Chapter 7

“What are you going to do now?”

A sharp, high-pitched voice rang through the study.

Baron Larishi looked up at his huffing wife with a tired face.

“……What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the Blanche inheritance. What are you going to do about it?”

“What is there to do about money that’s already gone to that girl?”

When Baron Larishi answered irritably, the baroness stared at her husband with an incredulous look.

“Then why did you just let her go! You should have persuaded her, or tied her up and locked her in a room!”

When the baroness shouted angrily, Baron Larishi covered his ears with both hands.

It meant he did not want to hear any more.

“You’re so loud I can’t stand it. I still have a mountain of documents to deal with, so just leave.”

When he gave the order for her to leave, the baroness glared at him and spoke.

“Just you wait. If you don’t find a way to get that money back, I’ll start drawing up divorce papers!”

With that cold ultimatum, the baroness left the study.

Only then did Baron Larishi lower the hands covering his ears.

“……This is driving me insane.”

Alone now, anxiety surfaced on Baron Larishi’s face.

He had not shown it in front of his wife, but in truth, the baron’s insides were burning as well.

“I’m supposed to repay Viscount Magnus in a month—what am I going to do?”

Baron Larishi had been haunting gambling dens, trusting in the Blanche inheritance, and had ended up with debts he could not handle.

Fortunately, an acquaintance, Viscount Magnus, had covered the debt for him, so he had avoided immediate ruin, but……

At this rate, far from repaying the money, he would struggle to feed himself.

‘Should I have locked that girl in a room like my wife said?’

Then he could have siphoned off the money somehow before Yvette took the whole fortune.

Baron Larishi anxiously stroked his chin.

‘Should I seize the girl now, even at this point? But how, when she’s already left?’

That was when it happened.

Baron Larishi’s wandering eyes suddenly landed on the bookshelf.

Beneath the haphazardly shoved books, a small safe caught his eye.

‘That’s right, that was there!’

Baron Larishi’s darkened complexion brightened in an instant.

He hurried to the bookshelf and pulled out the safe tucked in the corner.

It seemed to have been neglected for a long time, for dust lay thick on its surface.

Baron Larishi brushed off the top of the safe and carefully undid the lock.

Looking inside, a dangerous smile rose to his lips.

“……With this, I can reel that girl back in.”

His blue eyes, so like Yvette’s, glinted dangerously.

* * *

“Ah, I’m so stiff.”

About two weeks after moving into Witley.

Yvette groaned and pushed herself up from the bed.

She had merely woken up from sleep, yet her muscles ached as if she had exercised all night.

That was not all. Even the slightest movement made her head spin, and her stomach churned.

In a word, her body was a complete mess.

‘What’s wrong with me?’

Yvette pressed a hand to her forehead.

Her condition had not been this bad from the start.

For the first week after moving into Witley, it was only the occasional headache or trouble digesting food.

But after another week passed, her condition deteriorated rapidly.

Worried about her, Habert personally prepared all sorts of healthful dishes for her.

To be skilled not only in housework but in cooking as well—it was truly an admirable talent, but unfortunately, Yvette had no presence of mind to savor his skill.

Because she threw up everything the moment she ate.

As a result, her body, unable to properly absorb nutrition, only grew worse.

As if she were someone on the verge of death.

‘……Surely this isn’t because of the curse?’

At the sudden thought, Yvette shook her head.

She had met her destined partner before her twentieth birthday, so the curse was as good as over.

“Ugh.”

Yvette staggered to her feet. Even just keeping her balance without falling drew a groan from her.

She gritted her teeth and headed for the bathroom.

Perhaps because she had broken out in cold sweats all night while sleeping, her body felt sticky.

Thinking she should at least wash her face before drawing a bath, Yvette stood before the sink.

Splashing cold water on her face eased the unpleasant feeling a little.

‘My face has really gone downhill.’

Yvette, checking her complexion in the mirror, paused briefly.

It was because she had noticed a change she had overlooked until now.

‘……The flower has withered?’

Yvette hurriedly pulled down her collar and checked her back.

There, she saw the flower blackening and wilting.

‘That can’t be.’

Yvette could not contain her shock.

Her tattoo was in a place she could not see on her own unless she deliberately looked in a mirror.

So in her daily life, she had not paid it much attention.

Having barely regained her composure, Yvette glared at the flower blooming on her back.

That flower had bloomed when she spent the night with Noel.

At the time, she had simply thought it bloomed because she met her destined partner……

‘Don’t tell me it withered because I haven’t seen Noel since then?’

The moment that thought reached her, Yvette found herself tearing at her hair.

‘What do I do? Do I have to go find Noel right now?’

Whether her condition was actually connected to Noel was still uncertain.

But she had a feeling that if she stayed like this, she might die.

Yvette took a long, deep breath.

Either way, it seemed best to meet Noel first.

Once her resolve was set, putting it into action was only a matter of time.

Yvette asked Habert to draw her a bath, then quickly washed herself.

Since she had no maid attending her, she had to handle the entire preparation alone.

Of course, she had managed on her own her whole life, so it was not particularly difficult.

Once she had changed clothes, Yvette flagged down a passing carriage and asked to be taken to the Averon ducal estate.

‘Please, still be in the capital.’

Unlike Yvette Blanche, who mostly spent her time in the capital, Noel Averon was a man who spent more time at his territory.

He might already have returned to his territory.

Yvette clasped her hands tightly and prayed to a god whose name and face she did not know.

‘I’ll live virtuously from now on. So please, just let me live one more time. No—if you’re going to spare me anyway, just let me live out an average lifespan in peace.’

While she was praying, the carriage she was riding in came to a stop in front of the Averon ducal estate.

Yvette pressed a silver coin into the driver’s hand, then staggered toward the main gate.

The Averon ducal estate was, fittingly for the wealthiest family in the empire, so immense that it could not be taken in at a single glance.

Her admiration at its scale, beyond anything she had imagined, was short-lived.

Two guards blocked her path, and Yvette had no choice but to stop dead in her tracks.

“You cannot enter without permission.”

The guard spoke firmly and looked Yvette up and down.

Anyone could see he was suspicious of her.

“I’m Yvette Blanche of the Blanche count family. I’ve come to see Noel—no, Duke Averon……”

Yvette forced the words out with all the strength she could muster.

Even on the carriage ride over, she had thought her condition was no joke.

Standing in the sunlight made her head spin.

‘It wasn’t even this bad before my birthday.’

Damn curse. Damn Kerbel.

Yvette cursed the faceless mastermind behind it all and clenched her fists.

“I’m sorry, but you cannot enter without a prior appointment.”

But regardless of her circumstances, the guard was utterly firm.

Yvette felt her insides burn and bit her innocent lip.

‘What do I do? It seems impossible to make an appointment by letter now…… And if I stay like this, I might die.’

Just as she was growing restless—

An unfamiliar voice spoke to her in a friendly tone.

“Oh? Aren’t you the young lady I saw that day?”

“What brings you here, young lady?”

The one who addressed her was a young knight with brown hair and amber eyes.

It was a face she had never seen, so Yvette could only hesitate.

‘Does this person know me?’

Seeing as he greeted her first, it seemed they were acquainted.

Unfortunately, she did not recognize the knight at all.

As Yvette only blinked wordlessly, the knight’s face shifted with a look of realization, and he furrowed his brow slightly.

“Ah, you don’t remember. I’m the one who brought you clothes that day……”

“Ahh, I remember now.”

Yvette hurriedly nodded.

The moment she heard the word ‘clothes,’ she guessed who he was.

‘So this person knew my face.’

She had assumed he would not have seen her face, since Noel had sent him.

‘Wait. Does that mean he also knows what happened that day?’

The moment that thought reached her, her ears grew hot on their own.

Yvette cleared her throat for no reason and turned her head.

Even that simple motion made her dizzy.

“Seeing you here, it seems you’ve come to see His Grace.”

Perhaps aware of her embarrassment, the knight tactfully changed the subject.

His brightly smiling face was quite likable.

“If you’d like, I can escort you to His Grace.”

“Sir Bler!”

One of the guards raised his voice in protest, and the knight turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

“Why?”

“Outsiders cannot enter without permission. Sir Bler knows that is the rule as well.”

“I know. That’s why I’m taking her in. This young lady is not an outsider to our duke.”

At those words, the guards exchanged bewildered glances.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes. I’ll vouch for her.”

“If Sir Bler says so, then……”

As the guards stepped aside, the knight smiled brightly and looked at Yvette.

By then, Yvette’s complexion had grown even paler.