Chapter 12

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A little while later, there was the sound of swords. I deliberately did not look out the window. I feel like hives will grow if I watch such an obvious play.

“Sister! There are knights!”

“Yes.”

“We are safe now!”

“Yes…”

I replied dryly to Ophelia, who was genuinely relieved.

‘…Wait.’

The sudden thought that came to mind made my blood go cold.

‘What if Ophelia falls in love with Cassius Brudenell for saving us?’

Then, things would become uncontrollably worse because Cassius Brudenell smashed the House of Count Garneid the moment he saw the possibility that Ophelia might like him in the original work!

Kidnapping, incarceration, censorship, and deletion!

The turtle soup, too!

Although Ophelia in the original story only had a romantic crush on him, she did not really love him. Nevertheless, Cassius mistakenly thought that his feelings for her were reciprocated.

So, when Ophelia, who saw through everything, rejected him, he committed atrocities.

In short…

He is insane.

After the knife-wielding, which made the metal ring so much that it hurts my ears, someone opened the carriage door.

At a glance, he was a young and handsome knight.

Come to think of it, in the original story, even though Ophelia said that Cassius was handsome, it seemed as though there was a knight commander of the Duke of Brudenell, who struck her chest like a sword right away.

“I am David Marquell, the Commander of the Knights of the Duke of Brudenell.”

I shut my eyes tight before opening them slowly.

The sad foreboding was not wrong either. David Marquell was the knight of the Duke, who died at the words of Ophelia.

He looked at me carefully.

“Are you the daughter of Count Garneid?”

“…Yes.”

“All the horses are dead. There is a villa of the Duke of Brudenell nearby, so I can get you there. Please stay there for a while until we get new horses and supplies.”

Hearing his words, I bit my lip.

Of course, I had no choice.

The good news was that we were not that far from the Capital yet. Maybe staying for a day or so and going home right away would solve the problem.

“All right.”

At that, David politely extended his hand towards me.

“Let’s go. Fortunately, we were also transporting an empty carriage.”

Well, Cassius Brudenell did not seem to want to hide the fact that he was behind the robbers. An empty carriage that no one rides on—a luxurious carriage that carried nobles along with the knights.

Doesn’t it look strange to anyone?

In any case, it was better than riding on a horse with strong knights since I did not want to vomit.

It had been an hour later.

Finally, we arrived at the villa of the Duke of Brudenell.

Unlike Ophelia, who was focused on cherishing the fishbowl with turtles in her arms, I was on high alert.

“Young Lady, you can stay here.”

David spoke as he politely opened the door.

I entered the room one step later than Ophelia, who often just walked into any room.

“….!”

I was so startled that I could not breathe. It was because the room we were guided to was exactly the same room Ophelia was locked in in the original!

Crazy…

While I was blankly spitting out cursing words inside, an even more terrifying scene took place in front of my eyes.

David was staring intently at Ophelia with a blushing face. And, instead of just looking at her, he also laid cushions on her seat as well.

Even though he knew the identity of Ophelia, who was only the illegitimate child of the count.

‘He is falling in love… He already fell in love with her.’

I sighed heavily.

Now that I see, it seemed that the reason why Cassius got rid of him in the original wasn’t just because Ophelia praised him for being good-looking.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

I was not too surprised to find out who opened the door. Well, this is the villa of the Duke of Brudenell, who else would come?

Obviously, it would be Cassius Brudenell.

Even though I had already seen his face dozens of times, the handsome man gracefully walked in with admiration was more perfect than ever.

…I do not even have the strength to describe how handsome he is anymore, so let’s stop.

“Lord Cassius.”

As soon as he saw him, David knelt down on one of his knees. However, Cassius gazed at me without giving him a single glance.

“Young Lady.”

Goosebumps arose at the friendly tone that did not match the formal title.

“Would you like to talk outside for a moment?”

I have no choice again this time.

Ophelia followed me with her worried face.

“Sister, can I go as well?”

“There is no place for someone like you to go together.”

I fiercely cut off Ophelia. It would be better to keep Ophelia as far away from Cassius as much as possible. In fact, I was even lucky that he did not call both Ophelia and me.

And so, I followed Cassius, leaving Ophelia, who was looking at me with her sullen eyes, behind me.

As soon as he quietly closed the door, Cassius opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Evelyn.”

A sigh came out on its own.

“Yes, it is a pity that my family’s guards were so poor that they were swept away by the robbers you hired.”

At that, Cassius’ eyes widened.

“Did you know about it?”

“Do you think I am stupid?”

“Your sister is not an idiot. But, I never predicted this.”

Cassius really had a knack for mentioning Ophelia in an unexpected situation.

“…She is not my sister. And—”

I took a deep breath.

“Ophelia does not know the Lord. Though, I know you very well.”

“That’s why you recognized me.”

Unfortunately, he was genuinely delighted by my words.

“I will not try to deceive you in the future.”

“Are you going to proudly attack my family’s carriage from now on? That’s very gentlemanly of you. How cool.”

“No, that is not what I meant.”

Cassius continued softly.

“It means that even though I may deceive others, but not you.”

“….”

While I was dumbfounded by his sudden words, Cassius gently escorted me somewhere.

‘…There are a lot of things.’

It was a huge hall.

But, it was empty, except for a luxurious table and two chairs.

“Please sit down.”

He nodded as he pulled out the chair for me.

I sat down in a shiny chair that seemed to cost more than all the chairs in my mansion combined. Meanwhile, Cassius sat on the other side of the table and stared into my face with a curious gaze.

“Is there something wrong with my face?”

The answer came right back.

“There’s no way. Your face is perfect.”

“….”

Speechless, I sipped only the wine on the table whilst trying to ignore Cassius’ persistent gaze.

“Evelyn, do you wonder why I brought you here in such a way?”

…Probably because of Ophelia.

I barely swallowed the answer that had risen to my throat. It would not be a good idea to bring up Ophelia in front of him.

“You saved my life twice. That’s why I owe you my life. ”

I frowned.

“Two times?”

It was only once, if you look at it…

Isn’t that the case when Cassius made self-harm commotion and forced me to take care of him?

“Didn’t you give me a warning?”

“….”

At that, I had nothing to say.

The letter…!

Why the hell did I send that letter?

It would have been better for Cassius to die under the fence of our mansion and the Duke’s fire poured into our house. At least, Ophelia would be safe.

Nonetheless, I was cowardly enough to not let my life that is important to me end that way.

“Anyway, the reason I brought you here is…”

He paused for a moment. “…To grant you a wish.”

“Yes…?”

I doubted my ears.

What the hell is this madman talking about now?

“If you want to take my life, I can do it. You can kill me if you want, Evelyn.”

“…Lord, you are absolutely crazy.”

Golden eyes shone among the candles. Like the eyes of a beast staring at its prey while hidden in the bushes.

“Evelyn Garneid, the heir of Garneid was pitifully rumored to be insane. So, shouldn’t I be crazy, too?”

Silence enveloped the room.

I tried to keep my composure. Although I don’t know what the hell he was up to, this was a good opportunity.

‘He said he’d grant me a wish…’

The probability of him actually granting my wish and the probability of him ignoring it seemed to be half-and-half. Even if he ignored me, it does not seem to make things worse in this situation, on the other hand, it would make things much better if he would listen and possibly grant a wish.

In the end, I nodded.

“All right. Are you really granting any wishes?”

Cassius immediately nodded his head.

“Of course.”

Seeing that, I opened my mouth without hesitation. There was only one thing I wanted.

Safety from Cassius.

“Please do not come close to my family without my permission.”

“If it is your family…?”

“I am talking about my parents, and even if it is just that illegitimate child who was born from a lowly woman, she is still my family—our family’s blood still flows.”

All of a sudden, his mouth drew a soft arc.

“There is nothing difficult about it. I will listen.”

“Really?”

I could not believe what he was saying, so I asked again.

“So, are you saying you can send us back right now?”

“You mean to your county?”

“Yes.”

I quickly nodded.

I had no intention of telling him that I was going to Caruso. Now that he promised not to even go near Ophelia, I was going to see if he would break that promise.

“All right. I will send Miss Ophelia home right now.”

My body stiffened at the meaning of those simple and clear words. Cassius only mentioned Ophelia—

—As if I would stay here forever…

“Wait a minute, how about me?”

He laughed softly.

“You said it was your family, though you never included yourself.”

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