Translator: Nox

Chapter 58

A reservoir of sorrow I had long kept hidden finally breached its banks, blurring my vision with rising heat.

“…Tulia.”

It struck me then—when had Lisian’s voice stopped tripping over the syllables of my name?

“Back then… when I was small. Our mother’s… body. I saw it. I saw everything.”

“….”

“Red. She was covered in so much blood. Her hair… it used to look like the warmth of spring light….”

“….”

“But it was just… tangled in that dark, wet mess….”

“….”

“In that moment, I felt as if the season itself had been murdered.”

“….”

“And from that hour forward… forever….”

“Our mother, too….”

A sharp, visceral ache radiated through my chest, as if my very skeleton were splintering. Until this second, my mind had only ever labeled her with detached, formal descriptors: the late wife of the Marquis, the Marchioness of House Frazier, the biological mother of the girl whose life I now inhabited.

Yet, the word that escaped my lips was different.

“…She was like me, wasn’t she?”

“….”

“Did she have hair the color of pink blossoms?”

The original story had never provided that detail. It wasn’t tucked away in any of Tulia’s fragmented memories, nor was it ever recorded in the text—a trivial piece of world-building deemed unnecessary by the author.

Lisian didn’t look away. He watched me with a heavy, quiet intensity before giving a slow nod.

“She did.”

That single confirmation felt like a stagnant, freezing winter gale finally blowing itself out. The sensation brought a fresh wave of agony, a deeper layer of grief. Lisian reached out, his skin brushing my cheek. He was unnaturally cold, lacking his usual warmth.

Suddenly, he pulled his hands back to shield his own features, his frame trembling.

“Tulia.”

“I’m here….”

“Please, don’t die.”

“….”

“Give me your word. Swear you won’t die. Promise me.”

“….”

“Don’t… don’t abandon us the way she did….”

The realization hit me with the force of a physical blow. We were exactly the same—children discarded by a father who didn’t want us, orphans who had watched our mothers vanish into the grave. We were just two lost souls with no true sanctuary, forced to grow up before our time.

“…I swear it, Lisian.”

He kept his face buried in his palms. Between the gaps of his steady fingers, I saw the slow, shimmering trail of moisture.

It was a surreal sight. Even in the midst of my own breakdown, the irony didn’t escape me. In the world of the game, Lisian was portrayed as a resilient tree at the dawn of spring—a figure of iron discipline who could withstand any hardship with a gentle, stoic smile. With his hair like fallen snow and his unwavering kindness, he was the character who never broke.

In every piece of official artwork, across every route, there had been only one solitary image of him shedding a tear.

And yet, the drops falling onto my skin now were scorching. They felt like molten lead, searing my flesh.

The heat was too much. I began to sob with him. My throat constricted with a nameless, piercing misery that seemed to vibrate through my very marrow.

“I’m so sorry….”

The apology drifted through the air, though I couldn’t tell who was speaking or who the words were meant for. The heavy burden of old scars finally began to dissolve, one tear at a time.

---

“My Lady!”

They say success is all about being in the right place at the right time.

“Adel!”

My head maid, who had been away on my secret errands, walked through the door that very evening. I was momentarily buoyed by her return, but the look on her face quickly extinguished my joy.

“Merciful heavens. Look at these dressings…. The state of your skin….”

Her complexion turned ashen as she hovered over my bandaged form, her hands hovering in distress.

“It isn’t as bad as it looks. I’m on the mend.”

“You call this healing?”

The room suddenly felt like a tomb. At Adel’s sharp retort, a strange, suffocating tension gripped the air. I glanced at my personal physician, the man who had been my constant shadow since the disaster at the hunt.

He looked absolutely petrified.

I shifted my gaze toward the only other person in the room—the assistant butler. He, too, wore an expression of subtle, creeping dread.

“Lady Tulia….”

Adel’s voice wavered with unshed emotion.

“Does it hurt terribly?”

“No, really. I’m feeling much better.”

“You were already battling a fever before I departed. Instead of safeguarding your fragile health, these people allowed you to be butchered? To be wrapped in linen like a corpse? How do they have the audacity to accept a salary from this house while failing you so miserably?”

She started by addressing me, but her tone shifted into a razor-sharp indictment of the others.

“I have spared no effort in her recovery,” the doctor whispered.

“There is no defense for my failure,” the assistant butler added.

Before Adel’s simmering fury, these two grown, professional men bowed their heads in total submission, their hands clasped like repentant children.

It clicked then. When my grandfather returned, the hierarchy of this household was bound to shift. There would be a flood of new staff and restructured roles. But in this interim period, within the confines of this small, elite circle serving a high-ranking noblewoman…

Adel was the undisputed queen.

The assistant butler would go to war with the main castle for my sake, and the physician was a top-tier academic prodigy. Yet even they folded before her.

I wondered then if Adel’s influence would stop here. After all, she was the secret sibling of Ruk Kelfosher. Once the dust settled, would she still be the one in charge? Would she be the one looming over Ruk’s own council of advisors?

It seemed impossible. Those men served the Iron-Blooded Grand Duke himself. Surely she wouldn’t be able to intimidate them as well.

---

Clink! Clink! Clink!

The rhythmic melody of incoming gold was a constant background noise. If I were a true miser, I’d call it the most beautiful symphony ever composed. It was a rich, comforting sound.

I honestly wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and let the world pass me by. Adel was a woman of few words, and the assistant butler was even more reserved. The doctor was the only one with any spark, a lively man whose humor actually brightened the room. They were all entirely devoted to me, treating me with the utmost care. It was a perfect, lazy existence.

But I had obligations. I needed to check on Lisian.

“A crisis meeting has been summoned at the primary estate for tonight,” the assistant butler informed me.

It made sense. The violence at the hunting grounds was too severe to be swept under the rug. In this society, lineage and dignity were everything. An assault on a minor noble would have been a scandal, but the victim here was Leon Frazier, the heir to a Marquisate. And then there was Tulia—a girl formerly known as a disaster, but now the favored granddaughter of the Grand Duke.

The pain in my body was relentless, but the political fallout was moving exactly as I needed it to. Since Lisian held the authority of the heir’s seal, his presence at the council would be pivotal. I needed to coordinate with him before the session began.

At least, that was the plan.

“My Lady… Miss Tulia…”

“Mmh…?”

“We have arrived.”

“Did I… did I drift off?”

“You expressed a desire for a swift recovery, so I increased the sedatives in your tea,” the doctor explained softly.

I gave a drowsy nod. It was a bit concerning that I’d blacked out during a fifteen-minute walk across the castle, but I couldn’t argue with the results.

“Set me down.”

“As you wish.”

The assistant butler lowered me to the floor with the agonizing care one might give to a cracked diamond. I could feel Adel’s watchful, judging eyes on his every move.

I reached out and rapped on Lisian’s door. Tap. Tap.

“Ah, Lady Tulia?”

“Is my brother in?”

“He is, however…”

“May I enter?”

“Well, the thing is…”

The valet Lisian had brought from the Academy looked torn. I frowned. Why was everyone acting so skittish today? Usually, if he were busy or bathing, they’d just say so. This man looked like he was desperately hoping I’d force my way in, even if he couldn’t say it.

Fine. If he wanted me to play the part of the pushy noblewoman, I could do that. I didn’t care about my reputation anyway. I was inhabiting the body of a notorious brat; I might as well use it.

“Out of my way,” I snapped.

“Oh…!”

The servant barely offered any resistance, falling back with practiced grace.

“If this is truly what you desire, My Lady…!”

I stared at him. I’d barely brushed his shoulder, yet he was sprawled on the floor looking like a tragic, wilted flower. His brown eyes were actually watering. Was Lisian training actors or domestic staff?

It was ridiculous, but I didn’t have time for it.

“Stay out here. All of you.”

I turned the handle and marched inside.