Revenge, what I desire must be quite a sordid and sticky emotion.
Even if it’s not just what I felt while repeatedly reincarnating, my feelings toward Yuria could never be neat.
Why it twisted, I don’t know.
Yuria’s heart has been twisted since the start,
So the world she sees is almost monochrome.
She doesn’t distinguish between the blood of people and animals,
And if she thinks what she does is right, she just pushes forward, no matter what gets sacrificed.
There was a time when I felt a chill seeing Yuria’s emotionless face even when her mother passed away.
Holding any resentment toward her is a foolish thing.
No matter how much I appeal to a woman who doesn’t see her actions as sinful,
In the end, it’s just shouting at a wall with no one on the other side.
The character known as Yuria Taylor is an obstacle for me.
A clumsy and long-standing opponent I would someday run into.
How should I bring her down?
In what way should I clear her out so that she can never rise again and remain curled up forever?
The method that came to mind was quite simple.
Though it might not be so simple to put into words, it was one of the things I once endured.
Just as Yuria Taylor’s name was a nightmare to me.
Shouldn’t I make Robert Taylor’s name feel like a nightmare to her as well?
Tap, tap.
I pondered while knocking on the armrest of my chair.
As my thoughts organized, I felt my heart lighten.
It was a rather odd feeling for someone who had expected the downfall of another.
#
Clatter.
As the carriage stopped, I realized I had arrived at the Ducal Residence.
It was already close to midnight; Yuria’s carriage was already there, suggesting she had arrived before me.
The light coming from within must be hers.
I had put some thought into entering, knowing I might run into her in the entrance like last time, but what greeted me was an empty foyer.
“Welcome.”
“Has the Lady of the House said anything?”
I asked, wondering if she might have mentioned my actions, but Renold shook his head in response.
“She just arrived, but she hasn’t said anything in particular. Is there something wrong?”
“…No, it’s fine if not.”
Mentioning the princess would be a blunder.
Even though I am the Taylor’s Lady of the House, since my father has overlooked my actions, it wouldn’t be easy for the Imperial Family to say anything against me.
When Renold asked if I was going back to my room, I shook my head.
It was better to meet Yuria while she was in a complicated frame of mind about me.
If she were to confront me in a confused state, it would be hard for her to make rational judgments.
When I said I had to see the Lady of the House, Renold hesitated for a moment but then nodded and started walking ahead.
It seemed Yuria wasn’t in her room,
As I followed Renold, I soon saw her sitting alone, having tea.
“You’ve seemed quite upset for a while now, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Nothing to not be fine about.”
She then continued walking forward, paused briefly and spoke again.
“Things might get noisy around here, so take care to keep it down.”
“Make sure to take precautions.”
“Understood.”
Even if I couldn’t create barriers, I could at least keep the strange words of the attendant in check.
Renold disappeared and I stepped back inside.
With a loud creak, the door opened, and Yuria looked up. She gave a small smile while quietly opening her mouth.
“You said you’d be together all day. Did you catch a bit of wind?”
“That’s just not my style. Were you jealous…? Oops.”
Clang.
I quietly stared at the teacup that flew and crashed next to me, then turned to Yuria.
The face that had once displayed a smile was now completely gone, leaving only cold and eerie eyes.
The dining table had no lit candles,
and darkness fell as even the precariously burning candle flickered out, barely allowing us to see each other’s eyes.
Yuria, who threw the teacup at me, continued speaking as if nothing happened, glancing at the fallen cup with a hint of regret.
“I never told you to dodge.”
“And you never said to get hit either.”
“You’ve become quite bold recently. Must be because you have some confidence? Robert Taylor.”
“Confidence, you say?”
I shrugged my shoulders and smiled innocently.
Right now, it’s just Miragen, but I had plans for the future.
Besides, wasn’t this matter something my father had tacitly approved of?
What Yuria could do to me was limited to getting angry like this.
Even if she threw teacups at me a few times, nothing would really change.
“Did you not see earlier? My confidence.”
“Just because the princess is on your side doesn’t really change much. Do you really think that the support you gained just by opposing this subjugation will last long?”
“I’d say about a year or so.”
“What do you think you can accomplish in a year? Do you really believe that with just one year, you can bring down the position of the Lady of the House I’ve built up?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
In that moment, Yuria’s brows furrowed tightly. A year means around next winter.
By then, I would probably be considering the charges of betrayal, so I needed to hold on to Taylor for myself.
Thus, I intended to make my move this winter.
At the very least, I had to finish everything before next autumn.
Perhaps because she no longer had a teacup to grasp, Yuria’s hand trembled in the air.
With a clenched jaw, she exhaled as if she were about to devour me with her glare.
Yet, it was I who remained calm.
I picked up a shard of the teacup that had fallen on the floor and spoke up.
“You said before that some things can’t be undone.”
That was about trust, but now it had a slightly different meaning.
A broken teacup can never return.
Since Yuria herself threw it, no matter how much you try to piece it back together, it won’t return to its previous form.
Isn’t her fate similar to this teacup?
It hasn’t been thrown yet, but come this time next year, it will undoubtedly be shattered.
So it was a warning.
To make her feel even a bit of vigilance, to have her watch me with suspicion and fear.
To monitor my every move, to ensnare her within my actions.
“I plan to be away for a long time in winter. Don’t you think I should prepare to be the head of the family in my own way?”
“I suppose I need to prepare to be the Head of the Family in my own way.”
“…Hah.”
“For the North, I’ll be working with Adele Igrit, and for the South, with Saint Adriana.”
Yuria’s face, which had been laughing in disbelief, suddenly froze.
Her eyes, which had been gazing at me as if to test whether my words were nonsense, began to narrow.
“It’s better not to say things like that even as a joke.”
“Well, you’ll find out soon whether it’s a joke or not. Aren’t you always watching me?”
“Watching? That’s a word I’ve never heard before. Have you developed some sort of delusion?”
“Delusion, huh.”
I toyed with the shard of the teacup I picked up in my hand, then threw it towards the spot where the curtain was drawn.
With a quick sound, the shard sliced through the air and then hit something.
It wasn’t the sound of hitting a wall.
It was the sound of something soft being penetrated. When I glanced over, the maid who had been hiding finally revealed herself.
“Lady of the House…”
The maid, clutching the shard embedded in her arm, spoke. It was a face I recognized well.
She was the maid who always brought me tea or snacks when Renold was absent, so she had surely known that she was spying on me.
Thus, I had paid a bit of attention when outside.
I deliberately moved through crowded places and acted to shake off any tails that might be following me.
So, she wouldn’t have known that I had gone to the Moon Tower.
If she had known, she wouldn’t have doubted my relationship with the Saint.
Watching the maid who had revealed herself, I continued speaking.
“I’ve ignored those who have been by my side all this time for your sake, Lady of the House. Isn’t it embarrassing to be caught like this? To look down on me while keeping such a watch?”
Yuria offered no response.
She merely stared coldly at me, silently listening to what I was saying.
Yet the emotion she harbored was likely close to disdain.
She probably hadn’t thought I would grasp this, so she must have been slightly flustered.
I approached the silent Yuria.
Striding closer than when I threw the teacup at her, we were now close enough to see each other’s faces clearly.
With deft movements, I lit a candle and placed the broken teacup shard in front of her while speaking.
With a gentle smile, as if whispering.
“…Were you perhaps afraid of me?”
“Robert Taylor!”
Yuria shot up from her seat and grabbed my collar, but that was all.
Without any strength behind it, her trembling wrist was lightly tapped, causing her grip to loosen and fall away.
Removing her hand, I tidied my clothes and continued speaking.
“If you weren’t, you could have just said so instead of coming at me so roughly.”
“…I’ve never been afraid of you. I’ve always looked down on you, relying on Mother and unable to do anything on your own.”
Yuria chuckled softly, as if incredulous, and shot me a fierce glare.
“You think you’ll become the Head of the Family? Go ahead, whether you get the Grand Duke’s support in the North or the Saint’s support in the South, nothing will change.”
“Whether I go to the North to gain the Grand Duke’s support or to the South to earn the Saint’s favor, nothing will change.”
“Is that so?”
“I am Yuria Taylor. The Lady of the House of Taylor, and the one who aspired to be the head of the family long before you could even speak properly. You will not be able to do anything, Robert.”
As I met Yuria’s gaze, a strange feeling rose within me.
Looking at Yuria Taylor didn’t stir any emotions anymore; it was just an empty feeling, like when I looked at someone else.
Yes, just like when I looked at Teresa.
In the past, I was afraid.
At the very beginning of this chapter, I tried to numb myself to Yuria, and for a moment, I even harbored hatred against her.
But now, it didn’t matter anymore.
I had grown confident that the woman who could not contain her immediate anger and confusion was no longer my rival.
“Then, after winter passes, I will know whether I am worthy to be the head of the family.”
“You… will not be, Robert.”
“No, I will.”
Adele’s support, the Order’s support,
and I will claim the Imperial Family’s support to make Taylor mine.
In the process, I would build my own power and prepare for the future, while also regaining my own standing to a certain level.
When winter is over, and if the brutal cold melts away to leave only warmth in the spring,
will I still be calling Yuria the Lady of the House?
I smirked at Yuria, who was gritting her teeth, and politely bowed my head, creating a little distance.
Yuria, who usually looked at me coldly, now stared back as I followed the formalities.
“You asked me before if I was confident.”
That must have been before our trip to the Imperial Palace. Maybe it was something said to provoke her.
As I looked at her, wondering if she still remembered, Yuria drew a dagger and sliced her palm.
With blood dripping down her hand, she glared at me and parted her lips again.
“…I will definitely become the head of the family. And you will have to take responsibility for what you’ve said.”
I knew all too well what that word, responsibility, meant.
How many times had I been entangled in that responsibility and ended up dying?
But I wasn’t afraid. I had long decided in this life where I would meet my end.
I hadn’t lived carelessly enough to die at Yuria’s hands.
There was no need to harbor fear.
“Is that so?”
But her wish would not come to fruition.
Since I had made up my mind to become the head of the family, Yuria, who had only lived once, could not defeat Robert, who had lived a hundred times.
That was the predetermined narrative.
The script, the dialogue, even the ending had all been written by this fate.
The only destiny she was meant to face was one.
Tragedy. I murmured softly as the word crossed my mind.
Now, having nothing more to say, my expression remained nothing but calm.
“Then let’s see. If we meet again, the answer will likely be revealed.”
As I turned my back and stepped into the dining room, a loud sound of something shattering echoed from behind.
For a long time, the noise sounded as if it were breaking everything inside, until it finally ceased.
All that remained was the roar of a woman, screaming in rage.
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