Episode 15
“Marigold, ignore her. No one is going to take anything from you. Everything will be fine after the Winter Queen’s Ball,”
Ziefried said nervously, trying to calm Marigold.
“Are you sure? She’s not going to go crazy and start claiming inheritance rights, right?”
“I said no, absolutely not. I promise!”
Paula added. Only then did Marigold seem a bit more relaxed.
“But none of that changes the truth.”
Violet looked at them with chilling hatred.
Ziefried and Paula looked surprised at Violet, then exchanged glances.
And then…
“Ahahaha!”
They suddenly burst out laughing.
“…Why are you laughing?”
Violet was a bit confused but tried not to show it.
“I was just wondering what nonsense you were saying! Look at her glaring. What now? Even if you know everything, do you think your fate will change?”
Paula said, wiping her tears from laughing.
“Paula, I think Violet heard something from Cyril. That’s why I told her not to meet him. I was worried he’d put silly ideas in her head.”
Ziefried, who had been laughing for a while, finally stopped.
“You call it silly, but are you admitting the truth?”
“Yeah, it’s all true. So what are you going to do about it?”
“…What did you just say?”
Violet was speechless.
“It’s true I married your mother. But only because she tricked me. She always acted like she was better than everyone.”
“You always told me she deceived you and ran off with money. You made her the villain. You lied to me. And now that I know the truth, you don’t even care?”
Violet couldn’t hold back her anger.
“We only said that for your sake. So a useless girl like you wouldn’t start dreaming above your place.”
Paula said, like it was obvious.
Violet felt like she couldn’t breathe.
What kind of twisted logic do these people have? Are they even human?
“If we’re talking about dreaming above our place, that would be Marigold, not me. She’s the one from a low-born background.”
“Hah, look at Marigold. Who would call such a noble girl low-born? Speaking of which, isn’t it partly your mother’s fault for being abandoned? If she was better, she wouldn’t have been cast aside. Right?”
“…”
“Your poor mother’s failures ruined your life. That’s why your personality is so twisted too.”
Paula said this like it was perfectly reasonable.
Violet was so angry her head was spinning.
“You people…”
“And even if you shout your story on the street, who’s going to believe you? You’ve got no skills, and you’ll probably only graduate the academy because of my help. Still, I arranged an engagement for you with someone from a great family. Be thankful and try to get along with Blue Dean.”
Ziefried said.
“You’re a con artist, a fraud, and a hypocrite. The worst kind of human being!”
Violet snapped.
“How dare you talk like that to your father! Such arrogance!”
Paula snapped back, her usual elegant tone disappearing.
“You’re just like your arrogant mother!”
“My mother wasn’t arrogant. You were just on different levels. She was from a prestigious family and you were a fallen noble. But really, it’s not about status. It’s about personality. No good person could live with someone as disgusting as you.”
“Why you—!”
Paula screamed.
“You brat!”
Ziefried’s face twisted with rage.
He stormed up to Violet.
“Don’t you dare lay a finger on me.”
“What? You dare speak to me like that?!”
Ziefried raised his hand to hit her.
But this wasn’t the old Violet. She wasn’t going to take it anymore. She grabbed his wrist.
“Let go of me, Violet!!”
She twisted his wrist.
Ziefried screamed like a pig in pain. As soon as he pulled away, he tried to push her.
But Violet easily dodged.
“Ugh!”
He fell to the floor and looked up at Violet.
A faint transparent aura began to form around Violet’s hand.
She wanted to make them disappear. Not just her father, but everyone who had lied to her all this time.
Just one small move of her finger, and she could do it.
Then suddenly, Violet snapped back to reality and was shocked at herself.
I… I was really about to attack my father. I wasn’t even thinking.
She remembered how Kolbera passed out just from touching her aura. If she had truly attacked her father, he might have died.
She felt like the villainess she once saw in a hallucination—a woman who ruined everything.
I almost ruined my life again because of someone like him.
“You monster! How could you do this?!”
Paula screamed.
But none of them had noticed the aura at Violet’s fingertips.
“Violet, are you out of your mind? You’re not acting like yourself.”
Marigold said, eyes wide.
When Violet came to her senses, she had already run out of the house.
Violet walked the streets without a destination.
Uncle Cyril gave me a task… and I couldn’t even complete it properly.
She had yelled at them, said what she truly felt.
If she followed Cyril’s instructions, then she had completed it. It was better than keeping it bottled up.
But… she didn’t feel as relieved as she hoped.
It was hard to pour out all your hate and anger in just a few words.
Should I go to Uncle Cyril and just say I did it, so please count it as finished?
But that would be like pretending the work was done when it really wasn’t. Violet didn’t want to do that.
Besides… she had a feeling this wasn’t the end of it.
At first, she just wanted to leave home. But… leaving home didn’t mean she could forget everything.
Will I have to live with this sadness forever?
Lost in those thoughts, Violet didn’t even realize how much time had passed.
When she came to, she was standing under the roof of an unfamiliar alley.
Watching the rain fall made her feel even sadder.
And at that moment, she truly wished someone would help her.
Someone like the friends of Roseneace, the heroine of her favorite novel—or even the mother she never got to meet. Someone who would protect her.
In books, someone always shows up at times like this. But real life isn’t like that.
Violet laughed bitterly at herself as her body shivered.
“Looks like you couldn’t wait for our meeting.”
A voice spoke.
Violet lifted her head.
A tall man was standing in front of her with an umbrella.
As the umbrella lifted, she saw a soft smile on his lips, dark red eyes like garnet, and silver hair that looked almost blue under the cloudy sky.
“I didn’t expect you’d come all this way to greet me. If I had known, I would’ve run here to meet you. Don’t you think, Violet Everdeen?”
Ash said with a joking tone.
Violet stared at him, pale and stunned.
Am I dreaming?
His pretty face made her wonder if this was some angelic dream or reality.
Eventually, Violet’s frozen lips moved.
“Our meeting was at 3 p.m.”
“I couldn’t stop myself from coming early. And luckily, our hearts aligned. Right?”
“Ash, I was actually going to cancel today—”
Before she could finish, he gently grabbed her hand. Before she knew it, she was under the umbrella with him.
The sound of rain on the umbrella began to fade.
“Let’s go. It’s cold out.”
Like being led into a sudden dance, Violet slowly started walking beside Ash through the rain.
And her shivering slowly began to stop.
