Chapter 7

I stood in front of my father’s office and for a moment I was lost in thought.

The last time I saw this door was the day I left this mansion.

Suddenly, I remembered the feeling of that day.

Are you going to the convent or be excommunicated and cut off your relationship with Sorne?

I chose the latter of the two options without hesitation.

Honestly, it’s a lie to say that I wasn’t disappointed when I walked out this door after I made that choice.

Still, don’t you have any affection left for me?

Foolishly, in my heart, I had the slightest hope that he would stop me.

Of course, the price for that expectation was horrendous indifference.

“Let’s go in.”

As I stood blankly in front of the door, the butler approached and urged me to go in.

Should I go in on my own?

I smiled and turned the doorknob around.

Click.

When the door opened, the smell of old woods poked the tip of my nose.

I slowly lifted my head and looked around my father’s study.

Nothing really changed from the day I remembered.

My father looked at me while sitting at the old-fashioned desk.

What is he thinking calling me like this?

Perhaps even after a lifetime pass, the day will not come where I can understand him.

“What are you doing standing still?”

The Marquis’ reaction to her daughter, whom she had not seen in a few months, was cold.

Looking at that cold appearance, I could understand why Adelia became twisted before I possessed her body.

Even if it were me, if my father acted like that, I would go crazy.

“How have you been?”

“Stop talking nonsense and start your greetings.”

“I guess what I just said wasn’t a greeting.”

I replied with a sour expression.

What more do you want from your daughter who has been excommunicated?

However, the Marquis seems to have had a different opinion.

He wrinkled his forehead like a piece of paper and gave me a sharp gaze.

“Your attitude towards your father is a mess.”

“What do you mean father? Aren’t we strangers now?”

The marquis’ eyebrows fluttered wildly.

He put down the luxurious quill he was holding in his hand and looked straight at me.

“Have you finally gone crazy after leaving this family?”

“I am perfectly normal.”

“Adelia Sorne!”

“I….,”

Hearing Sorne’s name on the back of my name, I said firmly.

“I’m not a Sorne. Marquis.”

“…… You’re out of your mind.”

“I’m the one who should say that. Wasn’t it you, Marquis, who removed my name from the family and no one else?”

When she talked about the scandal, the Marquis’ mouth closed like a lie.

I knew this would happen.

He had clearly forgotten what I had done.

Otherwise, he just pretended he didn’t know, maybe he wanted to steer me in a direction to his advantage.

“If you are confirmed a saint, I will return your name to the family.”

Seeing the Marquis speaking arrogantly as if he had a good heart, I burst into laughter.

You’re not just asking me to return to the family. You want me to return to the family only after I become a saint.

That was a ridiculous statement.

It makes me wonder what the source of that arrogance is.

It was so unpleasant that I couldn’t stand it.

I coldly refused with a smile.

“Let’s pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”

The marquis’ eyes were colored with bewilderment, not knowing that I would really reject his proposal.

He once again yelled at me and said,

“Ha, you still don’t know the world. Do you think you can live comfortably without the name of Sorne?”

“I’ve been living well.”

Really, I was living well without shortage.

After entering this world, I was able to get a good night’s sleep for the first time, and the headache I thought was innate was also completely gone.

Now that I think about it, it was a strange thing that headaches and insomnia did not occur.

When I reacted lukewarmly, the Marquis seemed to have changed his tactics.

“As long as you are born with the blood of Sorne, you must fulfill your duty.”

Was there a duty in this messed up family?

I opened my eyes wide and burst into laughter as I looked at the marquis.

“Duty…. It’s the first time I’ve heard of that in Sorne in my 20 years of living.”

What do you mean by my duty as Sorne? Is it to raise the wealth and honor of the family?

But even that was irrelevant to me now.

“Okay. Let’s say there’s a duty like that. But marquis. Do you really think you deserve to say that to me?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do.”

He was consistently shameless to the point where he didn’t really go against my expectations.

I knew very well that no matter how right what I am saying, it would only hurt my mouth.

Rather, it will only make my insides cramped.

I cannot deal with people who can’t communicate. It would be bad for my mental health.

“No matter what you say, I have no intention of returning to the family. Unless the sky collapses, my thoughts will not change. I’m going to leave now.”

“Adelia!”

The marquis’ beard was shaking due to his anger.

“Do you have more to say?”

The marquis’ face hardened with my voice full of ridicule.

“Then I have no choice but to confiscate the property I gave you.”

I clenched my teeth at the behavior of the Marquis touching the most sensitive part of me right now.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Do you think it would be impossible?”

I clenched my fist hard at his words full of threats.

Let’s calm down. The Marquis speaks so proudly, but it is difficult to take back the property that had already belonged to me.

And this property was mine that my mother left me in the first place. It is not owned by the Marquis.

Even the Marquis of Sorne would not be able to take any property that is not his.

“Try it. I’m confident in mud fights, too.”

“Adelia Sorne!”

“It’ll be worth seeing. A father, who pressures his daughter with property to re-enter the family when she becomes a saint.”

A sharp displeasure flashed on the Marquis’s face at my words.

He valued his honor to an extraordinary degree.

That’s why he excommunicated me himself, the ugly duckling, and now he’s trying to get me back on the list.

It’s funny.

He wasn’t the only one who knew the other person’s weaknesses.

I raised my brows and got up from my seat.

“I don’t know if the marquis remembers, but I know quite a few secrets of the family as I was once a Sorne.”

“You…”

“I am going to step back now. I hope we never meet again. Don’t even try to bring me here by force.”

As elegantly as possible, I greeted by raising the hem of a plain skirt.

Then I resolutely turned my back and came out of the marquis’ study.

Beyond the closed door, the Marquis’ scream was heard.

I just walked away from the study with a carefree step, as if I did not hear anything.

***

Returning to the room, I lay in a plain bed and cooled my head for a while.

Now that I have warned the marquis, there is no reason to stay in this mansion anymore.

Then I’ll go out.

I immediately put the idea into action.

Since I told the maids not to unpack, I only had one small suitcase with me.

“Let’s go out now.”

I was going to go back to the hotel I went to earlier. I’ll be able to find a room by now.

Click!

However, when I opened the door, I saw an unwelcome face.

“Where are you going?”

“…… Long time no see.”

Standing in front of the door was my biological brother.

He was busy questioning me, ignoring my greeting.

“I asked where you were going.”

“If I say I’m going to where I need to be, will it be a good answer?”

“Stop playing with words.”

“It’s a pity that you took my sincerity as a joke. Then I’ll get going.”

I passed Sizelon carelessly and tried to leave the mansion.

However, Sizelon grabbed my wrist tightly so I had no choice but to stop.

“What are you doing?”

“Didn’t you hear from your father? You can’t leave the mansion until the saint has been chosen during the ceremony.”

Of course, I didn’t hear such nonsense.

I frowned and spoke firmly to Sizelon.

“You don’t have the authority to force me to decide where I live.”

“You still don’t understand. Why did an obedient child change like this?”

Sizelon let out an unpleasant sound and let go of my wrist.

Then he shrugged as if he had to go somewhere.

“Don’t waste your energy for nothing.”

“… I want to do that too.”

Feeling an unknown sense of uneasiness, I turned my back and went down to the carriage.

“Oh, my. I can’t go.”

“Me too… The carriage I was in charge of is under repair….”

“All the horses are tired, so I don’t think there are any horses that can move right now.”

I can’t believe all the horses can’t move. I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous excuse.

“Are you calling that an excuse now?”

“I’m sorry, but where are you going this late evening? If you go out like this, we will get in big trouble.”

“That’s right. It’s late at night, so let’s go inside.”

The coachman gave the same answer one by one, as if they had planned beforehand.

The marquis must have given you an order in advance.

I sighed and said to the coachman.

“Then can I use the carriage in the morning?”

As expected, the coachmen shook their heads with troubled faces and said:

“… Stop it and just go in.”

“For this, only us will be punished.”

“In this case, I have no choice but to call the knights.”

As expected, this is what happens…

I was just trying to leave Sorne and go to the hotel somehow.

“Okay, let’s go in.”

It was then. One of the coachmen lost patience and grabbed my forearm.

Then he tried to drag me into the mansion by force.

The other coachmen opened their eyes wide as if surprised by the unexpected behavior of their colleague.

But none of them came forward and told him to stop.

It was because they knew I couldn’t punish them.

“What the…”

As I was being dragged helplessly. The gate that separates the property of the marquis was opened, and a black carriage entered.

“Huh? Why are you going this way…!?”

The carriage, which I thought was just a guest of the marquis, ran this way and deviated from the designated road.

The coachman, frightened by this, pushed me aside as if tossing me.

I fell down and watched the carriage approach.

It was at that moment that I realized something unusual.

Everything began to slow down like a lie. Eventually, everything came to a complete stop, as if losing time.

Except for me.

At the moment, I couldn’t understand what happened, so I blinked and stood up to avoid the carriage.

“What in the world is this?”

Even before I could find an answer to the question, time began to pass again.

The excited horse stopped after moving for a long time past the place where I had fallen.

I couldn’t do anything while watching the scene.

Soon the doors of the luxurious carriage opened and Ivan Hamilton appeared.