CHAPTER 04……………………………………
Can the betrayal I suffered at the hands of those I considered family really be expressed with nothing more than the words resentment or hate?
Even after living together for eight years, they left me with no defense, nearly cut off my wrist despite being the brother I trusted, and even caused my own father’s death…
Can mere words like bitterness or hatred ever explain that? Even if all the malice in the world were collected, it would still fall short of my own heart.
“Still…”
“Head butler.”
I called him—not because I wanted to hear what he had to say, but to indicate I didn’t.
The elderly man I had once followed so faithfully seemed now nearly deaf; my words didn’t reach him.
“Still… just this once, please understand.”
That was likely what he wanted to say. He wanted to justify it: I understand your feelings, there was a reason, but I can’t tell you now.
I swallowed the urge to ask if any reason could ever justify casting out a family member so cruelly.
Had I heard such words before my affection for the ducal household faded, perhaps it would have been different.
But not now.
The saccharine words, like an adult soothing a child, twisted in my gut from the inside out.
“Just endure here a little longer. After a year, the Duke…”
Patrick took a short breath.
“You will receive appropriate compensation, Miss.”
“Appropriate compensation…”
Lian didn’t know why the Duke had summoned me here, or why the period was set for a year, but Patrick seemed to.
“I’m curious and even looking forward to it.”
The Duke’s reason for calling me, and the compensation he would give after a year… it must be substantial enough for him to mention it so carefully.
Patrick’s pleading eyes made me gently curl the corners of my lips and nod.
“To see what compensation the Duke will give me, the one who threatened the noblewoman.”
And perhaps whether the Duke would maintain that intention even a year from now.
Why does this feel so strange?
I frowned at the subtle distortions I felt as I looked around the ducal mansion, which hadn’t changed much.
Some people must have already seen me return, and the rumor must have spread quickly through the capital.
Half a day would be enough to circulate the news.
And now, with a full day passed, everyone at the center of the capital’s social scene would surely know that the Duke’s noblewoman had returned.
Yet, it was so quiet—this wasn’t a minor noble family; it was the return of the Duke’s heiress.
“You haven’t received any letters?”
“No, Miss.”
I asked the maid assigned to me. She nodded enthusiastically, as if confirming what I already suspected.
Everyone treated me as the real April, confirming that the promise to treat me as a noblewoman wasn’t false.
I had two questions.
One: why April was staying at the villa.
Two: why I had received no communication from her fiancé, Crown Prince Perfone.
When I met the others, I might learn why April was at the villa—but why they wouldn’t tell me remained unclear.
Even asking Patrick or Kana drew only sealed lips, as if by unspoken agreement.
“Is there someone you’re waiting to hear from?”
The maid asked politely, almost hesitantly.
To openly admit I was waiting for Perfone would provoke suspicion about my motives.
Still, the lack of contact gnawed at me.
Even if no one else reached out, at least Crown Prince Perfone should have.
Not simply because he was engaged to April, but because he had been my closest friend—and I had been his.
And considering I had saved him in my childhood, this silence was unacceptable.
Should I interpret the delay as a matter of royal protocol?
“No, never mind. Prepare some quill and paper.”
“Understood, Miss.”
If no one would tell me, I would find out myself.
I still remembered the day April first met Perfone: her pale cheeks flushed a rosy pink like ripening peaches, and her dreamy, dazed eyes suggested she’d just had a sweet dream.
She was clearly a girl struck by love at first sight.
“So you and the prince are friends?”
“Mm-hm.”
She had answered happily, smiling as if the world were bright and new.
Of course, it was no surprise she would fall for Perfone—he was practically the prince from a fairytale.
Golden hair that seemed melted from pure gold, honeyed amber eyes, kindness to all without discrimination…
Even ignoring the crazed Emperor and his consort, his status as the sole legitimate heir of the royal line would be irresistible.
Every noble daughter would see him as the ideal.
Considering she got engaged to him within a year of my expulsion, her heart must have been in a rush.
I glanced at the small portrait of the late Duchess hanging in the lobby, smirked, and turned my body toward my room.
I wondered how to start the letter to Perfone so that he would respond.
Just as I turned, a bright light began shining from the doorframe of the mansion.
“Miss.”
Patrick, who had run hurriedly from afar, grasped my shoulder as the light filled the space.
“Let’s get you to your room.”
“Why?”
“Once you’re in the room, I can handle it separately…”
The only person I needed to avoid meeting while being coaxed inside was the mansion’s madman.
“Judging by the head butler’s reaction, Barak must have arrived.”
“Miss.”
The sunlight streaming from the floor was familiar to me.
Even though the Duke was present, without Lian, Barak’s arrival would surely cause chaos.
I lightly responded, recognizing the head butler’s attempt to postpone trouble:
“It’s something we have to go through at least once anyway.”
“I’m worried that Master Barak might get excited and make a mistake with you.”
Though he worried about my safety, I couldn’t interpret it as concern the way he once had—because I was no longer the same as before.
As Patrick fretted behind me, the sunlight dimmed, revealing hair that sparkled like it was catching the light itself.
“Butler, Father…”
Barak handed the robe he had been wearing to the maid and spoke in a gloomy tone.
“What…?”
Had our eyes not met, I might have ignored him.
The sharp look in his eyes immediately twisted into something fierce the moment he saw me.
There had been times when that expression had terrified me.
I had tried to soften it, and I knew that to avoid it, I had to stay out of his sight, always fleeing to my room.
“Why is she here?”
“Master.”
Patrick approached cautiously, trying to calm Barak’s harsh tone.
I never imagined I would call him “brother” again in this house.
“It’s been a while, brother.”
I greeted him with a bright smile, a stark contrast to his twisted face.
I studied the young man’s distorted expression like observing a painting.
Barak, not intending to speak to me, glanced around instead.
“Butler, I asked why she’s here.”
The household staff, well aware of Barak’s temper, froze and bowed low.
No one dared speak, knowing Barak’s fury would fall entirely on whoever answered.
All eyes silently hoped Patrick would resolve the situation.
“She…”
Barak spat the word, clenching and unclenching his fists, threatening as if ready to strike.
Even the patient Alicia would be less tolerant than this.
“Master, please calm yourself first…”
Patrick’s cautious words made Barak’s eyes sharpen further.
I clicked my tongue internally—Barak had unleashed his wrath on Patrick just because of my presence.
When it seemed someone must bleed before he would stop, I had no choice but to speak.
“The Duke called me here.”
“What?”
“I thought you might be wondering why I’m here.”
“Father called you?”
“Yes.”
Barak let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh.
