CH 11

Next was Arthur. Arthur, the same dirty blonde hair color as Derek, showed no expression on his face.

‘At least he was kind to Evelia, right?’

Even if I said ‘kind’, he didn’t take care of Evelia, he just ignored her.

He did, however, at least make a passing attempt to stop Countess Venion or Derek when they were bullying her.

Just because he didn’t come forward and bother her, the original Evelia felt a little bit better about Arthur.

‘And Derek…’

Evelia let out a small sigh as she looked at Derek, who was still glaring at her from the other side.

‘There’s no sign of remorse at all?’

As she quietly touched the glass jar in her pocket, the servants began serving appetizers.

It was a salmon salad with a refreshing lemon dressing.

‘It’s delicious.’

Evelia exclaimed inwardly and began to eat.

Originally, Evelia hated dinner time with her family. It was only natural because her family treated her as invisible.

The original Evelia would sit through the meal, lost in conversation with everyone but herself. In the worst cases, she would throw up her food as soon as she got back to her room.

But Evelia now was different.

‘Why should I pay attention?’

She ate the food brought by the maids, letting the voices of her family continue their conversation in one ear.

Derek made a mysterious expression while watching her, but she ignored it. Her goal was simply to have a quiet meal and return to her room.

But just as the dessert was served, Count Venion suddenly called her.

“Evelia.”

“…….”

“Evelia?”

“… Yes?”

Evelia, who was thinking about something else, responded late. Count and Countess had a disapproving look.

Evelia smiled innocently as she put down the dessert fork.

“I’m sorry. You had never called me before, so I didn’t know you were calling me.”

Derek reacted to the surprise remark.

“Why are you like this?”

Count Venion raised his hand to silence Derek. Derek looked like he had a lot to say, but he kept his mouth shut, unable to ignore the words of his father.

Instead of pointing out Evelia’s actions, Count Venion brought out what he originally intended to say.

“I heard that you went to the Adelhard Mansion yesterday.”

“Ah yes. It was.”

“Why did you go there without telling me?”

The Count’s eyes were sharp. However, Evelia had met Cassis, who was sharper than him, and just laughed at him.

‘What shall I say?’

I could have made up a lie here. However, Cassis would soon agree to the breakup anyway, so it seemed okay to inform the Count in advance about the break-up event.

Evelia opened her mouth without avoiding Count’s gaze.

“I asked Duke Adelhard to break off the engagement.”

The already quiet atmosphere in the dining room became even more chilly. Count squeezed the hand he had placed on the table.

“What did you just say?”

“I told the Duke that I wanted to break off the engagement. I was going to tell the Count as well…”

But Evelia was speechless.

Slap-!

It was because Countess Venion, who had been listening silently, jumped up and slapped her on the cheek.

Evelia’s face turned around at the unstoppable slap.

“You, you ungrateful thing!”

“…….”

Did I just get hit? Her head was pounding and she couldn’t think straight, but she tried to pull herself together.

But even in the meantime, the Countess poured out her anger with a flushed face.

“We have fed and given you a place to sleep so far, and what did you give us back? Even the animals know how to be grateful! And the engagement and you dare to break it off? How dare you not even know your place!”

Strangely, while listening to the Countess, Evelia’s past memories flashed through her mind like a film.

―You can’t fool low-blooded people, no matter how much you teach them, they still can’t learn manners.

The memory of getting insulting in front of the maids when teaching me noble etiquette.

—You don’t even deserve to eat.

The memory of not giving even a sip of water to Evelia, who was in her growing age.

—You dared to stand up to Derek? Stay in the warehouse until you reflect on your actions.

The memory of being locked in a warehouse with no light for the absurd reason of changing one’s habit.

Evelia tried to stay as quiet as possible here until she left the mansion with money and a place to stay.

However, the judges were wrong due to the Countess’ brazen behavior.

“What fed and slept?”

“What?”

“Madam didn’t raise me, you abused me. don’t you remember? Every time I made a mistake, you gave me food that even animals couldn’t eat. Isn’t it funny that you treated me like an animal and now you want me to be a human?”

The Countess’s face, which had seemed incapable of turning any redder, turned even redder.

She tried to say something, but Evelia fired first.

“It is the same with this engagement. You’re just using me for political reasons. In the eyes of others, You must have tried to raise me and make me marry off to Duke Adelhard. But what?”

Evelia rolled up her sleeves. The bruised wrist was exposed in blue color.

“Duke Adelhard saw this. Will the Duke really push for a marriage with Venion?”

“How that….”

“If you want to make me a product for the wedding market, you have to make it perfect. Not just making scratches in places that everyone can’t see.”

At that time, Count Venion hit the table hard and muttered.

“Stop.”

“But, honey.”

“You should stop too. Evelia, stop provoke my patience.”

He got up without touching the dessert.

“I will speak with Duke Adelhard. Marriages will never be broken, so you shall know that.”

With those words, he left the dining room. The Countess glared at Ivelia, then followed the Count out.

Arthur, who had been quiet all along, wiped his hands with a napkin and headed to his room.

And Derek…

“Are you really crazy?”

He asked as I sat down. Rather than being sarcastic, it sounded like he was genuinely curious.

Evelia didn’t have the energy to deal with him and stood up without saying a word.

I tried to walk away, but Derek got up and grabbed my arm.

“Can’t you hear me?”

Evelia stared at him and asked instead of an answer.

“Is that all you have to say to me?”

“What?”

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

“Nothing.”

It was an answer that came without thinking. At that brazenness, Evelia frowned at him.

“Really, nothing?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Are you okay, or saying you’re sorry?”

Derek laughed and then rolled his eyes.

“You keep saying strange things since yesterday.”

He pressed his index finger to her forehead.

“You’d better play dead, like you usually do, and not keep running around the house.”

Evelia clenched her hand.

“Then you’re not going to apologize?”

“There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to apologize to you.”

“I certainly gave you a chance.”

Derek seemed to take Evelia’s firm words as a mere warning.

He strode down the hallway, bumping his shoulder with her shoulder without hiding his displeasure.

Evelia sprayed Derek with the bottle she was holding, even as she was shaken by the recoil.

The colorless, odorless liquid inside got onto Derek’s pants, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Evelia muttered quietly to Derek’s back as he walked away.

“You’d better be careful.”

When I met Samuel earlier, Evelia had asked him instead of a down payment.

―I want to knock someone down the stairs, is that possible? I only want minor injuries, not serious ones.

―That’s a weak request for someone who comes here.

Samuel made a surprised expression, but soon gave her a small glass bottle saying it was possible.

Although I attached the proviso of ‘light injury’, I was a little reluctant to intentionally hurt someone.

So, Evelia was going to skip using the potion if Derek apologized.

However, when I saw Derek’s shameless attitude rather than an apology, the slight lingering guilt completely disappeared.

Evelia put the bottle back in her pocket and headed to her room.

I had a strong urge to get out of this mansion as soon as possible.