Chapter 7 - Out Shopping With My Father

Late into the night, long after the moon had risen in the sky, the maids were chatting secretly in a garden full of white roses. 

“Ah, I had a difficult day today.”

“Same here… By the way, where’s Merilyn?”

“She’s probably being scolded by Lady Floyen.”

At that moment, Merilyn appeared in front of them.

“Merilyn!”

The maids approached her with anxious expressions and bombarded her with questions.

“How was your day?”

“Are you okay?”

At Sella’s question, Merilyn recalled what happened recently and sighed.

‘She pretended to be okay… but…’

Although Jubelian had tried to hide her emotions, Merilyn could see the tears brimming in her indigo eyes. The lady wore an awkward expression and a forced, almost embarrassed smile. Jubelian had frequently bullied the maids, but seeing her like that made Merilyn feel sympathetic towards her.

“No, there was some crying.”

At Merilyn’s words, the maids widened their eyes in astonishment. They began to criticize Jubelian.

“Lady Floyen is really too much!”

“That’s right. She should’ve taken it out on Sir Mikhail, not you, Merilyn.”

Merilyn massaged her temples. It seemed like the maids had misunderstood her, seeing as they were trying to console her. 

“No, not me. Lady Floyen was crying.”

One of the maids, who had asked if Jubelian had thrown something at Merilyn, became startled by her words. Her rabbit-like eyes widened with surprise. 

“What?”

“I went into her room after preparing the bath and saw her crying in secret.”

All the maids frowned with suspicion. They knew what kind of person Jubelian was. It was difficult to believe what Merilyn had just said.

“Did she really?”

“It seems like the breakup affected her greatly. She looked very lethargic tonight as well.”

Silence pervaded the solemn atmosphere before a man’s voice broke the silence. 

“She cried?”

At his sudden interruption, all the maids jolted with surprise. 

“M-master!”

Duke Floyen, the owner of the estate, stared at them with a stony expression. The maids trembled with fear. After being caught red-handed for talking about Jubelian, they had no excuses for being punished.

“You.”

The duke’s peacock-blue eyes fell on Merilyn.    

Merilyn held her breath as she waited for her master to continue speaking. 

“Tell me in detail what you saw,” he commanded in a cold voice.

* * *

When I woke up, my body felt lighter than it had yesterday. 

‘Ah, I think today will be a good day.’

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend my days as a homebody for a while. My plan was to eat a lot of delicious food and live in seclusion. However, this plan was only as good as a wish. For some reason, my father asked me to have breakfast with him this morning. 

“How is the food?”

‘The food is good of course. It’s your presence that will make me sick, Father.’

“It’s great.”

I couldn’t express the full truth; all I could do was eagerly eat after giving a short response.

‘I must quickly finish this so I can go back up to my room.’

I practically inhaled the food, despite finding it a bit burdensome for a light breakfast.

“Eat slowly. You’ll get sick.”

My father was staring at me. He looked at me like how one would look at something pathetic.

‘But you’re the one who’s making me sick…’

I was already shocked that he had suddenly called me for breakfast. He was only making it worse by staring at me as I ate.

‘Why is he doing this? Is he silently scolding me for breaking up with Mikhail?’

I wanted to leave the dining room as soon as possible, but doing so would only reveal my discomfort. I continued to force food down my throat. Before long, my father looked away from me and sighed.

‘He probably thinks I’m pathetic. Well, it makes sense.’

My father bore the great title of duke. He also led an elite group of the Imperial Knights and the entire Central army. After leading the war that took place 20 years ago to a great victory, he became the empire’s most revered hero and strongest swordsman. 

‘He has everything.’

In addition, my father was also a very handsome man. He still receives marriage proposals these days.

‘It can’t be helped if he thinks I’m pathetic.’

My father was a character who had it all. I wasn’t a merely mediocre comparison, but a pathetic one. Not only was I untalented, but my social reputation also plummeted as I chased Mikhail around. I didn’t even have any friends because of my poor social skills.

‘In other novels, villainesses are still popular among their social circles no matter how they behave… This character is somewhat realistic.’

I was unconsciously sulking when I made eye contact with my father again.

“Do you want this?”

He must’ve thought I was looking at the plate of food in front of him. I shook my head, but a large chunk of meat already landed on my plate.

“Eat.”

Despite being full, I couldn’t refuse what my father had given me.

‘Why are you doing this to me?’

As I silently suffered from overeating, he suddenly called out my name.

“Jubelian.”

“Yes?”

“What is your ideal type?”