IVHMH 06

Chapter 6

“If you find the horse, don’t touch anything. Just bring it as is. I need to investigate something.”

“Investigate?”

“Someone tried to hurt me.”

“What?”

The words were shocking enough to make Ortega’s eyes widen.

Even though it was just a fleeting moment, countless emotions crossed his eyes.

Who in this household openly hated me and had the authority to give orders freely?

This time, even Ortega couldn’t hide his expression easily.

“Make sure to warn the people going to retrieve the horse. If there’s any sign that someone tampered with it, I’ll charge them all with attempted murder.”

“……”

“No, wait, since I’m still alive, it’d be attempted murder, not murder.”

I smiled kindly at the pale-faced Ortega.

“When the time comes and the situation changes, people change too. Ortega, you’ll have to get used to my changes from now on.”

“……!”

“Make sure this incident serves as a warning. I already gave a heads-up to some of the maids yesterday. I wonder if they understood.”

“Then yesterday’s incident……”

According to Mervelle, there had been a lot of gossip among the maids about what happened yesterday.

They were unsure whether it was an accident or something I orchestrated intentionally.

Ortega’s expression gradually hardened as he processed what had just been vague doubts.

“I don’t touch people who remain neutral, even if they’re not on my side. But I have no intention of being generous to those who go against me.”

“Understood. I’ll warn the stable hands and send them out.”

After Ortega left, I headed to the dining room.

When I arrived, the Duke and Duchess Mares and Leticia were already seated.

“You should come on time for meals. Making the elders wait—how disrespectful!”

Before I could even sit down, Ada’s nagging came flying at me.

The Mares couple had simply come down a little early; I wasn’t late.

It was laughable that she’d stoop to such petty tactics just to get revenge for yesterday’s events.

“I didn’t know the meal time had changed. If someone had told me in advance, I would’ve hurried.”

“Talking back now? Leticia came early and waited patiently.”

Leticia sat quietly with her gaze lowered.

She was playing the obedient daughter role Ada so desperately wanted me to see.

Sitting down next to her, I made sure the Mares couple could hear what I said.

“You usually come at the same time as me. How did you know to come early today? Did someone tip you off?”

Leticia flinched and glanced at Ada.

She didn’t say a word, but the meaning behind her glance was loud and clear.

Following her gaze, I locked eyes with Ada.

Looking right at her, I smiled with a clear expression that said, I’m above you now.

“You insolent little…”

“If you don’t want more trouble like this, you should better manage your staff, Mo.ther.”

I emphasized the word “mother” mockingly, and Ada trembled with fury.

The breakfast table turned tense from the start.

As the mood turned against Ada, my stepfather stepped in to put an end to it.

“What’s the big deal about who arrived first? Quiet down and eat.”

At his signal, the servants brought in the food.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, I enjoyed my meal calmly and unbothered.

As I was about to head out, Ada stopped me.

All of my outings were under Ada’s control.

There weren’t many people I could meet freely—one of the few was Theus.

He was the youngest son of Count Drak and currently learning to manage the family’s trade business.

Since he couldn’t inherit the title, he had once planned to become a knight, but suddenly changed paths and joined the merchant group.

He was once Calix’s friend, but now he and I were close.

“Where are you going?”

“I heard Theus is back, so I’m going to see him.”

“What’s the point of going now that Calix is gone?”

It wasn’t the first time I had known Theus. It had been years.

Ada’s intention to nitpick was obvious.

She just didn’t want me to interact with anyone.

“Just because Calix is gone doesn’t mean my friendship with Theus is over.”

“If you don’t behave yourself, no man will want to marry you.”

Her words shocked me.

I had assumed discussions about marriage with Gustavo were already underway.

It was around this time we’d first met… and we had gotten married three months later.

Ada misunderstood my reaction and seemed pleased with herself.

“So from now on, stay quietly at home.”

“If I don’t go to him, Theus will just come to me.”

“Did you hit your head when you fell off that horse? Why are you arguing with everything I say?”

“If you don’t want to hear my answers, don’t talk to me.”

“You little…!”

She raised her hand to slap me, but I quickly grabbed her wrist. I had no intention of offering my cheek again.

Getting close to her startled face, I whispered,

“Showing your strength isn’t something to do whenever you feel like it. Today, I’ll cover it with makeup, but what do you think people would say if they saw the marks on my face?”

“You… you!”

“Instead of policing my outings, maybe you should police your own wrist. People talk, and rumors spread fast.”

I let go of her wrist and tapped the hidden bruised spot on my face with my finger.

There’s no way she’d forgotten the mark she left just yesterday.

“I’ll be going now, Mother.”

I smiled sweetly and folded my eyes as I said goodbye.

Judging by her face, full of fear and confusion, I must’ve conveyed my ‘kindness’ well enough.

Theus had just returned from a trip to a provincial town with the trade group.

He immediately contacted Elisia after getting back.

When it was about time for her to arrive, he came out and waited at the gate.

He could have gone to the Mares estate, but he usually preferred inviting her to his own home.

“No matter how much I want to see you, I can’t take away your joy of going out.”

Holding back his own eagerness for her happiness meant nothing to him.

He had met Elisia when he was twelve, two years older than her. With her shining blonde hair and snow-white face, she had looked like a doll.

It was love at first sight.

He had hoped to see her again, but it felt like chasing stars.

“If it weren’t for Marina, I never would’ve gotten close to Elisia.”

Staring toward the central gate, he mumbled to himself.

Marina, his cousin, was now married and living in the Kingdom of Khan.

She was the one who’d told him how much the Mares couple disliked letting their daughter go outside.

“Becoming friends with Calix was a stroke of genius.”

He still felt proud thinking about it.

It was because he helped Calix when he was bullied that he got to visit the Mares estate.

Thanks to that, he became close to Elisia.

Thinking of her always made his heart ache.

“I need to become independent fast! Only then can I get her out of that house.”

He clenched both fists tightly.

He had once thought she was just a precious daughter. But at sixteen, he found out the truth—Elisia was being abused.

He had gone to visit a sulking Calix after he failed the knight’s training exam—only to find Elisia being beaten.

That scene had never left his memory.

“I don’t regret not becoming a knight. Elisia’s happiness means more to me.”

Right now, all he could do was give her some breathing room.

But someday, he wanted to be her safe haven.

As we approached the Drak estate, I peeked out the window.

Theus was waiting outside again today.

Before the carriage could even stop, he rushed to the window and looked at me through the glass.

“How have you been, Elisia?”

“I’m good. Didn’t you just arrive this morning? Aren’t you tired?”

“I am.”

“Then you should rest. Why did you call me?”

“Seeing you is rest for me.”

Smiling brightly, Theus finally opened the carriage door and held out his hand.

He looked visibly tired from traveling through cold regions the past few days.

“Come in. I brought you a gift.”

He always brought something for me, no matter how busy or tired he was. This time, it was a small wooden figurine.

“Oh wow, how cute!”

It was a plump-cheeked squirrel holding an acorn with both paws.

It looked real from afar—it was carved so delicately.

“Where did you find this?”

“There was a skilled artisan in one of the towns we visited. I’d love to take you there someday.”

“Is it a place with a lot to see?”

Theus traveled all over the Netor Empire—even across the border.

Sometimes, he even took ships to the Kingdom of Khan.

“It’s not about the sights. I want to show the artisan you.”

“Me? Why?”

“I want him to make a sculpture that looks like you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

I’d never had even a single portrait of myself aside from the family one.

There were many portraits of Calix and the Mares couple around the house—but only one of me, the so-called family portrait.

The very first thing the Mares couple did after moving in was remove the portraits of my parents.

Mervelle had managed to save a small portrait of them for me.

I kept it hidden where no one would find it, and only looked at it secretly from time to time.

Without it, I wouldn’t even remember what my real parents looked like.

“In a few days, I’m heading to the Kingdom of Khan.”

“To the Kingdom of Khan?”

My heart raced as I thought of the letter Bellus had shown me.

I should’ve at least remembered the name of the sailor who wrote it before he died.

“Yeah. I’ll stay there a bit longer this time and visit Marina.”

“I want to go too.”

“You do?”

“Ah—no! I was just saying that.”

I accidentally said what I was really thinking.

Even if I went to the Kingdom of Khan, it wasn’t like I could meet Bellus or find the sailor who wrote the letter.

The most urgent issue before me now was avoiding the marriage with Gustavo.

Talk of marriage would come up any moment, and I hadn’t even had time to come up with a plan yet.

“Elisia, is something bothering you?”

“Theus…”

If Theus proposes before talk of marriage with Gustavo begins… maybe I can avoid it.