FIH | CH 11

Chapter 11

After Kersian left, Haela could not fall asleep for a long time. Looking in the mirror, her cheek was swollen and her lip was cut. She rang the bell to call a maid for cold water, washed her face, and went to bed. Even though the fireplace had plenty of wood and the windows were closed, making the air warm, her body kept trembling strangely.

The next day, Marlin was horrified when she saw the injury on Haela’s face.

“Madam, what is this wound on your face? It looks exactly like you were hit.”

At those words, Haela looked in the mirror. The swelling had gone down, but there was a faint bruise near her mouth. Remembering the previous night, Haela bit her lip. She felt more resentful today than she had the night before.

“Madam, please don’t bite your lip,” Marlin said, feeling distressed and pitying Haela’s injury.

“I was trying to take out a book and dropped it on my face. It doesn’t even hurt that much. It’s just a bruise.”

Haela answered nonchalantly, but Marlin noticed the subtle shift in her expression. The wound was definitely not there the previous evening. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like an injury from being struck. Suddenly, a thought crossed Marlin’s mind, and her face darkened. Her eyes welled with tears.

“I heard His Grace returned late last night. Did he come to see you after hearing about what happened during the day? That’s not it, right?”

“No, it’s not.” Haela said firmly.

“Is it really not?”

“I couldn’t sleep at night, so I was wandering around and tried to read a book because I was bored. I just made a mistake.”

Marlin did not seem to believe her, but she didn’t press further. She fixed Haela’s hair with stiff, silent hands, appearing angry, but Haela could see through the mirror that she was barely holding back tears. Haela sighed deeply inside. She didn’t care about being hit, but she didn’t want to see the people close to her hurting and suffering because of it again. Yet, she couldn’t think of a better excuse for such a glaring wound.

“Does it look that bad?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll bring an ice pack. It will go down quickly then.”

“I think it’s better to cover it for a while. Will makeup hide it?”

“That won’t be good for the wound.”

Haela hummed and looked in the mirror. A day had passed, but the swelling had gotten worse instead of better. Still, she was in much better shape than Uriel, whose face had been ruined after being hit by Count Betia. Thinking of that made her heart feel a bit lighter.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Madam, His Grace has sent flowers.”

When Marlin opened the door, a maid was standing there holding a large bouquet.

“Leave it there and go.”

Haela replied without even turning her head. The maid left the bouquet with an embarrassed face and exited the room. After finishing her hair, Haela stood up and picked up the bouquet. The beautifully wrapped white tulips had a fresh and subtle scent.

In her past life, she had received many gifts from Kersian. Sometimes flowers, sometimes jewels, or dresses. Once, she was even gifted a small flower garden. She had mistaken these gifts for his heart, but in reality, they were no different from a bone thrown to a dog that followed orders well. Recalling how she had cherished gifts that were thrown to her whenever he needed something after treating her with cold neglect, she wanted to hit her past self to wake her up.

The scent of the flowers now felt like a stench, and in the fresh bouquet, she seemed to see the disgusting faces of those two people. Haela told Marlin, who offered to bring a vase, that it wasn’t necessary. She then threw the bouquet directly into the fireplace. The red and gold flames swallowed the flowers instantly.

Watching that sight, a certain person suddenly came to mind. Wavy red hair and bright yellow eyes that looked like they had gold embedded in them: Grand Duke Halis.

He was exceptionally tall and had a strong body, with a temperament that was like fire. Just looking at him made one shrink from the pressure, and his cold-blooded face looked like it wouldn’t bleed even if pricked. However, he was the one who handed a handkerchief to her while she was crying, left medicine for her when she was hurt, and once gave up his carriage to her when hers broke down. When she stood against a wall at a banquet, enduring the neglect and ridicule of others because of Kersian and Uriel, he was the one who asked her to dance first.

Looking back, other than Marlin and Heinrich, no one in the East had treated her as well as he did. Unlike someone else, he showed kindness without hidden motives and didn’t expect anything in return. He always had a cold and stiff face, but seeing those actions, he wasn’t the cold-hearted and mean person people said he was.

Recalling those moments, a small smile spread across her lips. They weren’t even close enough to be called acquaintances—just a few encounters and short conversations—but whenever he came to mind after her return, he felt strangely familiar.

“Madam, an invitation has arrived from the Hameln Marquis family.”

At that moment, a maid brought an invitation. Seeing Haela open the envelope and read it, Marlin asked curiously:

“Madam, that’s the invitation you mentioned last time.”

“Yes.”

“But didn’t you say the invitation had already arrived last time?”

Only then did Haela realize why Marlin’s expression was strange. She replied casually:

“I must have mistaken hearing about it beforehand for actually receiving the invitation.”

Marlin still didn’t quite understand, but she soon forgot about it as she looked at the wound on Haela’s face.

Count Betia’s Mansion.

From a room on the third floor, the sound of a woman screaming and things breaking could be heard. Terrified maids stood in front of the door with trays of dinner, hesitating to go inside.

Uriel had gone into a mad frenzy after hearing that Kersian had sent a servant to Haela in the morning with an apology and a gift of flowers. The maid who delivered the news had barely managed to escape the room, bleeding and dazed after being hit by a glass bottle Uriel threw.

An hour had passed, but Uriel’s anger had not cooled down.

“What are you doing standing there instead of going in?”

It was Countess Betia. She looked at the maids with a pathetic gaze and opened the door.

Uriel, who was standing in the middle of the ruined room ready to scream at whoever entered, stopped when she saw the Countess. Her face, which had been distorted like a demon’s from rage, changed instantly. Her cunning eyes sparkled as she approached.

“Mother, why are you only coming now?”

Countess Betia carefully reached out to Uriel’s cheek, but seeing how badly bruised it was, she couldn’t bring herself to touch it and withdrew her hand.

“I heard something happened while I was away at my parents’ house. I heard your father disciplined you the day before yesterday, but what is this mess? Your father has gone too far.”

“I know. Father slapped me right in front of the Princess, of all people. How could he do that to me?”

As Uriel appealed with tears, the Countess felt her heart breaking.

“The Princess knows what kind of relationship I have with the Duke. Yet, she pretended not to know and bullied me on purpose. She deliberately treated me like an inferior and made me kneel on the floor and hit me in front of all the servants of the Duchy.”

While speaking, her voice grew louder as the emotions of that moment returned. That day, Haela had intentionally called many servants to the drawing room to watch from a distance. Since she had been disgraced in front of the lowly people she used to order around, it became difficult for her to enter the Duchy even if her father didn’t stop her. Thinking about them gossiping about her in secret made her blood boil.

“That woman boasted about being an Imperial member in every sentence. Even though she married into another family, she still seems to think she’s royalty. Even if she is royalty, is it okay to bully people for no reason?”

She felt pain from her ruined face and couldn’t contain her anger whenever she looked in the mirror. Her heart seethed as the memories of that moment kept resurfacing.

“Father is so scared of her words that he won’t even let me go out. I can’t walk around with this face anyway, but it frustrates me to think of that woman acting high and mighty while I’m gone.”

The swelling had gone down, but the bruise remained deep, making her cheek look painful just to see. Countess Betia’s heart ached at the sight.

“I know your heart feels wronged, but your father is being firm, so it’s hard to persuade him. Besides, the Princess is very wary of you, so it might be better to refrain from visiting the Duchy for the time being.”

“Mother!”

Since even her mother, whom she trusted, said such a thing, Uriel’s face was a mix of resentment and disappointment.

Countess Betia continued in a calm voice:

“That doesn’t mean you should stay away from the Duke. If you can’t go there, can’t you just make him come here?”

Seeing Uriel blink her large eyes, the Countess smiled with a face that resembled her daughter’s.

“Your father said so. The Duke is scheduled to visit the house later, so you should dress up beautifully and wait.”