After this scandal, the tutor resigned her position. Duchess Isolde was taken home by her father, the Duke, and soon after, news of her “death from a sudden illness” spread. Just like me in my past life, she died to preserve her family’s honor.
I had known Isolde’s plan, so I had prepared, ensuring she couldn’t succeed. I had also secretly added a powerful laxative to her midday meal, determined to see her utterly humiliated. The suffering I endured in my past life… if she didn’t suffer the same, and more, how could I ever quell the hatred in my heart?
The irony was that while Isolde threw herself into the fray for Seraphina, Seraphina herself hid in a corner during her friend’s ordeal. She even pinched her nose along with everyone else, a look of disgust on her face.
That evening, my father came personally to collect Seraphina.
She threw herself into his arms, trembling and gasping for breath. “Father, Father, I was so scared.”
He was overcome with pity, stroking her shoulder. “What happened? Did someone bully you?” As he spoke, a
cold light entered his eyes, and he looked at me. “Did that wretched girl bully you?”
It was a question, but it was spoken with the certainty of a statement.
This was my father.
Seraphina sobbed but was quick to defend me. “It has nothing to do with my sister. It’s my own fault for being so timid.”
But her inner voice said, “Isolde just provoked my sister, and she was dealt with so cruelly. I’m so afraid… I’m so afraid she’ll do the same to me.”
News of what happened to Isolde had already spread throughout the court, but my father hadn’t known his own daughter was responsible. To act with such viciousness… she is a true degenerate.
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13.24
13:24
Chapter 2
My father had his guards escort Seraphina to the carriage and then strode toward me. He dragged me from my own carriage. I was no match for him; he pulled me out like a rag doll.
Before I could even find my balance, a sharp slap struck my face.
My cheek swelled instantly, and the corner of my mouth split open.
As he hit me, he roared, “A vile creature like you, with such a poisonous heart! I should have taught you a lesson long ago!”
I didn’t understand. “How is my heart poisonous?” I asked.
His gaze grew even colder. “You framed the Duchess with lewd illustrations and threatened your sister! You dare deny your wickedness?”
“Ha!” I laughed out loud. “The Duchess bought that book of illustrations herself days ago, intending to frame me with it. I merely exposed her plot. How is that me framing her?”
My father’s confidence wavered for a moment, but he pressed on, twisting the facts. “You threatened your
sister! Is that not true?”
I glanced at Seraphina, who was hiding nearby, a wry smile on my face. “The palace is filled with servants and attendants. Someone must have seen whether or not I threatened my sister. Why don’t we call them all here and get to the bottom of this, face to face?”
His argument crumbled. His face turned a sickly pale. “Is this how you speak to your own father?”
“Which father,” I shot back, “reunites with his daughter after more than a decade only to dote on an adopted child? Which father, without knowing right from wrong, slaps his own daughter just because his adopted daughter says she’s ‘scared‘? Father, you weren’t even with Seraphina. How did you know I threatened her? Are you a parasite in her mind?”
My three questions sent him fleeing in shame.
From a distance, I could hear Seraphina’s wails. “It’s all my fault! It’s my fault Father hit my sister! I shouldn’t have been scared! Father, I can’t stay here anymore. As long as I’m here, my sister will never accept you anc
Mother. I should leave!”
My father cradled the hysterical Seraphina, cooing at her with pity. “Nonsense. It doesn’t matter if she accep ts us or not. You will always be our daughter, and Gareth’s sister.”
I rolled my eyes and walked away without a backward glance.
Seraphina and I were housed in nearby chambers in the palace. After the incident with Isolde, we no longer interacted. Princess Aurelia disliked her, so she kept to herself in a corner, feigning meekness.
But I remained on my guard every day. After the plot with the lewd illustrations, I had no idea what Seraphina would try next.
One night, after extinguishing the lamps to rest, I remembered I had left something in the outer room. I threw
