The Curse’s Force Won
If I exerted my will, maybe I could resist it. I clamped my lips shut, but I couldn’t break free from the curse’s compulsion.
“Daughter? Why is the Duchess my mother? Then what about my real mom? I know the Duke is family to my mom, but how can I be family to the Duchess instead?”
“A… Idel, that is, this is, um…”
“Only you will accept this, Idel. I will not acknowledge any sort of relationship with the former Countess Lopez, nor will I allow her near. I won’t force it, but I hope there will be no denying Rowena in the future.”
The Duke read the discomfort and pain on his wife’s face in an instant and cut off Idel’s words.
And in the moment his cold gaze, laced with contempt, turned toward Melissa, another command struck Idel.
[Cry.]
“Hiiiiii…!”
[Cry more. Demand “I need my real mom!”]
“Nooo…!”
“Sob! I want to be with my real mom! Let me be with her! Sob! I don’t need a new mom!”
“It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing that can be done. This won’t happen.”
At the Duke’s firm refusal, Idel’s sobs grew louder.
Her shrill scream and bulging eyes made it look as if she were snarling, and the Duke’s expression grew even more twisted.
“It seems she hasn’t received enough education.”
“Vincent!”
Rowena quickly pulled Idel into her arms despite the Duke’s uncharacteristic coldness.
Idel’s condition looked as if it would cause a disaster if left as it was.
The Duchess, who had been silently scolding her husband with a pale face, unconsciously closed her eyes at the sight of the child clinging to her.
‘Was it too hasty…?’
After days of isolation, this was finally the moment she met her mother.
The moment she entered the reception room, the little girl had gone straight to her mother’s arms.
‘She’s seven years old now.’
Even Jiana, who was eight, still struggled to sleep alone in her own room.
The Duchess could only imagine Jiana’s face superimposed on Idel’s.
If Jiana had been forced to stay apart from her mother and was crying like this…
Just thinking about it made her heart feel like it was tearing apart.
“…Idel, rest. Okay? Stop.”
“Hiiiiii…!”
“You don’t have to call me Mommy. You won’t have to be apart from your mom either, right?”
“Rowena!”
Ignoring even the Duke’s hand on her shoulder, the Duchess tried to comfort Idel.
“Hui… Hmmm… Really?”
“I promise.”
As if relieved, Idel’s sobs quieted down.
While stroking the child’s back that was heaving and struggling for air, Rowena bit her lower lip hard.
“Sylvia, go get some water and ointment. And my sister is…”
The raw wound felt as if it would tear her chest apart, but Rowena finally made up her mind.
‘Yes, the child… has no fault.’
Looking at Melissa with downcast eyes, she spat out the words like vomit.
“I will allow you to stay at the Duke’s residence.”
“Rowena, won’t you reconsider just once?”
“…Vincent, Idel is barely seven. She’s even younger than Jiana.”
“…”
Vincent Clementine immediately understood the meaning of his wife’s words. The emotions in her trembling voice.
The man who had been in hell since days ago felt an awful sensation and bent to her will. He could never argue with his wife.
“…Rowena, I’ll do as you wish. Instead, the deadline will be until Idel makes her debut performance. The child will understand her situation by then.”
Rowena nodded at her husband’s agreement and received the water and ointment from the maid.
“Idel, it will be tough, but let’s try to stand up a little. Drink some water if you can. Also apply some ointment to your eyes.”
“Huu…”
Watching Idel, who was exhausted, and Rowena who was taking care of her, the Duke swallowed a sigh.
In the meantime, Idel, who had finally caught her breath in the Duchess’s arms, secretly glowed with bright eyes.
‘Ugh, gross.’
The petty act of using her as a tool to get what she wanted without lifting a finger was annoying, and not even considering the child’s heart or her relationships with the people around her was the worst part.
Idel’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Melissa’s upturned mouth corners. She twisted her body and spoke.
“…I’m leaving.”
“Idel?”
“…I’m going to my room.”
“…Good. Since you cried, you must be tired. Then go rest and we’ll meet again later. Take the ointment well too. Your skin is delicate, so it might sting even after some time passes.”
Leaving behind the loyal Rowena who was still looking after her even at the moment of departure, Idel left the reception room.
Turning her body without proper courtesy was not a desirable action for a noble lady, but no one could scold the child whose eyes were swollen from crying too much.
Idel, walking down the corridor after leaving the reception room, quietly gritted her teeth. Her thoughts had changed.
‘I’ll save the Duke by any means necessary.’
Originally she had only planned to help within her means. She didn’t know the original novel well, and her nose was sharp.
She had prioritized escape from here…
‘Even at the time of escape, I must make Melissa pay for this.’
How could she miss the long-awaited event right in front of her eyes?
Moreover, upon careful thought, if she saved the Duke, it seemed people would believe her words about the bad things Melissa had made them do.
‘Then I can leave the Duke’s residence more proudly. And I can boldly say that the two of them aren’t my biological parents.’
It was clearly more dangerous, but it brought many more gains.
‘First, I’ll solve this curse.’
Having decided that, Idel frowned and let out a small sigh. Because she had cried so much, her whole body ached as if she had been beaten.
That was when a gentle voice came from beside her.
“Idel-nim, shall I carry you?”
Idel hesitated for a moment at the kind voice.
“…No.”
“But, it seems walking is too much for you.”
“I said no!”
With her voice cracking, she stomped her feet as if to prove it.
From somewhere, a small “uh-huh” sound was heard. Only then did Idel rub her eyes in a flustered way and wipe the sweat from her forehead.
‘Phew, that was dangerous.’
The servants’ vigilance had clearly eased. There were a few people who pitied her. No matter how mean one was, a child who cried until her eyes swelled must have seemed pitiful.
‘But that can’t be allowed.’
After the brainwashing wore off, maybe, but right now with the curse holding firm, she had to stay as Melissa’s kind daughter.
As the kind daughter who was being treated as a bad person by all the people in the Duke’s residence who weren’t her real mother, and who committed wicked acts.
“I, Idel-nim, don’t do that and just let me carry you…”
At the maid’s words trying to speak to her again, Idel narrowed her eyes and turned her head sharply.
“I said no! Have my words been funny since earlier?”
“W-what? Ah, no. Funny? Absolutely not, it’s just that Idel-nim’s complexion is too pale…”
“So? I said I’m fine, what do you have to do with that… Wait.”
Idel, whose expression was mixed with irritation, paused for a moment. The servant who was caught by her malice was none other than the one she knew.
‘That maid whose palm was cut by the paper earlier?’
The heart that had been sharpened to the point of pain saw the half-healed hand and slightly wavered. The maid, standing stiff with tension, had gathered courage alone in a situation where she could have pretended not to know.
‘Of all people…’
Idel, chewing on the flesh inside her mouth, blinked as if something came to mind.
‘No, if I’m careful, I can do both.’
She had the ointment from the Duchess in her hand. Because it was the Duke’s residence, there were many eyes around.
‘So, I can make the right hand not know what the left did, right?’
She spotted a few servants whispering to each other while sneaking glances. These were clearly the “spies.”
Idel narrowed her eyes and let out a laugh.
“What? Someone said it was you again?”
“Ah, t-that…”
“You thought that if you did this, I would overlook what happened earlier…?”
“No! Absolutely not! How could I dare…”
“You’re saying no?”
Idel placed her hand on her waist and frowned.
Looking at the maid with the most scheming expression possible, she suddenly brightened as if she had thought of something.
“I see! You’ve been trying to tell the adults that I’ve been mean to you! You’ve been showing the adults wounds, wounds… Anyway, you’ve been bringing this up! So you haven’t been going to the doctor and have been clinging to me!”
“…Eh…”
“Wait, now that I think about it, all the other kids here are on your side too, right? Ha! I knew it! You deliberately made me angry!”
“No, that’s not true…”
Watching the maid’s face flood with bewilderment and injustice, Idel quickly continued.
“Hmph! Out of the question.”
‘Not listening to others and arguing’ was a basic skill possessed by a scheming, wicked child.
Idel recalled the annoying child actresses she had seen in dramas.
Raising her chin and pulling one corner of her mouth into a sneer, she walked over to the maid and shoved the ointment into her hands.
“I, Idel-nim?”
“From now on, come to me every day to get your hand checked. If you complain that it hurts because of me, I won’t leave you alone!”
Holding up her small fist as proof, Idel turned her body and walked away.
Watching the back of the girl who was strutting in triumph, the remaining servants whispered softly.
“Ugh, her personality is really… She’s too different from young master Jiana.”
“Exactly. Diane probably meant well… Poor thing.”
The whispers from behind were Idel’s reward.
She had shown her wicked side smoothly and even given her medicine. With a satisfied smile, she slipped into her room.
‘Hah, now my heart feels a bit lighter!’
After all, people should live kindly. Whether others acknowledge it or not!