chapter 54

“Huh…” a short sigh leaked out of Cersinia’s mouth.

She didn’t expect Verne could or would hit a man with her fist.

‘Did she have that kind of personality in the novel?’

Indeed, she was strong since her character was like Candy, so it made some sense.

“You crazy bitch!”

The man who was hit on the nose said blushing from embarrassment. He rushed at Verne like a lightning bolt. It remanded Cersinia of Charles. The poor attitude mixed with an inferiority complex and the fact that he wasn’t reflecting on his mistakes. Cersinia was wondering how could someone be so pathetic and shameless.

“Stop.”

Cersinia pulled back the man who was rushing toward Verne.

“What!”

The moment he turned his head, as he got forced to stop on his track, his face paled.

“Gasp!”

The men, who had not yet noticed Cersinia, were surprised and held their breaths. Verne was also surprised. She quickly got out / relaxed out of her fighting stance and bowed her head.

“Greetings, Lady Cersinia.”

“G-Greetings, Lady Cersinia.”

Cersinia ignored the men’s greetings and let go of the man she was holding.

“Ugh!”

Then, ridiculously, the man fell on the floor on his butt.

“Three men against one woman. That’s so pathetic.”

Cersinia murmured slowly as she looked at them one by one. Their faces turned red instantly.

“That is absolutely shameless.”

She smiled. But it wasn’t a friendly one, more one that looked down on them.

“T-That’s not it. I think the lady misunderstanding.” said by the man who had rushed to Verne backed down.

The man had no idea how to act in front of Cersinia since it was his first time meeting her. But rumors has it that she is a commoner and that she caught the Grand Duke’s eye and that was why she was here. Therefore, it was necessary to inform her that she shouldn’t interfere recklessly.

“What?”

Cersinia crossed her arms, allowing him to talk. Taking the bait, he got up from the floor, dusted his clothes, and slyly said.

“Lady Cersinia, I’m not sure where you came from and what they do. But here in noble families, things like this always happen. It’s to discipline the servants.”

He said raising his chin and straightening his back. He thought it was shameless of her, who came from God knows where, to try and act like the was the hostess of the Grand Duchy. He needed to remind her of her own position. The man’s disregard was so clear.

“T-That’s right.”

“This is our job.”

Even the men who had bowed, also protested. They were encourager by their colleague’s words without knowing who she was to their master, the Grand Duke.

“You mean that it’s your duty to make fun of and ridicule a single woman?”

The man flinched at her voice but spoke louder. Knowing that if he took a step back it would only make him a laughingstock.

“It’s only a joke. We were just trying to confirm whether the scandal was true or not. How can we do something that will tarnish the Grand Duke’s reputation?”

Cersinia’s face, which had a smiled plastered on it as if she was watching something fun, quickly distorted.

“How dare you use the Grand Duke as an excuse!”

Cersinia, who couldn’t stand it, pressed the shoulder of the man who dare use the Grand Duke’s name to excuse his disgusting behavior. She knew he was going to say some nonsense but didn’t expect him to mention Ben. He must have been desperate to die.

“Aargh!”

The man screamed in pain. It felt like a sledgehammer hitting him on his shoulder.

‘How can a woman be this strong?’

Cersinia looked weak, so he looked down on her, but she was not an easy opponent. The man, writhing in pain, slumped down on the floor helplessly as Cersinia pressed him down.

“S-Stop it!”

The two men, who were watching, tried to stop Cersinia. Letting go of the one who was already on the ground, she grabbed the two rushing bastards and did the same thing to them.

“Aaaargh!”

Cersinia let go of their shoulders when they were kneeling side by side.

“Now say it again. What do I not know?”

Cersinia gave them a beautiful smile. The three men looked at each other with tears in their eyes as they felt like their shoulders are going to fall off. Asking each other, ‘How could this happen?’, through glances.

“Answer me.”

When Cersinia said but this time with a firm look, the men hurriedly replied.

“N-Never mind. I’m sorry!”

“I’m sorry, Lady Cersinia.”

They apologized first. Because their shoulders still tingled. It was clear that it would leave a bruise. And in any case, since Cersinia was the guest the Grand Duke had personally brought, they didn’t know if they might be in danger if they enraged her again. It was time for them to step back.

“Verne.”

Verne, who was watching everything from the side, was so surprised that she was staring at Cersinia without blinking. So she was unaware of Cersinia’s call.

“Verne.”

When there was no answer, Cersinia gently pulled the hem of Verne’s sleeve.

“Ah, yes! I’m sorry, Lady Cersinia.”

Verne hurriedly came to her senses and bowed.

“It’s okay.”

Cersinia said, allowing Verne to raise her head.

“What do you want to do about it?”

“Pardon? What does Lady Cersinia mean…”

“Those guys. What do you want to do with them?”

Cersinia’s long finger pointed to the men on the floor, Verne’s gaze also stayed on them.

“If you want to hit their nose like before, you can hit them. I promise I will take care of the aftermath.”

At those words, Verne’s gaze was fixed on Cersinia again. Her expression, which was fierce towards the men, became gentle again.

“No…”

Verne tried hard to shake her head. In her mind, she wanted to hit them in the nose and kick them in the crotch a hundred or a thousand times. But she couldn’t do that. Because she had to keep working in this mansion and will probably keep running into them. Earlier, she was so angry that she hit them without thinking. At least it was relieving since there’s only so much she could endure . However, if she messed with them any more, her future life in this mansion would be even darker than this.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Yes.”

Cersinia looked at Verne with keen eyes. She was curious where Verne’s spirit went. It made Cersinia curious about Verne’s personality. For some reason, she felt like Verne was hesitating.

“Go ahead. Don’t do this again.”

Cersinia figured out the names of the three men and waved an indifferent hand towards them.

“Yes, yes. we’ll be on our way.”

“Well, then goodbye.”

The men ran away.

Carl, Jonathan, Kevin, and James in the rumor. Cersinia vowed to kick these four people out of the mansion.

“Then I’ll get going now. Thank you, Lady Cersinia.”

Verne politely bowed down and tried to quickly leave.

“Wait a minute.”

Since Cersinia had already seen everything, she stopped Verne with the intention of asking questions.

“Yes. Did you call me?”

“Why did you just let them go?”

“…”

“As I saw earlier, you were ready to fight them.”

Verne’s light brown eyes shook. She kept her head down for a long time without speaking and fiddled her fingers. Cersinia spoke again because Verne seemed uncomfortable.

“If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to. I’m sorry that I took your time.”

“No! That’s not it…”

Verne raised her head and shouted. However, no important words were added. Cersinia waited silently for her to say something.

“…It’s because we have to keep running into each other,” Verne said carefully after a while.

“What if they get fired from this mansion?”

“Even so, everything will stay the same because those close to them will remain in the mansion.’’

‘Is she saying that it’s not something that will end only by firing those four people?’

Putting Verne’s words together, she realized that it means that eventually, things like this will happen frequently. Even if the four people were fired, their acquaintances would remain here, and it would be possible for them to harass Verne again.

“I have to earn money for my mother’s medicine and pay off my father’s debts. To do that, I have to work in this mansion. Even if it’s hard, I have no choice but to endure it…” choking up, Verne started weeping.

Surprised, Cersinia and hurriedly took a handkerchief out and handed it over to her awkwardly.

“…Thank you.”

Verne carefully dried her tears with the handkerchief she received. On the other hand, Cersinia felt uncomfortable because she made Verne cry for no reason. As she was thinking about how to comfort Verne, she remembered what Verne said a while ago.

‘Didn’t she say it’s for her mother’s medicine?’

In the original novel, Verne was almost sold as a slave because of his father’s gambling debts. However, she escapes with her protagonist buff and leaves the house with her mother. After that, Cersinia burns Verne’s mother, and Verne starts working to pay for her medicine. Then, she often encounters the Crown Prince by accident and the two fall in love.

But what did she meant by her mother’s medicine? Verne tried to earn money for her mother’s medicine because Cersinia burned her mother. Her mother suffered from severe burns, and if she didn’t apply for her medicine, she would struggle with extreme pain.

‘But right now, I possessed Ceresinia’s body, and the story changed from the original because I lived as quietly as I could.’

So obviously, the female protagonist’s mother had to be fine. It definitely had to be like that…

“…What disease did your mother suffer from?” Cersinia swallowed dryly.

‘Does she have any other chronic diseases?’

Waiting for Verne’s answer, her palms were wet with cold sweat. Soon after, Verne’s lips opened, and her voice sounded as if it had been played in slow motion.

“She suffered severe burns, so she has to apply medicine for the rest of her life.”