother, Karin, and her eldest brother, Verde, also soothed her with gentle voices.
‘Right. I have them.’
Astella slowly relaxed her twisted expression and looked around the room. Clicking her tongue at the mess, she spoke softly to the trembling maid in the corner.
“Can you clean the room?”
“…Y-yes, miss.”
“You know you’re not to tell anyone about what happened today, right? If you tell my brothers or father about this…”
“I-I will never say a word.”
The maid replied, her face pale. The wavering dark-red aura at Astella’s feet writhed threateningly for a moment, then vanished.
Of course she couldn’t tell. With her power, Astella had made it so that no sound would leak out of this room once the door was closed—so no one but the maid Ireta inside could hear anything.
Obeying Astella’s orders, Ireta moved at once and had the room neatly cleaned in ten minutes. She placed a new vase on the table and replaced the cushion covers and tablecloth with fresh ones.
“Thank you. You’re really good at tidying up, Ireta.”
Seeing the room restored to its original state, Astella smiled in satisfaction. Glancing at the clock, she composed her expression and walked to the door, grasping the handle.
After blinking for a moment, Astella let her eyebrows droop, then slowly opened the door.
Creeak—
“Astella!”
“…Astella.”
“…F-Father, brothers….”
When they saw her step out, Duke Binoc and the two young dukes hurried toward her in surprise. Tears were already streaming down Astella’s face.
“Kid, you’re crying?”
“Astella….”
Seeing her shed tears silently, Karin and Verde looked at her with flustered expressions. Duke Binoc gazed at her sternly from between them.
“I’m fine. I-I’m okay….”
Astella wiped away her tears and forced a smile, her eyes folding with effort. Seeing her trying to hold back, Karin raised his voice.
“What do you mean, you’re fine! You’re suffering this much!”
He brushed her reddened eyes, then, looking at her pitifully, pulled her into an embrace. Nestled in his broad chest, she buried her face against him and finally began to cry aloud.
“Brother… sob…!”
“That’s right, kid. Don’t hold it in alone—just cry here.”
“Sniff… waaah!”
As Karin gently patted her back with a tender voice, Astella burst into loud sobs she had been holding back.
Clutching his arms and crying so miserably, she looked so pitiful that the expressions of the three watching her gradually hardened.
“Ugh… sniff… sob….”
After she had cried for quite some time and began to calm down, Berner approached and knelt before her.
“Astella. That’s enough crying now. Your pretty eyes will hurt.”
Taking out a handkerchief from inside his coat, he carefully wiped her eyes. At his gentle touch, Astella slowly stopped crying.
