After sending my letter to my grandfather, even more memories started to play out before me like a flipbook. Eventually, the sun rose without me having caught a wink of sleep. Though I had stayed up the entire night, my nerves were so taut that I didn’t feel the least bit tired. My skin didn’t even appear particularly haggard when I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
“I’m so jealous!” Teiren exclaimed in the back of my mind. “You’ve still got youth on your side!”
Apparently, it all went downhill the moment you reached twenty-five.
Perhaps I ought to start taking better care of myself now.
Turning my attention away from Teiren as she kicked up a fuss and rolled this way and that, I used cleansing magic to wash myself up. I then put on my one remaining dress—a plain, bright green garment that my mother had apparently worn during her youth. I might have called it plain, but the majority of it had been made with fine silk, making it exceptionally comfortable.
Now, I would never complain about my beloved mother’s dress, but the fact was that my father hadn’t even troubled himself to have a garment made for his daughter when she was essentially being sent to her death. If that didn’t paint a clear picture of the way he treated me, I don’t know what would. As much as it pained me, even the smallest details reminded me of that.
Not that it mattered anymore. Soon, I would be free from my family—from my oppressors.
I sighed. Once I was finished changing and went downstairs, I would be greeted only by my discontent father, my smug stepmother, and my half-sister. Please forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm. But even so, I couldn’t stay up in my room forever.
I was potentially walking to my death, and in what could be the last moments of my very short life, I would be forced to play along with their nonsensical charade. How could you not feel sorry for me?
“Loving the new persona, Fran. You’ve really grown up in the past twenty-four hours. I’m so proud of you!”
I left Teiren to bawl her eyes out while I slowly made my way down the stairs. As expected, my father, stepmother, and Elysia were already gathered in the entrance hall. Every role was accounted for. Unsurprisingly, Theodore was nowhere to be seen, even though his former fiancée was on her way to be sacrificed. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out what that says about him.
I trudged down the final few steps to join my family and addressed my father. “I shall be forever grateful for the time and effort you spent raising me.”
“Keep the Vaielindt name at the forefront of your mind as you carry out your duty.” His words were completely void of sincerity.
I received his comment with a perfect curtsy. “I am as undeserving of your words as I am the honor that is about to be bestowed on me.”
Displeased, he wrinkled his nose, knowing that this was likely the last time he would speak to me. If memory served, my mother had gone through great pains to approach my father. Just how blind had she been to his faults? I was now sure her eyes had been opened just a few months after my birth when Elysia had been born.
My father snorted and averted his gaze. “You’re behaving just like your late mother! She was constantly looking down her nose at me!”
Behind him stood Elysia and my stepmother, looking bored out of their minds. In all likelihood, they had been looking forward to me wailing and despairing over my pathetically short life. Unfortunately, I wasn’t considerate enough to indulge them. When my father looked over at the priests, I took the opportunity to sneer at the women behind his back. Their faces immediately turned scarlet with rage, but even they had the good sense not to cause a scene in front of strangers.
Speaking of which, the priests my father was speaking to had been sent here from the Grand Temple to perform the Flower Offering ceremony. They were steadily preparing the required magic circle. Their duty was to impart blessings on the young bride and transport her from her earthly existence into the dragon’s lair using teleportation magic.
The farther you needed to transport something somewhere with such magic, the more likely it was that you would need something as grand as a magic circle. While I could use teleportation magic myself, I didn’t have the ability to teleport past the walls of this estate.
My sacrifice must have been planned for some time. It was impossible to think that these priests could have made it here if they had only been called for yesterday.
Apparently, Elysia had finally lost her patience at my lack of emotion. She approached me with brisk steps. “My dear sister, how does it feel to be walking up to death’s door after already losing your fiancé to me? It must be simply awful!” she whispered, her lip curling.
“Awful? Is it so awful to have managed to shake free from a man so slavish to desire that he would leave his fiancée in the middle of their engagement? And soon, I shall also be free of the harlot who has forever been green with envy for my lot in life. If I had to identify what I am feeling at this moment, I could only say relief.” My smirk was peppered with all the smugness I could muster.
Unable to handle the truth, Elysia’s pale cheeks reddened once more. “I beg your pardon?!”
I was only being honest, but it seemed I had angered her.
I hummed. “I suppose I also ought to wish you luck as you study to become both a proper lady and a duchess.”
“How can you keep your composure?! You must feel some frustration! Some terror! If only you would crawl on your knees and beg for your life, I might be willing to ask father to reconsider!” Elysia cried, spittle flying.
I distanced myself from her, allowing the full extent of my hatred to show in my gaze. “I do not need assistance from a narrow-minded child like you in order to survive. I have at last learned how to use my skill!” I then sneaked a glance at the priests—the magic circle was ready.
The mention of my skill had garnered the attention of everyone here. To back up my words, I used a burst of wind magic to send the colorful flowers I had ordered earlier fluttering through our surroundings. A sweet scent spread out over the gardens. Incidentally, these were something called “edible flowers”—they were suitable for consumption! Teiren’s world was a wonderful one for creating something that was both beautiful and delicious.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You... That’s impossible!”
I laughed. “Surprised, father? I suppose this is proof that real strength is found when one is pushed to one’s limits!”
Everyone watched with wide eyes. And why shouldn’t they have been? I had been denounced for my inability to use my skill for all this time, and now I had turned the tables in an instant. Some of them had completely stopped what they were doing. Others didn’t understand what was going on. And some people looked livid. So many pairs of eyes were casting different emotions my way, but I gave them all a show by tossing yet more multicolored flowers into the path of my magic. My father looked all the more bitter each time they multiplied, and the faces of my stepmother and half-sister twisted even more. Was I enjoying myself? Beyond a shadow of a doubt!
I offered my father a light curtsy as he gazed in blank amazement at the fluttering flowers. “Now that I think of it, I’ve been wasting my time attempting to earn my father’s love for all these years.”
My words were perfectly true. Perhaps if he had offered me just a modicum of love, I would have performed my duty with our name at the forefront of my mind without spitting venom at him.
“Wh— Fran... Francheska!”
“I do hope you enjoy playing happy family with Elysia and your wife. Meanwhile, I shall be cursing you from the depths of hell,” I said with a smile.
My father’s face instantly flashed red and shifted to purple right afterward. Perhaps I had enraged him too. He had no problem trampling all over my heart, but he didn’t like it when the same was done to him in return. I suppose that’s what you call a double standard.
His fists were curled up so tightly that he must have been ready to strike me. I slipped past him and jumped into the magic circle’s faint glow. Then, I activated my magic. This was the type of magic circle that activated automatically once it had stored up enough power to send one the full distance to their destination. Since the priests had already filled it with their magic, adding my own should’ve meant...
The area around me warped like a heat haze. I had successfully activated the teleportation spell.
I gave one last grandiose curtsy. “Farewell, everyone! I hope you will give your blessings to the union of a cheat, who impregnated his fiancée’s sister, and said sister, who was promiscuous enough to steal him from under my nose!” I used wind magic to amplify my voice, letting that information spread throughout the vicinity of the estate and the houses beyond.
I saw my enraged father charging toward me, but I was enveloped in a white light before his fist could reach me.