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Chapter Two: A Perfectly Calculated Condemnation Scene
“Wellmy Ernest. I’ve heard that this all started when you fell into the river as a child. Is that right?” the lord of magic asked.
Wellmy thought back to that day. It was her second-oldest memory with Iora—among the few that she still remembered vividly. The oldest, of course, was the day they first met.
How pretty.
When she’d first laid eyes on Iora, Wellmy had been shocked to see that such a beautiful girl existed in the same world as she did. Furthermore, she’d been so kind that Wellmy had no way of knowing what Iora had thought of her on that fateful day.
Regardless, Iora was nice and always played with her. At the time, the elderly housekeeper, who had worked as the late Lady Ernest’s waiting maid, often watched over them.
E n umа
That second memory—Wellmy’s fall into the river—had come shortly after the housekeeper left. Due to her advanced age, she had become unable to move about as she once had, and she had reluctantly retired from her duties.
Before she left, she’d patted both girls on the head and said, “Do be good to one another, my little ladies.”
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Two months later, in the winter, she passed away.
Wellmy had always loved picking up pretty stones. On the day she’d fallen into the river, she had invited her sister and their new maid, Orea, to go with her. She spotted a rock she liked, somewhere a little hard to reach on the riverbank, and tried to go get it. Iora tried to stop her, saying that it was too dangerous, but Wellmy didn’t heed her warning, replying that she would be fine. The next instant, she stepped on a slippery moss-covered rock, lost her footing, and fell into the river. The water was shallow, so she didn’t get swept away or anything of the sort, but she was drenched. Later that day, she spiked a fever.
As she lay on her bed, barely conscious, she heard her parents blame Iora for the accident.
“No... Iora tried to stop me,” she said, but they ignored her.
Wē bnо̊ v̄е̊l Еnü m á
Her vision blurry, she looked up at them. A shudder ran down her spine.
Their eyes were smiling.
It was almost as if they were happy to finally have a reason to be cruel to Iora. Wellmy didn’t understand why, but she could see the devilish smiles lurking beneath their angry masks.
Who are these people?
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To Wellmy, it seemed as if her parents were possessed by demons. Iora had her head hung low, a miserable look on her face, so she hadn’t noticed the darkness in their expressions.
Eventually, their parents seemed to have had their fill of insulting and slapping their daughter, and they left the room. As for Iora, she remained by Wellmy’s side all night long with Orea, nursing her sister back to health.
Еń um ã
Iora was so kind. So brave.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Wellmy, her cheeks red from the slaps their mother had given her. It looked painful.
I’m scared.
Wellmy was terrified of her parents—of these people who had feigned anger on behalf of their daughter, yet had abandoned her when she was running a fever. But more than anything, she was scared of what they would do to Iora.
In the ballroom, Wellmy threw a brief glance at her sister, who had finally escaped their parents’ clutches, before shifting her attention back to the lord of magic. “I did, and our parents naturally scolded my sister for it. After all, it was her fault that I fell in the first place,” she lied.
“Really? The maid Iora brought with her told us a different story,” the lord of magic replied.
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The maid in question was none other than Orea, the maid who had been with them when Wellmy had fallen into the river, and the only servant Iora had taken with her to the lord of magic’s estate. She was two years their elder.
Thinking back on the accident, Wellmy recalled how their parents had begun treating the poor maid horribly from that day onward, just as they had her sister. This was why, at the time, Wellmy had suggested that Orea should move into the detached building with Iora.
The lord of magic fixed his gaze behind Carla and Leo, and a young woman with black hair stepped forward, calmly eyeing Wellmy.
“Oh, Orea. Why did you tell such lies?” Wellmy asked, making sure to grimace to really sell her act.
“I did not lie, Lady Wellmy. On that day, you refused to heed your sister’s warning and fell into the river all on your own,” Orea replied, her voice clear and strong.
Wellmy shifted her gaze to the lord of magic. “Do you truly believe the words of an incompetent servant like her? I did not think you to be that sort of person, Lord Aides.”
Е̃nu m̄а̄..і̌d
The lord of magic had warned her not to call him by his first name, yet she kept doing it. She wondered how that made him feel.
He didn’t address it and moved on with his accusations. “When you began persecuting Iora, you stole all of her belongings, did you not?”
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Wellmy was unmistakably the one who’d given her parents that idea.
After the accident, their parents had become crueler and crueler to Iora with each passing day. The first thing they’d done was take her belongings away from her.
It had all started when Wellmy gazed at her sister’s necklace and innocently remarked, “No matter how many times I look at it, it’s still so pretty.”
Before Iora could reply, Wellmy’s mother chimed in.
Е ňu m̃ ã . їd
“It truly is a beautiful necklace. I am sure it would look far better on you, Wellmy.”
The little girl hadn’t meant it like that. Her eyes shot wide open in shock, while Iora paled.
“It’s a memento from my mother,” Iora said, on the verge of tears, but the new Lady Ernest paid her no mind.
She snatched the necklace and handed it to her daughter. “From today onward, it belongs to you.”
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Wellmy wanted to protest, No! It’s Iora’s! But she could easily imagine what would happen if she were to smuggle the necklace back to her sister: Their mother would claim that she had stolen it.
As such, she averted her gaze from the pitiful look on Iora’s face, took the necklace, returned to her room, and placed it at the very bottom of her jewelry box. She made a silent promise to return it to her sister once they were both adults—once they were out of that house.
W̊ е́b̃ n о̇v̊е̃l̄ Еń u m̌ а
From that day onward, all of Iora’s dresses and possessions became Wellmy’s. She figured that there would be no point in keeping the clothes, as her sister would likely have grown too much to fit into them again by the time she escaped, but Wellmy made sure to stow every single accessory away.
On the day Iora left for the lord of magic’s estate, Wellmy exchanged as many of her own belongings as she could for jewels and stuffed them into a bag. She, of course, made sure to include the necklace that had belonged to Iora’s mother. Then, she went to find Orea, and handed her the bag.
“Hide this among Iora’s luggage to make it look like she stole it,” she ordered with the most vicious smile she could muster.
As it turned out, her little scheme had borne fruit, and she could now reply to the lord of magic’s accusation with confidence.
“We stole her belongings? Not the other way around?” she asked, secretly pleased with herself.
Why? Because, as she’d hoped, Iora was currently wearing the necklace her mother had left her.
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“That necklace was given to me, Lord Aides,” she continued. “So why does my sister have it? She must have stolen it when she left the estate.”
Murmurs simmered among the gathered crowd, but the lord of magic simply dismissed Wellmy’s accusation with a laugh. “All of the jewels and accessories Iora brought were concealed with magic and had a name inscribed on them: ‘Iora Ernest.’”
The crowd grew even louder at his words.
As for Wellmy, she made a show of gritting her teeth and furrowing her brow. “Gordley!” she exclaimed.
She always brought Gordley along whenever she went out to buy jewelry. Likewise, when gem dealers were invited to the Ernest estate, she’d always ordered the butler to stay in the room. Naturally, she had done the same when she had gone to exchange her jewels for money.
What no one knew was that Wellmy herself had inscribed Iora’s name on the precious stones in preparation for this exact situation, so that her beloved sister would have some wealth to her name. Based on her reaction, people would likely assume that the butler was at fault. They might blame him at first, but would quickly forgive him once they witnessed the rest of this condemnation show. They would come to see it as a desperate act from a loyal butler supporting the legitimate successor of their family.
E n̊ u̇m а́ . і d
“You’re even going as far as to accuse Iora of crimes she didn’t commit. How pathetic. And just like every other pathetic schemer, you didn’t think your lies through very well.”
Wellmy inwardly replied to the lord of magic’s cruel smile with one of her own. On the surface, though, she merely grimaced, feigning frustration.
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The condemnation scene wasn’t anywhere near done.
This was only the beginning.
※※※
“Not only did you steal from Iora,” the lord of magic resumed, “but you also made her dye her hair, forced her to wear glasses to hide her face, dressed her in shabby clothes, and relegated her to working like a servant, did you not? Then, you sequestered her in a detached building of the estate.”
Еñum̆.а
These were all facts. Wellmy had indeed influenced her parents to make all of these decisions.
It had all started when she was twelve. Back then, her parents had been treating Iora worse than a servant, making her do chores that even maids would have been uncomfortable with. Consequently, Wellmy’s poor sister had been constantly exhausted.
The only person who had tried to help Iora back then had been Orea, their waiting maid. Their father had replaced nearly all of the household staff after the death of his first wife. Only Gordley, the butler, had remained. All the other new employees had turned a blind eye to Iora’s suffering.
At this rate, Iora is going to die, Wellmy had realized in horror.
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Every time her sister made even the smallest of mistakes, their parents would yell and deprive her of food.
Wellmy had been desperate to save her sister. She had tried to make roundabout comments about how sorry she felt for her sister in front of the demons that were her parents, to no avail.
Е ñ ù_m̀ a
“What a kind girl you are, Wellmy. Iora, on the other hand...” they would say. In the end, it had only given them more reasons to talk badly of Iora.
That was when Wellmy had come to realize that, to protect her sister, she would need to act opposite of her instincts: pretend to be on their parents’ side and make it seem as if she, too, was bullying Iora.
Two years from then, the sisters would be enrolling in the noble academy. Wellmy had a governess, so she would be fine, but Iora did not. She would likely lag academically compared to her peers, and her grades might not be up to par. But even if she struggled at school, people were bound to notice her beauty and her potential with magic the moment they saw the violet hue of her irises.
Wellmy’s first thought had been to order her sister to fumble all of her spells on purpose in class, but that might not have been enough. Despite being the daughter of a count, Iora didn’t have anyone to protect her. What if she caught the eye of someone malicious?
The moment that thought had crossed Wellmy’s mind, she’d decided that she had to hide her sister’s beauty from the rest of the world.
“Father, Iora’s hair color is a torture to look at.” It was so beautiful that anyone would feel compelled to chase it with their eyes.
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“Mother, Iora is glaring at me. Could it be that she has poor eyesight, perhaps?” She couldn’t let others see her sister’s bright, sparkling eyes.
When Wellmy saw how emaciated and unkempt her sister had become, she’d spoken to her parents one more time.
“Father, mother, I can’t bear to look at Iora anymore. She’s so dirty!”
In truth, all she wanted was to see her sister dressed in beautiful clothes. But by that point, such abuses had been her only way to protect Iora.
“Why don’t we make her live in the detached building?” she’d suggested.
Everything had gone according to her plan. She’d even added that she didn’t like their waiting maid and sent her to live with Iora. Wellmy had trusted that Orea would be able to provide some protection for her sister at least. Then, she’d asked her mother to forbid the other servants from going to the detached building.
W̌е̌b n о̂v еl̊ Е n̄ŭ m̆.а́
It had been the first time she had managed to protect her sister from their parents. Reflecting on her past achievements, Wellmy smiled at the lord of magic. “There seems to have been a misunderstanding, Lord Aides. My sister asked to learn how to perform the duties of a servant. We merely assisted her in that pursuit. She also moved to the detached building of her own volition. I presume that she didn’t want to see us anymore.”
The man snorted. “At least you have gotten one thing right. Iora likely wanted to stay far away from you. But how do you explain the fact that your parents had her live in that building with no access to firewood or blankets and refused to let her see the doctor even when she fell ill due to the cold?”
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“Th-That’s, um, because Iora hates the doctor,” Wellmy said, intentionally stammering.
“Does she, now? When she arrived at my estate, she was perfectly calm when I called the doctor to examine her. In fact, the two of them got along quite nicely. Iora is very well-read, so they had plenty to discuss.”
Wellmy did not doubt that they had. After all, her sister didn’t dislike the doctor—that was merely another lie.
Iora had fallen ill once. Orea came to inform their parents that their daughter had spiked a fever, but they dismissed her. Even when Gordley told them that she was in a bad state, they refused to budge.
Éň ũ.m а .і d
Back then, Wellmy racked her brain to find a way to save her sister.
Her parents frequently left the house to attend tea parties and banquets, usually going to the latter as a couple. The night following the day Iora spiked a fever, they were due to attend yet another event.
That was when Wellmy made her move.
She wrote a letter to the doctor and slipped a small gem her mother had given her into the envelope. Then, she instructed Gordley to tell Orea to surreptitiously deliver it to the doctor and ask him to come at night. Why them? Because they were on Iora’s side. Of course, she forbade them from telling a soul who had given them the order.
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She also had them smuggle unused blankets for Iora to use and gave them another small gem to buy plenty of firewood to heat the detached building. The demons never went to see Iora, so they would never notice that anything was amiss. And on the off chance that they did, Wellmy trusted that Gordley would come up with an explanation that sounded convincing enough.
When their parents left that night, they gave orders for the kitchen staff not to feed Iora.
Ẇе_b ň о̃v̆ е̇l̂ Е n̄.u̇ m̌ a
“If she’s just going to sleep, she doesn’t need to eat.”
Thus, Wellmy had to hurriedly come up with a plan to ensure Iora would have at least some sustenance.
She hid one of the pieces of bread she had been served at dinner and, after the servants had taken their own meals, headed to the kitchen and said, “I’m still hungry. Give me some soup.”
The cook warned her that there was essentially only broth left, but did as she demanded, handing her a tray with a bowl of soup on it.
Wellmy crumbled the bread that she had hidden and mixed it into the broth to make bread porridge. Then, she headed to the detached building and thrust the tray at Orea.
“Feed this to my good-for-nothing sister,” Wellmy ordered as the girl stared at her with wide, confused eyes. “This trash is perfect for her.”
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With that, she turned around and returned to the main mansion.
Later that night, Wellmy watched from the window as a carriage parked in front of the estate, and a man dressed like a doctor emerged from it. Some time later, Gordley sneakily escorted him back to the gate, and the man left.
Relieved, Wellmy headed to bed.
When they received news that Iora’s fever had broken, her parents didn’t even bother to hide their disappointment.
“What a shame,” they said.
One thing was very clear in Wellmy’s mind: These people wanted Iora to die. But she still didn’t know why they were treating her so harshly.
Ĕ ňu.mă. і d
From that point on, Wellmy continued to help her sister, but in a roundabout way so that no one would suspect her involvement. She was especially proud of herself for getting her parents to assign a private tutor to Iora.
“Mother, my governess keeps finding fault with my work,” she complained one day. “I can’t take it anymore! Assign her to Iora and find me a nicer one!”
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The governess Wellmy’s mother had hired for her was a brilliant woman. While strict, she was an excellent etiquette instructor and properly supervised Wellmy’s studies.
She’ll ensure that Iora is cultured enough to avoid any embarrassment at school, Wellmy hoped.
Out loud, she simply insinuated that her mother could use the governess to torment Iora further. Her plan was a success, and Iora finally had access to proper education. As for Wellmy’s new teacher, she was rather mediocre, but the girl couldn’t care less. She didn’t need an education.
With only a year left before she and Iora enrolled at the noble academy, Wellmy had made up her mind. She would help her sister escape this family, even if it meant dooming herself in the process.
W ėb̃ n̈оv е̂l̄ Ѐ num а
※※※
“And if it wasn’t bad enough, you and your parents used their money exclusively on yourselves, spending coins as if they grew on trees,” the lord of magic went on. “I have documents to prove it.”
“Oh, so now you intend to judge us for how we spend our own fortune?” Wellmy retorted. “Besides, we’re not the ones who squandered the money—Iora is! Buying all of these expensive magic items...”
At Aides’s words, a servant quickly made his way toward them, carrying two massive books. The lord of magic took the volumes and turned his gaze to Count Ernest, Wellmy’s father, a look of exasperation on his face.
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“The purchase of these magic items is indeed recorded here, alongside the purchases of dresses and jewelry,” he said. “I do not know who sent Count Ernest’s account books to me, but I have noticed that there are some entries which show a certain amount in one book, and a completely different amount in the other.”
Wellmy’s father realized what the lord of magic was getting at, and his face instantly drained of color. Some of the other guests had also understood and they stared at him in shock.
W̃ѐ b̀ n̊о̂v́ е́l E̊n u m̃а
Her father had a second, fraudulent account book.
Aides didn’t know who had sent it to him, but it had, of course, been none other than Wellmy herself, though she had kept her identity a secret.
Back when Iora was living at the Ernest estate, their father had foisted many of his duties onto her: recording expenses in his account book, writing letters to the administrators of their father’s dominion on his behalf, and summarizing the demands of their people to decide which were to be prioritized or dismissed. Any duty that hadn’t involved negotiating or rubbing elbows with other nobles had fallen to her. Maintaining a territory wasn’t glamorous, but it was necessary work for any feudal lord.
Gordley sometimes assisted Iora, but he had his own duties to attend to and couldn’t sneak off to the detached building too often.
It was from that point onward that Iora began suffering from lack of sleep.
Wellmy noticed that something was amiss when part of her father’s work was assigned to her, under the guise of helping her practice bookkeeping.
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But why would father have me do just some of the bookkeeping and Iora the rest? she wondered. He’ll have to check two different sets of records instead of one.
While recording the expenses and income allowed Count Ernest to visualize his financial situation more clearly, wouldn’t it have been less effort for him to have Iora write down all of the numbers and ensure they aligned afterward?
That was when it hit Wellmy: Is there a reason he can’t let Iora handle it all...?
To confirm her suspicions, she deliberately slipped one of the receipts she was supposed to record into her sister’s pile, thinking that Iora would go to Gordley if something was amiss. Just to be safe, she made sure to keep an eye on her sister.
To Wellmy’s surprise, she later saw Iora leave the detached building.
A chill ran down her spine. She hurriedly made her way to their father’s study and, as she babbled to him about nonsense, Iora entered the room.
Ẃеb n õ v̄е̃ ľ Е̃ ǹůmа̂_
“There are two tax declarations from the same region, but they show different figures,” she said.
I knew it. Count Ernest doctored the records of his income.
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Before he could say anything, Wellmy flashed Iora a condescending smile and said, “Dear sister, do you truly think that you have any right to criticize father’s work?”
Don’t say anything else. Please, she pleaded inwardly.
If she offended their father and he decided not to allow Iora to attend the noble academy, Iora would never be able to escape. Their parents would keep her in captivity for the rest of her life. She had made a big mistake by coming to confront their father directly.
As expected, while Wellmy’s intervention mitigated his fury to some extent, Count Ernest bellowed at Iora never to step foot inside the main mansion ever again, panic evident on his face.
E̊ n̆ ŭm̄а
From that point onward, he grew a little more prudent with his scheming. However, as he didn’t suspect Wellmy of having found him out, it had been a piece of cake for her to pull out their recent record books and make copies of them. Iora had been too busy handling her other duties, and Wellmy had access to the real, undoctored account books. As such, she had made it her mission to gather proof of their father’s wrongdoings to use when the time came.
“The one who filled this record book—the official, public one, so to say—is you, Wellmy Ernest,” the lord of magic said, his lips curling into a faint smile. Like a hunter about to close on his prey, he didn’t give Wellmy any time to retort before adding, “You knew it, didn’t you? That your father was committing tax evasion and submitting false returns.”
“I-I have no idea what you are talking about! My father would never do such a thing!” Wellmy exclaimed.
She was good at playing the fool. Besides, she had a general idea of what the lord of magic would say. After all, she was the one who had orchestrated everything—from her sister’s betrothal to the lord of magic gaining access to her father’s records.
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“He ‘would never do such a thing,’ you say? What about the magic items you claim Iora selfishly purchased with the family’s money, then? Every single one of them is of unknown origin, and they all have traces of curses having been placed on them. Moreover, I have several witnesses who can confirm that the buyer of these items was a short, stocky middle-aged nobleman with a small mustache.”
Aides paused, then resumed.
W̊eb̌ ǹ о̌v̂ё l Е̄ñ u m̊а
“Interestingly enough, someone has removed the curses from each of the items. But who could the cursed items have been meant for in the first place? Oh, come to think of it, you have recently named Wellmy your heir, haven’t you, Count Ernest?”
This time, the atmosphere in the banquet hall shifted drastically. Before, the partygoers had simply been curious about the unfolding drama, but now that they’d realized what Count Ernest had tried to do to his own daughter, their disapproval was palpable.
The lord of magic’s implications had been so limpid that even Wellmy’s fool of a father had understood them. “Wh-Wha...?! I-I didn’t do it! Don’t look at me like that!” he exclaimed, his face as pale as a sheet.
A short, stocky middle-aged nobleman with a small mustache. This was more or less an exact description of Count Ernest.
With that wording and reaction, you have basically confirmed everyone’s suspicions, father.
Fighting the urge to laugh, Wellmy schooled her expression into one of confusion. “I-It was Iora! She was the one trying to curse our father!”
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“Impossible,” the lord of magic refuted. “The magic items had all been placed in Iora’s room. Her waiting maid and the estate’s butler have confirmed it. These types of items are designed to spread the curse to their surroundings.”
Of course, this was true. Despite Wellmy’s claims, she was well aware that her father had tried to kill her sister with the cursed items. After all, she was the one who’d lifted the curses from all of them after their father had ordered Gordley to place them in Iora’s room.
People born with purple eyes could perform any type of magic. Those with golden eyes excelled at offensive spells, while silver irises indicated a talent for healing. Though inferior to her counterparts, Wellmy, with her crimson eyes, had the best foundation for what was known as support magic. At school, she’d hidden her abilities, but she had actually been practicing curse-lifting since the first time she’d seen her father purchase an item to kill her sister. At this point, she was more or less able to lift any curse known to mankind. When she’d started at the noble academy, she had been in poor health for a while due to all the curse-lifting she’d had to do before returning the items to her sister’s room, but the symptoms had all ceased since.
Needless to say, buying and selling cursed items was incredibly illegal, and the lord of magic didn’t hesitate to lay Count Ernest’s crimes bare for all to see. Wellmy wouldn’t have expected any less from him. She’d entrusted her sister to him exactly because she knew that was the type of person he was.
“What a foolish crime you have committed, Lord Ernest,” the lord of magic said.
That man, infamous for his chauvinistic and misanthropic tendencies, loathed curses. He was the one who’d ordered a complete reform of magic items, after rising to the top of the Department of Magical Affairs and studying the matter in great detail to crack down on them. His reputation as a cruel and callous man had been entirely made up by disgruntled nobles, furious to have lost the ability to use curses to kill those standing in their way.
Ёn̊ ŭ m̂ а
Before tonight, Wellmy had only met him once at a party, yet she had instantly been sure of it: the lord of magic wasn’t the man society had painted him to be.
※※※
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Young nobles made their society debut once they came of age at sixteen. In other words, it was halfway through their education at the academy, which they attended from fourteen to eighteen.
From the moment Wellmy stepped into the school, she focused all her efforts on keeping Arvine’s attention on her, and not on her sister. He was so disappointed by his fiancée’s appearance that it was easy to win him over.
That boy is no good for her.
At that time, Wellmy had already been aware of the fact that she had a unique ability, one that no one else possessed: She could intuitively see others’ true natures.
W е̃ b̆ ńоv̈ é l Е ṅu má
She didn’t know how it worked or why she had it, but it was thanks to that ability that she had been able to see through her parents’ façade that fateful night after she’d fallen into the river.
The difference in Arvine’s reaction when he’d seen Iora compared to when he’d watched Wellmy introduce herself, her head bowed, had been blatant. Wellmy hadn’t missed the glimmer of lust in his eyes when he’d looked at her.
He only cares about looks.
Wellmy had already reached this conclusion years ago, when he’d asked to marry Iora after seeing her only once.
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Arvine was the second son of a count, which meant he likely had far better marriage prospects than the daughter of a house in decline. Yet, he’d insisted on marrying Iora for her appearance. That was rather puzzling, considering that he himself wasn’t bad-looking and didn’t seem that stupid. In a way, he was an honest boy—but that was all there was to him. Perhaps he only saw women as tools to satisfy his desires and couldn’t have cared less about their other qualities.
Needless to say, Wellmy couldn’t entrust her sister’s well-being to someone like him.
Е n̂ um̈_a.іd
She also began wondering how to behave among others and how to interact with them.
I don’t need friends.
She didn’t want even a semblance of camaraderie with other noble children. Instead, she decided to use them. To further her goal of keeping Arvine as far away from Iora as possible, she had deliberately surrounded herself with sycophantic young lords and ladies who loved to gossip and speak behind others’ backs. All she’d had to do was pretend to hate her sister and flirt ostentatiously with Arvine, and her “friends” did the rest, spreading nasty rumors about both Iora and herself. Wellmy was incredibly grateful for their cooperation—not that they had any idea she had orchestrated it all.
A young noble girl whose fiancé had been stolen by her own sister. Despite being the same age, the two of them looked nothing alike. This was prime fodder for gossip.
Arvine being Iora’s fiancé came with some positives, though: It had the advantage of keeping other boys at bay. Besides, he was so weak to Wellmy’s charms that it allowed her to easily craft the narrative she wanted, despite how much it pained her to see her sister suffer both at home and at school.
A decent individual—not one by noble standards, but a proper person with common sense—would have understood Iora’s true worth after only minutes of conversation. Wellmy carefully selected nobles who fit that criteria and who wouldn’t allow themselves to be influenced by rumors.
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One of them was Karla, the daughter of a viscount.
Despite seeming meek at first glance, she was a very determined young woman. Though ambitious, she chose her friends carefully and kept a suitable distance from them. This left Wellmy with a good impression.
When they first met, Wellmy had already assembled an entourage of gossip-loving minions. Seeing as some of them hailed from powerful houses, Karla tried to get closer to her group. Wellmy wasted no time investigating her background. Karla’s family was rapidly gaining influence thanks to their thriving business and had connections with wealthy commoner merchants as well as certain margraves from the border provinces. Karla’s father might have only been a viscount, but it would have been unwise to underestimate him. He had enough support that it wouldn’t surprise Wellmy if he were granted the title of count in the near future, without needing to butter up other, more powerful nobles.
She’ll do perfectly, Wellmy thought.
Karla was a good judge of character, but always behaved with tact. Yet, she didn’t hesitate to criticize Wellmy harshly in front of her entire posse.
“Lord Arvine is betrothed to your sister. I don’t believe either of you has anything to gain from the way you’re behaving,” she said.
Е̌ ñ um̈ å
“I don’t believe either of you has anything to gain from the way you’re behaving.”
From an outsider’s perspective, it might have very much been the case. To others, it simply looked like one sister was surrounded by foolish yes-men, while the other was alone and friendless because of all the bad rumors circulating.
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Iora needs someone like her by her side.
“If you want to play Goody Two-shoes so badly, how about you go keep my sister company?” Wellmy retorted with a cold smile.
In reality, it was exactly what she’d been hoping for. But how did Karla interpret her words?
She stared at Wellmy, then glanced at her entourage, who’d been watching the exchange with cruel grins on their lips, and left without another word. She would never approach them again. Wellmy assumed that she must’ve decided she had nothing to gain from associating with them.
Е n̊ um а̌ .ї d
Several days later, Karla started spending time with Iora. Wellmy didn’t know what the two of them had talked about, but her plan had been a success.
Good.
Karla would likely shoo away any bad egg who tried to approach her sister, and anyone she deemed worthy of attention would become a good friend to Iora.
Wellmy couldn’t care less about her own relationships. She’d vanish from high society soon enough.
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That was right; even back then, she had started planning her own doom.
Wellmy only made one mistake during her time at the noble academy: She let a boy get too close to her sister—Leo, the son of a baron.
Êňüm̂ ä .i d̈
The moment she laid eyes on him, she knew he would be trouble. He wasn’t a bad person, and Wellmy knew he wouldn’t make Iora unhappy. But the way he looked at Wellmy, as if he could see through her, had felt dangerous.
At some point, the boy appeared at Iora’s side and began spending time with her and Karla. He’d likely noticed her sister’s good heart, which Wellmy was fine with. What wouldn’t have been acceptable was for him to encourage Iora to dress up, or to plant the idea in her mind to show her true beauty to the world.
If she did, Wellmy’s plan would be all for naught.
Wellmy needed to hide her sister’s true appearance until at least graduation day. If Arvine or another boy set his sights on Iora before she made her society debut, if she revealed her true beauty and caught someone’s eye... Leo wouldn’t be able to protect her, especially not from Arvine. Being Iora’s fiancé, he had every right to tell Leo to buzz off. So far, he’d only used his position to torment Iora, but if his loathing turned into desire, Wellmy wouldn’t put it past him to proceed with the marriage despite them still being students.
Right now, she was doing everything in her power to make her parents and her sister’s fiancé like her, but she would be no match for Iora if her sister were to regain her beauty. Wellmy understood this better than anyone else.
For years, anxiety gnawed at her. How relieved she was when their graduation day arrived, and no boy had made a move on her sister.
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At last, it was time for their debutante ball and for Wellmy’s plan to enter its next phase.
※※※
The time has finally come.
Having made Arvine promise to break his engagement to Iora, Wellmy began searching for a suitable partner for her sister.
Whenever a single noble lady attended a party, she would be escorted by her father or (if she had any) a brother. As Count Ernest usually accompanied Wellmy, she had no choice but to leave her sister in Arvine’s hands, at least while they made their entrance. He was her fiancé, after all. Needless to say, Wellmy was far from happy about it.
Usually, Arvine would leave Iora’s side the moment they entered the party hall to join Wellmy. However, Count Ernest and his wife always insisted that Iora stay with Wellmy to enhance her younger sister’s reputation, which meant Iora never left her side. Of course, she wasn’t allowed to attend parties alone.
W еbn о̌ v̌ ê l̄ Е̇n úm а̊
Hmm... I can’t find a good one, Wellmy thought as she surveyed the party hall.
Tonight was their debutante ball. As these were hosted by the royal family, the head of every noble family was expected to attend with their partner. One needed a very good reason to decline the invitation. If a couple had children of marriageable age, it was customary to bring them along.
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But to Wellmy’s dismay, none of the young noblemen at the party seemed to be a good suitor for her sister. There were a few brothers accompanying their sisters at the party, but all the promising young men already had fiancées of their own.
Wellmy needed to find a young man who boasted both influence and popularity, and who wasn’t betrothed. Most men would see little point in marrying Iora in her current state, but Wellmy trusted that, once they learned her sister’s true nature, everything would be fine. After all, Iora was smart and beautiful, with gorgeous purple eyes.
Of course, Wellmy had known all along that finding such a man would be akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Yet she couldn’t help but be disappointed by the lack of promising candidates at the party. She took a step forward but, in her distraction, bumped into someone who had just entered the venue.
“Ah!”
Е n̆ u̇m̄ а
“Apologies, my lady. Are you hurt?” a deep, calm voice asked.
Her attention drawn, Wellmy looked up at the man she had bumped into. Her gaze met periwinkle eyes, filled with intelligence and confidence, and she felt as if she might get sucked right in. His face was blank, but Wellmy could tell from the look in his eyes that he was genuinely worried about her well-being without any ulterior motive. When they collided, he had wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. The gesture was neither obscene nor overly forceful—he was merely supporting her. He was absurdly good-looking, with flowing silver hair. Wellmy would realize some time later that his hair only added to his mysterious charm.
For a split second, Wellmy let her surprise show on her face, but she quickly put her mask back on: Wellmy Ernest, the shameless, boy-crazy young lady.
Pretending to be spellbound by the man’s appearance, she spoke up in a honeyed tone, “I’m all right, my lord. I’m incredibly sorry for bumping into you.”
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The hint of worry immediately vanished from the man’s eyes, replaced by contempt. His awfully handsome face looked as cold as that of a demon.
“Good. I shall now take my leave.”
Ẁ ӗbn ӧ ṽ ӗ l Е̊ ǹ û m̀_à
His hand let go of Wellmy, and he left without so much as saying goodbye.
Wellmy stared at his retreating back. She could discern one’s true nature with a single glance and, right now, her instincts were screaming at her.
He will do perfectly.
Arvine had noticed Wellmy’s eyes wandering to the man, and he began sulking. She comforted him to the best of her ability. The moment he left her alone, she took the opportunity to casually ask her mother about the man she’d bumped into. He was so handsome that he stood out even among the throngs of partygoers.
“Oh, the lord of magic? He’s the head of the Ormirage margravial house,” Lady Ernest told her. “The crown has conferred upon him the title of Archmage for his many contributions and incredible magic abilities. That’s why everyone calls him the ‘lord of magic.’ Rumor has it that he is a cold and cruel man who hates noble society and despises women. He’s handsome, powerful, and rich, but alas... What a shame.”
Not only was he such an outstanding mage that he had been granted a title for it, but he had also risen to the top of the Department of Magical Affairs at a young age due to his groundbreaking research and investigations into magic-related crimes. As for his chauvinist tendencies... Wellmy believed them to only be an act. His earlier expression didn’t belong to a man who would abandon a woman in need without remorse.
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He avoided women. But why? Perhaps he was tired of being pursued only for his looks, and he allowed these rumors to circulate on purpose. At least, that was how it seemed to Wellmy.
Marquis Aides Ormirage. The cruel and heartless lord of magic.
At last, I’ve found the perfect man to entrust my sister to.
