Chapter 21

And then a few hours later.

After spending almost an entire day there, I arrived at the mansion again. There’s no way my family would welcome me to come back.

By chance, I met my half-brother, who had returned home at the same time at the front door. He frowned as soon as he saw my appearance from the carriage. There was a sign of boredom in his expression.

“Where did you go without saying a word? And where did that black carriage come from? You’re not even married… Are you trying to tarnish our family’s prestige?”

“…”

“Is your head empty?”

I thought quietly as I saw my younger brother pouring out insulting words that did not suit where we were. If it had been the 15-year-old me, I would have started weeping at his rebuke.

‘Why is he asking me to kill him today?’

But it’s not the time yet.

I calmed down one side of my chest. Looking at our situation now, our return time was similar, and my brother usually stayed up all night in other people’s estates on the pretext that it was his close friend’s birthday.

‘So it’s okay if you are the one who was doing that while saying my head is blank from doing the same thing?’

In the past, I even tried to understand my little brother. I thought that if I became a kind older sister, he would one day recognize my sincerity. But that day never came in my life.

“Sorry.”

Nevertheless, I made a calm expression and began to apologize. It was because I didn’t want him to be on guard if my attitude suddenly changed. As always, I shut my mouth and bowed my head.

“I didn’t even know that the little Duke would suddenly call for me…”

“What?”

“It’s Aloken. I returned from his villa.”

But then.

Not knowing who I was with, my younger brother, Purson, was bewildered.

“Aloken? Little Duke of the Northern? Why are you with him…”

“Ah, because I’m getting engaged with him. Aloken said he would arrange the engagement within this week. Then I will be on my way.”

“What? Uh… Engagement!?”

When he was speechless at the sudden news, I ran away quickly from there.

“Engagement?”

I was originally the older sister who kept standing still in the place and didn’t say goodbye when someone finished talking to me. When I entered the mansion first, my brother was even more puzzled.

“!”

As I entered the mansion hallway, I met a familiar face.

“…”

“…”

Bael was walking from the other side. Presumably, he came out because he was worried about his son’s return at this late hour. It was an action I had never received before.

“Father.”

I bowed to greet him, ignoring the tangle of my own hair. But when I lifted my head again, Bael had already moved. At times like this, I really felt like I had become a ghost. In particular, the ghost of a crying woman.

* * *

A few days later.

As promised, the Jalier family made a formal engagement request to the Celcius family. Even though I didn’t intend to spread the news about it, it was the news about the little Duke’s engagement, so there was no way it could be kept as a secret.

‘It seems that Aloken persuaded Duke Jalier well. It must have been difficult for our family and their oldest son to be engaged.’

Strangely enough, I hadn’t even received the engagement contract yet, but the rumors spread around first.

‘Aha. He might have revealed to his father that we had a fake relationship.’

The preparations for the engagement proceeded at a faster pace than at the time I was engaged with Naverius. Even if his family cried out that they didn’t like me, they didn’t seem to want to miss this opportunity. As I ate breakfast, I thought Aloken might already have our engagement papers stamped.

‘I’m only a fake fiancée.’

Now people will flock to me, who will have the power.

‘In the past, Naverius ruined my social life by spreading rumors for nothing.’

The remaining question is how to approach Vasago…

I began to ponder how to deal with the most important person of my revenge targets.

‘She is the noblest among the nobles. When she goes out, she is always with her escort. There are always eyes attached to her…’

Tuk. Tuk.

I thought about it as I read the book spread on the table. But after a while, the tapping table sounded in line with the knocking sound from the door.

“Lady Vanora, this is Cecil.”

Raising my head, Cecil asked me if she could come into my room.

“What’s going on?”

Having no reason to refuse her, I gave permission for her to enter my room. Then I saw a woman in a black servant’s uniform come in, and she spoke a few words.

“It’s about Lady’s birthday banquet coming soon. The Count asked if he could formally announce Lady’s engagement with Lord Aloken Jalier at the banquet.”

The question I heard was useless.

He has always done things in his own way, and now he is asking for my permission?

Come to think of it, I heard a similar question when I was engaged to Naverius.

“Tell him I said yes.”

I was not interested in the engagement itself, so I roughly agreed. After all, the engagement was not something that should be glamorous compared to marriage, as only the two parties would come to the church with their seals.

‘I can’t believe it’s already near my birthday. After my birthday, I must be busy preparing for my debut in the social world.’

I thought again that I couldn’t even pay attention that Cecil had already left my room.

I had to reduce the number of my visits gradually. Perhaps this will be my last visit.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.”

Rattle.

I ended up skipping breakfast and jumped out of my seat, and rang the handbell. When my maid opened the door at the sound of a clear bell, a lie came out again.

“Cecil! I will go out, so prepare to get my hair done. Sir Ronwe, who worked for this family, is in critical condition. I am so worried about him that I can’t even finish my meal!”

* * *

Cecil.

It has already been five years since she began serving the Celcius family. She was busy doing her job today with the same appearance of her braided hair and servant’s uniform.

“Cecil?”

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For her, the Celcius family was a simple workplace, not a subject of respect. She had no intention of becoming a personal maid or friend for the young master like any other servant. They’re not even paying here for that, so what’s the point of responding to the young master she served when asked about her daily work?

Cecil considered herself a cold-hearted person. She was confident that she wouldn’t start the so-called dumb relationships like others.

“Are you sick, Cecil?”

“No, Lady. It’s… I wanted to ask you a question if you don’t mind. Will it be all right?”

“Yes.”

But just like the love story between a knight and a princess in the novel. Cecil also came up with a cliché sentence and thought, ‘Only this Lady is different from others.’

“Why are you doing this for the butler?”

“It is said that he came from a knight who had been loyal to the Celcius family since childhood.”

“That’s right.”

“Even after retiring from the knighthood, he said he wanted to contribute to our family and worked all the time. How can I turn a blind eye to someone who devoted his life to the Celcius family?”

“…”

“Honestly, my father or mother might think of him as just an ordinary servant. But I will never forget his work.”

Where’s the vicious young Lady that Seir gossip about?

The master Cecil served was always polite. This contrast may be something that bothers Vanora more.

“And… Cecil, I only said this to you. I have a lot of thoughts about the unfortunate accidents that have happened these days.”

“…”

“Especially because of Seir’s death.”

Cecil froze at the mention of Seir.

“Seir… What Lady is trying to say?”

Cecil believed that Vanora was different from the rumors and nasty things that were being said by others. Still, she had no choice but to wonder what happened. According to the words in this mansion, Lady Vanora is a bad person who punished servants freely according to her emotions. However, Lady Vanora that she had been serving wasn’t like that at all. So she wondered about it.

‘Why did Seir say such a thing? Maybe there is something really bad about Lady Vanora’s personality.’

“The truth is, Seir has always been unfaithful. She had never been kind to me and only pretended to do the servant’s work when she was in the eyes of others.”

“…”

“But in the end, Seir was the only one who stood by my side in this mansion, right? I was grateful to her for that alone. But you don’t know how many times I cried in my room when I heard that she recently lost her life to the old chandelier.”

Cecil couldn’t help but be surprised at the young Lady’s few words.

‘It was Seir who didn’t be polite? Lady Vanora still thank Seir for being by her side?’

At first, Cecil was suspicious about it.

“That’s how I thought after Seir died. Once a person’s life is gone, it never comes back, so if I have to thank someone… Especially for everyone who does dangerous things for me, let’s be good to them while they’re alive.”

And then.

Cecil noticed too late. During the conversation, tears began to fill the corners of Vanora’s eyes.

“That’s why I’m going to visit Sir Ronwe.”

In the past, Vanora was an elegant lady because she rarely expressed her emotion.

Who could not be moved to see this Lady weeping for the passed away servant?

“Lady…”

Cecil’s suspicion was broken with this as a starting point. At the same time, she felt pity for the Lady who grew up neglected in this mansion.

It was easy for the wave of confusion to grow once it started to move. Humans are always more attracted to a ‘poor and good person’ story rather than a ‘happy and good person.’

* * *

8. Men

“Cecil, the sun is strong today. I’m just stopping by Sir Rowne’s house anyway, so you don’t have to follow me.”

“Pardon? But-”

“I’ll be right back. Please stay in the mansion.”

“I understand…”

Cecil soon went back to the mansion. As Lady Vanora said, it was sunny today, so Cecil couldn’t keep standing outside. She thought she should take a breath while hiding in a quiet kitchen for a while.

“Huh? Why are you in the kitchen at this hour? Where’s the Lady?”

“Mail, put down those dusty sacks. I will tell you after that.”

“All right, all right. Step back a little so you don’t get your uniform dirty.”

A few minutes later, the porter spoke to Cecil, who was lost in thought. Since Count Celcius was not a person who would beat the servants for having a chat during the break, the two of them had a comfortable conversation.

“Lady Vanora went out.”

“Really? Lady goes out a lot these days.”

“Sir Ronwe… Lady Vanora heard that his illness had gotten worse. She’s visiting him because she’s worried about his condition.”

During the brief conversations, the porter made a puzzled expression. It was because he still believed the rumors about Vanora.

“That Lady Vanora? Didn’t they say she has a bad temper? I heard she likes to beat her servant.”

“…”

“By the way, how’s it going for you? I haven’t heard a word about you since you became Lady Vanora’s exclusive maid.”

Cecil, who had been listening to him quietly, thought about something and opened her mouth.

“It’s just that Lady… is kind to me. She still gave me a break like right now.”

“Kind?”

“I can’t believe what Seir said anymore.”

“What? That’s it? But besides Seir… there’s the chef. That person is still saying that he almost got into trouble because Lady Vanora was complaining about the food made by him.”

“But-”

Even at this moment, in Cecil’s head, Vanora’s tears for the servant and the few words she had uttered still linger.

“Did something happen?”

“That-”

Cecil gave a positive evaluation of her master. It was according to the sentiments she recalled. Then the porter looked convinced.

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“Well, indeed. I haven’t personally experienced being beaten by her, so I guess Lady Vanora might be a good person.”

Golden words cost nothing but payback a lot.

It may have been just a proverb, but this moment was different. A few words from Vanora began to make a definite difference.