ASPB 6

Chapter 6

“Otillie, do you know why that man never entered high society?”

Colart raised his voice in frustration.

“He inherited his family at such a young age. Do you know how important it is to establish a good reputation in high society?”

Her older brother’s voice grew more and more heated.

“And yet, he deliberately cut off one of his own wings. He hates talking to people, adjusting to the atmosphere, or considering other people’s feelings. He hates all of it.”

At Colart’s words, the Duke nodded firmly.

It was as if his son had said everything he himself wanted to say.

‘Lotvin really does have a terrible reputation, doesn’t he? And it’s a reputation that suits him perfectly.’

Otillie was secretly pleased.

“Yes, Otillie. I’ve also heard a few things about him.”

Violetta, who had been listening quietly, also supported her son’s words with a worried expression.

“I heard that he once saw the daughter of Marquis Narpas in danger after she lost her escort knight in the city and was caught by a group of thugs. Yet he simply pretended not to see her and walked away. I also heard that when he occasionally attended balls, he responded to ladies who showed interest in him by cursing at them. Do you really want to meet someone like that?”

Violetta cautiously added her question.

Once again, Albrecht nodded deeply.

He thought that by now, Otillie would finally give up.

However, she firmly shook her head.

“Yes, I want to meet him. Father, please don’t say anything to His Majesty the Emperor. This is my broken engagement, so… I’ll handle it myself. Besides, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince isn’t someone who would listen to the Emperor just because he told him to.”

She gave them a playful smile.

There was some truth to that.

If it was the Crown Prince, he would surely ignore even the Emperor’s orders.

The aging and sickly Emperor would never be able to control someone as energetic and self-willed as him.

“If Duke Altenbrick also curses at me and refuses to meet me, then I can simply stop trying to meet him, can’t I?”

Otillie smiled once again.

Her stubbornly shining green eyes, her playful smile, and that expression that made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Violetta knew that expression of her daughter’s very well.

It was the face she made when she had absolutely no intention of changing her mind!

It was the expression she wore whenever she had made up her mind about something.

And most of the time, those decisions were extremely dangerous.

When was the last time she had seen that expression?

…It was probably when Otillie was seventeen.

There had been a daughter of Marquis Rietani who had a one-sided crush on the Crown Prince.

Unable to approach the Crown Prince himself, she secretly looked down on and bullied Otillie instead, who seemed relatively kind and easy to pick on.

The family had considered stepping in, but…

Otillie had said she would handle it herself. Then, wearing exactly that expression, she attended a tea party and calmly cut off all of Lady Rietani’s hair as if it were nothing.

The sight of her light brown hair fluttering down like feathers was still vivid in Violetta’s memory.

Lady Rietani had collapsed onto the floor, clutching her cut hair and sobbing.

Otillie had stood in front of her with an expressionless face.

When Lady Rietani demanded to know why she had cut her hair, Otillie had only replied,

‘Don’t you know the reason yourself?’

The House of Marquis Rietani was nowhere near as powerful or prestigious as the great noble House of Falkenberg.

Having realized her own rudeness, the young lady had no choice but to leave with a pale, bloodless face without even making an official complaint.

And a few days later, Otillie had sent the scissors she used to cut the girl’s hair to the House of Marquis Rietani, beautifully wrapped as a gift.

Otillie was certainly Violetta’s daughter, but sometimes she did unreasonable things that were almost impossible to understand.

Remembering that incident, Violetta suddenly felt dizzy.

Goodness, people’s hearts might be as fickle as reeds, but… Just three years ago, she had been so deeply in love with the Crown Prince that she was now asking to break off their engagement because she had grown tired of him. And now she wanted to meet Duke Altenbrick?

Violetta shook her head as she looked at her daughter, whose thoughts were impossible to read.

But everyone in the family knew one thing.

When Otillie wore that expression… no one could stop her.

“Sigh… If you really want to meet him, then go ahead. But you must never do anything dangerous. Do you understand?”

Colart looked at Otillie with worried eyes.

“Yes, don’t worry, everyone. I absolutely won’t do anything dangerous.”

Otillie felt a twinge of guilt in her heart as she lied.

However, she smiled gently as usual and nodded.

For some reason, the moment Violetta saw that smile, she became even more uneasy.

After that, each member of the family took turns telling Otillie stories about Duke Altenbrick’s rudeness, brutality, and vicious personality.

But Otillie did nothing but listen with a calm smile and nod along.

In the end, not a single story could shake her determination.

Who was the person who had given her the poisoned chocolate?

Who had tried to poison her?

If someone had wanted to kill her, what could their reason have been?

Arno. He had nothing to gain from killing her.

The House of Duke Falkenberg might be shaken for a while, but that would be all.

The same went for Lotvin de Altenbrick.

Her death would bring them no direct benefits.

Her family would be devastated by her death, and the ducal house might be thrown into temporary disorder. But her older brother and father would soon pull themselves together and restore the family.

Tillo Haldin, on the other hand, was different.

If she died, her share of the inheritance would go to him.

Judging logically, he was the most likely suspect.

And if he really was the culprit, then things would actually be quite simple.

All she had to do to avoid being murdered again in this life was to not marry him.

But on the other hand… What if the real goal had been to create an opportunity during the brief period when the House of Duke Falkenberg would be thrown into chaos by her death?

For example, what if the House of Altenbrick had planned to declare a territorial war while they were in disarray?

Lotvin had already tried to brand her a witch in the past, putting the House of Falkenberg in danger.

It wouldn’t be strange if he had wanted to cause another such disturbance through her death.

The Falkenberg Duchy and the Altenbrick Duchy were both located near the capital. Although their territories were relatively small, they were filled with high-end commercial districts and large factories, making them extremely profitable.

Furthermore, the two duchies shared a direct border, so it would not have been surprising if a territorial war had broken out between them.

As her family had said, Duke Lotvin de Altenbrick was extremely wicked and cruel, with absolutely terrible social skills. However, when it came to expanding his ducal house and territory, he was practically obsessed.

In that case… The possibility that he had planned a territorial war by taking advantage of the temporary chaos within the House of Duke Falkenberg could not be ruled out.

In the worst-case scenario…

Since Arno had personally arranged the marriage, it was even possible that the Emperor and Duke Altenbrick had joined forces to threaten her family.

That was why she had decided to approach Lotvin first, even though he was the last person she wanted to see.

Had he branded her a witch because he genuinely held hostility toward the House of Falkenberg and had acted on it? Or had there been another reason or emotion behind his actions that she knew nothing about?

And if he really had tried to poison her—why on earth had he done it?

To prevent the events of her previous life from repeating themselves, Otillie needed to take a good look into his heart and understand his true intentions.

‘And right now, I’m still the Crown Prince’s fiancée. He can’t just casually accuse me of being a witch anymore.’

This was the perfect time to approach him.

Besides, if she did as Arno had suggested and merely pretended to become close to Lotvin, the Crown Prince, who clearly didn’t want her to break off their engagement, might try to harm Lotvin. Or perhaps the relationship between the Crown Prince, the future Emperor, and the Altenbrick ducal family, which supported the current Emperor, might deteriorate.

Wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?

She recalled the first time she had met Lotvin.

At first, he had seemed like an awkward young man who had fallen in love.

He had pursued her relentlessly, and everything about him had been rough, rude, and clumsy.

And yet… because his feelings were so unrefined, his passionate and sincere love had seemed even more genuine.

After a year of dating, Otillie had eventually opened her heart to him.

‘He pretended to love her so much, only to turn around and brand me a witch! That bastard!’

Otillie clenched her fists tightly.

Whenever she remembered the suffering her family had endured back then, she still felt her blood boiling with rage.

In her previous life, Lotvin had put both her and her family in danger.

So in this life—

It was her turn to pay him back.

In the dark room, Otillie’s eyes shone brightly and clearly like the brightest star in the night sky.

Consumed by thoughts of revenge, she continued thinking and planning, losing track of how much time had passed.

How should she meet Lotvin for the first time? How should she approach him?

What had he liked, and what were his weaknesses?

And—

How could she steal his heart, hold it in her hands, and play with it as she pleased?

Just before falling asleep, Otillie came up with an idea.

She found the thought quite satisfying, and a small smile spread across her face.

For the first time in a very long while… she fell asleep with a peaceful expression.