Chapter 44

On the way home, both Rany and Bertin were very worried about me, as I had suddenly zoned out.

I lightly shook my head at them. They were worried that it was an after effect of the curse.

“It’s nothing, really. I’m just a bit tired.”

I was only doubting myself for calling disaster upon myself.

And when I stepped down from the carriage just like that, Dana was waiting for me.

“A lot of things arrived in the backyard. What else did you order, My Lady?”

When she put her hand on her waist and made a stern face, I, who was about to change my clothes, stopped and raised my head.

“Ah.”

At the news that the forgotten item had been delivered, I rolled up my sleeves and headed to the backyard.

I could see boxes of different sizes piled up.

“Woah . . .”

When I strongly held one side of the box to open it, the tightly attached part fell off and my body rolled back.

Just before my body rolled on the ground, a gentle breeze supported my body from behind.

When I turned back, I saw Zen with a displeased look on one side of the yard.

He took off his hood unlike usual, and his face was clearly visible for the first time in a long time.

It seemed like he was waiting to hear about what happened in the temple.

“We found no clue. Why don’t you just hear it from Bertin?”

As I approached him, he waved his hand without replying to me.

The boxes, which were still not opened, were lightly disassembled in the air.

“Your body?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to certain people.”

Although my mind was a bit shocked by the value of that luxurious item.

I held one of the items that fell from the box in my hand.

The handle was wrapped tightly around my hand, and the glow of the blade that had never been oiled was sparkling.

“Good. This shop’s items are really the best.”

Zen asked me who was being satisfied.

“What will you do now?”

“Thinking. I’ll stay low for now.”

His eyebrows wriggled as if he was displeased.

“Why?”

“Because I’ll be at a disadvantage if this problem gets bigger. If I can, I’ll leave it at that.”

If it was an object from the black market, it could come from his possession or his family.

Even if Beryl House found out that Trevor had attempted to curse someone, there would be no way they wanted it to get revealed.

Because if things go south, they could be demoted from their noble position.

I would be really grateful if they just buried it and let it pass.

Zen grumbled in a low voice.

“You’re going to keep your mouth shut even when someone is threatening your life?”

I put down what I was holding and seriously pointed out the situation.

“The moment my identity gets revealed that I’m a step daughter of Lord Duke, I have to enter high society.”

The reason why I could focus on studying at the academy instead of building friendships with the aristocratic young ladies was that I hadn’t shown my face.

There was no one in the academy that could think of that normal ‘Marianne’ as the infamous Madam Tatiana’s daughter.

“The curse is dangerous, but my identity getting revealed is also dangerous.”

“Then you should have stopped this crazy marriage from the start.”

“I don’t want to stop my mother from doing what she wants just for me to stay at ease.”

“You really act considerately for someone who is never present when you need her.”

I hit the forehead of a man who was getting angrier, and I brought up something to end this conversation.

“The one I’m being considerate to,”

The person who would get in trouble if a problem arose,

“Is you. Not my mom.”

To raise an issue with the Academy, of course, I had to explain why I was fine even after being cursed.

And I would have no choice but to reveal who was the person who imbued magic on the locket which was made of illegal ingredients.

“See, who told you to do something like that?”

It was true that I was able to avoid the curse because of that, but it was too much.

It was close to a fluke that the curse rebound was unexpectedly bigger, so the attention was focused on Trevor and I wasn’t caught.

It would be a problem if someone noticed the locket.

But it’s true that the item was made cleverly, that even I, who wore it, didn’t know its true value.

I looked at the green eyes which always got deeper whenever he was angry or getting emotional.

As I touched his burning cheeks, he lowered his eyes.

Even while he was very angry, he never shook me.

“This is not the time yet. Bertin has gotten his title, but we have to wait a little longer for him to get a place in the central temple. And you still haven’t reached the age of maturity . . .”

I was talking like I was comforting him, but I wavered.

He felt silent but suddenly blurted out.

“What a good excuse.”

I didn’t reply to his annoyed words.

I just turned and took back the thing that I put down earlier.

While I was examining the item whose handle and blade were flawless, his presence disappeared.

“What an angry brat.”

He must be going through puberty, right?

Looking at the place he disappeared, I swallowed my breath.