A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 26.1
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head.
He had been spouting nonsense about me not being his daughter, calling me an intruder. And watching him banter back and forth with Langdon had actually felt rather pleasant.
For a moment, I’d almost deluded myself into thinking maybe my relationship with the Duke wasn’t so bad.
‘…I let my guard down.’
My mood sank instantly.
I already knew that he was the kind of man who would neglect his own daughter just because she hadn’t awakened and instead adopt another child.
So why had I…?
Whether it’s one child, two, or three, being abandoned hurts just the same.
— If you’d awakened early, I wouldn’t have needed to put Jihan on the family register.
— Studying abroad? Ha, what’s a non-Awakener brat going to accomplish studying abroad.
Over the Duke’s voice, my own birth father’s voice overlapped in my mind.
It brought back all the discomfort I’d felt when I first read this novel.
‘Why is it, that even when things are similar, it’s always the worst things that are similar?’
A bitter taste rose in my throat.
I was right to have never told anyone about my Awakening.
If the Duke had known, he would never have shown his true feelings so openly.
“That’s why I’ve always told you to stay away from the Purifier…”
“……”
“Enough. There’s no point telling someone with memory loss all this. You wouldn’t listen anyway.”
Maybe it was because I was staring off into space to keep my emotions in check, but the Duke shook his head, as if I wasn’t even paying attention, and immediately issued a warning.
“Your brother too. He’s at a sensitive age.”
“……”
“Until the Purifier reappears, just keep your head down and stay quiet. Do you understand?”
No. Why should I. If that’s how you feel, why did you even bother having me?
What am I supposed to do?
Shut up.
Please, just give it a rest!
But I couldn’t let a single one of those words escape my lips.
No matter how hellish this house was, I wasn’t in a position to storm out right now.
If I ended up on bad terms not only with my half-siblings, but with my own father too, that would just be…
“…Yes. I’ll do that.”
I felt like dying.
So once again, I answered meekly.
It was filthy and humiliating, but there was nothing I could do, not if I wanted to keep living in this house for now.
“…The healer said you’re really fine? You didn’t hit your head when you fainted yesterday, or anything…?”
Maybe my overly docile reaction was too unlike Edith. The Duke asked again, looking troubled.
I didn’t reply. Instead, I abruptly stood up.
“If that’s all, may I be excused? I feel like I’m wasting too much of your time, when you must be busy.”
He stared at me in surprise as I suddenly got to my feet.
“…You’re leaving already, before the tea’s even served?”
“It’s fine. I only just had lunch, after all. Have a good day, Father.”
I curtly declined his courtesy and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The Duke called after me.
As I turned, a large hand suddenly reached out toward me.
“A Ducal Lady shouldn’t be so careless—”
“……!”
I couldn’t quite make out what he said.
I’d already squeezed my eyes shut and hunched my shoulders in anticipation.
He wouldn’t really hit me just for trying to leave, I knew that.
But sometimes, the body reacts before the mind, whether you want it to or not.
An eternity seemed to pass in an instant.
I braced myself for the shock of being struck, but no matter how long I waited, there was no pain.
“…Edith?”
Instead, a voice tinged with confusion reached my ears.
“…Ah.”
Only then did I open my eyes.
The hand I’d expected to smack my cheek had stopped right in front of my face.
Behind it, I saw the Duke looking utterly taken aback.
“There was an eyelash on your cheek, so I was just going to brush it off…”
“…Oh.”
I let out a dazed sigh and hesitantly touched my cheek with my hand.
I couldn’t tell if I’d actually brushed away the eyelash.
I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
“…I’ll be going now.”
Without even a word of thanks, I hurried out of the office.
And right at the door, I ran into Langdon, pushing a tea tray.
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