Chapter 15
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Violet's First Words - Episode 15
"Marigold, pay them no mind. There is nothing of yours to lose. Everything will work out after the Winter Queen Ball."
Geoffrey stammered as he tried to soothe Marigold.
"Really? She wouldn't go mad and claim inheritance rights, would she?"
"Of course not. Absolutely not!"
Paula spoke up. Only then did Marigold seem to relax.
"But the truth remains unchanged, no matter what."
I regarded them with chilling contempt.
Geoffrey and Paula looked at me in surprise, then exchanged knowing glances.
And then...
"Ahahaha!"
They suddenly burst into laughter.
"...Why are you laughing?"
I was inwardly flustered, but I forced myself to show no sign of it as I looked at them.
"What nonsense are you spouting! Look at those glaring eyes. So what? Does knowing everything change your station in life?"
Paula spoke, wiping tears from her eyes.
"Paula, I suspect this girl Violet heard the story from Cyril. That's why I told him not to meet with her—I was worried he'd fill her head with foolish notions."
Geoffrey, who had been laughing with apparent amusement, finally composed himself.
"Foolish notions? So you're admitting the truth?"
"Yes, it's all true. So what do you intend to do about it?"
"...What do you mean right now?"
I was left speechless, utterly bewildered.
"It's true that I married your mother. But that was because that woman deceived me. She was always putting on airs."
"You've been lying to me all this time, saying Mother was the deceiver and the aggressor—that she deliberately took money using me. I discovered that lie, and you find nothing wrong with that?"
I could not hold back and spoke out.
"It was all for your own good. We were afraid that pathetic Violet would harbor resentment and entertain delusions above her station."
Paula spoke as if it were obvious.
How were these people's minds structured? Were they even human?
I felt my breath catch in my throat.
"By your logic, it's not I who harbors delusions above her station—it's Marigold. And it's Marigold who is of lowborn origin."
"Ha, look at Marigold now. Who would call this noble child lowborn? But since you mention it, doesn't the abandoned one bear some fault as well? If your biological mother had been worthy, she wouldn't have been abandoned, would she?"
"..."
"Your biological mother's inadequacy twisted your fate. That's why your nature is twisted as well."
Paula spoke with utter conviction.
I felt dizzy with unbearable rage.
"You all...."
"And what good would it do to cry about it in the streets? No one would believe you anyway. You have no talent, and you'd barely graduate from the Academy without my help. In any case, I've secured you a fiancé of considerable status, so be grateful for that much and make things work with Bludin."
Geoffrey spoke.
"You're a fraud, a con artist, and a hypocrite. The lowest form of human being!"
Violet spoke.
"Is that how you speak to your father?! How insolent."
Paula said sharply. The refined tone she usually affected had vanished, revealing her true nature.
"You're just like your arrogant biological mother!"
"My mother isn't arrogant—it's simply a matter of incompatibility. Father is a fallen nobleman, and my mother comes from a Distinguished Noble Family, as you've said. Actually, it's not even about status. The difference in character is simply too vast. How could a person of noble heart ever live with someone as repulsive as Father?"
"How dare you!"
Paula shrieked.
"You insolent child!"
Fury blazed across Geoffrey's face.
He strode toward Violet.
"Don't lay a hand on me."
"How dare you speak to me this way?"
Geoffrey raised his hand toward Violet.
But I was no longer the Violet of before. I would not submit meekly. I seized Geoffrey's wrist.
"Release me at once, Violet?!"
I twisted his arm without hesitation.
Geoffrey shrieked like a pig. Once freed, he lunged at me again, attempting to shove me down.
I sidestepped him with ease.
"Ugh!"
Geoffrey crashed to the floor and looked up at me from below.
A transparent aura began to coalesce in my hand.
I wanted to erase them. Not just Father, but the two people who had deceived me all this time as well.
A single flick of my finger would grant that wish.
Then, suddenly, I came to my senses, and I was horrified at myself.
'I was about to genuinely attack Father. Without even thinking.'
I recalled Colbera, who had lost consciousness merely from brushing against my aura. If I had truly aimed at Father, he could have died.
It was as though I were glimpsing a future version of myself—a woman who had become history's greatest villainess.
I had nearly ruined my life once more because of such a worthless man.
"Are you even human? How could you do such a thing!"
Paula screamed.
None of my family members had noticed the aura gathered at my fingertips.
"Violet, have you truly lost your mind? This isn't like you at all. Why are you acting this way?"
Marigold stared with wide eyes as she spoke.
By the time I regained my composure, I had already fled the house.
* * *
Violet wandered aimlessly through the Streets.
'I couldn't even complete the task Uncle Cyril gave me for once....'
I had poured out my true feelings to them.
If I had done as Cyril instructed, then I had succeeded. It was better than saying nothing.
Yet I didn't feel the cathartic relief I had anticipated.
Condensing hatred and resentment into a single bitter remark proved devastatingly difficult.
'Should I go to Uncle Cyril now and ask him to accept this, since I've done what he asked regardless of the outcome?'
But that would be no different from rushing through the work and claiming it complete. Violet refused to do that.
Besides, I had a nagging sense that this wasn't truly the end.
At first, I only thought of leaving home. But...leaving home wouldn't make me forget everything.
'Will I have to live with this sorrow in my heart forever?'
Lost in such thoughts, I lost all sense of time's passage.
When I came to my senses, I was standing beneath the eaves of an unfamiliar Alley.
Watching the rain drip steadily down, I grew melancholy.
In that moment, I desperately wished for someone who could truly help me.
Someone like the friends of Rosenis, the young lady I admired in novels—or like my Biological Mother, whom I never knew—someone to embrace me.
'In novels, protagonists always have someone appear at just the right moment. Reality is different, it seems.'
Feeling my trembling body, I laughed softly at my own foolishness.
"I understand you're looking forward to our promise."
That was the moment.
I lifted my head.
A tall man stood above me, holding an umbrella.
As the umbrella slowly rose, it revealed softly smiling handsome lips, eyes dark as garnets, and silver hair gleaming blue in the overcast weather.
"I never expected you to come all this way to greet me so warmly. If I'd known, I would have run here with more enthusiasm. Don't you agree, Violet Everdin?"
Ash spoke in jest.
Violet stared at Ash with a pale, dazed expression.
'Am I seeing a hallucination right now?'
Seeing that beautiful face, I couldn't tell if I was dreaming of an angel or if this was real.
Soon, my lips, frozen by the cold, began to move.
"We were supposed to meet at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."
"I too couldn't suppress my eager heart, so I came early. And fortunately, our two hearts have met. Isn't that so?"
"Ash, I was actually going to decline our promise today—"
Whoosh—my hand was pulled. When I came to my senses, I was already beneath the umbrella with Ash.
The rain that had drummed against the umbrella began to fade gradually, as if it were a lie.
"Let's go. It's cold."
As if drawn into an unexpected dance, my steps began to follow Ash's, walking slowly through the rain.
The trembling of my body too began to subside gradually.
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