Chapter 12
“If you don’t believe me, ask the servants. There are plenty of them here who saw the Kreutz knights personally escort me yesterday.”
“Are you seriously saying that’s true?”
Edward whipped his head around toward the servants. One of them, looking troubled, recounted what had happened.
“Master Edward, that is…”
“What?”
As the servant whispered, Edward’s face went pale.
“So the knights really did come?”
Edward glared at me, deep in thought, and after a moment, he abruptly turned away.
“Ciela. Let’s go back for now.”
“What? Brother! What about disciplining her?”
“You handle it yourself. I’m leaving first.”
“What?! Brother! Brother!”
Edward strode out of the house, and Ciela, flustered, hurried after him.
“…….”
Silence fell over the lobby instantly.
The servants, sensing my gaze, quietly slinked away. Their usual air of subtle disdain and mockery was completely gone.
Of course, their current behavior wasn’t out of respect—it was more like avoiding a crazy person.
I stared blankly at the door through which Edward and Ciela had exited.
To think that just one small move of mine had ended so anticlimactically.
‘I at least expected to get slapped once.’
Why had I endured such treatment for so long from people like that?
Fear of being disliked. Fear that, having already lost my parents, even my relatives would abandon me. I had trembled before them like that—just like in my previous life.
‘It feels like the fog that clouded my mind has finally lifted.’
I had felt this way ever since the day Felix betrayed me.
They say that a person changes after a great shock… maybe that’s it.
With a clear view now, I could finally see exactly how I had been treated all this time.
Of course, the people who betrayed me and constantly insulted me were in the wrong. I understood that in my head.
Still, an irrational melancholy crept in.
‘Even dogs get adored when they dedicate themselves so completely.’
Why had people like me been treated so insignificantly?
Maybe it was because I had truly been so useless. Maybe that’s why they treated me like a weed on the roadside…
Long-standing self-blame and habitual self-deprecation were creeping back into my mind.
[Master.]
Pipi carefully called out to me.
I had cut our synchronization, so she didn’t know what I was thinking—but I think she had a rough idea of my mood.
Her soft, yellow fluff wriggled into my palm.
Two small, black sesame-like eyes stared up at me.
Was she trying to comfort me?
A smile tugged at my lips, but at the same time, my heart sank.
‘Even our Pipi did this.’
Not this chick Pipi, but the first Pipi—the puppy I had once owned.
That Pipi would press her head into my palm whenever I was scolded by my mother for eating something without brushing my teeth, or whenever I felt depressed about avoiding homework.
When I reluctantly patted her head, she’d wag her tail vigorously as if she’d been waiting.
Seeing her always made me laugh, no matter how gloomy I felt.
‘Even though they look and feel so different, why does this feel so familiar…?’
Probably because I missed the puppy Pipi I had lost so pointlessly.
Anyway, I couldn’t stay down forever. I deliberately spoke in a casual voice.
“Pipi. How was I just now? Did I look rude?”
[Yes! You looked like a totally reckless scoundrel! You’re improving every day, master! You’re the best!]
“Really? That’s a relief.”
I smiled brightly and ran my hand through the yellow fluff covering her head. Pipi finally seemed reassured, wagging her little tail back and forth.
“Brother! How can you just leave without disciplining her? It feels like we lost to Frisia! It’s so annoying!”
“Quiet.”
“What?!”
“I’m thinking, so shut your mouth!”
Edward shouted, and Ciela, startled, immediately closed her mouth with a hurt expression.
Meanwhile, Edward recalled a conversation he had had with his father two days prior.
‘What do you intend to do about Frisia going forward?’
‘If she cannot become Felix’s wife, that girl has no more use. Now that she’s a commoner with no title, let her wander the streets and die if she will.’
Expel her?
Edward didn’t like his father’s decision.
Frisia was intelligent.
He knew that Felix’s brilliant report cards were largely thanks to her.
And while she didn’t know how to dress well, her base appearance was acceptable.
Her inability to adorn herself was a virtue—she wouldn’t squander on vanity.
Frisia was like a caterpillar, easily pressed down, unresistant, but also smart enough to manage the family’s internal affairs and could be a gentle, low-maintenance wife.
The foolish Felix probably didn’t notice, but Frisia wasn’t a bad choice for a wife.
At least compared to that commoner girl Lorena, who only had a fair face.
Already, Edward had felt a strange sense of regret when he thought of Frisia, and then he heard that Felix had broken off their engagement.
After much deliberation, Edward decided to grant Frisia salvation.
‘Marriage between cousins isn’t common, but it’s not forbidden by imperial law.’
He would propose to Frisia, who must be floundering in despair after being abandoned by Felix.
‘Then I get a capable wife, and Frisia doesn’t lose her family’s standing.’
Such a generous decision!
Edward was pleased with his own merciful nature.
Yet, this was while the girl was daring to act out without realizing his intentions.
Recalling Frisia’s brazen actions earlier, he felt anger rising again.
‘And now she claims to be employed by Duke Kreutz? What nonsense is that?’
Earlier, he had been shocked into believing it, but thinking again, it didn’t make sense.
Timid, dull, and academically poor Frisia being employed by none other than Duke Kreutz?
Sure, “employed” might just mean she was paying a price physically for some offense against the Duke.
‘To call that employment is pure vanity.’
Edward chuckled wryly.
He had thought Frisia was distant from vanity and luxury, so this was a disappointment.
‘Anyway, her sudden change in character and whatever trouble she’s caused—definitely not ordinary.’
Seeing that Duke Kreutz was involved, it was obviously serious.
‘I need to investigate what she’s done. If it’s too severe, I must cut ties to prevent her affecting the future Violet Marquis family.’
If it’s something manageable…
‘I’ll fix it myself and tame Frisia properly.’
Despite today’s shocking and disappointing behavior, he believed Frisia’s nature, cultivated over years, hadn’t completely changed.
If he cleaned up her mess and forgave her generously, she would become completely his.
Edward trusted this without a doubt.
The next day.
Arriving twenty minutes early to avoid awkwardness, I entered the magic tower.
The wizards bustling about glanced at me occasionally.
“Is that her?”
“Yeah. She’s the new secretary. The documents that caused chaos yesterday? She restored them all.”
“No way. She barely graduated the academy, didn’t she? Must have just gotten lucky.”
‘…Their voices are really loud.’
I ignored them and headed to my destination.
Taking the elevator built with magical engineering to the top floor, I was greeted by a familiar face.
“Oh, Miss Violet!”
Aaron waved at me warmly.
His desk was piled with precarious stacks of paperwork.
As I approached, he handed me part of it.
“Sit here and organize these documents in ascending order. Thank you.”
Aaron seemed busy and left immediately.
I stared at the stack in my arms.
Ascending order?
I could see small numbers written on the front of each document.
Sort them by these numbers…?
‘No.’
Even for a first day, he wouldn’t ask something that simple!
Each document also had formulas written on the front page.
‘Ah. That makes sense.’
Seeing that, I finally understood what Aaron had asked me to do.
I nodded and began sorting the documents.
