Chapter 70 - 23. I Will Lead The Story (1)

“Me?”

He pretended to be innocent at first. But after a while, as Fanora persistently questioned him, he finally opened his mouth.

“How come the reaction is exactly as I thought.”

“?”

“There are so many boring people here. Wait, should I say stupid?”

He had the expression that was looking at something very pitiful. Then a shocking remark began to come out of his mouth.

“Yes, that’s what I did.”

“!”

“To grant the wish of my stupid friend, Naverius,” he replied as if he had made a false accusation at the instruction of Naverius.

What’s more surprising than that.

“W-why are you doing that? That much for Naverius’s wish?”

“You really don’t know anything, do you? The order is the opposite. Naverius didn’t ask me for help, but I encouraged him to break the engagement first.”

Fanora learned the story behind the incident. Fraud and false accusations were all Haures’s tricks. Instead of helping Naverius to get fortune as a friend, Haures made a deal within this year to help him annul the engagement with Fanora.

“It’s a pity.”

The color drained from Fanora’s face as she heard him.

Haures then smiled at her. He watched Fanora’s shock as if she were crossing a river.

“…”

However, after hearing all the explanations, Fanora still had questions. Why?

“Why are you being so cruel to me…?”

She swore that she didn’t commit any crime against him. Why did Haures make her suffer so much? Just because of the mine? Those were her questions.

To that, Haures answered right away. “That’s because.”

You’re just a piece of paper.

Fanora skipped the conversation afterward because she had already thought about it before.

Haures’s position was like this. He knew that in the original work, Fanora was a villainess who ran afoul of the main character and died early by committing suicide. So if she was a character who was going to die anyway, it wouldn’t affect the original work. That’s why he made everything up to obtain her fortune. Seeing her suffering like a mouse squeezed out of his will was funny for him. But he shouldn’t have said that he was a superior being than her.

“Hahaha.”

Haures revealed the inside story which encouraged Fanora to make extreme choices. Thanks to that, he became Fanora’s first chosen victim.

Anyway, Fanora’s trial to judge her guilt was held shortly after. No one believed her when she told them Haures had made everything up.

“The fact that you used your position to intimidate powerless merchants and deliberately deceive merchants.”

“…”

“And this scam has ruined a family because the merchant took his own life as a result of the financial damage that occurred.”

The judge’s cold voice rang through the air. Fanora pleaded with tears streaming down her face before his hammer fell.

“I-I’m a victim. It’s, it’s not what I did… really…”

“…”

“This is… really unfair…”

The judge didn’t take his eyes off the evidence documents the investigator had given, then announced without mercy. “I convict Fanora Celsius, the eldest daughter of Count Celsius.”

That’s how she became a criminal.

Creek, thud.

“…”

Fanora was imprisoned in solitary confinement. Now that her sentence had been confirmed, she was soon transferred to a prison where nobles were kept. This was the place she would be while waiting for the procedure.

“…” She didn’t have the energy to scream anymore. Even if she shouted out that she was falsely accused, was there any meaning when no one listened to her?

Footsteps sound. In the meantime, the sound of footsteps echoed in the cold hallway. Her fiancé had come to mock her for being a criminal.

“You made a deal with Haures. Which drives me as a criminal.”

When Fanora held onto the bars and spoke, Naverius tilted his head.

“You know you brought this on yourself, don’t you?”

“…”

“Didn’t you say you would die if you didn’t marry me?”

And it was for the first time.

“Then are you going to die now?”

Hearing his cruel words, Fanora thought. She hated him so much. If someone had a criminal record, moreover, when their reputation in society was low, it would be over for them. It wouldn’t be strange if she returned home and was beaten to death by Bael instead of Hanar.

Fanora chewed on her anger. I want him to disappear from this world.

Afterward, Fanora shed hot tears in her solitary confinement. Her fear and despair of that time were still vivid. Aah, from the beginning, I shouldn’t have become his fiancée…

Her whole body trembled with injustice. There was nothing in front of her eyes that looked foggy.  

 * * *

23. I Will Lead The Story

“…”

Huff. The black-haired lady lying on the bed took a deep breath.

“Gasp!”

She soon opened her eyes with a frightened face. Through the window, she could see the bluish morning sky. Still, the room was dark.

“It was a dream.”

Fanor rose from her seat. She had a nightmare. A nightmare where the horrible situation from the past, when she was imprisoned, appeared in her dream.

“Hu…” Fanora caught her breath and wiped her face. How much did she cry in her sleep? Her face was full of tears, and her emotions weren’t relieved.

“It’s a dream, it’s all a dream…”

She had a vivid nightmare and felt terrified by it. Maybe this regression will suddenly end too? What if I return to that hopeless time without warning?

Maybe this return will end all of a sudden? What if we go back to that desperate time without warning?

“Then are you going to die now?”

In her dream, Fanora remembered his face as he looked at her and grinned. She closed her eyes and tried to erase his face, but she kept seeing an afterimage of him.

“Uurgh, urgh…”

After a while, she felt pain. She made up her mind with an unstable gaze.

“Never, never again will I even think of him appearing in my dream.”

She woke up early in the morning with her eyes wide open.

“Now I have to make him afraid of me.”

* * *

It was the next day. Fanora attended a ball in a fancy dress for the first time in a while.

“Lady Fanora, it’s an honor to have you attend our ball.”

“I’m truly grateful. You must have been in trouble because I said I will come all of a sudden.”

Externally, it was an excuse that she had come to see a friend she made at the last banquet, but her purpose was different.

“Lady Celsius! Oh my gosh, I didn’t expect you to accept my invitation.”

“The original appointment was accidentally canceled, right? Then, of course, I should come to the ball of Lady Komu.”

“I’m so glad the future Duchess has come to this ball!”

When the duke’s fiancee appeared at a small ball hosted by the baron’s family, people’s attention began to gather. Soon, nobles gathered around Fanora like bees gathering on flower nectar, and the gentleman who was distant saw this and added words.

“I didn’t expect much, but there is Lady Celsius among the attendees.”

“Ah, the duke’s fiancée, right?”

“That’s right. The northerner must be in a difficult situation. That’s why he must be taking this opportunity to ask his fiancée’s help.”

Whether it was the male nobles drinking champagne near the window or the young ladies waiting to dance by the pillar, everyone was interested in Fanora. And among the crowds, there was also a familiar figure.

“Fanora?”

Naverius liked the ball the most among social activities. It was only natural that he was here because he hadn’t missed any balls in this social season.

“She’s a small ball like this.”

However, from Naverius’s point of view, he didn’t expect to see Fanora here. He looked puzzled at her, who was surrounded by people.

“She didn’t have any friends besides me…”

Far away, Fanora could be seen smiling at someone other than him. He couldn’t hear anything because she was far away, but he could sense that she was amused by something.

“…”

Come to think of it, why didn’t he think she could come to this small ball? What is a ball that suits her? Because she’s Fanora. ‘That’ Fanora.

Naverius realized for a moment. At some point, he found Fanora already in a position he couldn’t reach. As if it wasn’t enough for her to be the duke’s fiancee, she had become Countess Maquil’s goddaughter, who was an idol in society. Rumor has it that she had also become close to the marquis family, and her position in society had grown.

“Lady Celsius! Then, may I ask you to do the first dance of today’s ball?”

“Of course, Baron.”

Fanora then took the first dance of honor to mark the beginning of the ball, and Naverius couldn’t take his eyes off her perfect dance. I was supposed to be by her side.

Naverius leaned against the wall of the hall and sank into a reverie. The flashbacks were from the moment he was walking down the street and found Fanora’s hair color was unique to when he courtship her.  

“…”

Fanora seemed to have had little contact with others when they were young. She looked clumsy no matter what he recommended, but she was an obedient lady who wouldn’t say no. However, there was only one thing that Fanora refused.

“I love you until the end of my life! Marry me!”

“I-I’m sorry. I feel grateful for your heart, but… I’m not quite sure yet. About love…”

“It’s okay if you don’t love me now. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Let’s get engaged first and live with affection.”

“Give me a little more time…”

There are many cases in the world where people fall in love with each other and get married. Fanora rejected Naverius’s proposal of marriage because she was naive. How could she accept his confession without being able to repay his love?

It was frustrating at first.

“Okay, Fanora. But you will like me in the future, right? Don’t worry!”

“Naverius is really kind…”

Because he was the son of a small count and she was the daughter of a well-established count family. It seemed that Bael Celsius wouldn’t allow this marriage unless he told him his daughter had fallen in love with him. That’s why Naverius enthusiastically proposed her first to win Fanora’s heart.

“I heard that you hang around my daughter these days, right? Do you like her?”

“Pardon? That’s, I…”

But the courtship didn’t last long either. He was soon informed that their engagement was welcomed by her family. In addition, he learned that Fanora was not a precious lady of the count, but a child treated as a ghost by her family.

“…”

So at that time, Fanora’s feelings weren’t important. No matter how much she refused, the engagement would proceed when family discussions began. In the end, that rare-looking lady would become his own wife. With that thought, Naverius gradually relaxed his mind.

“Fanora, why are you touching something filthy like an insect?”

“Pardon? I’m sorry, but insects…”

“Ah, that’s it! My friends will be coming soon, but what if someone sees you like that? It’s really embarrassing.”

There was no way that Naverius would develop the same affection for the fish he had already caught, which is Fanora. Rather, Fanora was just a nuisance that only increased her shortcomings the longer he knew about her. He thought she knew how to be gentle, but to play with disgusting insects? It was not a day or two she enjoyed unusual things, and she didn’t have particularly outstanding features compared to standard beauties. Thinking about living with such a dull person is already frustrating enough.

Afterward, when she sent a letter saying she missed him when she was sick, she must have given up her heart to him after all to his persistent courtship. She was just a fish he caught anyway. So he just paid a little less attention to her recently…

I… Naverius stared at Fanora dancing in the distance. I didn’t want this result.