Chapter 11

Translator and Editor: Lea and Ishy

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Chapter 11

Ash quickly hid itself while I pretended to swing alone.

“You were here.”

‘What do you want?’

Mary came out of the blue.

“You have to hurry up. Even if you start preparing now, you won’t be able to make it by dinner time.”

‘Dinner appointment? With whom?’

“It’s your first time seeing His Highness the Marquis of Velott, and if you arrive late, the Master is going to scold you.”

The words woke me up.

‘If it’s the Marquis of Velott…’

‘He was an antagonist who appeared in an earlier part of〈Twisted Lady〉and bothered Olivia.’

‘So, the first incident from the original story is here.’

Finally, the prelude to the story.

“Okay, I’ll go.”

I stood up from my seat, feeling brave all of a sudden.

While I followed Mary back to the mansion, a question popped up in my mind.

“Oh, by the way, Mary…”

“Yes, my lady?”

“What’s over there? It seems people use that trail to go somewhere.”

I pointed to the trail I saw while I was swinging earlier.

“…”

I got nervous for a moment from watching Mary freeze.

‘Oh, did I ask something wrong?’

It would be a little strange for Olivia—who lived here since she was born—to ask an employee about the mansion.

My heart sank at the thought of Mary suspecting why I asked such a thing, although she might not have figured out that I possessed Olivia’s body.

Luckily, she was quick to hold out a blank expression and smile.

“It’s just an empty lot.”

“Empty lot?”

“Yes. There used to be a warehouse, but now there’s nothing.”

I nodded to her kind explanation.

It wasn’t important, but I thought I should refrain from asking useless questions in the future.

***

Marquis Velott was an extra, but his character was great for making into an antagonist.

‘Because he was garbage.’

He had only two sons with his ex-wife, and both of them were older than Olivia.

Not to mention Olivia’s father, Viscount Brienne, was also a bad guy.

‘This is pointless. Does it make sense to send your daughter to a man who’s older than you?’

The reason she was pushed towards a man of her father’s age was because of Brienne’s desire for power.

Originally, the family of Viscount Brienne used to be a local aristocratic family.

Thanks to the possession of rich fertile land, they could support themselves, but that was it.

The young Viscount Brienne, who accidentally attended the imperial banquet, was fascinated by the splendor of the institutional aristocratic society.

Finally, he decided to implement the system with a strong determination to enter central politics.

However, it was not easy for him to successfully establish himself in the system without outstanding talent or power to support him.

He even hesitated to speak out his mind in front of great nobles.

Even after years of hard work, the results were insignificant.

Then, the moment came when he quickly gained the attention of the social community.

It was during Olivia’s debutante party. He never cared to give proper attention to his daughter.

‘Oh my gosh, is she Lady Brienne?’‘I didn’t know Viscount Brienne had such a beautiful daughter.’‘It was a baseless and rude rumor to say that he didn’t prepare a debutante ball until she was an adult.’

Only then did Viscount Brienne realize that Olivia was the golden key he had.

Not only would he have a solid background and connections to advance him to central politics, but he would also have the financial support necessary for the project he was planning.

Through Olivia, he had a way to achieve all of that at once.

‘Just like this.’

It felt like Mary took hours to prepare me.

I arrived at the drawing room with Mary, grinding my teeth towards the main culprits for the pain they gave me.

“Master. Lady Olivia has arrived.”

“Oh, Olivia! Come on in.”

I gripped my skirt tightly, fingers threatening to crack as I clenched my shaking hands.

‘It’s normal that I want to slap Marquis Velott’s face, right?’

But, if I messed up because of my anger, it would be me to see blood.

Therefore, I stepped towards the open door, manifesting my patience and reason.

“Your Highness the Marquis. This is Olivia Brienne.”

I didn’t forget to take a deep breath when I bowed my head down.

According to the description in the story, Marquis Velott’s look was not a likeable one.

Protruding eyes, a dull nose, a double chin, and a generous amount of belly fat.

‘Let’s keep in mind that I have to take care of my expression.’

Making such a resolution, I raised my head.

‘…Huh?’

I blinked.

‘This is the Marquis of Velott?’

Next to him was Viscount Brienne, AKA my father—who I was meeting for the first time.

I sent my father a questioning look.

“Is he the… Marquis?”

Something was weird.

‘I wonder if he looks different here.’

The man in front of me was much younger. Almost the same age as me.

“Oh, no. It must have confused my lady. Let me explain it.”

It seemed that a look of distrust appeared for a moment on his face.

“It’s an honor to meet you, my lady. My name is Michael Velott.”

He greeted me with a smile.

‘He is a Velott?’

I paused after he introduced himself.

Considering his age and gender, he would be one of the sons of Marquis Velott.

‘Maybe he’s the older one. But he doesn’t look like him at all.’

By the time I finished guessing, Viscount Brienne introduced him.

“Olivia, you know him, right? Lord Michael is very popular. He’s on his way to becoming the next Marquis.”

“Yes, but what brings him here?”

I looked at the uninvited guest as he explained.

“As the lady is aware, the lands of Brienne and Velott are going to be firmly united.”

Even though I already guessed it, it infuriated me when I heard it.

I gritted my teeth behind the smile I gave.

Michael never noticed it.

“But actually, something happened to my father a few days ago.”

I wasn’t curious about all that.

“The event was too tragic for the marriage to go through. But how can we break the promise between our families?”

“It can be broken depending on the situation,”

I answered cynically.

However, Michael ignored it.

“Luckily, I found a way after deep contemplation!”

Then, dramatically, he stretched out his arms and yelled out in a theatrical tone,

“The engagement contract described that ‘the ruler of Velott’ shall marry Lady Olivia!”

‘Oh, my God.’

It looked like I was meant to suffer through the progress of the story.

‘No way. This can’t be happening.’

“Then, I can replace that position, right?”

“What did you say?”

I opened my mouth in astonishment.

I thought Marquis Velott was out of his mind, but his son was the same.

He was barking crazily like a dog.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but you’re not a singer yet.”

Michael shook his head with a frown on his face.

“A few days ago, my father went to meet his lover… Ahem, no, he was coming back after meeting a friend. He had a big accident. He’s been in a coma since that day and hasn’t been able to wake up.”

‘What are you saying?’

How did the Marquis suddenly meet with an accident?

“I… I’m sorry to hear that.”

‘Should I say it was a planned punishment?’

Considering how the Marquis behaved, I didn’t feel much sympathy because it resulted in my own gain.

But,

‘This is different from the original.’

It continued to divert from the original progress.

Feeling a little anxious, I bit my lips discreetly.

If I did something wrong, things would get worse.

Whatever choice you make, I hope it’ll be for yourself.

I couldn’t help but think of what Lennox said to me.

Perhaps, we would never see each other again.

‘Yeah. It won’t change anything.’

Whether it was the Marquis of Velott or some other grand noble, I had no intention of being involved with either.

Meanwhile, Michael kept rambling.

“Unfortunately, my father can’t lead the family of Velott anymore, so I have no choice but to take his place. We have the consent of the gods, and now we only need the approval of Your Highness.”

I couldn’t listen to his nonsense anymore.

I responded coldly,

“Then we should officially call off this marriage. You shouldn’t just interpret an engagement contract in a contrived way and ask for such a ridiculous marriage.”“Olivia!”

Viscount Brienne, who was listening, roared.

‘Yeah, you should be angry. Why should I obediently marry someone for your goal?’

But neither did I blink my eyes nor did I put my head down.

I wasn’t going to back away from my justification.

“Did I say something wrong? Marrying my fiancée’s son? What kind of crazy family would have such a wedding?”

“What are you talking about! I care about you…”

‘You’re funny, you know.’

When I laughed, the Viscount flinched while his voice trailed off.

‘How dare you be so shameless?’

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