Chapter 5

Moretti was under house arrest.
And since everyone knew it was by my order, the whole villa already buzzed with the news.

They also knew Patrick had come to see me.

Because of these things, the maids suddenly became surprisingly obedient to me.

“Bring the Young Lord’s meal here.”

The maids followed my order and brought Edmund’s meal cart.
I pushed it myself to his room.

After sending the maids out, I shamelessly lifted my chin and walked in.
I rolled the cart in front of Edmund, lifted the lids, and declared:

“Eat. Right here, in front of me.”

Edmund’s expression looked like he really might kill me.
His lips trembled pale.
His eyes shook with hatred and fury.

I knew exactly why.

‘Of course he doesn’t want to eat. His meals… are poisoned.’

It wasn’t a fast-acting deadly poison.
That would have made it too obvious that the Duke had killed his young nephew to steal his title.
And the Duke still had reasons to keep Edmund alive.

‘Instead, he mixed tiny amounts of poison into every meal—so Edmund would die slowly, little by little.’

Edmund knew it, too.
But he had no choice but to eat.

No untainted meals were ever given to him.
If he refused, he would starve to death.

The Duke had forced his nephew to choose between two deaths:

‘Die slowly by poison—or quickly by hunger.’

Truly cruel.

‘But don’t worry, Edmund.’

…Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud.
If anyone overheard, the Duke would find out.
And Edmund wouldn’t believe me anyway.

Instead, I shouted loudly so the maids outside would hear.

“Eat quickly! Don’t leave a single bite! If you do, I’ll report everything to the Duke!”

Bang bang!

I banged the cart for effect.

Edmund glared at me sharply, then, as if cornered, picked up his spoon.
He took the tiniest sip of soup—

His red eyes widened.

“…?”

Shock spread across his face.

I smiled in satisfaction.

‘Strange, isn’t it? There’s no poison in it.’

Edmund had grown used to the taste of poison in his food.
So of course he noticed instantly that none was there this time.
Those wide, startled rabbit eyes were proof.

Again, I shouted for the audience outside:

“Don’t nibble like that—eat properly! Eat the meat too! And the bread!”

He must have always eaten the bare minimum to survive.

‘That’s why he’s so thin, like a stick.’

Edmund hesitated, then tasted the other dishes.
His eyes widened again as he realized none of them were poisoned.
Then he looked up at me, astonished.

In a small voice, he asked:

“How…?”

I put a finger to my lips.

Shh.

The maids were right outside.
Edmund understood at once and closed his mouth.

Then he slowly began to eat.

He must have been starving.
He only ever received two meals a day, and they were always poisoned.

Now, freed from that, he shoveled food into his mouth desperately.

I shouted like a tyrant for the outside audience:

“Yes! That’s right—eat it all up!”

Outside the room, the maids flinched at my harsh voice.

“Not a single crumb left! If you do, you’ll starve for three days!”

Even Moretti, the tyrant of this villa, had never so openly forced Edmund to eat poisoned food.

The maids whispered nervously.

“She’s far too cruel… how could she…”
“She’s worse than Moretti ever was.”
“No wonder Moretti was punished with confinement and a pay cut so quickly.”
“They say Master Patrick visited her too.”
“Maybe she’s trying to earn the Duke’s recognition by doing all this herself. Ugh, terrifying.”

As they whispered, the door swung open.

They quickly bowed their heads.

And there I was, the girl who had become the new power of the villa in a single day—pushing out the cart.

On top of it, every plate was completely empty.

Unbelievable!
He really ate it all!
He never ate more than half—usually not even a third!

Because of the poison, Edmund had always eaten the bare minimum, leaving the plates full afterward.
For them to be this clean—it was the first time.

‘It looks like we won’t even need to wash them.’

The maids gawked as I proudly puffed out my chest.

“Take these away.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“And from now on, all of the Young Lord’s meals must come to me first. Clearly, you don’t know how to serve him properly.”

“Yes, Madam.”

They bowed and carried the cart away.
Watching their retreating backs, I smiled with satisfaction.

‘Perfect! Another problem solved!’

The maids would report to the Duke that I forced Edmund to eat every last bite of poisoned food.

‘And Edmund now knows my meals are safe.’

He’d have no choice but to confirm it every day.

This way, I had earned Edmund’s trust—and the Duke’s trust—at the same time.
Killing two birds with one stone.

…Well, except for one small downside.

Growl…

My stomach grumbled.

‘I’m hungry…’

Of course I was. I had only eaten a single bite.
The safe meals I had swapped in for Edmund had been meant for me.
And all the poisoned food, I had hidden away to secretly dispose of.

So I went back to my room with both pride and an empty stomach.
After my nanny dressed me for bed and left, I was finally alone.

‘What a long day.’

Before lying down, I opened a blank journal and began writing out my plans.

I had already mapped them in my head, but I needed to put them into detail.

• Possession: Day 4.
• Action: Day 1.

Then, in Korean so only I could understand, I wrote everything I remembered from the original story, along with the plans to save both myself and Edmund.
In detail.
Even backup plans—Plan A, Plan B, Plan C.

All while ignoring my growling stomach.

After I began bringing Edmund untainted meals, his attitude toward me started to change slightly.

“You again.”

He grumbled when I brought the dinner cart that day.
But he couldn’t hide his expression—bright with expectation.

‘His words aren’t honest, but his face is.’

I held back a smile and, playing my role as the villainess, barked:

“Eat it all! Leave even one crumb, and I’ll report you to the Duke!”

“…Don’t. I’ll eat.”

Oh?
He was even playing along, answering loudly so the maids outside would hear.

Then, hungry, he tore into his sandwich.

I watched, smiling faintly, and whispered so only he could hear:

“You don’t even check for poison anymore?”

“…!”

It was true.
For the first few days, he had carefully tested each dish before eating.
But now, he just ate eagerly.

‘He trusts that what I bring is safe.’

That made me proud.
My efforts these past days were paying off.

Edmund flushed and muttered, then went back to eating quickly.

“…I did check. I just check faster now.”

“Sure, sure.”

I chuckled, watching him clean every plate.

When he finished, he stared almost longingly at the empty dishes.
It wasn’t enough food.

‘Makes sense. I’ve been splitting my share with him. He’s growing—he needs more.’

I resolved to increase his portions.

Then I noticed something.

A streak of sauce on his cheek—spilled in his hurry.

The sight was so childlike, it made me smile and relax.

Before I realized it, I moved on instinct.
I reached out and wiped the sauce off his cheek.

“W-what are you doing!!!”

He jumped back in panic.

Smack!

He slapped my hand away, his face turning crimson.

He looked both shocked and furious.

“Ah, sorry. I just… it’s a habit. I used to wipe food off the kids I looked after.”

It was the truth.
I had no siblings of my own, but at the orphanage I often had to care for younger children.

But Edmund avoided my eyes and muttered bitterly.

“Don’t lie.”

“Hm?”

“I know you don’t have siblings.”

Ah—right.
Cassia Florence had no siblings.
Only a hostile half-sister.

‘If he thinks I lie about small things too, that’ll be bad.’

So I improvised.

“There were children I looked after, like siblings. I can’t see them anymore, but that’s the truth.”

“….”

“So don’t take it the wrong way. I had no bad intentions. Whether you believe me or not… well, that’s up to you.”

I left those words behind, took the empty plates from his hands, and left the room.

Even as the door closed, Edmund’s face was still burning red.

And I couldn’t help thinking—

‘Was it really something to get that angry about?’

It felt more than a little unfair.