chapter 07
“Hedon has absolutely no qualifications to be a duke, does he? The man can’t even manage a single horse, let alone defend the Empire. Honestly, I came expecting the House of Duke Bellanel to collapse in the next generation.”
His words were more blunt than expected. Eartis felt like she had glimpsed the truth hidden behind his charming mask. But nothing he said was actually wrong.
“I underestimated the insight of the Eurean Magic Tower,”
Eartis murmured.
Before her regression, the ducal house had nearly been destroyed—just as the Tower had predicted.
Their foresight was so precise that they even got the timing right, expecting the downfall to begin with Hedon’s ascension. Truly, the mages were a sharp-eyed bunch.
“I thought today would be a wasted trip, but fortunately, you were here, Eartis.”
Louis smiled at her, his eyes crinkling with gratitude. Even with that radiant smile practically glowing at her, Eartis felt nothing.
“So, we’re friends now, right?”
“Sure. Friends.”
Eartis replied flatly. She wasn’t sincere.
‘I was surprised he suggested friendship first, but that’s all.’
She didn’t trust mages. She especially didn’t trust anyone from the House of Marquis Eurean.
No matter how kind they seemed, they ultimately followed profit, not loyalty.
The Magic Tower had stood by silently as the Bellanel family declined and turned a blind eye when rebellion shook the Imperial City.
Because of their indifference, the coup wasn’t stopped, and the First Prince Adrian was murdered.
A noble who just watched while royalty was slaughtered—how could a knight like Eartis see that in a good light?
‘Then again, I’m in no place to talk—I was deceived and betrayed my own lord.’
She smiled bitterly. That’s why in this life, she resolved to only keep people she fully trusted close. She would never again be manipulated or misled.
“Then if you’re free later this week…”
“Sorry. I’m busy.”
She cut him off sharply. Louis’s face drooped in disappointment.
“I didn’t even say which day yet.”
“Monday to Sunday. I’m busy all week.”
She rejected him again as he blinked his lemon-colored eyes slowly.
“Well then. Safe journey back home.”
She turned and walked away.
She could feel Louis’s dazed gaze behind her, but she ignored it.
At that moment, Eartis had no idea just how much trouble she was in for provoking a mage’s curiosity.
She heard Louis calling out, asking if she wouldn’t at least see him off, but she ignored him. Eventually, Louis left a message saying he’d write and rode off in his carriage.
‘So tired.’
Back in her room, that was all Eartis could think.
Too much had happened. She still needed to adjust to her younger body, and it was her first time standing up to Hedon. She flopped onto the bed.
‘Feels like my body is being sucked into the mattress.’
The whole mansion was silent—perfect for sleep. No servants were in sight.
‘They’re probably all busy trying to calm Hedon down.’
Eartis chuckled weakly into her pillow.
Whenever Hedon couldn’t control his anger, he’d throw things or kick furniture.
After being exposed in front of his friends, his pride must have taken a hit. She wondered just how many statues and chairs he’d break this time.
‘It’s actually a good thing for me.’
If everyone’s focused on Hedon, no one would disturb her rest. Soon, her even breaths filled the small room.
But that rest didn’t last long.
“Miss! Wake up!”
A maid’s urgent voice pulled her out of sleep. As she slowly opened her eyes, the maid caught her breath and dropped a bombshell.
“The Duke is asking for you.”
“The Duke? Asking for me?”
She was exhausted, but that made her slightly more alert.
“He has no reason to want to see me.”
Nevertheless, she followed the panicked maid to the Duke’s office.
“He’s extremely angry!”
“So what.”
He always got angry when he saw her anyway. It didn’t matter if he already was.
Ignoring the maid’s flustered nagging, she opened the office door.
“Are you absolutely certain of that statement?”
It was the butler Mel’s voice.
Eartis scanned the room: the Duke seated at his desk, maids bowing before him.
‘It’s Vivian.’
The red-haired short maid from yesterday stood with another. The Duke must be interrogating them over the broken vase.
‘So why am I here?’
As a witness, maybe? She hadn’t thought the vase incident was a big deal, so this was surprising.
But judging by the Duke’s face, he clearly wasn’t going to let it go lightly.
‘Well, I was the one almost injured.’
Vivian had started it, so technically she was involved too.
Eartis stood silently near the door—until the next moment flipped the room into chaos.
“It was Miss Eartis who broke it!”
Eartis snapped her head around in shock at Vivian’s accusation.
“We were just trying to push a cart past, but she blocked the way and wouldn’t move. When we asked her to, she got angry!”
The lies kept coming.
“She even shoved the laundry cart, and I nearly got injured by falling linens!”
It was absurd. Eartis stared hard at the back of Vivian’s brown head. Vivian didn’t seem to realize she had entered the room.
“She threw the vase herself. She aimed at us, but it slipped. Her behavior was so violent and frightening… I couldn’t believe she was a noble lady.”
Vivian covered her eyes as if traumatized.
“Is this true?”
The Duke’s cold gaze turned to Eartis.
Vivian finally noticed her presence, and her pupils dilated with fear. Still, she nodded vehemently.
Eartis let out a short laugh.
Even as Vivian lied without shame, the others—servants, the butler—were all looking at Eartis with pity or judgment.
‘They’re all believing Vivian. But maybe…’
Eartis slowly turned her head toward the one person who might say something different—her only family.
“…You again.”
But the Duke was looking at her too.
His blue eyes held deep-seated resentment, reproach, disappointment—all directed at Eartis.
The tangled mess of emotions was unmistakably negative.
‘So this is how it ends.’
What had she expected?
‘There’s no one in this house on my side.’
No one questioned whether she’d actually broken the vase.
‘No one even asked me if it was true.’
Eartis bit her lip. Then came the real blow.
“Why did you do it?”
The Duke’s cold voice sliced through the air.
It was the first question he’d asked her—but one that assumed her guilt.
“You’re asking why I did it?”
Eartis let out a bitter laugh.
The Duke and others scowled at her attitude.
She wasn’t acting like a guilty child—some servant even whispered as much.
Eartis stepped forward and stood before the Duke.
“Shouldn’t the question be whether I broke the vase or not?”
Her voice sounded strangely sorrowful. The butler Mel looked startled, as if only now realizing how wrongly they had treated her.
They had cornered her as the culprit from the start.
“Are you just making excuses now?”
“I’m not making excuses. I truly didn’t break it.”
Meeting the Duke’s icy blue eyes, she calmly declared her innocence.
‘Let me explain the facts properly.’
She took a deep breath.
‘No one here is on my side. I’ve always known that.’
Judgmental stares surrounded her, already having decided she was guilty.
“I wasn’t the one who broke the vase.”
Amidst it all, she held firm.
‘No one else will prove my innocence. Only I can.’
With resolve, Eartis turned and pointed directly at Vivian.
“Vivian is the one who broke it.”
“What?! That’s not true!”
Vivian shouted, looking genuinely wronged.
“Miss, why are you lying like this? Even if you hate me, this is too much…”
She looked like a victim falsely accused by a wicked noble girl. The other servants whispered among themselves, pitying Vivian.
Judgmental stares now pierced Eartis.
But she stood her ground.
She had fought in countless battles before her regression—never bowing, even as blades rained down. She had once endured volleys of arrows fiercer than these looks.
And now, she could fight differently.
“Vivian was the one who picked a fight. It’s true the cart fell, but it was because she charged toward me, and I had to dodge. That’s when the vase broke.”
She could defend herself now. And she drove the point home.
“Vivian’s actions were clearly intentional—meant to hit me. When it didn’t go as planned, she pushed the cart at me, and that’s when the vase shattered.”
“Do you have any proof?”
