Chapter 3: CH 3

Chapter 3 (I Hate Ugly Man)

Even when Lariette was very young, her relationship with Raon wasn’t too bad.

He received only overflowing love from birth, and although he was arrogant at a young age, he was quite fond of his one and only younger sister. Of course, it was such shallow affection, giving her a toy he got tired of.

It was from the moment she was educated with him that Raon hated Lariette so much.

Parental love, full support, the Duke who will be mine. He had all these things, but magic talent was something he couldn’t have.

And Lariette, who did not have all of them, was born with a tremendous magical talent as if it were a reward.

Although she was not outstanding in all fields, she was outstanding enough to be unmatched in some fields. The wizards  did not spare their praise, saying that a true ‘Blanche’ that would dominate the times was born, although the field was disappointing.

And when Raon heard it, he immediately told his mother so that Lariette could not attend the class. Since then, there has been no more shallow affection that was rarely offered.

Jealousy.

That was the moment when Raon disliked Lariette.

* * *

“Ahhh!! Hey, what is this!”

“So noisy, shut up.”

Lariette looked down at the Marquis hanging upside down with a terrified expression. She even snapped her finger once.

“Shut up, What did you say!!”

“Marquis. I’m only going to explain it once, so listen carefully.”

Marquis Segreb wanted to scream, but strangely, his lips were stuck together and he couldn’t say anything.

“I have no intention of marrying you. So the engagement ends today.”

“Ugh! Ughh!”

Lariette stretched out her long, white finger and tapped the Marquis’ cheek. It was in return for his actions.

“I just hate ugly men.”

She smiled bitterly, shaking her hands as if she had touched something dirty. The Marquis’s face, which was still drenched in blood, grew even redder with shame.

It was a moment of exhilaration to see the situation, and a tearing voice hearing from afar.

“Lariette!!”

“My God, Marquis of Segreb!”

After hearing about the situation from the butler, the Duke and Duchess rushed there. The Duchess screamed when she saw the Marquis of Segreb hanging upside down, and the Duke moved his hand in a hurry to cast a disarmament spell.

Thud!

“Ugh!”

Due to the sudden release of the magic, Marquis Segreb pounded his head on the dirt floor and moaned. Seeing that ridiculous scene, Lariette couldn’t help but laugh.

As soon as the Duchess heard her laugh, she glared at Lariette frantically. It looked like she would slap her.

“Marquis, are you okay?”

The Duke hurriedly tried to support the Marquis of Segreb, but he let go of his hand and got up on his own.

“This disgrace… I will never, never forget.”

“Marquis, our daughter is still young, so please… ”

“No! Let’s think that this deal never happened!”

The Marquis of Segreb answered the Duke of Blanche’s words firmly, cutting off his words. Then, he sent a vicious look toward Lariette and continued speaking as if threatening.

“Princess Blanche, just see. There will come a day when you will beg and kneel to me

“Well, I don’t want to see that ugly face again.”

I have a weak stomach. Lariette smiled and added, and the Marquis sharpened his teeth. The Duchess grabbed Lariette’s arm roughly, asking if she was crazy, but Lariette calmly shook it off.

‘This is now over.’

In the end, the Marquis left the place in spite of the opposition of the Duke and Duchess.

Because of that, flaming eyes were focused on Lariette. Suddenly, Raon joined in and looked at her with contempt.

“You….”

The first to break the silence was the Duchess. Her high voice trembled with anger.

“Have you finally gone crazy, Lariette!”

“Yeah, a little late. I should have done it right away.”

“What…?!”

“Isn’t it strange that this family hasn’t gone crazy until now?”

The Duchess let out a low sigh as if it was ridiculous. Then, with a sharp voice, he started admonishing.

“Do you know what you have done now? It’s not that bad doing it for the family! Did you even plan to put the Duke of Blanche into debt!”

“Who brought the debt?”

“Now you dare…!”

“I don’t think so, it’s strange. Why do I have to pay the debt someone else made?”

It was a reference to the record of the Duke of Blanche, who was arrogantly doing business here and there and ruined it.

The Duke of Blanche couldn’t believe that his obedient daughter had said this. At the same time, anger erupted at him who dared to challenge her father’s authority.

“It’s not someone else! Isn’t that right and that’s natural for a daughter to do that…”

“Father?”

Ha! Lariette snorted as if she had heard a funny joke.

“Even though I’ve been acting absurd,  father doesn’t really care what the Marquis did to make me do this.”

“No matter how rude he was, you should…”

“Have you ever been interested in me in the first place?”

“Lariette! What are you talking about!”

When the Duchess heard it, she screamed out that she couldn’t continue.

“The dress you wear, the carriage you ride, the food you eat! You enjoyed it because you were our daughter. If so, shouldn’t you be responsible for that?”

“Yeah, I thought so too, and I tried to take responsibility. Originally, I did all the management, which my mother had to do, and the visits to the estates that Raon’s had to do. I even accepted the marriage to that sleazy bastard to pay off the debt my father has.”

“Then why come now and you do this!”

It was a high-pitched voice. Lariette bit the inside of her lip in the bitter glance of hatred.

To them, Lariette’s devotion was too natural. It was a fact I knew, but when I checked it again, my chest felt heavy as if it were pressed.

“Mother and father don’t take on my responsibilities as a parent, so why do you want me to do that? As much as there is a way to become a child, there must be a way to become a parent….”

“Where do you think all your enjoyment came from!”

The Duchess shouted, saying it was absurd. Lariette let out a small sigh and continued.

“It is not only the responsibility of parents to take responsibility for food, clothing, and everything. If you had been kind to me at least half as much as you did to Raon, I would have just done my part and died.”

“Haha! You’re not even a baby, it’s funny that you’re still squeezing for affection.”

Raon giggled and mocked Lariette for mentioning him. Lariette glared at him indifferently and responded softly.

“Shut up, Raon. Don’t you still know that a newborn baby is more useful than you?”

“This girl…!”

Raon, who was excitedly insulting Lariette, came to her with enthusiasm when he was insulted. But not faster than the Duke.

Slap!

The Duke’s rough hand slap Lariette’s cheek without any regrets. His face heated up from the sharp friction, and then he began to tingle like mad.

Lariette stood stunned, not even thinking of turning her head back to her original position.

The Duke opened his mouth in an angry voice. Words that hurt more than the stinging cheeks continued.

“I raised you, but your arrogance has crossed the line.”

Lariette was still wondering.

“I don’t need a chaotic bitch like you anymore. I will erase you in the family register, so leave immediately!”

“Honey, that’s…”

The Duchess, who heard the stormy declaration, put her hand on the Duke’s shoulder with a bewildered expression as if she had not wished for that far. However, she soon found his poisonous eyes and quietly shut her mouth.

Lariette slowly turned her head to the front and looked at her father standing in front of me. He daunted her with purple eyes that looked just like her.

“… Father, the family register means nothing. It doesn’t matter to me that a piece of paper will burn quickly.”

“…….”

“What I was afraid of was not being removed from the family register, but from the hearts of my parents. It was stupid. Not knowing that I would never be embedded.”

“Lariette, don’t do that and apologize to your father right away….”

“No.”

Lariette cut off the Duchess’s words. And she said her final goodbyes with a straight voice without shaking.

“Thank you so far. The Duke and Duchess of Blanche.”

She slowly lowered her head and turned around. And she just walked away, never looking back.

“Don’t even think about taking anything from the Duke mansion!”

These were the last words of the Duke of Blanche to his daughter. Lariette smiled bitterly, saying he was ignorant father to the end.

* * *

“Oh, my lady. What’s going on! Gosh…”

“I’m sorry, Anne.”

“Why are you sorry for me! How is the Duke doing, my darling, what about my lady? Ugh, hic….”

Anne worried about me, who had never left the Duke’s family, and lived obediently. Lariette patted her on the back, trying to ease her worries.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. Anyway, I’m worried about Anne. I don’t know if you’re going to be fine without me.”

“What does a young lady who has never done chores do? Do you know how dangerous it is to be outside?”

“You know, Anne. I’m not going to be so fussy.”

Lariette said playfully, hugging Anne with her arms. However, facing Anne’s sharp gaze, she pretended to rush out for nothing.

“Anyway, thank you for lending me your clothes. I will pay you back someday.”

“It pays off! Do you really want to go with those little pockets? Please take this too, Lady.”

“Because it’s enough. Why did you give me the money you worked for?”

Anne, restless, held out a bag of money that she must have been collecting for a long time. However, Lariette simply waved her hand saying she absolutely hated it.

Anne had no choice but to worry. She couldn’t bring any clothes, so she borrowed Anne’s clothes, and all she got was a small pocket that could hold only a few coins. It was not strange at any time to die.

“It’s still chilly in the morning and evening….”

Anne shed tears and put the shawl over Lariette. The rage against the cold-hearted Duke couple who drives their daughter to death continues to rise.

“Well then, see you next time, Anne.”

In fact, Lariette smiled with a carefree face. At the declaration of parting that she never thought she would hear in her lifetime, Anne finally burst into tears.

Lariette patted her on the shoulder a few times and then walked out of the room that used to be her.

After going down the stairs and passing the main hall, Lariette could not find a shadow of the Duke and Duchess until she reached the main gate.

“Lariette!”

But as soon as she left the Duke’s gate, someone called her name out loud. It wasn’t the voice she wanted to hear, so Lariette looked back with an annoyed expression.

“… I don’t need you to see me off, Raon.”

“You are talking terribly. I won’t see you off even if you die.”

At Raon’s words, which pointed to the very core, Lariette slowly stared into his eyes. She didn’t seem to know what he wanted.

“I guess you didn’t come all the way here to say such nonsense. Just tell me.”

“Is there still something left between us?”

Raon seemed to have kept the words of Lariette, who insulted him earlier, into the present situation.

With a provocative expression on his face, he approached her, step by step. Mana wrapped around his hands, and exhilarating sparks began to flow.

“… Jealousy and you made me unable to attend class. Do you feel a little more confident now?”

“It’s good enough compared to your level of earth magic.”

At Raon’s confident voice, Lariette burst into laughter. He even admitted his words outright.

“Yeah, I have no talent for earth magic. What about the other elemental magic, I just finished learning it.”

“If you had known, you shouldn’t have been so cocky!”

Raon shouted in a harsh voice and emitted a strong electricity at her.

Although Lariette was slightly better in childhood, she has been an educated person since then and he wasn’t. So he believed he would be enough to overwhelm her.

“By the way, Raon.”

Lariette swung her fingers lightly, turning the direction of the electricity pouring into her. At the same time, when she raised her other hand upwards, a huge vortex appeared on the ground just below Raon.

“Ugh!!”

Raon was quickly sucked into the vortex of tremendous suction power. When he opened his eyes, he found himself buried in the ground except for his head.

“I’m stronger than you.”

As she finished speaking, she tapped Raon’s head with her foot. Enraged, he yelled at her, but she didn’t care, so she continued to ignore him.

Lariette hummed and took another step. Now it was a real goodbye.

* * *

A quiet cafe in the city.

Lariette sat by the window, sucking the strawberry smoothie with a straw and waving the fountain pen in her hand.

It was just yesterday that I made a bucket list, but I have already accomplished more than half of it in one day. However, from 1 to 3, it was only possible because it was easy, but after that, it seemed quite difficult.

‘If it’s dating… Where are you going to find a handsome man?’

Lariette moaned and tapped the notebook with her pen tip.

It was very difficult to find a handsome man who satisfies her taste. Lariette thought blankly that maybe a handsome man might be just a fantasy.

Rattle-

At that moment, the sound of a rattling bell was heard and someone opened the door of the cafe and entered.

Lariette’s gaze, who had been spinning the fountain pen here and there, went up, and when she found the man who had entered, her eyes widened.