Chapter 13 - 5. This Novel is (1)
After the sun in the sky had disappeared that day, Fanora returned to the mansion.
I was crazy for wanting to marry such a frivolous bastard! Come to think of it, he has already acted arrogantly around this time!
Fortunately, the pain Fanora felt, which was the price of using Io, had disappeared. Of course, she had to stay awake until midnight to see ‘Dangerous Love,’ so her eyes were wide open.
“Lady Fanora, I will blow out the candles.”
“Okay.”
However, Fanora, who had only been conscious of her mind, suddenly began to feel let down when her room became dark.
I can’t believe I have to borrow someone else’s hand to break my unwanted engagement.
It would be nice if she could overcome this situation alone. But in the end, didn’t she borrow someone else’s power again? Now she felt bitterly how useless she was.
I can’t help it. Because I was in a hurry…
And at this moment in her mind, she thought of a desperate reason why she had to set up a fake fiancé.
“…”
At the moment before she killed Haures, Naverius kept asking for a breakup. Fanora had once suffered from insomnia under the influence of his abusive language.
“As expected, would it be better to tell father to break the engagement? If he hates me that much…”
After spending a long night with her eyes wide open, she naturally started taking a walk at night. The sound of her footsteps, who had always crouched while looking at others, couldn’t be heard. In the end, Fanora literally wandered around the hallway at night like a mouse.
But one day, when she came out for a walk at night, she accidentally overheard her stepmother talking with someone. The light of the candlestick was faintly leaking through the door. She was drawn by the woman’s voice and listened to it quietly.
“…Unless she belongs to another family, her succession right will not disappear no matter what she does, so I have to get rid of her.”
“Madam, that means…”
“That’s right. If this engagement fails, I have to get rid of her even if it means to kill her.”
At that time, Fanora understood the content of their conversation instantly.
“Mother… She’s going to kill me!?”
Hanar Celsius was plotting to murder the first daughter of the family. Why was she so cruel to Fanora?
At that time, Fanora couldn’t think of it because she was scared. But it was strange no matter how much she thought about it. Regardless of age or gender, the successor position of the Celsius family was different. There was no way her younger brother, who had been favored by the Count since childhood, would be deprived of his position.
“Why…!?”
The probability that her stepmother planned something like that should only be one in a billion. Was it because she, who already lived like a ghost, was a thorn in her eyes and tarnished her family’s honor?
After that, Fanora became obsessed with her engagement and lived half of her life in fear. Of course, she could still feel it even though she had already come back to the past.
If there is such a thing as hell, it would be the same with this mansion.
Slide.
She rested her body on the bed and waited for midnight to come. The pain of her insomnia, which had been forgotten with the joy of the revenge, slowly raised in her head.
<1#Guelder’s Countryside Mansion (Daytime while raining)
The old-style mansion hall was noisy with the servant’s footsteps from the morning. This was because Vasago’s mother said she would hold a party there. It was rare for the Geulder family to hold a party, so their servants were busy preparing for it.
Servant 1: Today is the Duchess’s first party of the year, so there should be no mistakes.
Servant 2: (V.O) Of course, the honor of entering this Guelder’s mansion is only granted to high-ranking nobles who are well-known in the Kingdom!>
* * *
5. This Novel is
Another week later, the novel appeared at midnight. What she saw there seems to be repeated. But the mansion was noisy today.
I’m already annoyed because I had already read about the preparation for the tea party at midnight. And now that sound of moving things makes me wake up.
Fanora got up from her seat, served by her exclusive servant, and looked at the situation. She wondered why it was so noisy in the morning, and then the schedule she had forgotten was in front of her eyes.
“Is today the day for the jeweler to come?”
“No. The items from the dressing room Lady ordered the other day have arrived.”
“Aha.”
Come to think of it, she used it as an excuse when she sneaked out to find Io.
Before the end of this month, there was a big event in the Kingdom of Kasius. It was the King’s birthday banquet. No matter how poorly she was treated in this family, Fanora was still a noble. The old her couldn’t avoid attending the birthday banquet. Therefore, the Countess had bought a new dress to make her somehow look like a noble.
“Hey! Cecil! I brought the Lady’s clothes. You know where to put it, so guide me.”
“Lady Fanora, I will be away for a moment.”
“Okay.”
She distanced herself from the noisy scenery and fell into her own thoughts.
In about three days, I will participate in the birthday banquet, so now…
Creek, thud.
The door to the mansion looked too big for a child to pass through. Opening and closing it, two servants appeared. It was Cecil, Fanora’s exclusive maid; and the mansion porter, who were on their way out after work.
“Is this really the end of the Lady’s clothes?”
“That’s right. Is it too frugal to get just one new dress? Lady closet is also full of outdated items.”
The male servant, who brought the new dress to the second floor, chatted briefly with Fanora’s exclusive maid, looked around, then whispered, “Cecil, isn’t that Lady will be going crazy because she only gets a few new clothes? What if she gets mad at you?”
“What?”
“No… that… They say Lady Fanora’s personality is kind of bad, right? In the past, Seir told me how hard she was going through.”
Hearing his worried sentence, Cecil stood and agonized for a while. Although Cecil was not close friends with Seir, they often talked because they were ordinary colleagues. While Seir was alive, she occasionally talked about the hardships she had experienced while serving Lady Fanora and how bad Lady Fanora was in those stories.
Cecil used to respond to Seir’s words that Lady Fanora’s must be not that bad. But right now, even from serving Fanora Celsius for a few days…
“I don’t know yet. I was worried about that too, but when I actually met her… She’s just calm. She doesn’t get angry. Sometimes, she tries to avoid me.”
“Then I guess Lady is in a good mood these days. They say she is the kind of person who treats you well when she’s in a good mood.”
“Rather than that, she’s so gentle which doesn’t fit her age, so I can’t imagine how she could change so suddenly.”
After a brief conversation, Cecil came to her own conclusion. She had yet to let go of the suspicion that Lady Fanora was a vicious lady who abused Seir. Still, she didn’t feel discomfort while serving her. If she didn’t have a good relationship with Seir, she would rather serve Lady Fanora for the rest of her life.
Lady Fanora gave her plenty of time for rest. Like any other nobles, their relationship was just a business relationship. Wasn’t she just the ideal master Cecil was looking for?
Let’s see. Should I use a family carriage this time because I don’t have to keep my destination a secret?
Whether Cecil positively evaluated her or not, Fanora didn’t really care. Rumors among the mansion servants could be dealt with later, but on the other hand, there was something that couldn’t be postponed.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes. La-Lady Fanora?! Oh my gosh, what brings Lady all the way here!”
“When this carriage is already repaired, I will ride it. Bring the coachman as well. One escort is enough to accompany me. I’m going to visit the Count’s mansion.”
She spoke it clearly. Then the stable servant began to move diligently. It made her smile a little.
Why was Fanora’s expression so bright for today? Was it because the sun was shining pleasantly? Or was it because she was planning to take a walk? It couldn’t have been because of those reasons.
“Ah! I also have to stop by the fruit stall on the way.”
It was because she had already started her revenge for the next target from today.
“Then… Where is Lady’s final destination?”
“Sir Ronwe’s mansion!”
The place where she would visit was none other than a place where a butler named Ronwe lived. The reason she targeted him was simple. There were times when she hated those who only stood by more than those who tormented her.
* * *
“Hello, I’m Fanora Celcius, who sent a letter in advance…”
“Master is waiting for you, come in.”
Two hours later, hurrying the carriage, Fanora arrived at the butler’s mansion. The mansion was splendidly decorated for a former knight.
Sir Ronwe seems to be more extravagant than I thought.
Fanora made her way through the long hallway with her best manners. Then she met the owner of the mansion that she had been looking forward to.
“Greetings, Sir Ronwe.”
He had dark gray hair that was neatly combed. A monocle was worn due to damage to his eyesight while training as a knight. There were gray eyes beyond that monocle. Even though he was quite old, he still had a neat appearance. The skinny man soon greeted her.
“Greetings, Lady Fanora. I’m sorry that I’m unable to provide Lady with proper hospitality due to my circumstances.”
The figure, named Ronwe, greeted her while lying on his bed. In response, she put her hand on her chest and bent her legs while keeping her upper body upright to finish the official greeting.
Ronwe… You still have the energy to get up from your seat, but how dare you lie down while greeting me with the excuse that you’re sick? Okay, that’s good. If you like to lie down like that, I will let you sleep in a paulownia coffin for the rest of your life!
Anger was already boiling behind her gentle face.
* * *
Five years before Fanora killed Haures.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”
“Is Lady crying because Lady feels good at what Lady has done? I’m innocent, but I was scolded because of Lady!”
On that day, it was hard to understand why she offended Seir. Barely recalling it, it seemed that Fanora made a mistake of stepping on someone’s stuff at a formal party, and Seir was scolded instead of her. Seir seemed to be retaliating against her master again.
Fanora was quiet, but Seir acted more harshly to her than usual, probably because she felt it unfair to be scolded. It was one-sided harassment.
Seir took Fanora’s clothes which made Fanora wait for a long time for her to be dressed up without wearing anything. When Fanora tried to dress up by herself, Seir quickly snatched the dress from her hands. When Fanoratried to cover herself with a quilt-like cloth, she prevented her from doing that and made a scary expression.
“…”
So Fanora eventually stopped rebelling while shivering in the cold wind. After that, all she could do was crouching down and hiding next to the bed. She had never succeeded in rebelling against Seir. Her life was a series of failures. Just being bullied like that was enough to make her into a timid human being.
But a few seconds later.
“Hey, Seir. I heard from Gail that when you were organizing the supplies…”
“!”
“!”
Creek.
The door opened without even knocking.
A person named Ronwe had a habit of ignoring knocking on the door from the beginning. Still, it was Seir’s mistake of forgetting to lock the door before harassing Fanora.
“Sir butler…”
“Ah, this, I’m changing Lady Fanora’s clothes. Please get out for a while.”
Seir began to make excuses like flowing water, but of course, it didn’t work for Ronwe. The scenery reflected in his left eyes was the young Lady of Celsius, whose eyes were swollen after crying for a long time, shivering in the cold. What he could see over the monogram on his right eye was Seir holding a dress that had been messed up after arguing with Fanora. What had happened was obvious.
“…”
And that moment, Fanora realized something. Seir had never been caught by others while she abused her, but she was discovered by the butler of the mansion that day. That was an opportunity for Fanora. Hope began to bloom in her broken heart.