Chapter 140
Pretending not to notice, she said:
“The Imperial Palace is the biggest variable.”
“What about your family?”
“The laws of the Empire are useful when you know how to use them.”
“Laws have always been that way. They’re earrings if you hang them on your ears, and nose rings if you hang them on your nose. The more you understand them, the more power they give you. But the way nobles treat their daughters is rather terrible, isn’t it? They won’t be willing to let you go easily. They’ll do it in the most despicable ways.”
Iora shrugged. They had a similar conversation before, and she intended to return the same words he had given her back then.
“I have you, don’t I?”
“……”
Vigros, who had promised to grant her wish, probably did not know that he had already granted Iora’s wish properly.
He had given her hope.
“You told me to run to you if things really didn’t work out. Was that just a bluff? I was actually planning to run straight to the Duke’s estate.”
The man, who had looked dazed for a brief moment, burst into laughter so hard that the boat itself shook. A laugh that might have seemed somewhat frivolous coming from anyone else looked different when he did it. Iora ended up grinning along with him. Wiping away the tears that had gathered in his eyes, the man muttered fiercely.
“I should look forward to that moment. I’m very curious to see their faces when the precious treasure they didn’t even know they had gets snatched away by some nobody.”
She tilted her head. For a moment, she could not understand who he was talking about. Vigros tapped the bridge of his nose and said indifferently.
“I’m talking about your family.”
Iora scoffed. It was truly ridiculous.
“Who? My family? They don’t think of me as a treasure. They think of me as scum.”
“That’s something we’ll have to wait and see. And what do you mean, scum? Don’t call yourself something like that, not even as a joke. It annoys me.”
Swallowing back her grumbling complaint, she thought: I will not form any ties with that wretched family. I will cut them all off and live my life.
That was as far as her thoughts went. She did not expect them to beat their chests in regret and shed tears over her.
“Do you resent your family?”
It was a quiet question. A gaze that seemed to already know everything. It was the kind of gaze Vigros showed from time to time. Did he truly possess some mysterious ability that allowed him to see straight through people’s hearts? Or was it because he had investigated everything about her?
Iora did not deny it.
“I hate them.”
The people who had made her die alone. The people who had already made her dead before she actually died. In the past, the Crown Prince had asked something similar. Are you being abused?
Back then, she had flared up and raised the thorns of her shell. Her pride had been hurt, and she had felt ashamed.
But unlike then, her heart was calm now. Only a smile appeared.
With that same expression, Iora stared at her reflection in the water and spoke as if making a vow.
“I won’t forgive them. Never.”
“Shall I kill them for you?”
“…I’m scared because I think you really might do it.”
“You’re right. I will.”
Then he would truly become the greatest villain and the most despicable person in history.
Iora shook her head. She did not want revenge stained with blood. She did not want to become like them. Why would she commit murder and carve them into her heart forever?
“No. That’s not the way I want it. I… I want them to regret it. Deep down, to their very bones.”
It was a very quiet voice, but both Iora and Vigros, who was listening, knew.
They knew the thick anger melting into that voice.
It was like lava waiting right before an eruption. With a quiet, eerie smile, Iora spoke as if driving a nail into place.
“For their entire lives. They were never sorry. Not even once.”
Even until the moment I died. Iora turned that thought over and over in her mind. That moment.
“I won’t even give them the chance to ask for forgiveness.”
That quiet flame seemed to cool for a moment, as though someone had poured cold water over it, because of the words that followed. The man who had been silently watching her suddenly tossed them out.
“That’s lame.”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
Iora’s eyes widened. She hoped that he was not actually evaluating her serious resolve.
But the villain of the novel was cruel and merciless.
“That goal sucks.”
He added his opinion in a tone that left no room for argument. Iora’s expression turned cold.
This man, seriously.
“Can’t you say things a little more nicely?”
“No, let’s get even harsher. If you want to drive nails into them and crush them under your feet, I’ll gladly help.”
He did not stop there. As if he was now seriously trying to tempt her, he took Iora’s hand. He lifted it. Pretending as though he were about to gently kiss the back of her hand, he lowered his lips toward it and looked up at her. It was an incredibly seductive expression.
“Now, listen carefully, Iora. Tear them apart with cruel words, make them regret everything, make them wail. Show them just how precious and brilliant you are, then don’t even look back at them. Don’t care even if they become beggars and die somewhere behind you. This much should be satisfying. Yes, let’s learn some proper insults.”
“You know…”
A few seconds of silence passed. His eyes were truly frightening, and she could tell he was not joking.
Then she let out a small laugh.
Truly, wickedness was overflowing from him, but she liked it.
It was far better than acting foolish and innocent, losing everything she had, and crying afterward.
“Pfft, all right. Then shall I learn how to curse?”
Iora smiled playfully.
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