Chapter 41
A thick, heavy quiet filled the air.
It lasted only a few heartbeats.
I stood there, momentarily paralyzed by a level of hostility that far exceeded my worst expectations. Leon, having closed the distance between us by a single step, let out a sharp, mocking bark of laughter.
“It was already exhausting enough being summoned to the main estate on such short notice,” he sneered, his expression twisted in pure loathing. “But having you of all people as the welcoming committee? That’s the icing on the cake.”
He looked at me as if he were staring at something rotting in the gutter.
“And drop this ‘dear brother’ routine. It’s nauseating. I feel like I might lose my lunch if you keep up this pathetic performance, so just stop.”
Being towered over by a young man who radiated such visceral, bone-deep disgust was genuinely intimidating. It was a physical pressure that made my skin crawl.
Attempting to diffuse the tension, I forced a grin onto my face.
“Fine by me.”
“…What?”
Since he had such a distaste for my polite acting, I didn’t hesitate to drop the formal honorifics immediately.
“Hey there, Leon.”
“What the hell do you think you’re playing at? Good grief.” Leon scanned me from head to toe, his eyes wide with pure disbelief.
What? You were the one who told me to stop pretending, you prick!
I buried the urge to scream those words and kept my smile fixed in place. Surely he wouldn’t strike me just for being annoying?
He wouldn’t… right?
I fought the instinct to recoil, instead lacing my fingers together. My hands were vibrating with a fine tremor I couldn’t quite suppress. For a fleeting second, Leon’s gaze flicked down to my shaking fingers.
“Absolutely insufferable.”
Spitting out the curse, Leon whipped around and marched toward the castle interior. A small retinue of his personal attendants scrambled to keep pace with his long strides.
“L-Leon!”
Lisian, who had been watching the exchange with an unreadable expression, finally found his voice as his brother stormed off.
Leon didn’t slow down, shouting back over his shoulder with irritation.
“Just get inside, Brother! Don’t waste your breath on her hollow theater. It’ll only sour your day!”
The moment Leon vanished into the castle, a heavy stillness returned to the courtyard. My face was beginning to ache from the effort of maintaining that false, cheerful mask.
Inwardly, I was fuming. That guy is a total piece of work.
I knew the game world of The Lady’s Secret was harsh. When Coriko’s story begins, she certainly faces a cold reception from the Frazier household. But that was different. With the right dialogue choices, the players could melt those icy hearts relatively quickly.
But for me? A few sentences and they were ready to cast me into a pit. The sheer weight of Tulia’s reputation hit me with a fresh wave of misery.
Still, I couldn’t give in to despair yet. There was another “target” standing right in front of me.
“Brother Lisian.”
His shimmering silver hair caught the light as he turned toward me.
“Do you prefer I speak informally with you as well?”
Lisian’s eyes were the color of early spring buds. It was strange; Tulia and Lisian shared the same green eyes, yet hers felt like a venomous brew while his felt like fresh growth.
I suppose that’s the ‘kind soul’ character trait at work.
Lisian’s lips parted slowly.
“You… you should u-use whatever words make you f-feel at ease.”
He looked like an angel. He was the vital component for the game’s true ending and the primary romantic interest who facilitated Coriko’s entry into the estate. And, as always, he struggled with his stutter.
“Alright then, Lisian. It’s good to see you after all this time.”
He was the only one in the family who didn’t look at Tulia with active malice.
“Lady Tulia, you’ve returned.”
“Yes. About lunch…”
A fit of coughing cut me off. The assistant butler’s face immediately clouded with concern.
“I feared the cold air would be too much for you. Your cough has worsened. Please, my Lady, go rest. I will summon the doctor at once.”
“Thank you.”
Adel, my head maid, was nowhere to be found. The assistant butler was professional enough not to pry, though I suspected Ruk Kelfosher had anticipated this exact scenario when he assigned the staff.
Ruk mentioned feeling a sense of debt toward Adel.
Whatever the reason for his guilt, he seemed to be a protective brother in his own way. I wanted to puzzle out their dynamic, but my skull felt like it was radiating heat. I crawled into bed and pulled the heavy blankets up to my chin.
As I huddled there, shivering just as I had the previous two days, a familiar sound chimed in the air.
Ding!
[System: Coins acquired!]
It seemed the system rewarded me whenever I focused on recovering from my illness. I let out a weak, raspy laugh.
A thought suddenly struck me. My cold had been improving until I stood out in the wind to meet the twins. Now that I was sick again, the coins were flowing in.
“So… if I stay ill…”
If I maintained a delicate state of poor health and “managed” it just enough, could I farm coins indefinitely? If I banked those rewards and dumped them into my stats later on…
“Hah…”
A long sigh escaped me. I wasn’t trying to run a self-harm racket, yet here I was, plotting like a villain.
Let’s try to keep a shred of human dignity, I told myself, pushing the idea aside as a desperate last resort.
I closed my eyes. Despite pretending I was fine, the comfort of my grandfather’s protection had made me soft. Facing the raw, unfiltered loathing of my siblings had been more jarring than I cared to admit.
I’d get used to it. Humans have a way of becoming numb to repetitive cruelty. It was the story of my life.
“…My Lady, please wake up…"
“You must take your medicine…"
“The fever is dangerously high…”
I drifted in and out of a haze. The doctor and the assistant butler were a blur of motion around my bed. My head felt like a glowing ember; the fever had clearly spiked. In my semi-conscious state, I felt the bitterness of tonics on my tongue and the soothing chill of a damp cloth on my brow.
Even with my eyes shut, I was aware of the luxury surrounding me—the thick down duvet, the crackling warmth of the hearth.
This was a far cry from my life as Han Ina. Back then, there was no one to watch over me when I was sick.
Clink! Clink!
The sound of coins registered in the distance of my mind. Being Tulia was definitely an upgrade. I let the sound of the system rewards lul lme into a deep, dreamless sleep.
“I understand there was a bit of a scene with Tulia when you arrived yesterday.”
The following morning, the breakfast table was a picture of elegance, adorned with fresh greenery and blooms. Servants moved with practiced, silent efficiency as Viscount Lilius broke the silence.
Leon, the younger twin, didn’t look up from his plate.
“It wasn’t a scene, Uncle. Just a nuisance.”
“That girl always finds a way to grate on one’s nerves,” Aubrey added, her voice sharp and biting.
The twins both paused, their eyes shifting toward her as the servants poured champagne.
“Madam,” Lilius said, his voice a low warning.
Aubrey had changed. She had lost a significant amount of weight; her face was all sharp angles and hollowed cheeks, stripped of the grace she used to project.
Leon looked away. He knew the story of her son, Tedrick—how he had been exiled after provoking their grandfather’s temper. What remained a mystery was why the boy had been sent to the very same dilapidated outpost where Tulia had been rotting.
I heard that place was little more than a ruin with a roof, Leon thought. It was a detail he and Lisian had only discovered upon their return.
“But really, dear!” Aubrey ignored her husband’s attempt to quiet her. “Tulia is doing nothing but sowing discord the moment her brothers return! She has absolutely no sense of decorum or upbringing—”
“Sh-she didn’t… she didn’t s-sow any discord.”
Lisian’s voice cut through her tirade. Aubrey’s gaze snapped toward him, her eyes bloodshot and simmering with unfocused rage.
“Excuse me?”
“He said there was no discord, Aunt.” Leon’s voice was rougher, firmer, stepping in to shield his brother.
Both brothers had inherited the imposing stature of their father, Marquis Aster. But while Lisian possessed a delicate, ethereal beauty, his stutter acted as a shield that led people to underestimate him despite his athletic build.
Leon was different. He was broader, darker, and carried an aura of suppressed violence. He looked like the type of man who would break a person’s jaw without a second thought if pushed too far.
Aubrey felt the weight of Leon’s stare and finally looked away, her posture stiffening.
“…I see. Perhaps I was mistaken.”
Under normal circumstances, Aubrey wouldn’t dream of antagonizing the twins, especially Leon. But she was living in a waking nightmare, and her hatred for Tulia had become a blinding, obsessive fire. She knew the twins loathed Tulia as much as anyone, which emboldened her.
Aubrey swallowed her pride and muttered, “It’s just that Tulia has been disrespectful so often in the past. It’s a relief to see you two are so… patient.”
“Is that so, Aunt?”
Aubrey froze. The entire room went still. Every Frazier at the table and every servant in the room turned toward the doorway.
There stood Tulia. Her pink hair was perfectly coiffed, looking as though she had just stepped out of a royal dressing room. Her pale green eyes held a sharp, unnerving glint. There was something predatory about her smile, especially to someone like Aubrey.
That lunatic!
To Aubrey, Tulia looked like a monster coming to finish the job of destroying her family.
Tulia had never shared a meal with the twins since the Marquis had departed, yet here she was, walking toward the table with an air of supreme confidence.
“It feels like ages since we all sat down together,” Tulia said, her smile widening. “Were you busy dragging my name through the dirt? Again?”
