Chapter 12
“What have you done?”
On the way back after escaping the party hall.
“I asked what on earth you’ve done!”
Danae’s aunt—Sandra Winzer—rushed over and grabbed her.
“Answer me! I asked what you did to Alice!”
“What did I do?”
“You ruined Alice’s betrothal ceremony!”
Sandra, pale with rage, shrieked at her.
“How could you ruin the only betrothal ceremony she’ll ever have in her life like that?”
“Did it ever occur to you that this was supposed to be my medal ceremony first?”
“Is that more important than the betrothal? As the older sister, instead of yielding to your younger cousin, you’re only looking out for your own greed!”
Perhaps fueled by her own words, Sandra reached out and grabbed Danae by the hair.
“You greedy thing!”
This crazy woman!
“Please calm down, Madam!”
“What are you doing! Someone stop her!”
Fortunately, the servants rushed over and restrained the hysterical Sandra.
“Sister Sandra! Please, calm down!”
In the midst of the chaos, Sandra’s younger brother also came running out.
“Juan! How can I be calm! How can I possibly be calm!”
“Sister! Please!”
She’s completely lost it.
Danae looked at Sandra with eyes full of contempt.
Once or twice a year, Sandra would lose control of her temper and throw a fit like this.
‘Though this is the first time I’ve been the target.’
Perhaps it was because she came from a military family whose motto was ‘Patience only after the enemy is annihilated.’ Sandra truly did not know the meaning of restraint.
“Aunt Sandra.”
However, Danae knew.
“Uncle Karl would be disappointed if he knew.”
She knew the magic words that could control Sandra.
“I wonder if Uncle Karl knows how roughly you’re treating me right now?”
Instantly, Sandra stopped struggling like a broken doll.
Karl. The name of the man Sandra worshipped.
That single word brought her back to her senses.
“I—I was just…”
“I’ll have my conversation with Uncle Karl. As for you, Aunt… well, I think you’d find more success communicating with a beast than a human.”
With those final words, Danae turned her back immediately. Fortunately, Sandra didn’t scream any further.
However.
‘What now?’
Why was he following her?
Her brother, Juan Rolland, was trailing behind her. He spoke in a voice laced with pity.
“You must be very upset, aren’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, it’s understandable. There’s nothing more painful than the change of heart of a lover.”
“…”
“His Highness the Crown Prince gave Alice the Moonlight Flower that was meant for you. Even though he bought it directly from me at a very high price.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Danae feel it was worth responding.
“I see you were the one in charge of that business.”
“Yes. My brother-in-law Karl entrusted it to me.”
Entrusted, my foot. Karl had simply used his influence to find a spot for his pathetic brother-in-law.
‘He must really cherish this good-for-nothing to keep him around as a brother-in-law.’
Juan Rolland.
Sandra’s younger brother.
He had been practically kicked out of the Rolland family and was little more than a burden Sandra had brought into the Winzer household.
“If you need a Moonlight Flower, just say the word. I’ll gladly give you one as a gift.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Now, don’t be so guarded, Dana. I told you, I’m different from other men.”
Juan glanced around quickly. Once he was certain they were alone, he whispered suggestively.
“I only have eyes for you. I’m not like the Crown Prince, who goes around having affairs.”
“…”
Tiresome.
Danae glared at him with contemptuous eyes.
Juan Rolland had been pursuing her in secret for a while now.
Spouting nonsense about loving her, wanting to marry her, or running away abroad together.
She had rejected him several times, but Juan was relentlessly persistent.
‘It’s obvious. He’s after my fortune.’
His filthy intentions were clear as day, but she had endured it. She hadn’t told anyone.
If Laios found out, Juan’s head would have been rolling on the floor.
That wasn’t an exaggeration; it was a literal fact.
‘Laios would have found a way to kill Juan, no matter what.’
But then Sandra would be sad, and Uncle Karl would be grieved.
She had kept it hidden all this time out of consideration for them.
“Even high-ranking nobles find it hard to obtain a Moonlight Flower. You know that. In the Empire, it’s practically a symbol of wealth and power.”
Whether he noticed what was going on in Danae’s head or not, Juan continued to boast.
“Even the Crown Prince himself personally asked me to secure one.”
She knew.
The Moonlight Flower. She had made a deal with the Emperor using that very flower.
‘It was a deal made at the risk of my life.’
“In one month—make the Moonlight Flower worthless within one month, Danae Winzer.”
Throb.
Suddenly, the neck that the Emperor had constricted began to ache again, and Danae absentmindedly rubbed her throat.
“Do you know the origin of the Moonlight Flower?”
In that moment, Juan grabbed her wrist.
“It is a flower that symbolizes the Goddess of the Moon.”
Then, he slowly ran his thumb over her skin.
“They say once it blooms, it doesn’t wither for a hundred years, so it’s often used to prove eternal love or fidelity.”
It felt like a snake crawling over her.
Goosebumps broke out on her skin, and Danae violently shook off his hand.
“Get away from me. And don’t touch me without permission.”
However, Juan just smirked.
“Think carefully, Danae. I’m the last option you have left.”
“What did you say?”
“How cruelly has the Crown Prince been acting lately? No one will dare approach you out of fear of him. Look at you. You even came alone today without a partner, didn’t you?”
“…”
“What are you going to do at this rate? You’re twenty-three. For a woman, once you pass twenty-three, you’re past your prime.”
Juan clicked his tongue, giving her a look of mock sympathy.
“But I’m different. I’ll love you even after you’re twenty-three. And I’m not afraid of the Crown Prince.”
“…”
“If I were afraid of His Highness, how could I have been conveying my feelings to you all this time?”
That was likely because his greed for money had made him bold. He probably felt certain that the ‘kind’ Danae wouldn’t speak up for fear of causing family discord.
‘This maggot of a man.’
There was no reason to tolerate him anymore. She would crush him without a moment’s hesitation.
As it happened, the timing was perfect. Wasn’t this man nominally the person in charge of the Moonlight Flower business?
“Then prove it.”
Danae uttered the first line of the script she needed to set the stage.
To make it happen…
“Try gifting me a whole garden of Moonlight Flowers. That’s something even the Crown Prince couldn’t do, isn’t it?”
With those words, she turned away.
Juan watched her retreating figure in surprise.
He hadn’t expected such a positive response.
‘Finally, my sincerity has reached her!’
Well, she must have been scared by the talk of being twenty-three. She clearly gave in out of desperation.
‘As I thought, bringing up age is the best way to break a woman’s spirit.’
A woman just about to pass her prime at twenty-three, and right after being dumped at that. Honestly, wasn’t she just too easy a target?
A little more coaxing and she would surely fall into his lap.
Juan Rolland walked away with a smirk.
Unaware that someone was watching him.
