WICE 09

#9.

“Why did you hit me?!”

Gale covered his head with both hands, looking like he’d been wronged. I decided to calmly explain just where his thinking had gone astray.

“They’re people too. Sure, they might be getting by on their salaries now, but that only works when there aren’t any big accidents. If something unexpected happens and they suddenly need a lot of money, anyone would struggle.”

“Why do you have to worry about that?!”

“It might not seem like a big amount to us, but to Becky, it was a lifeline to save her mother. Do you really have to talk like that? Huh?”

“Ugh, but… you almost got called in by the guards because of this!”

“So what if I did? This was a matter of life and death. Anyway, stay out of it from now on. I gave it because I wanted to. The ones who really stole my things for their own gain—those are someone else entirely.”

I deliberately scanned the people nearby and spoke with meaning. Several faces went pale as they realized what I meant. Some even feigned innocence shamelessly. Gale asked back,

“What do you mean? Are you saying someone really did steal your stuff?”

“Yeah. My things have been going missing for a while now. I’m sure some of your things are gone too.”

“I should just turn this place upside down right now—!”

I quickly held back the furious Gale, who looked ready to raid the estate.

Some of the servants flinched, visibly shaken. I raised my voice for everyone to hear.

I already knew who the main culprit was, so I had no need to hold back. Originally, I wanted to handle it quietly, but that wretched doctor had ruined everything.

“If my things are returned now, I won’t ask any questions. But if anyone dares to keep what they took, don’t think I’ll let it go. It won’t just end with being fired.”

To those who’d already sold off the stolen goods, it must’ve felt like thunder from a clear sky. Gale didn’t seem pleased with my approach.

“Why bother? We could just check everyone’s belongings right now!”

“Gale. Leave this to me. This happened because the servants thought they could walk all over me. If you get angry on my behalf, it just makes me look weak.”

“……”

Gale shut his mouth tightly at my words. I smiled gently at his silent agreement.

“All right, everyone, you’re dismissed.”

At my words, the servants quickly scattered. Gale shook his head and muttered that I could do whatever I wanted before heading back to his room.

Allen, standing among the retreating servants, stared at me intensely before walking over and asking,

“This isn’t like you.”

“No, it’s not. But this is how I’m going to be from now on.”

Because the me now is different from the old Roni.

I understand better than anyone the weight of poverty, and I’ve lived with the harshness of this world etched into my bones. Then Allen asked, his face somber,

“…Was the dream really that shocking?”

“Ahaha!”

I burst into giggles at Allen’s question. He seriously believed that? He really was still too young to think logically.

Not that I minded. I gave him a frightened expression and said dramatically,

“Yeah, it was terrifying. Now that you mention it, in that dream, not just Sasha but everyone I ever bullied came after me. It was horrible.”

“……”

“Having gone through it myself, I realized just how terribly I’ve lived. I want to change now. So, Allen, you’ll help me, right?”

“…I think you’ll be fine on your own.”

“No way. I thought I was going to die—my legs were shaking so badly. Look, feel my hand. I’m sweating buckets.”

I grabbed Allen’s hand and placed it on my palm, pretending to be nonchalant. He flinched at the sudden skin contact but didn’t pull away—just quietly touched my hand.

Even though he was clearly on guard, the fact that he didn’t reject me was touching. I smiled without meaning to, wondering if I really was a successful fangirl after all.

Then, suddenly, Allen pulled his hand away. I looked at him in disappointment, missing the warmth.

His cheeks were glowing red. I reached out and asked,

“Are you sick? Your face is all red.”

“N-no. It’s nothing. I’m just a little hot.”

Allen stammered and swatted my hand away before disappearing into his room.

Ah, rejected by my favorite again.

I looked at the hand he’d pushed away with a pout.

After the situation with Becky, all the missing items were returned. In a few cases, people had already sold the items and left money behind instead.

They must have been terrified of my threat. My father, who found out about everything later, came down hard on the main perpetrators.

He even considered firing all the servants and replacing them, but I managed to stop him. I couldn’t just fire those who’d been coerced.

Gale kept pushing for me to fire the thieves, but I simply calmed him down.

To be honest, compared to what Roni had done in the past, this was mild. At least no one had been tortured or bullied.

Of course, trust was broken the moment things were stolen. But I was being generous—partly to show I’d really changed.

Thanks to Bibi spreading word of my “good deed,” I didn’t even need to talk myself up. People were surprised when they heard I’d put an end to the situation.

‘Good thing the culprits already had bad reputations.’

I felt like a hero who had punished evil. My image makeover seemed to be going smoothly too.

I wanted to give people at least one more chance. Their situations were too desperate for me to cut them off coldly.

But if something like this happened again, I wouldn’t let it slide. I’d only forgive once.

And that wasn’t the only change since Becky’s incident. Allen no longer kept his guard up around me.

Especially now—when he used to just watch me from a distance, now he stayed right beside me.

Thanks to that, I was enjoying a peaceful teatime with Allen. Drinking tea with my favorite character—what a dream come true.

I gazed at Allen, touched. All my efforts felt worth it, like I was floating on a cloud.

“Allen, does your tea taste good?”

“It’s kind of nutty.”

“I want to try.”

I pointed at his teacup. I’d been curious about the tea he always drank during teatime—it had a strange color.

It was a clear tea with a bluish tint, and it smelled wonderful.

I picked up Allen’s teacup and took a sip. I was a little worried since it looked unfamiliar, but it tasted surprisingly good.

Allen was about to pour himself more, but when he saw me drinking from his cup, he looked shocked.

“I’ve been drinking from that…”

“I didn’t sip from your side. Don’t worry.”

“…You avoided my spot?”

Seeing Allen hesitate, I awkwardly fiddled with my hair.

My cup had milk tea in it, so I just grabbed his without thinking. I should have asked for a new one—totally forgot.

Allen kept staring at his cup in my hand. I quickly set it down and held out my own cup to him. If we were already in this together, might as well share the blame.

“Here, try mine. It’s sweet milk tea. You might like it.”

“I don’t like sweet things.”

Allen refused, and I failed miserably.

‘Ah, that’s right. Allen hates sweet stuff.’

Embarrassed, I pulled my cup back and sipped quietly. The blue tea was good, but sweet was more my style.

When I offered to get him a new cup, he waved it off and just drank from his.

Meanwhile, Sasha lapped at her cat milk on the table. I gently scratched her back.

Strangely, Sasha showed no signs of fear around me. I had once tried to kill her—was she just not cautious? How could someone bully such a sweet cat?

Allen looked at me, smiling as I doted on Sasha, and asked,

“When did you start caring for Sasha like that?”

“Just… she’s cute. I can’t believe what I used to do to this precious baby. Sasha, Mommy’s sorry. I’ll be good to you now.”

–Purr.