/
That night, her father, Ludwig, called Keira to his office.
It has been only a few times over the years that her father called her out. She was nervous but excited, and headed to her father’s room.
Ludwig, the Grand Duke, sat at his desk working until late at night. He kept his eyes on the papers even though she entered the room. Even though she was disappointed, Keira comforted herself by saying he was just focusing on his work.
“You called.”
When she spoke, Ludwig looked up.
Coldly, he said, “I heard what happened this afternoon.”
“What?”
She remembered the confrontation with Cosette. She smiled innocently as she insulted Keira’s dead mother.
“Father, it’s–.”
“I know you don’t like the kid. It’s not that I don’t understand. But aren’t you ashamed to act so lowly?”
“...”
What should Keira say? The harsh tone was heartbreaking, but what do you mean ‘the kid?’ It sounded very intimate.
The affection hidden in the word is suffocating.
“And you even aimed a sword at her. The people have still not stopped talking about it. From now on, please think before you act.”
“B-but she was the one who insulted me first. She said my mother committed adultery then gave birth to me. I can bear to be insulted, but my mother–”
“We’ll see if it’s an insult or a fact.”
“...What?”
Keira couldn’t understand what she just heard. She was rooted on the spot for a long time. When she finally understood the meaning, her whole body began to tremble as if she had been struck by lightning.
She has always been ignored by her father, but she has never felt more miserable until this moment.
An icy voice fell over her as stiff as a statue, “Get out.”
“Mother...Mother is…”
“I said get out.”
He said he would not tolerate it anymore.
Keira left the office and the chilly hallway awaited her. The ceiling turned round and the floors bended in a strange direction. She stumbled and eventually fell on the floor, feeling the soft rug on her knee.
Are you doubting mother and me?
How could you do this?
It was not Cosette, but Keira, who performed her duties as the next Saintess, your daughter, and the mistress of the Grand Duchy for twenty years. Was her father saying that the person he met only recently was more trustworthy than those who have been with him for a long time?
Just because they looked alike?
Her tears flowed down without even realizing it. If there were no hot tears on her hand, she would not have realized she was crying.
It was time for her to wipe her wet cheeks with her sleeve.
A familiar voice was heard a few steps away, “ Keira? What are you doing there?”
It was a creepy voice. When Keira looked up, Cosette was expectedly standing there. She was wearing a white dress that suited her silver hair.
Keira wiped off the tears but couldn’t do anything with her bloodshot eyes. Cosette knew at once that Keira was crying.
“Huh.”
Soon after, a cruel smile appeared on her face. A smile so cruel, yet the maid behind them couldn’t see it.
The voice from the mouth with such a cruel smile was so sweet.
“Oh, my god, were you crying? Why are you crying here?”
Cosette reached out and wiped her teary eyes. Keira felt her face shudder at the contact.
‘You’re going to die because of me, aren’t you? But what can we do. From now on, I’m taking everything from you.’
It was as if Keira could hear Cosette whispering those words.
Keira slapped Cosette’s hand away. It was unbearably miserable to have Cosette see her crying, and she didn’t want to be comforted by her at all.
The tension echoed down the tranquil hallway.
“Oh, my god.”
“Oh, my lady! Are you alright?”
The maid standing behind her came near Cosette and touched her hand.
Keira was trained as a knight. Cosette’s hand could not have been fine when Keira hit it as hard as she could.
Cosette’s hand quickly turned red.
“Oh, my god! What can I do?”
“I’m fine, so please don’t make a fuss. Keira must be embarrassed. It doesn’t hurt much.”
“Look at the red glow! It doesn’t hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
A despondent look came from the maid as if saying, ‘I can’t believe you’re beating up a person who tried to comfort you. This time, you were too mean.’
Keira stood up. “It’s none of your business what I’m doing.”
“But you can’t just pass by someone who’s crying. I’m not that cold-hearted.”
Keira ignored the words. It wasn’t worth answering. “I heard you’re living in a separate house. Why did you come to the main house so late at night?”
Keira’s room is located in the main house and Cosette’s room is in a separate house. Thanks to that, Keira’s only comfort was that she didn’t have to see her after sunset.
Cosette answered with her head tilted innocently, “Didn’t you know? We’ll be seeing each other starting today.”
“...What?”
“Is it really that surprising? Originally, the direct descendants of Parvis were supposed to use the main house. Father gave me permission, so I decided to use the same third floor as you.”
Rather than the fact that Cosette was moved to the main house, it was the way she used ‘father’ that was more upsetting. Cosette was so natural in calling Ludwig ‘father’.
The word exploded the anger Keira had endured so far. The string of reason she had been holding onto has been broken.
“Who! Who is your father?!”
“Oh, my.”
“I am the daughter of the Parvis family! It’s not you, the person whose origins are unknown, but me!”
“Calm down for now. We’re in front of my father’s office. What if you interrupt his work?”
Again, the title ‘father’ popped up.
Who? Who the hell is your father?
There is only one daughter of the Grand Duchy mentioned in the prophecy. And the daughter had to be Keira no matter what.
Keira couldn’t stop trembling. She exploded everything she had built up in her heart.
“I don’t know what you believe in and think that you’re father’s––!”
“What’s going on?”
Before Keira could finish speaking, Ludwig’s voice was heard as the door opened. His voice clearly expressed his irritation, and his cold eyes reached Keira.
Keira thought it was a gaze of someone looking at a boulder rolling down the road.
That insensitive look–
“Father!”
–disappeared the moment Cosette said that word.
In the face of an incredible reality, Keira had to do her best not to sink.
‘You’re the one who could look at others with that gaze.’
Even if the sky fell, it would be less desperate than this.
For a moment, his eyes softened. The moment he turned back to Keira, he became cold like ice.
Slap!
The hot pain began to spread on her cheek.
It happened in an instant that she had to think for a while to think about what happened.
Before she could fully understand the situation, a chilly voice said, “It has been less than ten minutes since I’ve warned you to be careful about your behavior. Do you have to make a fuss this late at night to feel better? You’re shameless, Keira Parvis.”