~Chapter 90~
The Witch of Astria
Late at night, the Astria mansion was as quiet as a mountain in stillness.
The servants lay in their modest beds, enjoying the sweet relief of well-earned sleep. The guards, though stationed at their posts, nodded off with their chins on their chests or leaned lazily against the walls. With both the Duke and his heir away, what little tension remained had completely vanished.
But soon, an unexpected figure came crashing into the dawn’s silence.
Startled, the drowsy guards scrambled to their feet as the intruder approached—but there was something familiar about the face.
It was none other than the mansion’s only young master—Damian.
He had once proudly run away from home in a grand act of rebellion, and now, without a single escort or servant, he returned in the middle of the night, demanding that the gates be opened.
“You’re back, young master! My goodness, your face—!”
A few butlers who were still awake rushed out in a panic to greet him. The moment they saw his horribly swollen face, their jaws dropped.
Even the infamous beatings he’d taken from the Duke himself had never left him looking like this.
“I’ll summon a physician right awa—!”
“Out of my way!”
Damian violently shoved aside the butler, making a fuss. The man fell to the floor with a startled gasp.
The image was too familiar—it reminded Damian too much of his own pathetic collapse under Karsian’s fist, and the comparison only twisted his expression further.
“No one follows me. If I see even one of you, you’ll regret it!”
His already foul mood grew even worse. He barked at the few remaining servants like a wild dog.
Though confused by his uncontrollable anger, the butlers all bowed in silence and retreated.
Damian throwing tantrums wasn’t new. And though his rage seemed more severe than usual, they all knew better than to get involved. When he was like this, interference only brought punishment.
Thud. Thud. Thud!
His heavy footsteps thundered as he climbed the stairs. The servants quickly gathered together.
“Wh-what do we do? He’s heading toward Miss Nora’s room.”
“What do you mean, what do we do? We stay put. You want to get dragged into this and take the blame later?”
“…But you know what they say. Lately, the young master has been…”
A newer butler hesitated, unable to finish his sentence. But the senior butler, seeing his expression, understood immediately.
Everyone in the mansion had noticed it—Damian’s strange, almost obsessive interest in Nora.
Even if they met in secret, the mansion was full of ears and eyes.
If he goes to her like this, in this state… who knows what might happen?
That was what they were all thinking.
But who would dare stop him?
With the Duke away, no one in this house could restrain Damian.
They all agreed, silently, that it was best to pretend not to know. Say nothing, see nothing. Avoid gossip. That was the duty of Astria’s staff.
But just as the senior butler was about to turn away, a name flashed into his mind.
There was one person who could control Damian, even in the Duke’s absence.
Her position and circumstances were complicated, yes—but right now, only she had the power to stop him.
Eleanor.
The butler quickly realized hesitation was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
And he ran.
***
Bang! Bang! BANG!
The door shook with violent pounding. Nora jolted awake.
In the pitch-dark room, she instinctively curled her body and sat upright. Her wide, trembling eyes scanned her surroundings.
A massive bedroom. Thick, solid walls shielded her from the wind. A soft, fluffy mattress beneath her.
It took a few seconds of disoriented breathing before her heart began to slow down.
This wasn’t the streets of Tolcan.
This was the Astria mansion.
She wouldn’t suddenly be attacked.
She wouldn’t be assaulted without warning.
As if casting a spell on herself, she whispered over and over—
“It’s okay… I’m safe… It’s not there… It’s not him… Huff… Huff…”
Only after several deep breaths did she finally gain enough composure to think clearly again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! BANG!
Her sharp eyes turned toward the source of the noise. The thick wooden door rattled nonstop.
“Come out! I said, Come out!”
Someone was suddenly banging on her bedroom door in the middle of the night. It made her habit of always locking it before bed feel particularly wise tonight. There was no doubt it was Damian.
She had no idea why the guy who ran away from home out of fear of his father had suddenly returned, but judging by his furious voice, it wasn’t a good sign.
She considered pretending to be asleep and not opening the door, but that probably wasn’t a smart idea.
He kept rattling the doorknob and even started pounding on the door with his fists. At this rate, he might actually break it down. It’d be better to open it and try calming him down.
With a sigh, Nora got out of bed and walked to the door. Her face was full of irritation, but just before she opened the door, she put on a sweet, innocent expression as if nothing was wrong.
“Dami—?”
But before she could even finish speaking, a large hand grabbed her shoulder.
Startled, Nora looked up wide-eyed at Damian.
“You. Why didn’t you keep your promise?”
His appearance was downright pitiful.
His face was swollen, clearly from a beating. His unshaven chin and wrinkled clothes screamed that he had been wandering around after running away from home. And the fury in his eyes made him look less like a nobleman and more like a thug from the slums, despite the expensive clothes he wore.
“You said you’d make me an excuse! At the very least, you should’ve tried to calm Father down!”
Nora stared at him, speechless.
So now he was trying to blame his running away on her?
It was absurd. Yes, she had said she’d help with making an excuse—but only if he didn’t get into trouble.
But now everyone knew he had gotten into a fistfight with Baron Griffith at a social event. What could she possibly do to cover that up?
And calming down the Duke? That was basically asking her to take the beating in his place.
A wave of disgust washed away her remaining sleepiness. Her lip twitched, but she quickly hid her true feelings and put on a sweet smile again.
“Dami, I wanted to take your side, but the rumors were already spreading… I really tried—”
She thought sweet-talking him like last time would work. But not this time.
“Don’t lie to me!”
Damian yelled and gripped her shoulder tightly. The pain made Nora flinch instinctively.
“You just used me! You think I’m an idiot, don’t you?!”
“No! Of course not—”
“Then why do you keep avoiding me?! You never replied to my letters during my house arrest, and after I got out, you kept giving me stupid excuses to avoid me. You’re the one who pushed me to leave, and look where it got me!”
The more Damian yelled and clung to her angrily, the narrower Nora’s eyes became.
“Prove it, Nora! Prove you weren’t playing with me! And this time—make it even more obvious!”
He shouted nonsense, demanding proof, glancing into her room through the open door.
The meaning was obvious.
He was demanding sex. As a way to vent his anger and inferiority complex most pathetically.
At that moment, Nora made up her mind.
This is a useless card.
There was no sign of anyone nearby. Damian had probably made sure no one would interrupt.
Which meant she no longer had to hold back either.
The sweet, gentle mask she had worn melted away. Her true self emerged.
She smiled coldly and let out a small laugh.
“Am I crazy? You think I’d sleep with a loser like you?”
Her voice was laced with clear contempt and mockery.
“You’re like a mosquito on a summer night—just annoying. So shut up and get lost, Damian. You’re already getting on my nerves.”
Smack!
Nora slapped away the hand that had been gripping her shoulder.
Damian stood frozen, shocked beyond words. His face turned red, and he trembled with rage.
“You… You dare…!”
“What, going to hit me?”
She noticed his clenched fist and scoffed.
“Go ahead, idiot. Try it. I’ll personally deliver all those letters you wrote during your house arrest to your father.”
Now, both of Damian’s sisters were threatening him with the same weapon—his own letters.
That realization was humiliating and frustrating, and he shouted back, veins bulging in his neck.
“You think I’ll just take this?! I’ll tell Father everything! About how you kissed me—and I know your biggest secret!”
“Oh, you mean how I’m fake?”
Pathetic. Nora clicked her tongue and kept going.
“You don’t even have proof. And that kiss? Go ahead, tell him. I’m already getting beaten like a dog if I make one wrong move. What difference will that make?”
“W-What?”
“In a few months, I’ll be marrying Arlo and heading to the imperial palace. I won’t have to watch my back anymore. But you? What about you?”
She smashed a finger into his chest.
Looking up at him with a tilted head, her eyes gleamed with something dangerous.
“Your life hasn’t been terrible so far. But… who knows about the future?”
Damian instinctively took a step back.
Until now, he had thought of Nora as a hot-tempered but cute girl.
Sweet voice, soft demeanor, and an attractive body.
That was the extent of his view.
“But when Father sees those lust-filled letters you wrote to your own sister, he’ll finally understand.”
The woman standing in front of him now, laughing with poison in her eyes, wasn’t cute or sweet in the slightest.
“Sheesh… This bastard is useless. Way too stupid to inherit Astria.”
Watching her smile with those cruel words on her lips, Damian had a realization:
This woman is a witch.
A witch who used clever lies to fool people, seduced him with her cheap body, and forced her way into House Astria.
“That’s how you’ll lose the one thing you have—your heir position. Got it, you ignorant fool?”
