The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.
“Noble, honorable Head of the Blue Moon Family, I would have been ever so thankful if you were able to spare this person of the lowest class a small chance.”
Doah spoke sarcastically.
“But forget kindness or grace. I can understand why you don’t like me since I’ve been stealing the Princess’ belongings.”
“……”
“Even so, can’t you spare me some kindness just this once?”
“You are safe here.”
Ha. Safe?
“The slums and the Credel household are no different to me.”
No, rather, it was worse here.
In the slums called the Garbage Dump, if the adults would harm her there, then she could have easily and immediately run away.
Bunny was very quick on her feet.
And while those adults were busy with their own work and lives, they didn’t chase the child to death.
They gave up right away.
But here, in this place, there was nowhere to go.
To Bunny, those three maids were like three huge mountains that she couldn’t overcome.
Those maids were the evil ones who stripped a child of her right to live while surrounding her with such harshness.
If Bunny would say that she trembled with fear every night she was here, would Pietro care, even a little?
Unlikely.
Still, Doah said it.
“I don’t want to starve anymore. I don’t want to be criticized for no reason. I don’t want to be pushed down another set of stairs again.”
I don’t want to live like this anymore.
Doah’s chest heaved.
She didn’t even cry because it wasn’t her own experience, but because she had Bunny’s full memories, she couldn’t help but empathize.
So, she bowed her head to keep her emotions in check. Then, at that moment.
Suddenly, a large hand reached towards her and lifted her chin.
“……”
“……”
When the hell did he come here.
Not even a moment ago he was just sitting behind his desk, and that was some distance away.
How could he have come here in a split second?
The atmosphere around him was as still as ever, and his eyes had the same look in them as if he was an exhausted man without any will to live.
For a moment, Doah felt as though her heart had dropped to the ground.
To her, it felt like he wasn’t even alive.
At that moment, Pietro’s reached up to sweep a thumb under one of Doah’s dry eyes.
She crumpled her eyes automatically.
His rough finger was full of calluses, and as it brushed across her tender skin, it stung her.
‘What the hell.’
He thought that she was crying.
He looked down at the finger that had not one drop of moisture on it, and just as quickly as it came, his hand was retracted from her.
“Ophelia had been suffering from an endemic disease, so she had been quarantined and treated until now—that is what’s known.”
“……”
“Now that she has recovered, she has returned to the Central Palace, where she should be.”
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( t/n: there were no pronouns in the original text, so this line can also be translated as, “Now that you have recovered, you’ve returned to the Central Palace, where you should be.” )
After he had said all this, Doah couldn’t retort back any longer.
“Go back. Even if you were healed with divine power, it’ll be futile if you don’t rest.”
How did he know that she had been treated with divine power.
She came here as soon as she woke up.
‘Ah, I get it.’
In the first place, it seemed like Pietro had ordered Angelus to heal her.
It’s known now that Ophelia ‘recovered from an endemic disease’. Other people would be suspicious of this story if she continued to be bedridden with a fever.
“……”
Doah looked up at the grand duke, expressionless.
She had just let out her unbearably scorching anger, but this gradually cooled down until all she was cold.
She might have expected a little.
Even if he had refused her request like this, then at the very least he could have said some warm, comforting words.
I’m sorry that I didn’t notice what the maids were doing to you.
I assure you that it’s never going to happen again.
I’ll take care of you from now on so that you can live more comfortably in the future.
He could have said these things. Even if it had nothing to do with Doah whether he said something like this or not…
Doah wanted Bunny’s heart to heal a little, after such a wound had been left unattended, festering.
She wanted him to comfort Bunny.
However…
‘No matter what I do, he’s not going to let me leave.’
She’s had enough.
After confirming the iron wall that the grand duke had built between them, Doah completely gave up on what little expectation she had for him.
Rather, she was glad that he told the cold, hard truth.
Bunny was merely a tool to him, and he spelled it out very clearly that she was here only because of the curse.
Thanks to this, Doah was now sure that the Credel family was no different than the Park family.
Well, if that’s how much he wanted her to act as his fake daughter,
Then, she would do it.
‘To live as if I’m dead, that’s what he said.’
So, she was going to live exactly like that.
Doah was more confident than anyone else when it came to holding her breath and trying to please people who were superior to her.
To live and die as a tool while acting as a substitute for someone else—she had already done this once.
She’d be happy to be as obedient as a marionette being controlled by strings.
Until they stop being wary of her, until they stop doubting her, until they trust her deeply.
As there would come a time that they would be distracted and would turn their eyes away, they would not know that this mere tool had been strangling them all this time.
Doah’s eyes curved beautifully.
“I understand Your Grace’s will perfectly.”
Her smile was like a flower blooming underneath the spring sun, yet this hid her eyes which gradually became icier by the second.
“Your choice at this very moment. I hope you don’t regret it someday.”
When that time comes,
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Doah would disappear without a trace.
Like a person who had never existed in this world from the very beginning.
And, of course, she would be returning the curse back to its rightful place.