Chapter 25

Translator: Nabi

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Chapter 25

They quickly moved away from Ophelia.

Seeing that, she stared intently at David through the dusty window until he was completely out of sight.

‘I need to clean the windows, too.’

Until now, Ophelia has not cleaned the windows. It was because she had no reason to look out, anyway.

However, now… She has a reason.

Since she has a friend who will visit her.

At that, she took a damp rag and started wiping the window. By the time she finally wiped the windows to a sparkly gleam, a loud noise was heard.

‘….?’

Curious, Ophelia put her face close to the window as she tried to find the source of the sound.

A group of people was coming in from the entrance of the Duke’s mansion.

‘They seem to be guests.’

As Ophelia, whose interest had been shattered, was about to fall from the window, a face she knew all too well came into view.

“….!”

She was so startled that she dropped the mop.

Evelyn, with her head upright, was entering the Duke’s mansion proudly.

“Sister!”

At that moment, Ophelia thought nothing more. Even in her plight situation of being half-captive by the Duke, how Evelyn came to this place, and why she is coming in proudly, instead of being dragged back.

So, she did not even notice Cassius Brudenell, who stood by Evelyn’s side and gazed down on her as though she was lovely all the time.

Evelyn was the only one who caught Ophelia’s eyes.

Her older sister.

“Ophelia!”

Evelyn greeted Ophelia with a wide smile.

“I missed you…”​​As she tried to hug her sister, a man’s strong hand stopped her.

It was Cassius.

‘….’

Ophelia shut her mouth and glared at Cassus.

She was pathetic to once think that Evelyn was in love with this man in front of her. She wanted Evelyn to be with a sweet, gentleman, not a scum like Cassius, who forced a woman to marry him.

“Lord, stop it.”

After hearing Evelyn’s words, Cassius took a step back from Ophelia.

“…If you want.”​​How sly the words left his mouth… Goosebumps rose up on Ophelia’s skin.

“Ophelia, how have you been? Is there anything that the people here have done to you?”

“I have been well. But, sister…”

Saying that, she paused her words for a moment and looked at Evelyn. Fortunately, as if she had had a good rest, her complexion looked very good.

“I’ve been fine.”

Evelyn grinned.

Nevertheless, Ophelia tried to find something strange in her face, but failed.

At about the same time, she also remembered the fact that she had escaped from a semi-confinement situation.

Because of that, Ophelia’s face turned red.

“Sister, I’m going back now.”

“Where?”

“Well, my… home.”

“Where have you been staying all this time? I miss you.”

Ophelia was both ashamed and worried to let her sister know that she had been locked up in an old house. However, obviously, Evelyn was not the one to back down because of her brief hesitation.

“Guide me to the place where Ophelia is staying. Right now!”

Uttering that, she glared at the servant.

Frightened by the gaze, the servant nodded quickly and led them to Ophelia’s quarters.

“…Did you leave my sister in a place like this all this time?”

Evelyn’s voice grew sharp as they arrived.

“Are you all sane…?”

Everyone was stunned, unable to say anything at Evelyn’s reprimand.

Except for one person, Cassius.

He gazed at Evelyn with his thoughtful gaze as he listened to Evelyn’s next words.

“Move Ophelia’s residence immediately.”

“Where are you thinking?”

Evelyn proudly raised her chin, and she answered.

“Of course, it’s next to my room.”

“….!”

Ophelia’s eyes widened.

Of course, everyone who noticed the implications of her words would be as surprised as her. As the servants’ reaction was delayed, Cassius’ scolding fell.

“Didn’t you hear what the Young Lady said?”

“Yes, I understand!”

As the servants were hesitant to avoid the wrath of Cassius, Ophelia, who had no choice but to remain there, could see…

Evelyn uttered ‘thank you’ softly to Cassius as she smiled.

* * *

After I was assigned the best room remaining in the Duke Brudenell Duchy, I was able to be alone with Ophelia for a while.

Ophelia opened her eyes and asked.

“Sister, what is going on?”​​The journey from the Daisy to the Duke of Brudenell was not easy. But, what was even more difficult than that was the confrontation with Ophelia.

“As you can see…”​​I shrugged my shoulders as I continued.

“I was caught by the Lord.”

“…Sister.”

Ophelia took my hand.

“I am sorry. I should have done better…”

“You were perfect. We could not have done better than this.”

I smiled faintly at that.

“It is just… Lord Cassius, he was just capable.”

Ophelia’s eyes hardened. “Sister, what did you eat wrong?”

“Huh?”

“I have never seen sister praise Lord Cassius.”

“….”

I took a deep breath. Perhaps, now is the right time to explain the situation to Ophelia.

“…I changed my mind.”

“Wh, what did you say?”

“I do not think it would be a bad idea to be with the Lord for the time being.”

“….”

Contrary to my expectations, Ophelia was not angry.

She just stared at me with a pale face. Then, a single word escaped from her trembling lips along with a sigh.

“Are you really okay?”

“I have an idea. So, do not worry about anything.”

I could not fully disclose my plans to Ophelia.

​​Well, it was because I could not really say I stopped acting like her in the original story, so hopefully, I would not get the obsession of this crazy obsessive man…

How am I going to explain that?

In the end, I just tried to paint a smile on my face, hoping that Ophelia would not question me anymore.

Fortunately, she appeared to move on quietly.

“If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know anytime.”

“I will.”

I nodded and promised.

Then, someone knocked on the door.

“Miss Evelyn, you need to make arrangements for the engagement.”

“… Already?”

Hearing that, Ophelia asked with a tone of disbelief.

“Sister, so quickly…”

“I promised Lord Cassius.”

Nevertheless, I quickly cut off her words as well and added, “I will get engaged as soon as I get back.”

“Why?”​​Her speech was choked.

Luckily, the Duke’s maids and attendants did not leave me alone. They stormed in with all kinds of clothes, accessories, and makeup tools, turning me into a perfect aristocratic girl from head to toe.

“It’s done, Lady.”

The Duchess’s maids were quite different from those of Count Garneid, who listened to me.

Ignoring my struggles to make me look unpretty, they found the best make-up and trinkets dress. When the makeup was finally finished, in the mirror, a woman I did not know was staring at me blankly.

“You are beautiful. Lord Cassius might even fall in love at first sight.”

“….”

I frowned at that.

If I could say that my face was made after almost fraudulent makeup, I would be beautiful now.

My soft, wavy brown hair was delicately twisted up. Blue eyes shone strangely under the long eyelashes, and a red-tinted blush appeared on my transparent skin.

The problem was that I did not look happy at all.

Beauty was reserved for Ophelia, not me!

So, just before I stood in front of Cassius Brudenell, I wiped off all my makeup. Obviously, the maids were very against my decision, but…​​Is there anything they can do?

They had no choice but to pretend to cry profusely, saying they could not stand in front of their beloved Lord Cassius in such a shameful way.

Of course, the rumors that I am crazy will only become more prevalent, though I did not care. If I cared about such a thing like reputation, I would not have started all of this from scratch in the first place.

“Evelyn.”

Through the veil, Cassius whispered quietly.​​“Are you okay?”

“I am okay.”

I shrugged.​​Even though I barely took off my makeup, I could not take off these cumbersome clothes, so I just wanted to rest after the engagement ceremony as soon as possible.

“…Did you cry?”

“I did not cry.”

At his question, I shook my head.​​“It is just… I did not look like myself with makeup on, so I just wiped it off.”

“I heard that you cried.”

His voice showed a dangerous tone.​​“Did someone make you cry?”

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