The Radiant Young Lady of the Dark Family - Chapter 51

“K-kill, you say?”

Startled by the chilling unexpected words, Hasa unconsciously blurted out his thoughts. The surroundings immediately fell into silence. Naturally so, as it was an eerie statement unsuited for a place where people were exchanging greetings.

While everyone looked at Hasa in confusion, only Berl’s expression hardened. His face seemed to ask how she knew that.

Only then realizing her verbal slip, Hasa continued with trembling lips.

“The w-weather is killing me.”

“……”

After the silence, a few people laughed awkwardly.

“Haha, Hasa has quite a unique sense of humor.”

Hasa also laughed along with a pained expression. Though she could feel Berl’s gaze, she pretended not to notice it as best she could, unable to handle that attention.

Hasa left the place, saying she needed to return to the dormitory first because of an assignment.

***

“Sis, are you listening to me?”

“Huh? Oh……”

When Hasa responded with a blank face, Dayan’s eyes narrowed.

Dayan had called his sister to ask about some difficult ancient language assignments, but something seemed off about her condition.

“Did something happen?”

“……”

Hasa recalled the incident with Berl. Even now, when she closed her eyes, that chilling voice was clear.

The voice contemplating murder was low and monotone, completely level. So it wasn’t just bravado. It really seemed like he would kill someone.

Hasa’s brows furrowed at words she couldn’t imagine coming from the Berl she had known, but she soon shook her head.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing.”

As she smiled while saying that to prevent him from worrying, she suddenly heard Dayan’s thoughts. -I like that sis has changed, but sometimes I think it might be better if she whined about her troubles like she used to.

“……”

Hasa blinked in surprise at unintentionally hearing Dayan’s inner thoughts. She hadn’t known her brother thought that way. How did he not show any sign of such concern?

Grateful for such a brother, Hasa smiled softly.

“There is a small problem, but I’ll try to solve it on my own. If I can’t, then I’ll talk to you about it, Dayan.”

Dayan’s expressionless face changed as if he hadn’t expected Hasa to say such things, and his ears turned red as he nodded.

“Alright.”

Hasa smiled at how cute her brother was when she suddenly realized that there was nothing wrong with her mind-reading ability. That meant she hadn’t misheard Berl’s inner thoughts back then.

‘He’s just wagging his tail in front of sis because you haven’t seen him during training. Actually, his true nature is pitch black…’

‘In the past, some people tried to mess with the Young Grand Duke, and they all ended up losing an arm in sword training class.’

She recalled what she had heard from Dayan and Heize. It was hard to believe these stories were about Berl. After all, the Berl that Hasa had known was a gentleman.

Hasa suddenly remembered the chilling feeling she had occasionally sensed from Berl before.

“……”

I should meet him and confirm it myself.

***

Despite her determination to meet Berl and confirm things herself, she couldn’t find the courage to face him. While it’s said that social life involves wearing masks, that chilling sensation was spine-tingling.

Even after classes ended, Hasa carefully watched the corridors. Thinking she would confidently go to him once her thoughts were more organized, she was stealthily sneaking out of the main building when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

Hasa froze in shock. Images of a villainous Berl flashed through her mind. As she hesitated to turn around, the man behind her spoke.

“Miss Hartbisa?”

The unfamiliar form of address and the husky voice wasn’t Berl’s. As Hasa carefully turned her head, thinking it might be someone she’d recently befriended, her face turned ashen. The man in student uniform was Wolfgang Lamberth.

The school was a minefield. Hasa’s lips tightened at the appearance of the man she had been trying to erase from her mind. Wolfgang, seemingly oblivious to Hasa’s reaction, continued speaking with an excited face.

“Miss Hartbisa, you’ve become even more beautiful since I last saw you.”

“……”

During social activities, when Wolfgang said similar things, ten out of ten times, Hasa would blush. He had said this expecting such a reaction, but Hasa neither blushed nor smiled. Beyond that, she seemed to dislike it somehow.

‘That can’t be.’

She must have been upset because he hadn’t contacted her for several months after sending flower baskets. The moment Wolfgang first saw Hasa at the academy, bells rang in his head. It wasn’t the central tower’s bells ringing at that moment. It was the sound of destiny.

Her pink hair, rare in the empire, was truly fairy-like. Wolfgang had even imagined having a daughter who looked just like him and Hartbisa. When he later heard through others that she was the Cellie Princess, he hesitated for a moment, but that was only brief.

Rather, hope bloomed that he might be able to make her his more easily, so he sent flower baskets.

One unexpected thing was that he thought she would respond immediately with delight to his flower baskets, but no reply came. Because of this, his father discovered the flower baskets he had been persistently sending.

His father was someone who found it unpleasant that the Cellies were treated as equal high nobles. Angered, he sent Wolfgang to study at the southern temple for two months.

Knowing that Hasa must have grown impatient waiting for him who left without a word, Wolfgang continued soothingly.

“Ah, I was studying abroad in the south. When I heard that Miss Hartbisa had enrolled in the academy, I wanted to return as soon as possible.”

“Studying abroad?”

“Ah, you see, my father has some prejudices about the Cellie family.”

Hasa’s expression darkened at that response. Unpleasant memories from her previous life surfaced. At Wolfgang’s one-sided courtship back then, Hasa’s heart had wavered. Not because she liked him, but because she thought marrying him might help her escape her aunt’s abuse.

But the moment she met Wolfgang’s father, Duke Lamberth, she realized. Even if she married this man, the contemptuous gazes wouldn’t disappear but would follow her forever.

Wolfgang was the man who had made her feel such humiliation. As Hasa smiled slightly sarcastically, wondering if she should thank Wolfgang for reminding her of the anger she had forgotten, he continued the conversation.

“Ah, I heard you met Oswald recently.”

“Ah, yes…”

“You must know from him then.”

“Know what?”

“Oh, he didn’t tell you?”

He chuckled and muttered to himself that he had wanted to say this in a more formal setting. Then, with a face as red as his hair, he said.

“I want to make a public proposal to Lady Hartbisa. When I heard you had given up looking for a marriage partner while I was away, I knew your feelings weren’t different from mine.”

“…?”

What is he talking about? Hasa’s face showed clear confusion, wondering how he could say this after having his flower baskets thoroughly ignored.

“Making a lady wait so long, I truly am a failure as a gentleman.”

Wolfgang clenched his fist determinedly, paying no mind to her reaction.

“Now I’ll make a vow before Lady Hartbisa. I won’t let anything stand in the way of our love.”

And after these words like a knight’s sincere oath, his inner thoughts flowed out. -Isn’t this confession too cool, even I think so? How cute. Look at how her eyes have gone round, hearing such a confession for the first time. Isn’t this the perfect timing for a love kiss?

Wolfgang licked his dry lips once after this thought.

It was the worst. Hasa’s brow furrowed as much as it could.

How could she have liked such a man in her previous life? It was hard to find anything appealing about him from start to finish.

Hasa didn’t like such greasy appearances like Wolfgang’s. She preferred clean and pure beauty. And what about his intelligence and manners? Cornering someone in the academy corridor for a sudden confession attack? Even the men in her family who had lived their whole lives wielding swords would know this isn’t romantic.

Perhaps because she had grown accustomed to Berl’s manners, intelligence, and appearance. She couldn’t believe how Wolfgang Lamberth could have been the male protagonist.