When My Enemies Began to Regret

Neatly arranged clothes and a textbook smile. Nevertheless, he is a man with an attractive appearance that anyone can admire. His almond-shaped eyes silently gaze at Fanora. It was a new feeling to see him in a place like this.

“I’ve forgotten that ordinary noble ladies never see corpses.”

“…”

“It’s okay for me because it’s not a day or two to skin an animal in fox hunting or something like that.”

Aloken opened the carriage door and reached out to Fanora. She held out her hand with a grim face. However, she didn’t expect the subsequent actions of her fiancé.

“Ugh?!”

“Now, go all the way inside.”

As she gently raised her hand, Aloken suddenly grabbed it with force. As his free hand wrapped around Fanora’s waist, he lifted her up and pushed her into the carriage.

Is he crazy? For a moment, Fanora almost resisted using Io’s power. Still, she managed to hold back and was pushed back by Aloken’s push. In the blink of an eye, she was alone with him in this narrow carriage.

“Hey! Let’s go.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He even brazenly ordered the coachman.

As Fanora watched the whole situation with a dumbfounded face, Aloken laughed it off. “I told you I have an appointment tonight and must go home quickly.”

Fanora, who followed Aloken’s thin eye smile with her gaze, then remembered. Come to think of it, he seemed to have said that when he urged the inspector to send him home quickly.

“I’m thinking of having a meal at the Celsius Mansion today.”

But she didn’t know his appointment would be this dinner. Fanora thought for a moment. Did the previous Duke teach the word promise to him? However, since her current situation was ‘a lady who encountered the death of a noble she had known since she was young,’ she couldn’t say anything harsh. That’s why she nodded in the most docile manner.

“…”

Normally, she would have fired back coldly. But Fanora quietly accepted it, and Aloken soon shut his mouth. He didn’t say anything. Their silence lasted until the carriage arrived at the Celsius Mansion.

…Is he trying to guess how I feel and be considerate of me?

Rattle, rattle. As the wheels of the carriage were full of rattling sounds, she naturally had a lot of thoughts. That can’t be. Seeing that he snoops around watching people die, he doesn’t even have basic empathy.

After thinking about a few things, she saw the Celsius Mansion’s splendid fence outside the window. The butler was startled when Aloken opened the carriage door and got out first.

“Welcome, Lady Fano… Duke?!”

“What are you so surprised about? You already knew me before.”

While Aloken naturally calmed down the butler, Fanora also stepped on the ground. What followed was a brief story and explanation. As Fanora heard that her fiancé, Aloken, wanted to have dinner together, the butler rushed somewhere. It seemed he rushed to the kitchen.

“I don’t know if my family’s food will suit your taste.”

“It’s alright. The dinner isn’t the main thing.”

“What?”

What did he mean? Aloken made a nuanced remark that having dinner wasn’t the main thing.

“Is that so?”

“I couldn’t meet your father at the ball because I was busy with other things. Therefore, I’m considering discussing the dowry while here.”

Dowry? When Fanora asked if it was really something to be decided when they only got engaged, Aloken explained without changing his facial expression.

“I’m just trying to match the flow. If we drag it out for a long time, all sorts of words will emerge.”

“…”

“The social season is over… I have to return to the estate, but before that, I need to get rid of the troublesome things.”

They were in the Celsius Mansion. There were many ears around, so Aloken leaned down and spoke in a small voice in her ear.

“Alright.”

His whispering behavior often bothered Fanora. But she took the lead in silence. Then, following her guidance, Aloken entered the mansion.

“This is the parlor.

“It is as small as a rabbit cage. Count Celsius’s financial situation is a bit…”

“…”

“Should I not receive a dowry?”

She didn’t know what kind of guest in the world would commit such rudeness as soon as they came in. Fanora didn’t answer much again this time and naturally brewed the tea. All of her actions in treating her guest were noble gestures that she had learned from Iva Maquil.

“…”

As Fanora didn’t keep pace with his joke, Aloken finally closed his mouth. Soon the parlor became quiet, and now all they had to do was wait for the dinner to be ready.

“…”

There was no conversation, so the time seemed to pass slowly.

Fanora then rose from her seat within minutes. “I will ask the chef when it will be ready and come back.” With a light nod from Aloken, she left the parlor.

It’s harder to act seeing a corpse for the first time than killing someone. She thought as she walked away from the parlor. She should have turned it down to let Aloken come with her, but she had been swept away, and this happened.

What if he notices something? For a moment, she was drunk with the joy of leaving the royal castle safely, but it wasn’t the time yet for her to feel relieved.

 It was then. Someone blocked Fanora’s way to the kitchen.

“!”

Panora managed to stop in place, and in front of her, she saw a man looking down at her. Soft, wheat-colored hair resembling her parents. Beneath the neatly cut bangs, as if measured with a ruler, you could see a furrowed forehead and distinctive green eyes. It was her half-brother, Purson.

“…Now you can’t even greet properly?”

Fanora acted as usual. She lowered her eyes and bowed her head with a look of fear. “H-Hi…”

What kind of position does Purson Celsius have in this mansion? Since he is the only heir to Count Celsius, everyone in the mansion treats him with great respect. Of course, Fanora was included in it. She couldn’t even be jealous of others in the past, so she didn’t even think of hating her half-brother. She just bowed down to him faithfully.

“Hi? Do I look like I need a hi right now?”

“!”

But the results were always the same. Fanora bowed in front of him as best she could, but Purson always got angry as if that didn’t please him. The reasons for his anger were generally similar.

“How many times do I have to tell you that even if you breathe, our family’s blood will be insulted?”

“…”

“Shouldn’t you behave well? By the way, did you really intend to lower the prestige of our family?”

“…”

“Do you know what I heard today because of you?”

However… the preceding two sentences were familiar, but Purson’s last words were unfamiliar. When Fanora raised her head and remained silent, Purson’s blood vessel around his neck popped out as if he would stab her at any moment.

“What are you blinking with a face that you don’t know anything! I’m talking about Naverius. Your ex-fiancé who died today!”

“…”

“I heard you kept in touch even after you broke up with that bastard? They said you exchanged letters and did everything!”

Exchanged letters with Naverius? That was true. If things went wrong today, she had prepared evidence that had been manipulated by copying his handwriting to claim that he had committed suicide as the best thing. But her brother wasn’t angry because of this reason.

“W-why? Unless the breakup was bad, even if anyone’s engagement, they will continue to exchange—”

“What? ‘Why’? Are you talking back to me now?”

Purson soon began to get angry enough to make his face flush.

“I heard that Naverius got drunk at the ball and confessed that he still likes you.”

“…!”

“That’s why today a friend of Naverius told me if he jumped because you didn’t accept his heart… I’m so embarrassed that I can’t even socialize because of you crazy bitch!”

Tap. He poked Fanora’s shoulder with his finger. She wouldn’t even make a sound at that high-handed attitude, but the Fanora in front of him now wasn’t the real 17-year-old Fanora.

“Where is my fault in your story?”

Purson laughed like it was ridiculous as Fanora backed away from him, avoiding his poke.

“Doesn’t Naverius have some regrets because you gave him space by your side? Just be honest with me. You had an affair with him over the duke, right?”

“What?!”

“If you had behaved well, I wouldn’t have heard such filthy sounds in the first place! You’re ruining my family, which I will inherit!”

The two raised their voices. Fanora didn’t want to answer anything, but she couldn’t help but protest that what he said was so nonsense.

“I’ve only done all the courtesy to Naverius so far.”

“Huh!”

As the conversation progressed, Fanora became angry too. However, it was a different kind of anger from the irritation Purson was feeling.

Purson, is this crazy thing want to die? She was just on her way back from getting revenge on the evilest person in her life, so there was no way she couldn’t twist her little brother’s neck.

What was even more absurd was that if she had been cold to Naverius and cut off their relationship, Purson’s attitude would be the same. He would say that the reputation of the Celsius family became strange because of her engagement and said that she was crazy to reject Naverius. He would also add to apologize right away and be kind.

This bastard who got angry but threw things at me! It was certain since Fanora had already heard similar things when talking about annulling her engagement with Naverius in her previous life.

“Ha… it’s really beyond redemption… Do you have any excuses for your current situation?”

“…”

“Naverius is dead. You killed him. But how can a person… be so shameless? You should at least know how to be sorry.”

How much did Fanora’s stomach boil inside? Her heart felt stuffy as she was criticized this way and that way.

“…Why did I kill him?”

“So, you’re really—”

“Then, when you get engaged, you don’t want to mix a word with other nobles too? So that no one will die because of your kindness?”

“How could you talk to me like that?”

Without a moment of surprise, Fanora spoke out the words she had stored for Purson. After all, she had already changed her past and status. In the future, she would accumulate wealth and have the duke behind her, so what could her younger brother do?

That’s why she threw away the humiliating attitude toward her half-brother she had maintained so far. As long as her revenge wasn’t far away, she wouldn’t miss him just because she didn’t pretend to be a gentle sister now.

“Purson, you behave yourself.”

However, Purson seems to have been shocked by his sister’s rebellion. He ended up spitting out words that he shouldn’t have put in his mouth as he was angry. “Right. Where does the bloodline go? Cheating and shamelessly insisting that there is nothing wrong with you. You’re just like your mother.”

At that moment, Fanora’s mind went white. She wanted to grab his neck and throw him out the window.

In every case, it’s always blood and blood. How could he insult her like this? Fanora had lived her entire life conforming to him. She had always been kind and friendly and yielded to him like an idiot. This lowly thing is really mean…!

She must pay this insult back. Fanora didn’t have any other affection for her biological mother. Still, the sarcastic remarks that have come out now were definitely very harsh and bad, so it was right for her to get angry. She definitely thought so, but when she came to her senses, she realized her mouth was firmly shut.

“…!”

It was so unfair. Fanora felt it was unfair that she couldn’t speak out. She looked like she was about to cry as her throat was choking up.