Chapter 73
“This is an insult to our family. There’s no one in high society who doesn’t know that Nanael and I are bitter enemies right now.”
“Want me to scold her for you?”
Adrian looked ready to exact revenge on my behalf, no matter what channels he had to go through, if I just said the word.
Of course, that might be the cleanest way, and I’d get to watch the fireworks from the sidelines.
But right now, I needed something to immerse myself in completely.
‘Otherwise, I’ll keep thinking about Alferen and Summer.’
If I threw myself earnestly into this long-overdue revenge, maybe it would distract me a bit from fixating on those two?
“I’ll handle the revenge myself. You just help from the side, oppa.”
“Of course. Just say the word, Delly.”
Adrian boasted as if he could pluck stars from the sky for me.
Even though it bordered on flattery, it felt reassuring. I declared in a voice brimming with determination.
“Since it’s obvious why Princess Nanael brought Jessica here, I can’t just let it slide. Might as well settle the old scores along with it.”
“How are you planning to do it? Can’t I join in too?”
Mei, who had been standing nearby, sparkled with excitement in her eyes.
She was my loyal confidante who had stayed by my side even when I’d suffered from aphasia.
She’d tackle this with more enthusiasm than anyone.
“Of course. Actually, I was thinking of giving you a crucial mission.”
“What kind of mission? Wow, I feel like a secret agent!”
Even before I’d explained the task, Mei was hopping up and down, bubbling with energy.
I pressed down heavily on her shoulder and murmured ominously.
“Your mission is simple. There are bound to be servants subtly probing about me being carried home yesterday.”
“Sigh! Don’t worry about that! I’ll make sure to clamp down on their mouths good and tight!”
“No, the opposite. Accidentally let slip that I lost my memories due to amnesia magic. And just tip me off quietly about who it was.”
“Huh? But now you remember everything, miss. And if the duke and duchess find out, I’ll be done for!”
“This is a secret, and you’re only telling them so they know.”
“But then the rumor will spread like wildfire. You know, ‘only you know this’ is basically the same as saying everyone will find out.”
“That would be even better.”
I felt bad for everyone who’d kept the secret for my sake these past eight years, but this was the only way to ensure the news reached the spy Nanael had planted.
‘The princess wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of bringing Jessica all the way to the capital just for one teatime.’
Especially since I’d fled the drawing room in a panic, Nanael would keep Jessica by her side and continue to use her.
She was a villainess who could sweet-talk like honey when it came to manipulating others.
For someone as ambitious as Jessica, it would be an irresistible temptation.
“Oh, right. Also say that the pledge the count wrote has already been lost. Remember last year’s rainy season when the window was left open and the library got soaked? Say it was ruined then.”
“Huh? Why? Wouldn’t it be better to say the pledge exists so they’ll stay quiet?”
The more Mei heard my plan, the more confused she looked.
That’s when Adrian spoke up.
“You’re talking about setting a proper trap, right?”
As expected from family—he could tell what I was thinking.
“Exactly. The more off-guard they are, the bigger the mess they’ll make.”
Nanael would inevitably shove Jessica in my face again.
Jessica might be cautious around me now, but once she learns I don’t remember the past, she’ll gradually grow bolder.
Of course, finding out about a pledge she didn’t know existed might scare her at first.
But in the end, it’s vanished evidence.
‘And if the Miranda Count learns that the only obstacle, the pledge, is gone, he might start moving too.’
With Nanael egging them on from behind, Jessica would become even more aggressive.
The outcome was so predictable that I said it with utter conviction.
“People who enjoy tormenting others can’t forget the days when they lorded over someone beneath them. And if we can flush out the spy in the process, all the better.”
If Jessica mistakenly thought I was still that same foolish child from back then, she’d definitely cross the line.
I planned to strike the moment Jessica, trusting only in Nanael, went wild and overstepped.
‘To think she’d trust Nanael of all people because she has no one else. She has no idea that’s her biggest mistake.’
The villainess I knew would abandon her closest allies first when cornered.
From the start, to Nanael, Jessica was just a disposable card.
I was already smirking slyly, as if finding it all too amusing.
“Heh heh, then they’ll let their guard down and self-destruct on their own?”
She should have stayed quietly in her territory—if she regrets it now, it’ll be too late.
“Goodness, miss, you’re like a genius villain!”
As Mei clapped her hands like a seal and exaggeratedly praised me.
Adrian, who had been listening quietly the whole time, stood up from his seat.
“Alright! In that case, I’ll handle Princess Nanael.”
“You will? How?”
“From what I’ve seen, the siblings don’t get along at all.”
Adrian puffed out his chest and grinned broadly.
“So, all the more reason to diligently bring them closer together.”
Come to think of it, Adrian seemed perfectly fine with smiling while stabbing people in the back.
Well, if those backs belonged to Nanael and Cesare, I was all for it enthusiastically.
“Alright, everyone to your positions!”
At my command, Adrian and Mei moved in perfect sync, snapping to attention.
* * *
Summer headed to the Magic Tower for work with a trembling heart.
That day she’d unexpectedly run into Alferen. She’d confirmed once again that he was unchanged.
His silver hair shimmering in the sunlight.
The sculpted face with wall-like blue eyes embedded like stars—it was just as she’d seen in the academy.
Thanks to the tall lady’s sponsorship, she’d entered the academy and spent two years there alongside him.
They’d vied for first and second place, but she’d assumed he wouldn’t remember her.
“…Summer Clopen?”
When her name fell from his lips.
Summer couldn’t help but blush, even knowing her sibling was there.
He’d been her first love.
He stood out anywhere in the academy.
Not just because of his noble lineage and exceptional talent.
There wasn’t a student who didn’t admire him for his strikingly handsome appearance.
Summer had been one of them. And as the runner-up, she was one of the few female students who could converse with him.
Mostly about studies, but he never dismissed her words.
So, she’d gotten the wrong idea. That she’d become someone special to him.
‘I like you, Alferen.’
‘Sorry. I like someone else.’
She couldn’t even remember how she’d finished classes that day after his firm rejection.
He liked someone else? Who could it be?
She’d spent the night obsessing over that thought and arrived at the classroom the next day.
‘Duke Ainluk died! Wait, no, he’s about to die!’
Summer had frozen on the spot.
The day after her confession, Alferen abruptly left the academy and never returned.
‘If I’d known that would be the last time, I never would have confessed.’
Summer regretted the confession. She’d have frequent interactions with the Magic Tower as an academy professor.
She wouldn’t know how to face Alferen each time.
But when they reunited, he looked as if he’d forgotten he’d ever rejected the person before him.
She’d once liked that impassive face.
But now, it had been over six years.
If he’d forgotten, she had no intention of bringing it up either.
