CH 38

‘Did I sell out my country in my previous life………Ah, wait, no, I was Yoon Ga-eul in my previous life.’

So, did that mean that I had committed something equivalent to betraying my country in my previous life? Otherwise, this kind of disaster could not have happened!

What am I talking about? I lived a decent life as a law-abiding citizen!

I tried to blame my past life but failed. Then why did this ordeal come upon me?

Right now, I’m in Perdia’s carriage.

All family members of Perdia were sitting in the largest and most colorful carriage owned by the family.

From the duke to his sons, and finally, me.

‘Help me.’

I think I’m going to die of suffocation. 

Filled with the desire to go home, I made eye contact with the duchess sitting opposite me.

Hicc–

Without realizing it, I breathed in and my body stiffened.

It was the first meeting after being fired as the duchess’s secret pharmacist.

‘Fortunately, I don’t think you’ve told the other family members…..’

Deep down, I was worried that the duchess might have mentioned my power or my goal of wanting to be independent, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Of course, I don’t think anyone would care if I became independent and went off on my own, but I didn’t want the rest of the family to know until I had saved enough money.

Opposite me sat the duke and the duchess, and unfortunately Jansi and Carlot, respectively, sat on either side of me.

Sitting in the middle, I couldn’t even look out the window, it was a very ruthless, miserable, and awkward arrangement itself.

‘Sob, I’m on the edge……’

I looked to the side with eyes full of regret, but this time I made eye contact with Jansi.

Jansi smiled tenderly at me and opened his mouth.

“It’s not bad to go out together like this. How did you come up with this idea, mother?”

Themis replied languidly, “It’s not bad to get some fresh air with your family. Sometimes, this kind of thing is refreshing and good. Your father said he would gladly do so.”

Then Duke Perdia, who had his eyes closed with his arms folded, opened his eyes and looked straight ahead.

And directly in front of him……I was there.

Why, why are you looking at me?

Eventually the duke spoke in a relaxed tone.

“Elodie, I heard it’s the restaurant you wanted to go to.”

“What?”

Me? I’ve never heard of it before. 

The duchess, who was sitting next to him, smiled.

“I told you, Elodie. Isn’t that fine?”

I couldn’t help but nod my head at the coy look in her eyes. I couldn’t bear to say no.

But I couldn’t figure out what the duchess was thinking, so I only felt uneasy.

After sitting in the middle of the carriage trembling, before I knew it we arrived in front of the restaurant.

I’d heard that it was a restaurant where you have to make reservations half a year in advance, no matter how much money you have.

Being able to enter such a restaurant on the same day without waiting for a reservation was, of course, amazing.

‘Since I’m already here, let’s just enjoy a nice meal.’

Naturally, I was about to get off the carriage by myself, but Jansi, who got off first, reached out to me.

“Lili, your hand.”

I grabbed Jansi’s hand and got out of the carriage. Carlot, who was behind me, seemed not to be happy with this.

Why is he suddenly getting upset?

“Shall we hold hands like this, Lili?”

“Nope.”

As I let go of Jansi’s hand alongside his burdensome kindness, I walked quickly and bumped into a man who was walking with his head down.

It was a light contact, so I tried to go inside without thinking about it, but the opponent couldn’t.

Because the other person was angry at me.

“Damn! Are your eyes for decoration only? Keep them straight and d-!”

The man who was shouting and pointing his finger at me opened his eyes wide as he saw my family gathering around me.

“Pe-Perdia?”

It was Carlot, who stepped forward instead of me,  who was puzzled.

Carlot stood in front of me and opened his eyes fiercely.

“Hey, dimwit. Who are you to not even apologize after bumping into someone? Eyes? What was with your eyes? Should I dig them out to look at them?!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry!” The man quickly apologized as Carlot shot back at him without breathing.

He must have been an aristocrat with enough money to visit this restaurant, but it was my first time seeing that face.

Despite the aristocrat’s apology, Carlot growled and continued glared fiercely.

“Not me. You have to apologize to the person you bump into. Wow, I can’t communicate with someone like him. Father, can I just bury him in the ground?”

I looked back at Duke Perdia with my mouth wide open at Carlot’s sudden escalation.

As the head of the family and Carlot’s father, I had a strong belief that the duke would prevent the son’s excessive anger.

However…..

“Not bad.”

My faith was shattered!

At this rate, I felt a sense of crisis that Carlot might actually bury that aristocratic man in a Perdia-power-fueled collapse of the ground. 

“Father.”

Jansi, who had been silent, stepped forward.

I was relieved. Finally, a normal person comes forward!

But that wasn’t the case.

“With my power, I can finish him without causing any damage to the surroundings, Father. Wouldn’t it be difficult to cover up Carlot’s power?”

Jansi was taking a step further…..

I had a headache.

‘I will resign from…….Perdia.’

I wanted to quietly disappear from this commotion that started with my shoulder.

Are you trying to comfort me? The duchess came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder.

Then she said, “It’s very harmonious. I can’t believe you’re stepping forward for your sister. Isn’t that right, Elodie?”

Where are you going?

I’ve reached the point where I had so much to say that I couldn’t say anything. With my mouth wide open, I looked around the Perdia family, a total mess.

Jansi and Carlot were competing to get rid of that aristocrat.

Then Jansi looked back at me and asked, “Lili, what should we do? I want you to decide.”

“Well…..”

I put my hand on my chin and seriously contemplated.

An aristocratic man was looking at me with a face almost on the verge of crying. If anyone saw it, they would think I hit him first.

No matter how angry he was at me for hitting him, the disposal talks from Jansi and Carlot were too much.

But I was sure they wouldn’t listen to me if I said to just let it slide.

‘Let’s first say a severe disposition, then correct it with an appropriate disposition.’

After such deep agony, I smiled and shouted, “Then, should I cut off your shoulder?”

“………….”

“………..”

The atmosphere was strange. Not only my family, but even the man looked at me with contemplative faces.

‘What’s wrong? It would be better than using your power to bury him.’

Carlot hesitantly opened his mouth with a puzzled face. 

“Sister, really……? You don’t have to worry about cleaning up the mess….”

“Lili, you don’t have to get your hands dirty,” Jansi added with an awkward smile.

At that time, Duke Perdia, who had been watching the situation silently, said, “Bring me a sword.”

The aristocratic man who sat at the center of the disturbance with a white face, knelt so hard that it made a sound.

“Sa-save me!!Hyuk!”

This time, he was putting his hands earnestly together praying at me, not Carlot.

“I was wrong, lady. I will never bump into the lady’s shoulder again or even step on your shadow, nor will I go within a one meter radius of your precious self. So please, just my shoulders….!”

If I said now that I didn’t mean what I said the sobbing man would lose face.

I answered roughly with an arrogant look on my face like a Princess of Perdia.

“Yes, I don’t like cutting his shoulders because it’s annoying. Blood will splatter everywhere.”

“I can keep it from splattering.”

“No, Father. I don’t want to make a fuss. Let’s just do the same.”

Fortunately, there was no one who objected to my clear solution method of return as much as I got.

“Behave yourself, dimwit.”

Pak-!

Thus, Carlot ended the agreement by bumping his shoulder.

When I entered the restaurant and sat down, I was already exhausted.

I sent back a man who was almost eliminated for bumping into my shoulder safely, so I got what I wanted, but why is my mind in more tatters?

‘I’ll never, never go out to eat again.’

I would get sick if anyone even talked about eating out again.

The seats we were guided to were reserved seats that seemed to be the most expensive in the restaurant.

The already arrived customers glanced at my family as we passed by.

It was understandable, since the closed-minded people from Perdia didn’t come out of the mansion very often.

Duke Perdia only went back and forth between the mansion and the Imperial castle, and so did Jansi.

The duchess was almost stuck in the greenhouse garden, obsessed with making poison, and Carlot, like a sword fool, lived on the training ground.

I wasn’t healthy either, so I was almost confined to the annex.  The other family members seemed familiar with that gaze, but I wasn’t.

The gazes that looked at the other family members were envious, but the gazes that looked at me were different.

‘I’m sure they’re complaining about the illegitimate child being presumptuous again.’

It was when I was eating amuse bouche, ignoring their gaze–

“Who is this?”

Someone trudged over to our table.

The man who fixed his monocle looked quite familiar. Rodrigo Angellus. In other words, it was the Duke of Angellus.

Behind the duke was a man I had never seen before.

‘Is he a wizard?’

He was a man with a somewhat haggard and sullen face. The man with long dark green hair tied down to one side, was wearing a dull robe.

However, there was no pattern anywhere on his garment to indicate that he belonged to a magic tower.

Maybe a free mage. Most of them belong to the mage tower but I heard that there are occasionally wizards, who do not belong to a magic tower.

As I was observing the wizard, Duke Angellus greeted Duke Perdia with a friendly smile.

“I never expected to meet you in a place like this, Sylvester. Nice to meet you. It looks like you came to eat with your family. Contrary to what it looks like, you’re very family-oriented, right?”

If someone else said that, it would be taken as a meaning of being really glad to see each other, but since the other person was Duke Angellus, it was unconditionally sarcastic.

‘This must mean something like ‘It’s funny that you’re doing something that’s not like you.’’

Naturally, Duke Perdia did not bat an eye.

“Yes.”

Duke Angellus’s eyebrows twitched at the short and insincere reply.

Then the duchess, who was sipping her wine, greeted him with a smile.

“Long time no see, Duke Angellus. How is Dolcinia doing? I haven’t seen her face since the last time we met. Please say hi to her for me.”

“My wife is not feeling well and is recuperating. I will let her know.”

It was the duchess’s provocation to ask why she was not engaged in external activities, even though she knew the reason.

Duke Angellus, who was like a snake, was not disturbed at all.

But the duchess was persistent.

“Oh, I cant believe Dolcinia is not feeling well. Miss Dorothea doesn’t seem to be feeling well, either, does she? Mother and daughter are sick at the same time……I am worried that they might have contracted an infectious disease.”

The Duke of Angellus countered with his eyes wide open.

“It’s not a contagious disease. Be careful with your words, Madam.”

It was natural for the Duke of Angellus to jump up and down because if there was a rumor that they had an infectious disease, things would get so big that the imperial family would investigate them.

The duchess replied with a relaxed laugh, “Then we can meet at the Ishtar Temple meeting soon.”

“……that’s right.”

The battle between duke Angellus and the duchess was coming to an end.

‘The duchess wins again today. I can’t believe you’d drag the mother and daughter out to an official event.’

It was the moment when I was full of admiration and inadvertently saw the wizard standing behind the duke.

For a moment, my eyes met with dark purple eyes.

And-

‘……what’s that?’

If I’m not mistaken, that wizard, why do I feel like he is avoiding my eyes?