Chapter 153

Valentin Elandria liked her life.

From childhood to now, she had always been treated well wherever she went. Even among ducal houses, the Elandria name carried a different weight. The imperial princesses of the main line rarely appeared in society, so Valentin was used to being the first in everything wherever she went.

Today at the salon, she had been the first to be served tea, the first to recite a classic poem, the first to receive the loudest applause, and the first to wear the most expensive dress.

This was how the world should work. She might be noble now, but someday she would be the most noble person in the entire empire.

But when she returned home in her carriage, still drunk on her perfect life, Delma’s pale-faced report hit her like the sky collapsing.

“What?”

With an indignant expression, Delma said,

“She doesn’t even seem to know where she is, my lady! And a murderer, no less! I always knew—ever since she was a child—that her eyes were like a snake’s. No conscience at all! If she had any sense, a criminal like her would open the cell door herself and walk right in!”

“My thoughts exactly!”

Valentin hated Nerys Truydd more than anyone. She also disliked Megara Lykeandros, but at least Megara was the daughter of a noble house. And ever since that wretched Nerys had worn the Queen’s Crown at the graduation ball two years ago, Valentin had despised her even more.

‘The clueless keep trying to tie our family to that creature!’

As the only daughter of the Duke of Elandria, nothing horrified her more than Nerys trying to associate herself with the family.

And now? She had thought she’d seen the last of her—going off to “work,” of all things, in a vulgar hurry to graduate. Surely she would live forever among common trash. Yet now, after causing trouble, she dared to show up here?

And she would even be staying during the trial?

The very thought was humiliating. If her peers in society heard of it, how they would laugh! Valentin, still in her outdoor clothes, stormed out of her room.

“Where’s that girl’s room? Disgusting! Filthy! I’ll throw her out!”

Could she really do that? Delma doubted it. But Valentin, her face already flushed with fury, grabbed a passing servant.

“Where’s Nerys Truydd?”

Knowing the temper of the mansion’s little tyrant, the servant trembled and pointed silently toward Nerys’s bedroom. Valentin, upon hearing where it was, became even more enraged.

“She’s near my room?!”

In the sprawling ducal mansion, there were many guest rooms, and the closer a room was to the family’s quarters, the higher the guest’s status. Whoever had assigned her room had clearly considered Nerys an important guest.

The servant fled. Valentin moved toward Nerys’s room—only to be blocked.

“Who dares!”

Such rudeness was unthinkable. She immediately shouted and glared—then blinked when she saw who it was.

“F-Father?”

Sky-blue eyes sharp as blades and a tightly set mouth.

Though he had an adult son, the Duke of Elandria, Alcides Elandria, still looked young enough to be at the start of middle age. But his seasoned gaze and stern aura were not to be taken lightly.

Fresh from the palace and still in his fine dress uniform, he asked his daughter,

“Where are you going?”

“Ah… Father.”

Normally, the Duke never looked at her that way. Even if he was stern with everyone else, he always smiled at Valentin.

Even though she had been boiling with rage moments before, his uncharacteristic demeanor made her shrink. Looking down at her, the Duke sighed.

“You’re going to see ‘that girl,’ aren’t you?”

“That girl? I’m going to see that vile Truydd!”

“Valen.”

She flared up at his choice of words, but when he spoke her name heavily, she quickly backed down.

She loved her father, but she feared him too—especially when he was angry.

“Yes, Father.”

“You’ve already introduced Nerys Truydd to society as a member of this family. You’ll admit there was fault on your part.”

At twelve, Valentin had tried to prank Nerys with a fake invitation, only for the plan to fail. She had ended up having to greet guests alongside her at an exclusive high-society party she had worked hard to arrange.

She had never forgotten that humiliation. It was one of the reasons she recoiled in disgust every time Nerys’s name was tied to the family’s.

Even if that party had been held for academy students, the guests were all from important families. In effect, she had introduced Nerys into society herself. Shoulders slumped, she answered,

“…Yes, Father.”

“You may not know, but she has awakened the Jeweled Eyes.”

“That’s impossible…! If she had imperial blood, she wouldn’t have such low status…”

She stopped mid-protest when she saw her father’s stern expression.

Illegitimate imperial children usually grew up wealthy regardless of social rank, but not always. There were many circumstances in the world.

‘Could it be true?’

Valentin had heard the rumors that Nerys possessed the Jeweled Eyes, but she had never believed them—until now.

The Duke sighed again.

His theories about Ja’an and the Jeweled Eyes were something he had never shared with her. There was no need, and with her simple nature, she might blurt something at the wrong time.

“In my investigation, there’s no close paternal relation to the imperial family. But she has Ja’an. And the Jeweled Eyes. Whatever the case, we must take her into our house.”

Valentin went pale.

The Duke deliberately spoke firmly.

“She’s under investigation and has chosen to follow Nellusion. This is a good opportunity. Do nothing to upset her.”

What? Valentin Elandria was to coddle that lunatic girl? Valentin’s eyes welled up in furious tears.

“Father, she’s strange! Our family doesn’t like her and neither do I!”

Even as a child, she remembered—when she had first entered the Academy and been locked in that filthy storage room because of Nerys—how Nerys had seemed ready with cutting words.

…Though she couldn’t remember exactly what those words were. All she knew was that Nerys had disliked her from the beginning and had no respect for the Elandria name.

“I know how much you hate her. Perhaps in anger, she’s said cruel things to you. But Nellusion is a better judge of character than you. Stop your nonsense and return to your room. When you see her at dinner, be polite.”

How could her father say such things! Shaking with betrayal, Valentin saw that he would not yield until she obeyed.

In the end, she returned to her room and shed tears of rage. Delma comforted her.

“My lady, don’t cry. What’s happened to your pretty face?”

“I don’t care about my face! That lowborn is supposedly of imperial blood! And Father scolded me because of her! How is that fair?”

The Duke had hinted she wasn’t of imperial blood, but Valentin missed it. She believed, as most did, that only someone of imperial blood could have the Jeweled Eyes.

She wept into her bed for a long time while Delma fretted beside her, biting her lip.

Delma knew well how strong Nerys’s presence had been at the Academy. Though Valentin refused to admit it, Nerys was beautiful, knowledgeable, and had a unique charm.

Until now, she had soothed Valentin by saying that without the family’s support, Nerys would be nothing after graduation. But Delma now felt a rising sense of crisis.

‘She must not be allowed into the family.’

Whenever she saw Nerys, Delma felt a chill. Even as a child, her eyes had been poisonous and manipulative. She would surely harm the girl Delma had raised so dearly.

‘At the very least, if she must be here, she cannot be treated well.’

❖ ❖ ❖

The Elandria mansion’s dining hall was decorated splendidly.

Scarlet flowers symbolizing the Feast of Resurrection and branches of the holy tree adorned the pillars, walls, table centerpieces, and even napkin rings. White porcelain dishes with gold trim were filled with rare delicacies.

Five chairs surrounded the long rectangular table, but only four were occupied.

The handsome Nellusion Elandria, darling of the ladies of society.

Valentin Elandria, equally admired but now sulking.

The Duke, Alcides Elandria, looking much like his son but sterner and colder.

The Duchess, Kybele Elandria, her brow openly furrowed.

Their attire, though not as formal as for a state banquet, was elegant and luxurious. The Duke’s chest was heavy with medals, and the Duchess wore a massive diamond necklace—clear signs of a will to assert dominance over “someone.”

None of them had begun eating yet. Glancing at the ornate clock on the wall, Valentin muttered. It was already five minutes past the appointed dinner hour.

“Nerys is late. What sort of guest arrives late? I never liked her.”

Though she moderated her tone under Nellusion’s and the Duke’s gaze, her displeasure was obvious.

The Duchess agreed.

“Valen is right, dear. When has a duke’s household ever waited for a knight’s daughter? Let’s begin without her.”

Noble families valued their own customs. For the guest of honor at a deliberately welcoming dinner to arrive late was an insult to the hosts.

Valentin’s heart leapt. Her pre-dinner tears to her mother had worked—her mother now disliked Nerys.

Delma had suggested deliberately giving Nerys the wrong dinner time so she would be late. Even if Nellusion sent for her, she would still be late, and likely without time to dress properly. The plan was to ensure Nerys made a poor first impression as uncouth and self-indulgent.

‘Later she’ll have to claim it was a misunderstanding.’

Her brother might be soft on Nerys, but her mother would not be. Even if she learned the prank was deliberate, she would surely join Valentin in her dislike.

The Duke, too, saw some sense in his wife’s words. Normally one would not begin eating before an invited guest, but the difference in status was clear.

‘She will need to be educated in the customs of noble houses.’

Just as Valentin hoped, the Duke was already displeased at Nerys’s tardiness. His hand moved toward his silverware.

“Then let us—”

‘Clack.’

The dining room doors swung open with a crisp sound.

A deep red velvet dress, golden hair neatly swept up.

A straight back and a proud chest, as if from the etiquette manuals.

She could have been the only daughter of a great duke—or even a princess. All eyes turned to the delicate, beautiful girl entering like the heroine of the scene.

But more than her graceful bearing, the family’s gaze was caught by her eyes.

More beautiful than pearls, that Tyrian purple. A mysterious light, deep and multifaceted.

Meeting the gaze of her enemies from her past life, Nerys smiled faintly.

“My apologies for being late. The mansion is so large, I lost my way.”