Lota stared blankly at Consort Usia, as if she thought she had misheard sothing—no, as if the consort before her was a hallucination.
“You only ever think about yourself.”
Usia gathered Lota’s limp, frizzy pink hair roughly into her hands and smiled with a fresh, gentle expression.
“You never reflect on your actions.”
Just then, a ribbon had fallen on the floor. Usia picked it up and tied Lota’s hair with it.
She looked at the result with satisfaction.
The low-tied hair unexpectedly suited Lota’s pale complexion.
“And you’re stupid on top of it.”
Lota’s head was spinning.
There was sothing unsettling and chilling in the consort’s tone. But Lota wasn’t in a rational state to pick up on that.
Yet, she could still sharply sense one thing—that the consort was looking down on her.
Consort Usia hadn’t smiled at her even once.
“Why are you looking at like that?”
Lota’s voice was sharp as she questioned her.
“Why do you think?”
Instead, the consort asked back—and even dropped the formal speech.
“Because you’re just that stupid.”
“I’m not stupid.”
“Really?”
Are you being serious? Consort Usia widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand.
The naive expression only made her more unreadable—frustrating and terrifying.
“Our dear sister-in-law doesn’t know her place.”
Consort Usia explained kindly.
“Your worth isn’t that high, yet you act so arrogant and pompous. You bully people when they’re weak, and when you’re scared, you fake sweetness and act like a saint.”
“......”
“But, well, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
“......”
“But still, it’s foolish to push away the hand of soone trying to help you. Especially when you tornted that person quite a lot.”
While calmly explaining, the consort had moved away from Lota. She was now out of reach, even if Lota stretched her arm.
“......Did you—”
Lota stamred.
“Did you et my sister?”
“The Duchess of Voreoti?”
The consort shook her head.
“I haven’t t her, but I know her through, through, through others.”
She said “through” three tis. With that, she gave a much softer smile than before—completely different from how she had looked at Lota.
“That girl is so clever. I like clever people. Ah, it’s such a sha we couldn’t beco friends.”
She giggled brightly, then imdiately wiped the expression from her face.
“So I’ll help you just this once.”
Then she turned her back with a swish.
“But not now—because you’re too stupid and don’t have the clarity to think.”
She began folding her fingers one by one as if calculating sothing.
Lota watched her in a daze. It was as if she’d been hypnotized.
The ntal shock she felt was far worse than the ti Remus had hit her. It crashed endlessly in her mind.
“Think it through before we et again.”
“......”
“Well then, see you later, sister-in-law!”
Consort Usia smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.
Her fresh smile matched her green hair, making her look like a living tree.
After leaving the estate, the consort climbed into her carriage. As the carriage started moving, it seed that Viscount Olor ca running out from the house, but the carriage didn’t stop and continued on.
“Humm, hmm hmm.”
Looking out the window at the changing scenery, Consort Usia humd a song. The slow, soft lody resembled a lullaby.
“Ahh, finally...”
She leaned back comfortably and murmured,
“...I can finally see the end.”
* * *
After Prince Chrisetos and Princess Scandia visited the estate—
And before Consort Usia stopped by the Olor family to give Lota what could barely be called a chance—
Leonia had contacted an “acquaintance.”
The reply ca two hours later, and that night, the girl headed toward an old, crumbling building with two escort knights.
“Did such a place even exist in the capital?”
Probo, one of the escorts, scanned the eerie surroundings.
The eting point Leonia had specified was in a back alley behind the comrcial district. It was so deep in the alleys that not even a rat could be seen.
“Don’t tell you ca here alone last ti?”
leis asked. Judging by her words, it seed this wasn’t the first ti Leonia was eting this mysterious acquaintance.
If she had co here alone last ti without an escort, Ferio would’ve had a fit and scolded her severely.
“That ti, we t in a plaza café during the day.”
Leonia replied, taking off the hood of her cloak.
“Ever since I blackmailed Probo oppa when I was a kid and rode off on a horse to et a stalker, I’ve been careful. That’s why I brought you and unni this ti.”
“That ti really was...”
Probo trembled slightly, recalling that day—the day the Black Beast of Hell ca in person to pick up his daughter.
“But who are we eting?”
“It’s a woman. The rest is a secret.”
“She’s not dangerous, is she?”
“If we’re talking about danger, I’m the more dangerous one.”
Leonia smirked at Probo’s concern. He nodded fiercely in agreent.
“Cut it out.”
leis nudged him in the side, gesturing for him to stop nodding so much.
“Where should we wait?”
leis asked Leonia.
“She wants secrecy, so wait outside this door.”
“But it seems your contact brought a knight of her own.”
leis looked at a nearby horse. A glove typically used by sword-wielding riders hung from the saddle. The escort knights grew alert.
“She wants secrecy. Just wait here.”
Leonia didn’t change her mind.
“If anything happens, I’ll kill them.”
Leaving her escorts at the door, Leonia stepped into the building.
A humid, stale sll hit her nose imdiately. Every step creaked on the old floorboards.
“...Huu.”
Leonia let out a long sigh in frustration.
“Ah, seriously.”
She grumbled the mont she saw the person waiting inside.
“I hate being manipulated like this.”
She dragged out a rickety chair and plopped down with a scornful smile.
“Salus Aust.”
She practically ground the na of the Southern successor between her teeth.
“Oh my, how scary.”
But Salus only responded with a bright, fresh smile.
Combined with her jade-colored hair, she resembled a lush sumr forest.
That irritated Leonia even more. She clicked her tongue and shoved both hands deep into her pockets.
“About that candy you gave before.”
“The round case with the candy inside?”
“I looked inside it carefully.”
“Was it helpful?”
Salus asked.
‘It’ll be useful soday.’
On the day she visited the Aust estate and t Duke Aust and Salus, Leonia had found a tiny note inside that round candy case.
It had a single contact written on it.
“...Well, it helped.”
Though just barely, Leonia said while pressing her thumb and forefinger together.
Salus burst into laughter at her prideful gesture.
“But I didn’t like it.”
“Why not?”
“Because it felt like I was dancing in your palm.”
The ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) little beast was offended.
Before, now, and forever, the only people allowed to be ahead of her were her father and mother. That’s how it was supposed to be.
But now, not only she, but even her parents seed like they were being toyed with.
“I wasn’t playing with you.”
Salus smiled bitterly. She found this arrogant girl before her unbearably cute.
“I can’t leave the South easily. My grandmother’s not doing so well.”
“Then I don’t know who I’m looking at right now.”
Leonia’s sharp eyes glinted without a trace of a smile.
“You were at the Rite of Honor.”
“You saw ?”
“Do you think I look through my nostrils?”
“Leo, you’re really funny!”
Salus laughed at the ridiculous taphor. But Leonia, who hadn’t ant it to be funny, scowled.
Even that laughter felt like she was being made fun of—it was infuriating.
Only after laughing heartily did Salus collect herself and explain.
“My grandmother’s doing okay for now. That’s why I ca.”
“You’re more slippery than I expected. That’s surprising.”
“Thanks for the complint.”
“That wasn’t a complint.”
“But don’t you think you’re being a bit too arrogant, Leo?”
“I’m allowed to be arrogant.”
Because I’m that perfect, Leonia said flatly, without changing expression.
It was so confidently narcissistic that it was chilling.
But there was nothing to refute.
“...Enough nonsense.”
Annoyed, Leonia cut the conversation short.
“I ca here to demand compensation for the ntal shock you caused .”
“You sound like you’re about to extort .”
Salus was still impressed by Leonia’s bold word choice.
“I was seriously traumatized.”
Leonia said gravely, pressing a hand to her forehead.
Salus smiled faintly, clearly not understanding what the big deal was. Leonia wanted to slap that smiling mouth.
‘Is this how Dad feels?’
Did he ever want to smack when I was being cheeky? She was honestly willing to take a hit if it’d make her feel better now.
“...I clearly asked you for help.”
Leonia glared at Salus, forcing herself to maintain inner calm.
“So why did the First Prince show up?”
Salus shrugged.
“Why do you think?”
“I’m done playing word gas.”
Leonia growled. She wasn’t even trying to hide her irritation anymore.
Sensing the tense mood, Salus’s knight instinctively reached for his sword. But Salus raised a hand to stop him.
“But you know what’s really funny?”
“What?”
“After I saw the First Prince, I realized sothing.”
An unexpected figure had shown up at the eting.
“You two look alike.”
Leonia brushed her bangs aside with her hand.
A mory from last sumr, just before she left the Southern Aust estate, flickered in her mind—sothing Salus had said.
‘If you see him later, tell him I’m doing well.’
Back then, Leonia hadn’t known who to deliver that ssage to.
The Aust family didn’t mingle much in society compared to the Voreotis, so she hadn’t been able to guess who their close allies were.
But now, she knew.
And Leonia was genuinely stunned.
“Unni, you’re close with the First Prince, aren’t you?”
The shock was on par with the secret of her own birth.
“You’re Consort Usia’s daughter too.”
It was a revelation that flipped her understanding of the original story's genre.
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