Avenne was bewildered by her father’s unexpected reaction.

After quietly steadying her breathing and grasping the situation, she let out a hollow scoff.

“Did you truly call it a trivial reason?”

She could hardly believe that his anger was directed at her rather than Victor or Rubier.

“Victor loves Rubier. Even here, inside the estate where I live, he has been sleeping with her behind my back…!”

Their positions had reversed.

Avenne was now the only one overcome with emotion, while the Count regarded her with cold indifference.

The moment she met his scornful gaze, her throat tightened.

“…You already knew.”

It was only then that Avenne realized the truth.

The Count and Countess had known about Victor’s infidelity for a long time.

The fact that Victor’s carriage was parked beside the stable was just one piece of evidence.

No outsider could enter the estate without permission, no matter how close they were to the family.

Victor was the only person who could enter and leave the estate freely because his parents permitted it.

Yet the Count had never informed Avenne, Victor’s fiancée, of his visits.

He knew that Victor had come to see Rubier.

“We are both commodities of House Valleris, so why are you the only one treated better?”

Avenne suddenly remembered how Rubier’s lips had emphasized the word commodities—and the mocking look in her eyes as though there were no difference between them.

‘…Commodities.’

Only now did Avenne understand what she had meant.

The Count was a man willing to turn a blind eye to something as insignificant as his son-in-law’s infidelity if it meant securing the successor he desired.

Even if his own daughter’s dignity and reputation were trampled in the process.

“If you have finished speaking, return to your room and prepare for tomorrow’s wedding.”

“…I clearly requested that the engagement be broken.”

“I never accepted your request. Stop spouting such nonsense and return to your room immediately.”

Avenne did not answer again.

Her fingertips trembled faintly as she took a few steps towards the door. A heavy, bitter emotion filled the center of her heart.

If she turned back now, it would be like that day all over again.

Nevertheless, Avenne opened the door and left.

No matter how many times she had shouted here before, nothing had changed.

“Break off your engagement with him. I’m going to marry him.”

As Avenne walked through the corridor, she could once again hear Rubier’s voice echoing in her ears.

What that despicable devil wanted was simple.

Victor Maimont, the man destined to become her husband.

He also wanted Avenne’s position as the only direct descendant of House Valleris — the young lady on whom both her family and high society had placed their expectations.

As she reflected on this, the corners of her lips gradually rose.

The lips that had once trembled with anger now curved into a faint smile.

‘Very well.’

‘It would be much easier to target what she desires instead.’

***

Avenne regarded her second life as a blessing from the gods.

After everyone had abandoned her, it was the ultimate mercy bestowed upon her.

Therefore, if only to repay that favor, she had to seek revenge.

She would take it out on Rubier and Victor, as well as the Count and Countess, who had knowingly ignored her suffering and ultimately turned their backs on her.

To do so, however, she first had to end her marriage to Victor and leave the estate.

‘The only way to break off my engagement with Victor is to leave the estate.’

If the Count refused to allow the engagement to be broken off, there was only one option left.

She would not attend the wedding.

Without the bride, the ceremony could not go ahead.

However, leaving home without a plan would be foolish.

Count Valleris had extensive connections and immense authority. It would not take a man like him long to discover his daughter’s whereabouts.

Therefore, she needed a sanctuary so powerful that not even the Count would dare to reach her there, not merely somewhere to flee.

The problem was that only a handful of people in the entire empire had enough power to ignore the name of House Valleris.

Even if such a person existed, they would be unlikely to willingly help Avenne, thereby risking becoming an enemy of Count Valleris.

‘…Is there anywhere I can go?’

As Avenne sank into despair, Rubier’s resentful voice suddenly resurfaced in her mind.

“I’m going to be dragged away to the monstrous duke. They’re making me marry him.”

The monstrous Duke Cassian Noctaven!

The House of Noctaven wielded enough power to be considered equal to the imperial family itself.

However, after Cassian inherited the dukedom and came of age, the family’s reputation began to decline rapidly.

This was all because of Cassian’s curse.

Rumors spread that he had transformed into a monster, and actual victims soon began to appear. As a result, the Emperor declared the curse a calamity that threatened the Empire.

He eventually banished the family from the capital to the snowy north, and the once-prestigious ducal family fell from grace in an instant.

‘…What if I married him?’

The possibility of becoming Noctaven’s bride suddenly occurred to Avenne.

Even after its banishment to the North, House Noctaven remained a formidable ducal family.

In exchange for its isolation from high society, it had strengthened its military forces. Neither the imperial family nor Count Valleris would dare interfere with it recklessly.

‘Even so, how could I possibly consider marrying the monstrous duke…?’

Her thoughts had almost led her straight to the ducal residence, but this impulse was short-lived.

Using a monster’s estate as a refuge while pursuing her revenge was far too dangerous, even in her desperate situation.

After fleeing to escape death, she might simply meet her end at the hands of a monster.

‘No. This is not the answer.’

As Avenne shook her head faintly, her gaze suddenly met her own reflection in the mirror.

Her face looked far too haggard for a bride whose wedding was only one day away.

“Honor, love, good fortune—you, Avenne Valleris, have everything all to yourself!”

“….”

“Why is it always your fate that shines so brilliantly?”

Rubier’s resentful voice pierced Avenne’s mind once more.

‘You covet my fate because you believe it shines so brilliantly.’

A hollow laugh escaped from Avenne’s lips.

Truthfully, she had once believed the same thing.

Born the eldest daughter of a prestigious family, she had been raised in comfort and had lacked nothing. Then she met Victor, a gentleman with whom she had much in common, and they promised to marry each other.

She believed her life lacked nothing.

But looking back, perhaps her life had never been as peaceful as she had imagined.

In reality, Avenne Valleris was merely Victor Maimont’s intended bride — a commodity to produce an heir for House Valleris.

Nevertheless, if Rubier believed that fate was preferable to being dragged away to marry the monstrous duke…

Avenne had a far greater advantage: she was a girl who had bargained with the Count to become a daughter of House Valleris and had chosen to love Victor Maimont.

‘Then I will take your fate for myself.’

Avenne resolved to reverse their destinies entirely.

The position of House Valleris’s eldest daughter.

The position of Victor Maimont’s wife.

Avenne intended to place everything Rubier had coveted so desperately directly into her hands.

‘Take my fate and struggle as desperately as you can.’

How miserable would Rubier become if she were defeated again even after their destinies had been reversed?

‘After all, no matter how magnificent a destiny you possess, you will never defeat me.’

***

Knock, knock.

As Avenne reviewed her plans, a knock shattered the silence.

There was only one person who would knock upon her bedroom door so casually at such a late hour.

“Come in.”

The moment Avenne answered without hesitation, she clearly envisioned the woman waiting beyond the door.

Rubier entered wearing a coat despite being indoors.

Avenne did not need to think deeply to know what was concealed beneath it.

“You were still awake, Sister.”

Rubier smiled sweetly before casually taking off her coat.

The light fabric brushed the floor as she did so, revealing that she was wearing only a chemise underneath.

Familiar marks stood out clearly on her pale skin, visible through the thin fabric.

They were identical to those that had filled Avenne’s vision before her regression.

Avenne silently and slowly examined the marks. Then, as though she had seen nothing at all, she calmly rose from her seat.

When she met Rubier’s gaze, cold satisfaction settled in her eyes.

‘How fortunate that you have revealed the same malicious nature in this life.’

It was truly fortunate.

Had Rubier not come to her of her own accord, the plan that Avenne had spent all night devising would have failed spectacularly.

Avenne might even have wavered in the face of the foolish hope that Rubier would choose differently this time.

But Rubier appeared before her once again, her face overflowing with malice and mockery.

This allowed Avenne to finally set her plan in motion.

She approached with graceful steps and stopped directly in front of Rubier.

“Rubier.”

Then she asked,

“Do you love Victor?”

Faced with Avenne’s frighteningly calm and composed demeanor, Rubier’s previously innocent expression filled with unmistakable bewilderment.

Avenne looked down at her stunned face with satisfaction, a soft and elegant curve forming upon her lips.

“In that case….”

After a brief pause, her voice continued in a low tone.

“You should marry him.”