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Chapter 21
“Identify your allies properly!”
No matter how much you hate me, seriously—scolding me when the real embezzler is standing right in front of you?
‘I get why he did it, but that still hurts, you know?’
Pouting, I stomped down the stairs.
Lord Dean just stood there blankly, watching my back as I walked away.
“Hm?”
Velroa, quietly snuggled in my arms, tilted her head.
“Hmm?”
She mimicked me, sticking out her lips awkwardly.
Not knowing what it meant, she was just copying me.
Oops.
“It’s nothing, Velroa.”
I smiled brightly on purpose and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Big sis was just in a bad mood for a second. I’m okay now!”
“Kyaa!”
Velroa broke into cheerful laughter.
The hurt and helplessness I’d felt moments ago, stemming from the unchangeable past, seemed to vanish.
I was planting little kisses on Velroa’s cheek when someone called my name.
“Miss Ermia.”
It was Grand Duke Leandro, walking slowly toward me.
“Your Grace.”
“Have you seen Dean?”
He moved his head slightly as he approached.
“I thought he was taking a while, so I sent him ahead.”
“I did see him. I think he had some business upstairs.”
When I answered, his eyes narrowed.
“Something happened, didn’t it?”
“Nothing happened.”
He looked suspicious, but I turned my head away as if I hadn’t noticed.
‘I don’t particularly want to snitch.’
Dean is a character who appears in the original novel “The Vacuum Flower.”
In the early parts of the story, there were people who doubted whether Velroa was fake. Dean was one of them.
But he never actually tormented Velroa.
In fact, he ended up betraying the ones who bullied her and helped her.
“…The child hasn’t done anything wrong.”
He was fully won over after Velroa cured his illness later on.
He ends up praising Velroa almost as much as Grand Duke Leandro himself.
‘He’s not a bad guy by nature.’
Just a bit… overly suspicious, distrustful, guarded, skeptical, and sensitive—a tough nut to crack.
…Come to think of it, yeah, really hard to get close to.
‘Tch. Still, he’s not a bad person, so I’ll deal with it.’
I grumbled inwardly.
“Oh, right.”
I spoke up on purpose to divert the Grand Duke’s suspicious gaze.
“Countess Preston said she wasn’t feeling well and was returning to the estate early.”
“I heard.”
Nice, he took the bait.
“A servant just told me. It seems her carriage left moments ago.”
“Oh? That was quick.”
“She’s not the type to just quietly go home like that.”
His sudden comment made me glance at him.
“When she arrived, she acted like she was planning to settle in permanently. And now she’s leaving, just like that, after meeting you.”
He stared at me intensely.
“Something did happen, didn’t it, Miss Tekins?”
I simply shrugged and smiled.
“I just did what I needed to do.”
He seemed satisfied with my answer. The corners of his mouth, firmly set before, softened into a faint smile.
“Good.”
He stopped in front of a door. Looks like that Preston bastard is inside?
“Then I’ll count on you to keep playing your role well, Miss Ermia.”
“Of course.”
When the Grand Duke opened the drawing room door, a man by the window waved with a relaxed grin.
“Nephew.”
On the table were signs of a recently smoked cigar, and even a glass of liquor.
“Oh.”
Noticing our presence, Preston quickly waved a hand.
“I asked a maid to bring me a drink. Hope you don’t mind?”
Grinning foolishly, Preston tried to gauge Leandro’s reaction.
“As you know, this is where I lived before I got married. Feels so comfortable.”
Ha. Look at this guy.
He’s trying to bait us.
‘Trying to test the waters?’
Someone like Preston would’ve realized by now that Leandro has caught on to him—at least somewhat.
But since he doesn’t know how much we know, he’s playing coy.
“I don’t mind.”
Contrary to Preston’s expectations, Leandro remained calm and indifferent.
“As you said, this was your childhood home. It’s natural to feel comfortable here.”
“Exactly.”
“But.”
The tone at the end was heavy.
“I’d appreciate it if you remember that this is my estate now.”
A chilling warning. Preston subtly straightened his posture.
“Ah! So this is the lady!”
Apparently not wanting to admit he’d been intimidated, Preston quickly turned to me.
“You must be the one he chose as his fiancée.”
He approached lightly and greeted me.
“I’m Norah Preston. Welcome to House Leandro, Miss Ermia Tekins.”
“Oh my.”
I blinked innocently.
“Do you know me?”
“Of course I do.”
Preston smiled warmly.
But not with his eyes.
“I once did business with Jeff Tekins, you see.”
Jeff Tekins.
That bastard half-brother of mine.
“The viscount went on and on about his precious little sister.”
His eyes glinted slyly.
“He said you were a big help to his business, didn’t he?”
It was a threat.
He didn’t know exactly how I had presented myself to the Grand Duke.
Surely I hadn’t exposed my full past as a pathetic pushover, constantly dragged down by my family.
“What a wonderful sister you must be!”
Translation: You better play nice or I’ll expose you.
‘Yeah, I get what you’re saying.’
Understanding his true intentions, I smiled brightly.
Ah.
I do love dealing with villains.
You don’t feel guilty at all tearing them apart.
“So you knew my brother…”
I let my voice trail off awkwardly. Since Preston knew the real me, playing the villainess wouldn’t work.
“Yes, we were very close.”
Which is why I had to act like my old self—sweet, dumb, and gullible.
However…
“Count Preston.”
I’m a gullible lamb who’s going to eat you alive.
“Um, excuse me.”
You see…
“Excuse me.”
There are two ways to really piss someone off.
“That is, um…”
The first is starting to say something and then stopping.
“…It’s nothing.”
Preston’s expression shifted strangely. His throat bobbed heavily.
He must be boiling with frustration.
“Miss Tekins.”
Still pretending to be friendly, his lips were trembling slightly.
“If you call someone out, you should at least finish what you were going to say, shouldn’t you?”
“…I’m sorry.”
As if you’d give me a straight answer.
I bit my lip and looked down.
“Ahem!”
Preston cleared his throat sharply, clearly displeased.
At that rate, his throat might give out.
“Anyway, I heard you found Hilda’s child?”
He asked as he sat on the sofa.
“That child in your arms?”
“Yes, that’s right. Her name is Velroa Leandro.”
I introduced Velroa for him—then fell silent.
Wait?
What’s going on?
‘Why is she asleep again?’
Just a while ago, Velroa had been laughing energetically.
Now she was fast asleep.
“Snore, snore.”
She was even snoring!
‘What the heck?’
We’d only walked down one flight of stairs and a short hallway.
And she just passed out like that?
“Velroa, Velroa. Can you wake up for a moment?”
I shook her urgently. Earlier, that would’ve at least gotten her to open her eyes a little.
But now—no reaction at all.
