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Chapter 51
“Just as I expected.”
Corelia smiled beautifully as she looked at Erin.
“Erin, it’s been such a long time.”
“It really has… it really has been a long time.”
“……”
“I missed you.”
Erin’s words made Corelia frown. She doubted her own ears.
Erin said she missed her?
Corelia didn’t believe Erin’s words, but at the same time, she found the clearly changed Erin intriguing.
She wanted to know what was going through that little head to cause such an unpredictable act.
“You’ve grown quite mature, haven’t you? Have you finally decided to recognize me as your mother?”
Corelia said this as she moved closer to Erin.
At her gesture, Charlotte closed the balcony doors.
Charlotte stood with her back to Corelia and Erin, keeping watch to see if anyone was approaching.
Once Corelia confirmed that all other eyes were completely blocked, her gaze turned sharp.
“Erin… where did you put the dress I gave you? I said a bad child ignores her mother’s effort.”
“……”
“I told you it would suit you… so why did you wear such a ridiculous dress?”
Corelia looked at Erin with an almost pitying glance. Erin, however, laughed at her.
“Oh, surely, is there any dress that could be worse than the one you picked for me?”
“What?”
Erin tilted her head slowly to the side as she spoke. Corelia doubted her ears again.
What exactly did Erin just say to her?
“Are you insane, Erin?”
Erin paused to think at Corelia’s question.
Insane? Erin didn’t particularly want to argue with Corelia—after all, she was half-crazy.
How could she stand facing Corelia without being at least a little mad?
So Corelia’s words weren’t entirely wrong.
“You’ve been going to the academy, so you must have lacked discipline time.”
“No, I didn’t lack it.”
“Is that so? If you didn’t lack it, does it make sense for you to act this way toward me?”
Corelia moved even closer to Erin.
Erin suddenly recalled her childhood. She remembered how she had acted whenever Corelia came near her.
Though many years had passed, the memories were as vivid as if they had happened yesterday.
“Mother… I’m sorry.”
“I was wrong. Please forgive me just this once. I am a bad child.”
Erin looked at Corelia, who had approached with an uncontrollable, angry expression, and whispered quietly in her heart.
“No, Erin. You didn’t do anything wrong. The bad one is her.”
She asked Corelia,
“Why… why did you treat me like that when I was a child?”
“Why, you ask? What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I didn’t do anything wrong to you…”
Corelia scoffed at Erin’s words.
“Wrong? Of course you did.”
“……”
“Your very existence is a sin.”
Through that answer, Erin realized once again what kind of person Corelia was.
According to Roham, Corelia had come to the Risus family under the Emperor’s orders.
‘Was it to prevent the making of a Sword Master?’
Just for that reason… did she have to drag Erin to such depths?
If it had only been to prevent the making of a Sword Master, there was no need to push her to the brink mentally and physically.
If Corelia had raised Erin as a normal lady, Erin would have lived a normal life.
She could have pursued other joys and been happy. Perhaps she could have even called Corelia “mother” with affection.
Childhood Erin had craved parental love desperately.
She had once thought she could give up everything Corelia disliked just to receive a smile or a warm touch from her.
Yes, she had felt that way.
But Corelia had hated her for no particular reason.
Erin placed her hand on her chest. Her heart was pounding—not from sadness, but from the sheer joy of facing Corelia.
“You must be punished for being a disobedient child, right?”
Corelia said this as she raised her hand.
Then it happened. A sharp, threatening aura enveloped Corelia and Charlotte. It was a chilling sensation.
As if someone had put a knife to their necks, Corelia froze. Charlotte did the same.
Charlotte’s gaze, which had been directed behind her, turned toward Corelia. Her eyes were full of confusion.
Neither of them knew where the threatening aura came from.
Charlotte, who was supposed to prevent anyone from approaching the balcony, panicked and couldn’t fulfill her role. This was exactly what Erin had intended.
“Mother? …Sister?”
Corelia’s hand, which had been heading toward Erin’s cheek, froze mid-air, trembling.
Corelia’s face contorted with rage and frustration. Erin calmly looked toward the open balcony door.
There stood Caron. He looked shocked as he stared at Corelia and Erin.
“What… is happening here?”
“Caron… this is…”
“No, no. Step away from her immediately.”
“Caron!”
Ignoring Corelia’s words, Caron quickly approached Erin. His face was pale.
Yet his eyes, despite the white of his face, were bloodshot with boiling anger.
Caron wrapped Erin protectively in his arms. Erin, in his embrace, met Corelia’s gaze.
She found Corelia’s twisted expression almost laughable.
‘It was this easy.’
Erin smirked at Corelia and Charlotte—a smile invisible to Caron.
Then, as Caron lowered his head, Erin’s expression turned sorrowful, as if she had never smiled.
She mirrored Corelia’s earlier actions, returning them to her, and Corelia’s face was painted with shock.
‘If someone hates me without reason, I’ll just give them a reason.’
It was Erin’s favorite saying from her life in the modern world.
Caron, preparing for the banquet, felt like his head would explode from complicated thoughts.
He had no idea how to face the situation with both his sister and mother at the same event.
Erin’s earlier request that he make sure to find her at the banquet made even less sense to him.
“Caron, you’re a good child.”
“You’re my pride.”
Caron could never forget Corelia’s whispered words. To her, he had always been the obedient son who never rebelled.
But at this moment, the obedient son, Caron Risus, did not exist.
His face, as he stared at Corelia, was twisted like a demon’s.
“What were you trying to do to my sister?”
Caron’s question left Corelia utterly flustered. She had never imagined being looked at with such furious eyes.
Through that gaze, Caron’s rage was palpable. Yet Corelia was a skilled actress.
Even in this sudden situation, she remained composed.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t deny it. You were going to strike my sister’s cheek, weren’t you?”
“Caron, you must have mistaken it. I only tried to straighten Erin’s hair because it was messy. Ask Erin.”
Both Corelia and Caron turned to Erin. She thought about what her past self would have said in this situation.
She probably would have agreed with Corelia.
“Yes, Caron. My hair was messy, so Mother just tidied it.”
“It’s my fault again.”
If she told Caron the whole truth, Corelia would probably have tried to harm him too.
It would have been foolish, but past Erin had indeed been foolish.
“Caron.”
Erin softly called his name. She didn’t like clinging to others.
She was no longer weak enough to rely on someone. But if it meant waking up her younger brother, she had no choice.
It would be troublesome if Caron ended up being manipulated by Corelia in the future.
So, playing this absurd show, Erin decided to be the villainess who forced him to face reality.
“All of her words are lies.”
Erin said this as she grabbed Caron’s sleeve. Her eyes had grown icy and sharp.
Corelia’s lips twisted at the depth of Erin’s gaze.
