The green dress that Clatier forcibly grasped fell to the ground.
The Duke of Paeratonâs shoes crushed the dress.
Clatier looked at it blankly.
This canât be happening.
âYe-yes. You are misunderstanding me.â
Come to think of it, didnât the Duke say that she stole the dress from her shabby cousin earlier?
âShe mustâve cursed my uncle!â
Clatier ran and grabbed the hem of the Duke.
âUncle, do you hate Tie?â
Ooh, looking up and speaking with her watery face, it was lovely to everyone.
The Duke of Paeratonâs eyes turned to Clatier.
âWell, even if Uncle hates Tie, I will forgive you!â
Clatier laughed wide. Brighter than the sun
âBecause you were tricked by a lie!â
The Dukeâs eyes
Narrowed.
Clatier covered her mouth with both hands.
âOh, I didnât mean to. My cousinâs fault should be covered her older sister.â
Clatier stretched her eyebrows with a worried face.
Unlike the cute attitude before, it was a gentle and upright attitude.
âI apologize for that, Uncle. Please forgive my cousin.â
Clatier grabbed the hem of her dress and bent her knees.
It was cute to see a cute little lady greet each other gently, pretending to be mature.
The lips of the Duke of Paeraton, who was looking at it in silence, slowly opened.
âForgiveness.â
My daughter.
How dare you.
However, Clatier didnât see the look of the Duke of Paeraton.
Furthermore, the Duke was consciously and unconsciously killing his anger in front of his daughter.
It was because the youngest daughter was surprised when he used magic on the vassals before.
Thanks to this, Clatier was in a different state of comfort when she first saw the Duke.
âSo, of course, Iâm asking what are the things to forgive?â
She thought.
She said,âItâs done!â And she felt her delight in her heart.
Of course, the expression was mixed with worries and confusion.
âBecause she lied to my Uncle,â she said. âI never stole the dress.â
It was a funny lie.
Not just a dress, but shamelessly lying since that girl never had new clothes.
âI understand. I would have lied like that because I would have wanted to be a little pretty from my aunt.â
Clatier sighed, exhaled, and looked up at me, her cousin.
It was a kind sisterâs face.
âBut cursing me doesnât help.â
The Paeraton Princessâs hand was tight.
She canât like Clatier.
But.
âI envy youâŚâŚ.â
Clatierâs behavior of acting cute made her heart feel strange.
An action that she can do because she grows up with plenty of love, and canât imagine her actions will be responded to with any rejection or negativity.
ââŚâŚThe Duke is my father.â
The blood may not have been the same, but he is my dad now.
Yet it was Clatier who behaved like his daughter.
âI can never do that.â
Because she knows how painful it is to be rejected, shunned, neglected, and told, âYou donât need it.â
So she couldnât do anything like that.
The Duke looked down and looked at her crumpled clothes from her little hand.
âUncle misunderstood because of that lie.â
The gaze that was looking at his daughterâs hand turned back to Clatier.
âThereâs no way I could have stolen the dress, right? I just wanted to give it y-.â
âThen whatâs the dress I saw?â
Like a sharp blade, the voice cutting Clatierâs words was sharp and cold.
Only then did Clatier noticed that the Duke of Paeraton was not what she thought.
The moment she met his bright red eyes, the fear that she had forgotten about came back.
âWhat, what are you talking aboutâŚâŚ.â
âThe day I went to pick up my daughter from Marquis of Tarenka.â
Duke Paeraton held back as much pressure as he could from his daughter naturally.
Then, He grabbed the hand of his daughter, who had a lot of energy. Very softly.
Slowly, the power drained out of the Princess Paeratonâs hand.
âWhy were you wearing the dress prepared for my daughter?â
ââŚâŚ!â
Hook, the Princess Paeratonâs blue eyes were swollen.
âAh.â
Realization came to the top of my head like a thunderbolt.
âWhatâs this scrawny rat?â
âNo way, Iâm not saying that Princess Paeraton was the one who had this kind of hidden goal.â
That day.
He said so.
âItâs not because you donât like me, Iâm not too bad-.â
She raised her head.
Her eyes immediately met with the Dukeâs.
As if he was looking at her from before.
He wasnât looking at her like she was so lovely, but as if looking at her with her head bowed
And she didnât know what to do.
The moment she saw herself, she was sure.
âYou were talking about my outfit.â
He looked angry at Marquis Tarenka, his daughter but didnât look like that at the Princess of Paeraton, who made think this way.
âIs it real?â
Do you really think so?
Deep down in my heart, I heard a suspicious young voice.
Originally, she would have listened to the voice.
That way she wonât get hurt.
But she didnât want to hear that voice for now.
âWh, what are you talking aboutâŚâŚ. Thatâs what my dad bought me to wear for my birthday!â
The embarrassed Clatier screamed.
âThe Marquis of Tarenka?â
Do you think it will be the subject?
I could read the afterword without having to say it out loud.
âI got it every year! On my birthday, He always gave me a pretty dress as a surprise!â
âI got it every year.â
âItâs my dress! Itâs not that lowly childâs dress- urkâŚâŚ!â
Suddenly, I was suffocated.
Clatier clenched her neck.
The Duke of Paeraton didnât do anything. He didnât even reach out to Clatier.
But a dark darkness crept towards her.
The darkness that seems to swallow up even the shadows.
The ominous and ferocious energy caused Clatier to shiver.
âWhat did you say?â
âE-everyone did it. Dad and Lien, too, because sheâs a poor person- UhkâŚâŚ!â
Clatier swallowed her breath, turning blue.
The black darkness swept over her nose.
The darkness, which seemed to swallow me in one bite, ate some space and sank into my body.
âA, ah, aah blackâŚâŚ.â
A sound that couldnât make sense flowed with tears. Her finely decorated hair and dress were soaked in sweat and sloppy.
âHave you heard the rumor about me?â
Cold-blooded black blooded.
The worst killer.
Duke Paeraton knows no sadness.
When he cries, someone elseâs blood flows instead of tears.
âYouâd better not expect me to be generous just because youâre young.â
âB, bla, blackâŚâŚ.â
I couldnât say anything back.
I couldnât even speak.
With vision narrowed by fear and confusion, I tried to grasp the situation.
But the more I did, the less I understood.
âWhy? Why? Why? Why? Why?â
âWhy am I trembling like a bug and crawling on the floor?â
âItâs not. Not me!â
âThis doesnât suit me.â
âWhat deserves this is-.â
Clatierâs eyes pointed upward.
To be precise, towards her cousin whoâs in the arms of Duke Paeraton.
â-Thatâs her!â
To be looked down upon, to be despised, to be mocked, to be ridiculed.