Chapter – 20
As soon as I chased back to my room, Ppiyakki was burying its face in my pillow and sobbing.
“You said you were upset, so why did you come here…?”
<Then where else would poor Ppiyakki go!>
Ppiyakki protested while hitting the pillow with its tiny wings.
<I own nothing, so if I run away from home I’ll only suffer! No matter how miserable life gets, Ppiyakki will never go somewhere rotten like that filthy Academy you liked, Kiana!>
I had said I would discipline it properly, but hearing that, I immediately surrendered.
“Yeah… that is true.”
At the word Academy, my legs went weak, and I sighed as I lay down on the bed.
“I should never have gone there…”
The memory of the final betrayal was overwhelming. It was even worse because the Academy had praised and worshipped me so much.
“But Ppiyakki, even so… is this really the place where I belong?”
I murmured quietly.
“No matter how much I searched through the original story, there was never a single scene where the family remembered me during the time I was gone.”
<That’s because you’re thinking about it wrong.>
Ppiyakki slowly raised its head and looked at me.
Surprisingly… there were no tear marks.
Ppiyakki had not cried at all.
As expected, it was a high-level expert.
<It wasn’t only that they never talked about you. They hardly talked to each other unless it was absolutely necessary. The family was already a complete mess from the beginning.>
That was a sharp point.
Now that I thought about it, it was true.
Even without me, they were already awkward with one another and had no closeness at all.
The family had already been broken.
No combination of family members got along well.
“You…”
I looked at Ppiyakki and asked,
“…Don’t you miss Melissa?”
Honestly, I thought it would.
Ppiyakki had always called me an evil master.
At my question, Ppiyakki tilted its head, then asked me instead.
<What about you, Kiana? Don’t you hate Melissa?>
Look at that.
It was even skilled at changing the subject.
<In the end, she chose to abandon all of House Prelai and live alone.>
“Hmm.”
<Meanwhile, even with your selfish personality that only thinks of yourself, you’re struggling to save your family.>
“Instead, Melissa is probably struggling to save poor people all over the world.”
I answered lazily.
“You know it too. I’m narrow-minded and full of victim mentality. If I think about Melissa, I just become unhappy. So I try not to think about her at all.”
The memories I gained after returning in time showed Melissa as warm and beloved.
Rodrigo and Hiten were obsessed with her, and many other men liked her too.
“To be honest, who really thinks Lady Kiana is a true Prelai? First of all, she has no summoned beast. Melissa, only you are the real daughter of House Prelai.”
“Please don’t say that. I don’t think so.”
“Melissa, after everything Kiana did to you, how can you still say that? You’re truly kind.”
Well… Melissa was kind.
Even when bullied in noble society, she endured bravely.
The family members who ignored one another at least greeted Melissa.
Because she always smiled first and approached them warmly.
“What about you? In this life, it looks like you’ll only be exploited while staying beside me.”
When I said weakly while looking at Ppiyakki, it tilted its head and replied,
<But strangely, I feel even more energetic. It really didn’t take long this time. Carrying things is also much easier than before… Next time, I think I can shorten the time even more.>
“…Really?”
Huh?
That was interesting.
Maybe pretending to be pitiful had worked, because Ppiyakki already seemed to forget it had been angry.
Meanwhile, my mind was racing the moment it said it could shorten the time.
Melissa had never made Ppiyakki do any real work.
Because its ability had not seemed useful.
Then if it keeps delivering things repeatedly, can the time become shorter? If the time shortens, can I train it to carry heavier objects too?
As a rule, you should never tell a professor that something worked better than expected.
Because they immediately start thinking of more efficient ways to overwork it.
I should make it work nonstop first.
If I said that now, chaos would break out.
So I would quietly start tomorrow.
<Anyway, Kiana, in the end Melissa ran away, but you didn’t.>
“That’s because our situations are different.”
<Even so… I know this house is difficult for you. Yet somehow you still stand firmly here…>
Ppiyakki seemed quietly impressed, so I answered sincerely.
“It’s thanks to normal force.”
<What?>
“It’s the force pushing upward against gravity that lets all of us stand on the ground.”
<…I hope magic engineering gets ruined.>
“My lady! What should we do!”
As soon as I woke up late, the spy maid ran in anxiously.
“House Furbs has sent a marriage proposal for you, and inside it…”
I yawned once and answered slowly.
“Let me guess. It contains Prince Hiten’s opinion?”
“Oh my!”
The spy maid opened her eyes wide.
“How did you know?”
“Who stands above House Prelai except the imperial family? And if any royal would interfere in this marriage matter, it would obviously be Prince Hiten.”
I answered calmly and got up.
I sighed.
Rodrigo had moved much faster than expected.
Of course, it was not unexpected.
I was the kind of person who had once covered my dorm room walls in notes while calculating every possibility.
And now I even had information from the original story.
I had already planned for something like this.
In the original story, Rodrigo used this same method to obtain Melissa.
He enclosed a recommendation from Prince Hiten, his close friend, to pressure House Prelai.
Naturally, Hiten was the only person who could suppress Duke Prelai with power at this moment.
And while doing that, he also wanted Melissa himself, suffering terribly. What a trashy man—desiring his friend’s fiancée.
Originally, this matter would later fade away when Prince Hiten changed his mind after becoming interested in Melissa.
But right now, Hiten barely even knew my face.
So without any inner conflict, he would simply order:
“House Prelai must take responsibility and proceed with marriage talks with Rodrigo.”
Surprisingly, there was only one excuse that could reject such an order.
If it was a political marriage, we had to obey the royal arrangement.
But if I already loved someone else, it was different.
Breaking apart two people in love could easily be seen as royal overreach.
At that time, I just need to boldly say I already have a man I love and will become engaged to him.
But this plan had two flaws.
First, I had no such man.
Second, even if I prepared an escape route, if Grandfather—the head of the family—refused, it would all be useless.
After all, Grandfather was the head of House Prelai.
Was it not more rational for him to choose what benefited the whole family rather than me, whose blood relation was doubtful?
Still, I could not marry Rodrigo.
Even if needed, I would boast about yesterday’s matter with Hou and stop it.
I sighed and slowly stood up.
“First, let’s go see Grandfather.”
“What did you say?”
Joshua jumped to his feet after hearing the report from his informant.
“That crazy bastard said what?”
News had already arrived that Rodrigo sent a letter pressuring House Prelai into marriage.
“I! Don’t especially cherish Kiana or anything!”
Joshua furiously searched through his wardrobe and put on the flashiest clothes he had, with large logos everywhere.
“But still! I can’t accept that pathetic blackmailing bastard as my brother-in-law!”
He even chose a limited-edition pair of shoes he normally saved and never wore.
“W-Where are you going?”
At the urgent question, Joshua ground his teeth and replied,
“To the ducal house!”
Even in that moment, he put on shining cufflinks before rushing there.
This made two days in a row he was returning to the main house.
Honestly speaking, Prelai and Furbs were not a bad match.
Alex looked like a complete madman at first glance, so it was practically impossible for him to marry a high noble lady.
Looks only matter for a short time.
Any woman with even a little refinement would never endure Alex’s rough speech and behavior.
And Joshua was a committed bachelor.
Kiana had been too young to know, but he still remembered their parents being deeply in love.
The expressions of that happy couple—who looked sweet just by gazing at each other—were still clear in his mind.
Even their mother’s warm nightly whispers:
“Mother truly loves all of you. Let our family stay happy forever.”
Yet if a family could suddenly shatter one day and abandon everyone…
Then Joshua wanted no family of his own.
And Melissa had become a holy maiden in the monastery.
She too could never marry now.
In the end, the only one who can marry a high noble is Kiana…
Kiana’s reputation was at rock bottom.
Objectively speaking, for the second son of House Furbs, they should be grateful.
And with pressure from Prince Hiten added, there was even less reason to refuse.
But I hate the way that bastard is doing this!
Grinding his teeth, Joshua stormed into the ducal house.
By chance, he even heard from a servant that Kiana was in Skari’s office.
Joshua slammed the door open—
“Grandfather.”
Kiana’s clear voice could be heard.
