Chapter 4

The members of the Five Great Families had known each other since childhood.

Back when the previous Family Head of Kardian was still alive, Diena had been treated as someone as precious as a princess.

Knowing that, the Duchess of Castleton looked at her with pity and asked,

“My goodness, your clothes… Are you alright, Diena?”

The gazes of the noblewomen and heirs from the other families shifted between Romie and Diena.

The contrast between Romie, dressed in a luxurious gown, and Diena was striking.

Edeline stared at Diena with wide eyes.

“Why are you here? Why aren’t you in your room?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she looked caught off guard.

Her sharp tone had slipped out unconsciously.

Diena immediately lowered her head as though she were about to cry.

Her shoulders trembled as she curled into herself.

She looked so fragile that anyone would feel sorry for her.

“I-I’m sorry. I was so hungry and went looking for something to eat. I was trying to find the kitchen… but I think I got lost.”

Romie’s face turned bright red.

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’ve lived here for years. How could you not know where the kitchen is?”

A troubled expression appeared on Edeline’s face.

Romie’s response had been completely inappropriate.

The hostility in her voice caused the noblewomen’s expressions to harden.

The Duchess of Castleton looked at Edeline and asked in a subtly reproachful tone,

“Lady Rothwell, does Miss Diena normally dress like that?”

Edeline’s face instantly turned crimson.

She fanned herself and hurriedly denied it.

“N-No! It’s just today… I wasn’t paying enough attention. She doesn’t normally wear clothes like that.”

But the duchess’s trembling voice, her reddened face, and Diena’s shabby appearance all revealed that she was lying.

“And what do you mean by hungry? Surely you haven’t been starving her?”

At the next question, Edeline’s hand trembled.

She looked toward Lady Volkov and Lady Hartmann, but both women quickly avoided her gaze.

They, too, believed that Edeline’s treatment had gone too far.

The Duchess of Castleton finally spoke up.

“Even if she’s not your biological daughter, she’s still a blood relative of House Rothwell. This is excessive.”

The Duchess of Castleton’s attendants immediately joined in.

“Aren’t those clothes something only servants would wear?”

“If I imagined my own child being treated like that, it would break my heart.”

“If she’s part of the family, she should be cared for like a daughter.”

Edeline’s face flushed deeply.

She turned to a maid and raised her voice.

“Go prepare a meal for Diena at once! Why did you neglect her until she ended up in this state?”

The Duchess of Castleton shook her head.

Taking her anger out on an innocent maid looked even uglier than her earlier excuses.

Romie’s expression darkened instantly.

She could feel the warm, favorable attention she had been receiving turn cold in an instant.

The gathering where she had expected to be the center of attention had been completely ruined.

‘Because of her! What is this?!’

A maid quickly escorted Diena away.

Romie glared at her retreating figure until she disappeared from sight.

* * *

As soon as the gathering ended, Romie headed straight for Diena’s residence with Edeline and Cain.

It was an annex tucked away in a corner of the estate.

A gloomy, worn-down room that looked more suitable for servants than family members.

Romie kicked the door open and stormed inside.

Startled, Diena looked up from the old bed where she had been curled up.

“You came out on purpose just to humiliate me, didn’t you? I told you not to crawl out of your room! So why did you come out?!”

Romie glared at her sharply.

Diena lowered her head timidly.

“I didn’t come out on purpose. It was just that nobody brought me food when it was time to eat, and I was so hungry…”

“Stop lying!”

Romie roughly shoved Diena’s shoulder.

Her body swayed two or three times, but Diena silently endured it.

At the same time, she thought,

‘You would’ve gotten angry even if I wasn’t lying.’

Romie’s habit of venting her frustrations on others was nothing new.

Whenever she was upset, she always became violent.

Edeline stood behind her, yet showed no sign of stopping her.

Instead, she merely looked down at Diena with cold eyes.

“Romie’s right. Why did you come out and embarrass us in the first place?”

Cain smirked as he stirred up Edeline’s anger.

“Everyone in high society is going to talk now. They’ll say Aunt mistreated her daughter and niece. They’ll say the legitimate young lady was abused. It’ll make quite the story.”

Romie’s eyes reddened as she shouted,

“I’m so embarrassed because of her! How am I supposed to show my face in front of the other families now?”

At those words, Diena shook her head.

“No, Romie. Actually, your reputation was already ruined the moment you wore that dress. You shouldn’t blame me for it.”

“…What?”

“You probably don’t know this, but high-ranking nobles consider it rude for a young lady who hasn’t had her debut yet to wear red on her dress.”

Romie’s mouth fell open.

“I-I wasn’t trying to upset you… I just thought you didn’t know, so I told you.”

Romie stared blankly at the red ribbon on her chest.

Her face gradually turned the same color as the ribbon.

Seeing that, Cain laughed as though he found it amusing.

“I think she’s deliberately mocking you.”

“I know that! Mom, do something about her already! Look at how shameless she’s acting instead of apologizing!”

Edeline gently wiped the corners of Romie’s eyes and asked with a sympathetic expression,

“Don’t cry, Romie. You’ll ruin that pretty face. What can I do to make you feel better?”

“She wants to go outside, right? Then don’t let her leave anywhere ever again! Lock her in the punishment room beneath the castle!”

Cain nodded in agreement.

“That sounds good. If she did something wrong, she should be properly punished.”

Diena quietly looked at Edeline.

The woman smiled kindly and said,

“Oh my, our Romie’s so kind-hearted. You’ll forgive her over something so small.”

Then her face immediately turned cold.

She grabbed Diena’s arm roughly.

Romie stuck out her tongue from behind Edeline and taunted her, while Cain giggled.

“The punishment room is too cold.”

“Members of House Rothwell don’t get cold over something like that. We’re a family of powerful Ability Users.”

Her eyes narrowed menacingly.

“If you suffer from something this trivial, then I suppose that means you’re not truly one of the Rothwells.”

Diena fell silent.

Edeline narrowed her eyes and muttered,

“How did something like you end up being born? Such a rude child. I must’ve failed your upbringing.”

She mercilessly dragged Diena away and stopped in front of the punishment room deep beneath the castle.

“If you’d properly apologized to Romie, none of this would’ve happened.”

At those words, Romie nodded proudly.

But Diena knew the truth.

No matter what she had done, she would’ve been punished in the end.

Edeline opened the creaking iron door.

An icy chill poured out from inside the punishment room.

“Think carefully about what you’ve done wrong. Until then, this door won’t open again.”

Just before the door closed, Diena quietly asked,

“Have you never felt sorry for me? Not even once?”

“Sorry for you?”

“While raising me all these years, did you never once think of me as family?”

“Why would you be my family? You’re not my biological child.”

Edeline’s face twisted.

“What a pointless thing to ask. Get inside.”

Bang!

The heavy iron door slammed shut.

Diena was left alone.

“She’s as ruthless as ever.”

Her aunt’s answer wasn’t surprising at all.

She had always known what kind of person she was.