Chapter 23…
His cheeks flushed red as if they were on fire.
Todga was convinced. The reason Clarissa had suddenly sought him out to say something like this—
was because she had finally realized that this Todga, not that pathetic Aryan von Matthias, was far more suited to stand beside Lord von Lavend.
However, no matter what Todga might have been expecting, it fell far short of his hopes.
“I like someone with eyes bluer and more beautiful than the sky, silver hair, and a warm heart—even if they’re a little shorter than others their age.”
“What nonsense—!”
Forgetting his place, Todga shouted and slammed his fist down on the table.
His face was twisted with rage.
“You’re rather impatient. You should listen until the end when someone is speaking.”
Even as Todga seethed with anger, Clarissa continued calmly, not blinking an eye.
“I’ve told you what I like, so you should hear what I dislike too, right? We’re close, after all. Shouldn’t we get to know each other better?”
Clarissa’s long eyelashes lowered, casting deep shadows.
Her faintly visible golden eyes, devoid of light, shimmered coldly.
“What I dislike is—”
Her lips, which had been drawing a red arc, returned to a straight line.
The voice that slipped out beneath those moving lips sank to its lowest register.
Clarissa slowly rose to her feet.
Her shadow, with the sunlight behind her, stretched long and tall.
“You.”
At last, Clarissa’s heavy words fell into Todga’s ears.
His face turned deathly pale, his lips parted in shock as he stared up at her.
Each time Todga’s face crumpled further in disbelief, Clarissa laughed as if she were genuinely amused.
“Hair the color of shit, a face that looks half-finished. You love tormenting others with your paltry authority, and despite having neither ability nor substance, you keep hanging around people who clearly don’t want you. You, Todga von Lavend.”
“W-What am I lacking compared to him? My family’s standing, my wealth—”
The string of insults left Todga unable to think straight.
In his desperation, he raised his voice and reached for Clarissa’s sleeve.
Clarissa stepped half a pace back, neatly avoiding his grasp.
Even then, her mouth never stopped.
“Are you deaf? What more do I have to say for you to understand your place? Don’t tell me you can’t comprehend anything longer than three syllables.”
“Clarissa!”
Overcome with agitation, Todga shouted her name and sprang to his feet.
Bang!
With the noise, a white chair toppled over unsightly.
Todga’s raised voice was enough to draw the attention of the Lavend household servants some distance away.
The gazes drawn by his shouting stuck thickly to the faces of the two of them.
From afar, it was easy to see: an enraged master and a guest who looked ready to leave at any moment.
Whatever the truth of the situation, Todga’s current 모습 was far from that of a refined noble destined to lead a family in the future.
Todga knew this better than anyone, so he merely clenched his fists in silence.
Head bowed low, body trembling.
Clarissa wiped even the crooked smile from her face and placed a hand on his shaking shoulder.
Approaching him, letting her cheek brush his, made her teeth chatter with revulsion—but Clarissa endured it all for the sake of his suffering alone.
Her lips settled beside Todga’s ear.
And then—
“I truly find you disgusting. To the point where even breathing the same air as you makes me feel suffocated.”
With a blade on the tip of her tongue, she carved up the boy’s heart. She felt no guilt.
If he had been so careless with his words in the first place, he should have expected to receive them back in kind.
“Well, I suppose I’m the same.”
Todga resembled “Clarissa.”
She knew that better than anyone.
That what she was doing to him in this moment was not merely anger over malicious rumors.
Self-loathing.
Swallowing a dry breath, Clarissa shut her eyes tightly once.
Her overheated mind gradually cooled.
When she opened her eyes again, Todga was standing there, vacant-eyed, as if he had lost the world.
“And it seems you took the warning I gave you back then lightly… I told you, didn’t I? Not to go around spouting my name carelessly.”
“Cl—”
“If you don’t need that tongue, go on. Keep talking.”
Before his weak voice could even properly emerge, Clarissa cut him off completely.
Todga hurriedly covered his mouth with both hands.
“This is the last time I’m letting it slide. If you dare speak my name again with that filthy mouth of yours, or spread more nonsense—”
After steadying her breath once more, Clarissa lightly patted Todga’s shoulder and delivered her final, final warning.
“Then I won’t be satisfied with just your disgusting tongue. I’ll ruin you until I’m satisfied. You know it, don’t you? I’m a bit…”
Todga trembled all over, his face drained white. Only after her languid yet distinct voice slid along the back of his neck did he fully realize—
“Capricious.”
Drunk on her beauty, he had forgotten, but Clarissa was—
the only daughter of the Marquis of Lisette, currently the most powerful house, and a mad young lady who always got what she wanted.
“If you don’t understand, memorize it. And if you can’t even do that, then carve it into your eyeballs.”
Clarissa’s threat was anything but light.
Todga understood that completely in an instant.
In his mind, images replayed of his family reduced to beggars, and of himself bleeding profusely from the mouth.
After looking down at the finally silenced Todga with satisfaction, she turned her back on him.
Then, in a loud voice so everyone could hear, she said,
“Oh, and by the way, I’m not particularly interested in what a viscount’s son likes or dislikes, so let’s skip wasting time. In that sense—”
A chilly breeze parted her chestnut hair.
A sweet fragrance spread through the garden of the Lavend estate.
Yet no one dared be intoxicated by that scent.
Only now did they understand.
Within that fragrance—
“Let’s not see each other again.”
was mixed a lethal poison.
Clarissa left the Lavend estate and once again headed for the Count Matthias residence.
She was exhausted after expending so much mental energy dealing with old trash, but she forced herself to endure it.
Not yet. I can’t rest yet.
Reassuring herself, she roused her languid body.
Click.
With a sound, the carriage door opened.
Escorted by a knight of the Lisette family, Clarissa carefully stepped down.
The wind of early autumn brushed past the girl’s pale cheeks.
As always, the Matthias estate—where not a ray of light seemed to reach—was chilly, and Clarissa unconsciously brushed at her shoulders and pouted.
Figures it’d be the lair of a villainess.
As she muttered inwardly, Clarissa noticed a group of women waiting ahead of her.
“Lady Clarissa.”
Blocking her path stood Bellisa von Matthias—golden hair that seemed to shine on its own, ruby-like red eyes, and beauty far too youthful to be the mother of two children.
Clarissa’s chin tilted up of its own accord.
She very much wanted to ignore Bellisa and walk past her, but she, too, had business with the woman.
“Yes.”
Clarissa replied with an expression that clearly said she didn’t want to.
Bellisa’s brow creased briefly, but the voice that followed was exceedingly gentle.
“I fear I may have been rather neglectful toward the woman who is, after all, our Aryan’s fiancée.”
“Well, you did seem quite busy lately.”
‘Our Aryan,’ huh… Looks like she’s trying to pick up crumbs now. Not a chance.
Clarissa instantly saw through Bellisa’s intentions.
An icy smile settled on her lips like a painted picture.
“Come to think of it, I sent someone over… Was the window repaired properly?”
On the day she had sent someone, Clarissa had been in that room with Aryan.
The reason she brought it up in front of Bellisa now was as a kind of warning.
Sure enough, Bellisa’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Her face stiffened as memories of that day surfaced.
