Chapter 117.2

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Lydia stood in front of the office of her father, Marquis De Flon, with a nervous expression.

‘Why did my father call me?’

It wasn’t in his habit to call his daughter for no particular reason. And that very special reason now was that she had done something wrong.

But she thought about it, nothing special happened today, right? Except for going to the Carthia mansion to meet Yurina.

‘Ah, that’s it.’ 

Lydia bit her lip, remembering Yurina’s face she saw during afternoon tea.

Yurina Carthia.

Marquis De Flon had always talked about Yurina since Lydia was a child. Various stories were heard, but all were bad and with a sad end.

Lydia, young and naive, believed everything her father said. In her imagination, Yurina was an evil and merciless monster, like a witch in a fairy tale.

Lydia’s thoughts changed after she found out about the ‘Blessed’, who is said to have been blessed by the goddess herself.

At that time, when she met Karion, Lydia couldn’t help but feel sad at how he suffered because of his red eyes. And it was because in her eyes he looked more beautiful than scary.

But she couldn’t understand why all the servants tried to separate them, or why her father hid him in the room so that people wouldn’t know that Karion had red eyes.

Then rumors spread that the same Yurina Carthia had found an old book, which claimed that the red eyes were actually the blessing of the goddess. After that day, Lydia’s thoughts about Yurina changed.

‘A person who goes that far for a friend can’t be bad.’

At the same time, she felt grateful. 

After that, without the knowledge of her father, Lydia collected news about Yurin Carthia. Since she couldn’t leave for the capital and remained within the walls of the estate, it was difficult for her to look for news. But she could still hear a lot of interesting things.

Rumored Yurina Carthia was completely different from the Yurina her father had said. Lydia heard that Yurina was always full of confidence and always smiled proudly, and imagined a girl her age with a beautiful smile.

At that time, she thought that she wanted to become an adult as soon as possible and move to the capital to Yurina. She wanted to quickly get to know each other, talk and become her friend.

Just because they had been friends with Blessed since they were young, she thought they would be able to quickly become close because they formed a great consensus that others couldn’t relate to.

And it would be great if Karion and a boy named Reynard also became friends.

In fact, Yurina, whom Lydia eventually met, became even more beautiful and worthy than she always imagined. Lydia tried to restrain herself, realizing that it was shameful to behave too familiarly. But her very nature drew her to Yurina.

Though she might seem rude at times, Yurina was kind and treated her well. And she even invited her to the mansion…

‘But why does my father hate Lady Carthia so much?’

Lydia swallowed nervously in fear, then turned the doorknob. In the middle of the office, she saw her father, Marquis De Flon, and Karion, standing in the corner, in the shade.

Lydia smiled broadly as soon as she saw Karion, but she sensed the serious atmosphere in the room and hardened her face.

“Did you call me, father?”

Marquis De Flon, who had previously looked out of the window, turned towards her voice.

“I heard you were at the Carthia mansion today.”

“Yes.”

“What were you talking about?”

“We didn’t talk much. We just talked about what’s trending in the social world these days.”

And it literally was.

Lydia’s conversation with Yurina wasn’t really anything special. Talk about fashionable dresses and accessories, favorite food and other topics that ordinary teenage girls talk.

But then her father frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, obviously dissatisfied with something.

“It’s an ordinary story.”

“Just… It was just a tea party. What else can I talk about with my friends?”

Marquis De Flon snorted.

“Are you friends? With whom? You and that fox?”

Fox. Father always called Yurina a fox. Or otherwise, ‘bitch’.

In any case, Lydia didn’t like those titles. And at other times, she would simply swallow everything and wouldn’t answer anything to her father. This is because she has always been taught that the virtue of children is not to oppose their parents.

Today, Lydia couldn’t still silent.

Fox.

Of course, the fox was also pretty. However, Yurina wasn’t at all the cunning fox her father said. Maybe because the corners of her eyes lifted slightly, she was like a cute cat, or her voice was like a pretty canary bird.

Why does her father always talk about such a pretty and kind girl like that?

“Don’t call Lady Carthia a fox.”

It was said impulsively. But Lydia didn’t regret it later. Even after the realization hit her. Rather, she felt fresh, as if the stone that pressed on her heart had disappeared in an instant.

“I’m not the kind of person who would listen to my father say something like that.”

“What?”

Marquis De Flon raised one eyebrow as if he was dumbfounded at the first rebellion of his obedient daughter. He got up from leaning on her desk and took one step closer to Lydia.

The afternoon sunlight pouring in from behind him cast long shadows on the ground. Terrified Lydia took a step backwards as the tip of the shadow landed on her shoe.

“What did you just say?”

Marquis De Flon took another step. Then Karion, who kept silent all the time in the shadows, quickly jumped out and shielded Lydia with himself.