Chapter 9
I rose from my seat.
Then a group of people came rushing over.
They were knights whose whereabouts I couldn’t even guess.
I blinked as I gazed at the men encircling me.
Just like with the other servants whose eyes I’d met, each of them wore expressions filled with fear or bewilderment.
“Ah, please sit down, my lady!”
“Th-the Duke ordered us not to let you leave this spot.”
I felt a pang of embarrassment. Hmm, I could see how my fiancé was handling me.
Since my fiancé himself had given that order, I really wanted to obey it…
‘Ugh, so dizzy…’
The problem was, my body wasn’t cooperating. Urk—sensing something rising, I shot up from my seat.
The knights approached, but when I unintentionally glared at them, they hesitated and backed away without laying a hand on me.
Wow, they retreated even though I hadn’t done a thing? It was astonishing, but this wasn’t the time.
‘I can’t lose my dignity as a human being in my fiancé’s house!’
I pressed down hard on my churning stomach.
Beyond the knights, who stood a step away, I spotted a building. Its door stood wide open.
As I took a step forward, the knights flinched and retreated exactly one step, matching my stride.
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
“Step aside.”
“M-my lady, you can’t…!”
“If you block my path one more time, you’ll regret it. I warned you.”
They must have seen me as someone teetering on the brink of madness.
Sure enough, faced with my increasingly unfocused gaze, the knights had no desire to be the sacrificial lambs. They merely exchanged uneasy glances and didn’t try to stop me.
Now! Unable to hold back any longer due to my desperate situation, I shoved past the knights and bolted down the corridor through the door of salvation.
A wave of self-loathing surged within me. What the hell is this? Next time, absolutely no alcohol—never again! If I drink, I’ll be a dog, a damn dog!
Oblivious to the near future where I’d soon be barking like one, I finally stumbled into the bathroom I’d managed to find.
Of course, I unintentionally chased out the maid who had been inside.
‘Phew… I think I’ll live…’
Thankfully, it seemed God had decided to protect my dignity—no vomit came up, and it ended after about ten dry heaves. Though my stomach burned fiercely. Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten a single meal yet?
“…But where is this place?”
I stepped out of the bathroom, gathered my wits, and looked around.
I’d just dashed into the nearest building from the garden…
I’d thought it was the main building where I’d met the deputy earlier, but peering out the window, that didn’t seem right.
I could see the main building—the one where I’d met the chief steward and deputy—through the window. So where the hell was I?
The main building had a somewhat shabby air even for a duke’s residence, but it was still on par with an ordinary noble house. This place felt even more rundown.
And yet, it carried the sense of being carefully tended to.
Yes, if I had to describe it…
’No money for remodeling, but lovingly maintained.’
Unlike the stark, barren corridors of the main building, this place brimmed with thoughtful touches—cute pansy flowers here and there, dainty-patterned vases and decorations. The care was evident everywhere.
I wandered about, peering around.
‘Because I ran here in a total daze from the dizziness, I forgot where I even entered.’
I never should have touched that damned alcohol; I was regretting every bit of it now.
The flustered knights from earlier had seemed to be chasing me—had they lost me?
My fiancé wouldn’t find this situation amusing at all, so I needed to find the exit fast.
It was just as I turned the corner with that thought.
Thud. I whipped my head around at the sound of something dropping.
Not far off, I saw a girl.
A girl who looked far younger than Charlize, with a pure, innocent face.
No, not just pure and innocent.
‘Wow, she’s stunningly beautiful…!’
Even as a teenager, she possessed otherworldly beauty.
And the white flower she’d dropped to the floor matched perfectly with the pure silver hair she still clutched in her hand.
The moment our shocked gazes met, realization jolted me awake.
‘Ah, silver hair and blue eyes… It can’t be.’
The male lead’s little sister? No—his little sister. There was a brief delay, but I recognized her right away.
Askin’s younger sister, Aria.
The reason Askin carried massive debts—his sole family, his treasure, his one and only little sister.
But a pitiful girl stricken with an incurable illness, her death looming unpredictably.
As all those descriptors flashed through my mind, an unpleasant memory surfaced.
‘I remember that outfit…’
The previous Charlize had said this to Aria:
“The Duke doesn’t love his sister much, does he? Letting her wear such shabby clothes.”
The memory tormented me.
Ugh, Charlize had bullied Aria pretty badly, hadn’t she…?
Anxiety made me glance away, and that’s when Aria started coughing harshly!
Cold sweat dripped steadily from her face, already pale beyond white.
“Ah, th-th, uh, L-Lady, it’s an h-honor to m-meet…”
“Ah, wait!”
I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to be so scared—no need to cry.
But the moment I opened my mouth, her face drained of what little color remained, freezing my words.
“I-I mu-must… g-greet you…”
In full panic, Aria collapsed with a thud.
I rushed to her side in shock.
“Excuse me, is anyone there? Anyone? There’s someone collapsed…!”
Her breathing came in ragged, wheezing gasps—it didn’t look good at all. What do I do? What should I do…!
Lost in confusion over whether to leave her and fetch help, I heard the blessed patter of footsteps. The knights must have followed the sound of my voice.
“Don’t touch her!”
The man in the lead was Ben, Askin’s deputy.
I yanked back the hand I’d been about to place on Aria’s cheek in surprise.
The knights surrounded me, their faces fierce.
They hadn’t drawn their swords, but the murderous intent was clear—as if they’d stab me any second, their expressions screaming for me to get lost.
I’d done nothing, but I stood quietly and backed away.
Then Ben, seething with the fiercest rage among them, spat through gritted teeth.
Even so, his voice strained to hold onto politeness.
“Go back. Now.”
“…”
“Please… go back. Please.”
I parted my lips.
“Or else, even the young lady…!”
At that, I swallowed my words and retreated further.
I gazed pityingly at Aria before cautiously speaking up.
“…I’m sorry. But I really didn’t do anything.”
But they were too enraged to hear me.
…How did I end up waking in this body? Swallowing a sigh inwardly, I turned and slipped out a nearby door.
As I walked, waves of injustice crashed over me.
No, I didn’t choose to wake up in this body. Why did all this villainess’s karma have to land on me!
The karma had bloated my stomach and now seemed to tighten around my throat like a noose.
I trudged back wearily to the bench where I’d started.
When I reached the bench, I came face-to-face with a stranger.
No—the instant I took in his massive build and face, I realized he was no stranger.
My fiancé, Duke Askin Remute.
“…My lady.”
My lips parted slightly without thinking.
…How could this beauty not spring immediately to mind?
Silver hair white as his eyes. Beneath it, thick brows and a sharply bridged nose.
A face so exquisitely sculpted, it was easy to believe God had crafted it with meticulous care.
Even though those eyes fixed on me brimmed with freezing coldness and coldly simmering fury.
Instinctive fear made me step back hesitantly, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from that face.
‘…Wow, this is my fiancé? He’s seriously, seriously gorgeous.’
This novel was full of men with stunning looks but utterly wrecked personalities, the so-called ‘pretty trash.’
A prime example was Roxidian, the tyrant male lead and Charlize’s brother, whom I’d already encountered.
But Askin Remute was rare—no, practically the only one—who paired beauty with true character.
A champion of justice, ascetic and devout, the apostle who would protect those under his wing to the death.
That’s why he didn’t fit this bleak novel and never became the male lead.
‘…Though his premarital chastity obsession probably sealed it.’
Readers had howled, ‘Author, why create him if you’re not going to let us have him!’
But this man harbored one sole exception. The one person he despised, casting aside reason and morals: me. Charlize.
The book’s lore was painfully clear, no words needed.
From that man’s icy stare, like he wanted to rip my face apart.
“Have you finally come to kill my little sister with that repulsive face?”
“What? No, what?”
“Don’t bother denying it.”
Askin stepped closer. Without thinking, my eyes were drawn to his swaying silver hair.
“This time, you really meant to kill my little sister!”
