Chapter 7
Eli was a crazy man in the eyes of other people.
The handsome, black-haired man, who owned the tower was called a madman along with the rumors that he was beautiful.
When Leticia was dying, he was a vicious demon worshipper who was also the one who shot an arrow at the Princess of the holy family. He was a great man who would not blink even if the Maner family, who was happily watching the execution, were shocked.
No one would have touched him, even if Leticia’s breath stopped and ruined the family’s sacred ritual.
Eli was named after the great sage Abraham.
He was the owner of the tower and the only being who could write the next chapter of the ancient book 『 Hebron 』. So, it was clear that he returned to the tower after killing Leticia by shooting a golden arrow filled with magic, not giving her any wound.
‘That must’ve been what happened.’
She didn’t know for sure what happened to the Magic Tower in her past life, though she had to meet him now.
Nevertheless, Leticia had never met Eli personally.
It was only natural. Eli’s family, the Nervad, had worshipped the devil since they founded their family. From the King of the Seven Sins, Ivlis, to the other six Great Demons.
On the other hand, Leticia’s family, Maner, has worshiped only the Great Saint Hildegard as the only god. So, even if she was a commoner, it was unimaginable for Leticia, the Princess of the holy family, to meet Eli.
That was a deception by her father, the head of the household, so she had nothing to say even if she was thrown with a pile of stones. It was because if she had met up with Eli, she could’ve been kicked out of the family.
Leticia wrote Eli’s name in the corner of the children’s book. Perhaps, because it was written in the ancient language, the name ‘Eli Nervad’ seemed like a devil and a close friend.
With that thought, she stopped to underline Eli’s name.
She followed the instructions of her father in order to be recognized by the family. It was also part of her father’s teaching to ‘not meet with the Nervad family, who was cunning and treacherous.
Instead of underlining it, Leticia encircled the name. She also added three asterisks as a sign of confidence.
“Even if I get slapped on the cheek, I must see Eli Nervad… No matter what.”
The current Eli now was a successor of a difficult situation, if not a child who doesn’t know anything.
It was because his own father, Marquis Nervad, had set his eyes on fire to kill his own son. In the end, it was the Marquis Nervad who died, although it was Eli who suffered all kinds of trouble until he took over the title of Marquis after killing his father.
At the age of fourteen, he lost one of his eyes due to his father’s trick.
“A grace is a grace.”
At least, she wouldn’t have to pay for the kindness he gave her to rest quickly.
Eventually, Leticia removed the quill only after the paper tore.
“My hands are dirty.”
She then approached the window and reached for the pure white curtain that Kara had just hung, then wiped the blank ink off her hands.
“An enemy is an enemy…”
Muttering so, she recalled the crest of the Nervad family.
In the hot summer wind, the stained curtains flutter. As if it as her fate, Leticia glanced up at the stained curtain for a long time. The curtains on either side of the two large windows swayed helplessly in the wind.
At the same time, the insults that tormented the young Leticia crept up.
‘What a dirty illegitimate child.’
‘A dirty girl with Aletta’s blood.’
‘You can’t inherit the Maner’s name even if you die in four years!’
It seemed like she was also in the same situation as she stared at the tied curtains.
Leticia reached out and tried to pull the white curtain down, but the curtains were still tied even with the force she exerted. Only then did she realize that she couldn’t pull off such an insignificant curtain with a mediocre force.
‘I just realized it. Why didn’t I know it earlier…?’
Thinking so, she reluctantly took the candlestick and cut off the middle part of the curtain.—Slice. Then, she had a refreshed smile on her face seeing the curtain being cut cleanly.
That night, Kara cried out in shock when she saw the torn curtains as she was bringing her the share of a decent dinner late at night.
“Kyaah! What did you do with the new curtains? Have you really gone crazy? Was it because of the Grand Duke?”
“Today, you’re even doing things I didn’t ask you to do.”
Leticia tilted her head slightly to meet the maid’s gaze.
“Ah, and I haven’t gone crazy yet.”
She turned glanced down at the white curtains that had been thrown on the floor.
Meanwhile, Kara muttered, licking her lips with a face that looked like she was about to cry.
“Why? Why did you do that! The curtains I painstakingly hung….”
She muttered as she licked her lips with a face that looked like she was about to cry.
“Ah, I use it with my ink-stained hand, so I cut off the part that was stained with the ink.”
“I will never forget how the young lady bullied me with such a mean prank!”
Aggravated by this, Kara went to look for similar curtains in the warehouse. It was difficult to find that it took her two hours. Though the priest wouldn’t go inside her room, Kara was afraid that the consequence it would bring her was to be scolded by the head maid.
Meanwhile, Leticia was satisfied with her meal. Her face was even paler when she washed her face with water. There were no maids waiting for her to dry the wet ends of her long, soft, blond hair that flowed smoothly.
It was only her.
“How can I do it if you were lying on the bed like that?”
“Why? Hanging curtains? The priest will never come to my room anyway, so just do it.”
“It would be sweet of you if you could just move away! And, what roughly! Don’t make it sound so easy just because it was someone else’s work…! If I get scolded by the head maid because of you young lady…”
“Do it tomorrow when I’m not here. I’m going to sleep now. And—ah, take the bowl so the food won’t smell.”
Leticia waved her hands, saying that she was lazy, then leaned on the center of the bedhead.
“Please move away!”
Kara stared at her with an aggravated expression asking her to move away.
On the other hand, Leticia just stared at her with her chin raised up and her feet wiggling.
Next to the bed was the window, so the maid had to step on the bed to hang the curtains. It was rude for a maid to step on their young lady’s bed, so it was polite to cover it with another cloth. She had already confirmed that Kara had brought only the curtains.
“Step on it, because I have no intention of telling the head maid that you stepped on it.”
She might have changed her mind if she had been sincere, though there was no reason for her to move away.
“Aaaah! That crazy! My curtains!”
Kara was kicked out of the door late at night as she grabbed her hair out of anger. She was left awake until dawn because of the evil young lady’s schemes.
Leticia doesn’t care whether Kara outside the door was nervous or not. She closed the children’s book she was reading and lay down on her bed.
The only sun-smelling thing in her dam room was her pillow. This was also a new fabric she obtained, then sewed it on her own, fitting the size of her pillow. Washing the pillows and blankets was also her job, as there was not even a single maid dedicated to doing those jobs.
“She’s really crazy. That b*tch is trying to ruin my future!”
Eventually, she fell asleep with the faint screams of Kara that sounds like a cozy lullaby, thinking that it would have been better if she had made the maid angry earlier.
“Are you going to be like this again? Until how long must you let the priest wait—?”
Creak.
The middle-aged head maid opened the door. She was shocked when she saw what was in front of her.
Leticia sat neatly in an old chair. Her golden hair, which was scattered every time she hid, was neatly tied, and sesame oil was applied to her lips to give her a little bit of life.
Her sky blue dress was old, but it still had all of the buttons, and the seams on the sleeves flowed out of order were neatly arranged. Even the tips of her nails were polished as though she was greatly cared for.
With her hands folded, Leticia raised her head and peered at the head maid.
“You just came now? You’re late.”
As Leticia spoke with a calm expression on her face, Miriam opened her mouth in shock.
“N-no. Why would I think that the Princes would delay the preparations, but never thought that you were already finished.”
Miriam opened her mouth like a goldfish in front of an unexpected situation.
Knock, knock.
A knock was heard, then a knight opened the door and entered. He passed by Miriam, who was pointing her finger in the air, and knelt down with one knee in front of Leticia.
“I’m here to pick you up, young lady.”
The knight announced the priest’s visit with a stiff face as he continued his words.
“Priest Gamal is waiting for you in the parlor.”
Leticia was the first to leave the room, leaving behind the spiritless mind, and an expressionless knight followed her.
Maybe, it was after twenty minutes or so, they arrived at the drawing room on the second floor of the exterior mansion. The other knight who saw Leticia quickly opened the door, and she walked in gracefully.
The middle-aged priest who was sipping the tea the Duke’s attendant brewed for him, widened his eyes. This was because he had only seen the Princess being held by the knights with messy hair.
Priest Gamal got up from his seat and greeted her with a cough.
“Ehem, you came early today.”
“I always made the Priest wait.”
Leticia spoke softly and sat down on the chair the knight pulled out for her. Her movement was very natural, like a flowing water, so Gamal couldn’t take his eyes off her.