I Was Tricked Into A Fraudulent Marriage By The Obsessive Villain - Chapter 3 Part 7
“Something like that. Still, you’re doing well. It’s fortunate that you haven’t been taken to prison, and your wrists are still intact.”
The butler said as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. At the same time, Iona’s face twisted in disgust.
Seriously, is this how people think of me.
“…Alright, let’s just leave it at that. My sister? I came to see my sister.”
“Ah… Her Grace left a message for you.”
What are you waiting for? Catch her.
“Yes!”
“…Huh? Huhh?”
At the butler’s words, the servants around rushed over and held Iona tightly.
“What, what’s going on? Why, Butler!”
Iona’s eyes widened in surprise.
The butler just smiled kindly without saying a word.
Gotcha.
Whenever the butler smiled like that, there was always something fishy going on!
“After all this time, is this how you’re going to act? Are you kidding me?!”
She was struggling and shouting, and in the next moment, a question flashed through her mind like lightning.
The butler was definitely not someone who acted independently. Without Johanna’s orders…
“Is it my sister?”
She carefully uttered the words, and the butler’s eyes widened in response.
“You guessed correctly. I’m glad you’ve become a bit more perceptive… There is no turning back for me now.”
The butler wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.
“What’s the matter? Please escort her to her room.”
“Ah, seriously! How could you treat me like this after three years!”
“Her Grace has given orders not to let you leave. We were just about to bring you in. You’ve shown great consideration for us, Miss. We are deeply grateful.”
“No, where is my sister! Let’s talk about it. Let’s talk. Ah, let me go!”
Despite her attempts to resist, she couldn’t overcome the grip of over ten attendants.
“Miss, Her Grace has been very lenient with you.”
“Oh my, please don’t move. How long do you think we’ve been trying to bring you here?”
These were the attendants who had always brought Iona back whenever she chased after handsome men since her childhood. The veteran attendants who had brought Iona back each time refused to let her go and held her tightly as if to leave her no room for rebellion.
“Ah! Let me go!”
Despite her tantrums, Iona remained trapped in the room. The room she returned to after three years was as dust-free as when she left, but Iona hadn’t noticed it.
“Hah! You think that locking me up will keep me from getting out?”
No way, you guys!
Iona didn’t even bother to look around the room and headed straight for the window.
It’s the same one she used to escape three years ago.
I am a K-Martial Arts master! Escaping through a window is a piece of cake.
With complete confidence, she opened the window.
“If you jump from there, you’ll die, sis.”
“…Who are you? Why did you come in?”
“Big sis said if you’re here, she’d hire another chef who makes great desserts.”
It was Isaac. Holding a bowl piled high with ice cream, Isaac sat down on the sofa.
“Look down. It’s death, instant death.”
“What are you talking about? I came out here three years ago…”
Fuming at Isaac’s words, Iona leaned forward to look down below the window.
“….”
Iona was momentarily speechless.
“What’s that…?”
“Big sis made it as soon as you ran away.”
A steel grate stretched around Iona’s room.
It was obvious why iron bars were suddenly placed in a garden decorated according to the capital’s latest trends.
‘Jump and you die.’
“…….”
For a moment, she thought she heard Johanna’s voice echoing in her ears. Cold sweat trickled down her spine.
Iona closed the window tightly and sat on the sofa to gather her thoughts. A swordsman in front, a steel grate behind. It was truly a predicament. Johanna’s determination to ensure she couldn’t escape was evident. There was no way to break through those by force. In that case…
“Aren’t you working?”
Iona spoke to Isaac in a soothing tone, carefully considering her words.
“I’m working remotely right now.”
“Do knights work remotely these days? And where are you working from right now?”
Iona asked as she watched Isaac busily eating his ice cream.
“Condition management1as in his health/body condition is a basic skill for a knight. I’m doing my best.”
“…If you speak less, I would hate you less, seriously.”
She sighed and buried her head between her knees.
It was clear that she wouldn’t be able to leave for at least a few days.
If the client came to the guild and exposed her identity…
It would not only tarnish her family’s reputation but also provide a political pretext to attack Johanna.
Would the villain leave the Guild alone?
Worry flooded her like a tide.
“Ah! Are blonde hair and purple eyes that rare.”
She blurted out without thinking, her mind in turmoil.
“Sis, are you a fool?”
In the next moment, Isaac, who was inhaling ice cream with his face buried in the bowl, spoke.
“If it’s blond hair and purple eyes, there’s only one person everyone thinks of, right?”
“What? Who is it?”
“Me.”
“…Are you joking?”
Iona was momentarily captivated by the thought of whether Isaac was serious about this.
“Me, big sister, and you.”
“….”
“Purple eyes are rare. There are no nobles with purple eyes in the capital except for our family. You didn’t know that because you didn’t engage in the social scene, right? But I do.”
“….!”
Iona’s eyes widened in surprise at Isaac’s words.
Right. Why didn’t I think of that?
It could be someone from the Hardin family.
As the thought crossed her mind, she considered various possibilities.
Was there a hidden branch of the family that she didn’t know about? No. It had been a long time since Johanna had expelled all other relatives from the capital after inheriting the ducal title.
Besides, Johanna would never allow a branch member to marry a high-ranking noble. In that case…
“No way.”
A sudden thought struck Iona’s mind.
A member of the Hardin family who remained single even after passing the marriageable age.
“…Could it be that my sister got married without telling me?”
***
“Ugh… Huh!”
He scratched the floor with his nails in agony. But there was no mercy for his hand being stepped on.
“Why do you keep bothering me, Brother.”
A voice devoid of emotion pierced through.
His crimson eyes, which merely reflected the surroundings like transparent glass beads, were chilling.
He was always like this.
He trampled on people without showing any enmity, as though he were devoid of emotion.
“If you just stayed quiet like before, we wouldn’t have to embarrass each other… I don’t understand why you keep acting up.”
Thud.
“Ah!”
His rough trampling broke the bones of the man’s fingers.
Carvain continued to step on it without batting an eye.
“Huuhhh… Ugh!”
Carvain tapped the Second Prince’s cheek, which was writhing in pain.
The Second Prince’s face was already contorted with pain and embarrassment.
“You fled with your tail between your legs years ago, so why the fuck are you coming back now…… Ugh! Why the fuck are you coming back now!”
“What do you mean run away. Brother.”
“Ugh, ugh!”
As if to say this is next, Carvain stepped on his neck.
The Second Prince struggled, feeling suffocated.
“Who runs away from the battlefield? Sometimes I wonder if this head is just for show. Why are you mocking me when all you can do is struggle like this?”
“C-cough… Ugh…! H-heuh!”
When Carvain slightly lifted his foot, the Second Prince gasped for air.
His face was already turning deep red.
Carvain tilted his head to observe him silently. Then he bent down and grabbed the Second Prince’s neck.
“Ugh!”
“Quiet down, Brother.”
“….!”
“That’s the only way I can keep you alive a little longer, okay.”
The Second Prince held his breath as he gazed into Carvain’s deep crimson eyes.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine. He instinctively lowered his flailing limbs.
The creature before him was a beast. If he provoked him further, he would be torn apart.
“Quiet.”
“….”
“Just breathe. That’s all I’m asking.”
Until I cut this throat and let it fall.
“Huh…!”
When Carvain roughly pushed the Second Prince away, the Second Prince writhed and struggled.
After watching him for a moment, Carvain then walked along the long corridor.
After walking through the dark corridor for a while, a large hall appeared before him.
Jonathan approached from one side and spoke,
“I thought you were going to kill him. It would be a waste to kill him now.”
“That’s why I spared him.”
“Right. Well done. It’s not the right time yet. By the way, about the Grand Duchess…”
“….”
Carvain’s steps abruptly came to a halt the moment Jonathan mentioned the Grand Duchess.
“What about the Grand Duchess.”
“They say she’s being held in the Hardin estate. It’s been several days already.”
It seems Duke Hardin is involved.
“….”
Carvain’s eyes sharpened like blades at Jonathan’s words.
His piercing gaze immediately landed on Johanna, who stood in the center of the hall.
“….”
Johanna gazed back at the pair of intense crimson eyes fixed solely on her.
“We’ve already secured the young lady. Young Master Isaac is guarding her.”
“I see.”
A servant approached and whispered softly in Johanna’s ear.
It was news that her little sister, who was like a little lamb, had been safely locked inside the house.
Throughout the three days of his imperial coronation ceremony, she had been unable to leave this palace.
The Grand Duke was in a similar situation.
So, now was the optimal time to take Iona away.
“Are you sure His Majesty won’t come?”
“The Grand Duke’s situation has become a joke. He’s openly shunned by the Emperor…”
“In truth, isn’t the title of Grand Duke just a means of being expelled from the palace?”
“I suppose you could look at it that way. But wasn’t the land of the Grand Duke originally inherited by the First Empress?”
The nobles gathered and chattered away.
On the day of the coronation ceremony, the Emperor’s failure to make an appearance caused a stir. It was interpreted as a significant blow to the Grand Duke.
“Indeed. Look at His Majesty’s attitude. Doesn’t this mean he’s ignoring him…!”
“Well… considering that his relationship with the late First Empress wasn’t so good, it’s no wonder that he would be less favorable toward her child…”
‘…No. That can’t be.’
Johanna shook her head softly.
Most of the nobles thought that the Emperor’s neglect would be a blow to the Grand Duke, but in truth, it was more of a blow to the Emperor.
He had led the Empire to victory in a war that had been plaguing the country for years, so how could the Emperor turn his back on such a war hero?
‘That’s nonsense.’
It was the nobles within these halls who ruled over the commoners outside. But conversely, the people inside this hall were those who were swayed by the opinions of commoners outside.
Most nobles lived forgetting the latter, but Johanna knew well that the opinions of the commoners could never be ignored.
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