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Chapter 9
“Mi… lady, please e-enjoy your… food…!”
Even the voice of the dispirited Irene sounded cute.
With only the bricks of the outer wall as support, Radis scaled the outside of the mansion and jumped back into her room through the same window.
She had already seen this several times, but Irene closed her eyes as though she had seen something ghastly.
Irene’s attitude was still as haughty as ever, but she at least had some sense of self-preservation in her.
She brought in today’s meal, which was boiled pork, blanched vegetables and a large piece of bread.
Irene shook her head as she disdainfully watched Radis sit in front of the table smelling of sweat, but at the same time, the maid didn’t forget to butter Radis’ bread.
“Young Master David eats less than this.”
Radis glanced at Irene, but the maid immediately bowed her head.
“I-I’m saying that you’re eating well, Milady.”
“Shut up.”
“I’ll be quiet.”
And so, silence stretched between them.
The only sound in the room was the clattering of cutlery hitting the plate.
But it was only a moment.
“O-Oh, by the way, Milady…”
Radis grabbed her fork and stared straight into Irene’s eyes.
‘Oh my goodness.’
Under the heavy pressure of that gaze, Irene was compelled to close her lips and gulp down for a moment.
‘Why did I act that way… towards the Lady before…’
It was natural for her to ask such a question.
The Radis before David’s academy acceptance celebration and the Radis right now were completely different people.
The haphazardly chopped hair she had was now neatly combed.
With a height taller than most girls her age and a strong body that was trained over a long time, she no longer hunched her shoulders and crouched down like before.
Above all, what changed was the look behind her eyes.
All this time, Radis had lived with her head bowed down as she avoided making eye contact with other people.
Even if she looked up and somehow met another person’s eyes, she would flinch and quickly avert her gaze.
Her eyes quivered constantly, never settling on anything, always looking away.
But right now, Radis’ gaze was like a blade piercing through everything she was looking at.
Irene, who had always looked down on Radis, couldn’t look her in the eye now.
As the maid bowed her head as though she was the old Radis, Irene spoke.
“…The Madam will soon call for you, Milady.”
“Why?”
Irene slightly raised her eyes.
“I think the Madam will forgive Milady!”
Radis turned back to her meal, slicing the meat as she smiled.
“That’s very kind of her.”
“Right? And it seems that a gift has been prepared.”
“Gift?”
“I happened to see the box. Milady can look forward to it!”
Irene smiled widely, trying to please Radis.
But Radis didn’t return this enthusiasm.
She only frowned slightly, took a piece of meat with her fork, then placed it in her mouth.
‘You’re letting me out already?’
In her previous life, she would often be punished by being confined to her room.
Margaret, who thought of Radis as a thorn to her side, preferred to have Radis locked up in the small room, pretending that she never had a daughter other than Yurhi. That’s why Radis was confined over long periods of time without knowing when she’d be let out again.
It had been only less than a week since Radis had been grounded here, but it seemed she’d be allowed outside soon.
‘I think it’s much better to continue being confined now though.’
This unexpected compassion felt more ominous than the familiar harsh treatment.
‘On top of that, there’s a gift?’
It was hard to believe.
Radis never received any gift in all her life in the past.
Even during her birthday, no one ever said ‘Thank you for being born.’ She never had any birthday cake or any presents.
‘Of course, it was different for David and Yurhi.’
Radis set down her fork and knife.
“Oh my, you’re full now?”
Her chest felt constricted. It didn’t seem like she’d be able to eat more.
‘It’s not possible.’
Had her voice—her lingering cries—finally reached her mother?
* * *
“I am truly weak-minded.”
Margaret sighed softly.
“You’re the only person who could help your younger brother, who is the pillar of this family, and yet you threw dirt all over this household and struck back to disturb the family’s peace. After all that, here I am with a dress especially bought for you.”
And with that very dress in front of her, Radis laughed out loud
Even if Radis had no eye for fashion, she could still tell how ancient the dress was.
The dress, made of light pink and dark pink silk, had a sparkling luster to it.
The skirt of the dress was filled with tacky frills that seemed to have been popular about a hundred years ago, and there were many strange large purple ribbons embellished here and there.
‘People don’t change that easily.’
Radis could only laugh.
She laughed at herself for even thinking that her mother had changed.
But this laughter seemed to have offended Margaret.
“What are you laughing at? Is my present for you funny?”
Radis shook her head instead of answering.
It wasn’t the dress.
It was Radis herself who was laughable.
She knew better than anyone else that expectations would only lead to misery, so she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. How could she dare hope again even after dying so terribly not long ago?
“It’s the perfect dress for me,” Radis said.
At this, Margaret glared at her.
“Great. It’s the dress you’ll be wearing at His Highness Olivier’s birthday feast. Of course it suits you.”
But Yurhi, who was ecstatically wearing her yellow dress, was appalled.
“Mom?”
Radis could see Yurhi’s lips twitching as though she wanted to say, ‘are you out of your mind?’
It wasn’t said directly, but Radis knew this: Margaret was a vain woman who valued outward appearances very much.
No matter how high the cost was, she would always have dresses tailored every season. To this extent, she would have blankets sold so that she could pay off clothing debts.
She would rather sleep with only thin blankets meant for summer during winter, than to sell a fur shawl that she would cover her shoulders at a tea party.
How could such a person give a dress like this to her daughter and take her to a banquet?
“Sure.”
Margaret stared at Radis with a ferocious, imploring gaze.
“Why? After trampling over the family’s honor and humiliating your younger brother, did you think that being confined to that room is enough punishment? Did you really think that’s all? Goodness. If you have any conscience in you at all, even the size of a fingernail, that can’t be, hm? Don’t you think so, Radis?”
* * *
Radis decided to attend the birthday banquet of Olivier Arpend, the Third Prince of the Cardia Empire. And this wasn’t because of the ‘conscience’ that Margaret was demanding of her.
Now that Radis had accepted this situation as her new reality, she was aware that she must change.
She couldn’t continue sitting still in her room while waiting for her harsh fate to come knocking on the door.
Just in time, the birthday banquet was going to be held at the estate of the Marquisate of Russell, the most influential family in the south.
Many people would attend this banquet. Radis didn’t know when else she’d be able to come across an opportunity like this again.
It was a faint possibility, but as Radis was desperate to take a hold of any chance at all, she couldn’t let this go.
That’s why Radis was going to attend that banquet, even if she had to wear such a hideous, tacky pink dress.
“Radis.”
In the carriage that was heading to the Marquis’ estate, Yurhi called out to her.
As she wore a yellow dress that matched well with her soft blonde hair, Yurhi looked as lovely as a spring fairy. But it looked like she was about to cry.
“Don’t come near me once we arrive at the banquet hall. That dress—it was listed at 90 percent off on the catalogue. If anyone recognizes it, what should I do?!”
Radis unintentionally tried to respond, ‘What’s wrong with my dress?’ But Radis realized what Yurhi was so worried about when she saw her expression.
Radis looked at her younger sister with fresh eyes.
Because she grew up with Margaret’s skewed affection, Yurhi was a princess who never grew up.
This princess would later be engaged to a man from a Viscount family through the full support of the Tilrod family.
It was a good family to marry into, considering that the Tilrod family didn’t hold a noble title.
Of course, it was possible only through a suitable dowry.
To raise this money, Radis needed to go through so many demonic monsters just for the mana stones that she gave her family.
Radis’ blood, sweat, and tears were exchanged for gold coins that were used to buy Yurhi’s dresses and jewelry.
As Yurhi donned a white rose symbolizing a new bride and left the Tilrod mansion while thanking her family, Radis was left lying immobilized on her bed, agonizing over extreme pain.
On such a good day, the groans that leaked out served as a shadow underneath Yurhi’s future.
However, even though she was married off without a hitch, Yurhi’s happiness didn’t last.
Even as she was ostracized in that mansion, Radis came to know about Yurhi’s tumultuous marriage.
After sighing, Radis spoke.
“Older sister.”
Yurhi only looked at Radis with perplexed eyes.
“You have to call me ‘Older Sister,’ Yurhi. That’s how it should be. Instead of looking at how much the dress is, you should regard the person wearing it more importantly. No matter how expensive your clothes are—”
“Older Sister? Hah!”
Margaret suddenly cut off Radis’ sincere advice.
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“You have to act like an older sister for you to be called that! Shouldn’t you behave the same way you want to be addressed first?”
Radis looked at Margaret with an exhausted gaze.
At this, Margaret’s complexion changed.
“You, why are you looking at me like that?”
“If it’s like that, should I start calling you ‘Margaret’?”