Chapter 5: Inner Turmoil

She couldn’t understand. Was it a sin to want to live? Was it a sin to seek survival by leaving her parents?

Lyra didn’t avoid the Baron’s gaze as she spoke again.

“Can parents who sell their daughter… with her life as collateral… still be called parents?”

Her throat kept tightening. Still, she continued.

“Was I… ever truly your child… even once?”

“What?”

“Do you really think… you deserve to be called parents?”

The Baron’s lips clamped shut at her cold spring-green eyes. But only for a moment. He soon regained his senses and raised his hand again to strike his impudent daughter’s cheek.

Just as he was about to strike with all his might, Kaylon, who had somehow appeared beside them, firmly grabbed the Baron’s wrist.

“Enough.”

A cold gaze turned toward the Baron. Finally coming to his senses, Baron Norris lowered his raised arm and glared at Lyra.

“This is the end of my tolerance for discourtesy, Baron.”

Kaylon, dropping honorifics, coldly regarded the Baron’s reddening face before nodding to the anxious footmen nearby.

Immediately, well-built footmen grabbed the Baron’s arms. Baron Norris pushed his hips back and braced his legs, trying to resist being dragged out. Even as strong hands forced him to turn and dragged him across the floor, he kept his head turned toward the detestable Lyra.

Kaylon deliberately put his arm around Lyra’s shoulders. Then he lifted the corner of his mouth at the Baron, who had already made quite the spectacle of himself.

The Baron saw this clearly. But his rage turned toward the helpless Lyra.

“You… you! I’ll make sure you…!”

“Stop this, dear!”

Sabrina, who had been stunned by her husband’s sudden actions, finally came to her senses and rushed to the Baron’s side. She gave Kaylon a cursory bow before leading her husband outside.

As the Baron and his wife left, the front door closed with a click. Still, the Baron’s shouts continued for some time.

Lyra let out the breath she’d been holding. Her entire body had grown stiff with tension at some point. Her palms were already drenched in sweat, and her mind was dizzy. Her father’s curses and her struck cheek still throbbed.

Above all, she couldn’t move a single step because blood seemed to be flowing invisibly, as if someone had stabbed her heart with a knife.

That’s when Kaylon patted her shoulder a few times before withdrawing his hand.

“Well done, Lyra.”

He merely smiled languidly, as if the situation hadn’t displeased him at all.

Only then did Lyra turn to Kaylon and bow deeply.

“I’m… sorry. Because of me…”

She couldn’t raise her face at all. Her feelings of shame and regret were too overwhelming. Kaylon, looking down at her intently, smirked as if she was apologizing for nothing.

“Go back and rest for today. I’ll speak with the lady about this.”

He turned away as if nothing had happened. Because of this, Lyra didn’t see his brow furrow severely. She just slowly raised her head and gazed endlessly at Kaylon’s retreating figure.

* * *

Looking back, it had been strangely satisfying. The very idea of Lyra Norris looking her parents in the eye and talking back had been unimaginable before. After years of enduring their treatment, there was even a certain catharsis in finally releasing all that had built up.

But she couldn’t simply revel in that feeling, and this troubled her.

Her brief musings about what she should have said differently or how she should have acted were interrupted by her mood plummeting.

Emotions tend to seek familiar territory, and overwhelming self-loathing crashed over her.

Above all, she felt uncomfortable about having made such a scene in front of the Duke and everyone in the mansion. She felt too ashamed and embarrassed to show her face.

Her mind festered, making sleep impossible. Despite the heavy, warm air settling in the room, Lyra pulled the blanket up over her head. She wanted nothing more than to hide away completely.

Now that everyone knew her personal circumstances, what should she do? Having her family troubles forcibly exposed left her feeling terribly vulnerable.

‘They’ll… push me away, won’t they?’

Cold eyes staring at her. The same people who had once warmly taken her hand now turning away.

Lyra shuddered. It was horrible how the shadows of a past she never wanted to revisit were overlaying themselves on her present.

She didn’t even know who to blame anymore. She gasped for breath under the stifling blanket, yet still couldn’t bring herself to throw it off.

Morning came, and she had to face breakfast with Kaylon in this dejected state. His every breath, expression, and movement set her on edge. She simply couldn’t meet his eyes.

“You’ll put holes in the plate at this rate.”

“…Pardon?”

When she finally looked up, she found only a playful smile.

“Why torture the innocent vegetables?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Lyra notice the salad she’d punctured repeatedly with her fork.

“If you have no appetite, you may leave. I’ll have food sent up separately.”

“…Yes.”

This wasn’t how she’d wanted things to go… She worried that she might have even ruined the Duke’s appetite. Finally, after anxiously watching for reactions, Lyra returned to her room first.

A while later, Hannah brought in dessert, but Lyra couldn’t touch that either. Despite her hunger, she simply couldn’t bring herself to put anything in her mouth.

It was the same during Mrs. Beightle’s lessons. Lost in thought, she only earned the elderly lady’s thundering reprimands. Lyra’s shoulders hunched more and more.

“What do you expect to accomplish with your mind wandering like this!”

“I-I’m sorry, madam.”

“Again, again!”

“…”

Mrs. Beightle beat her chest as if about to burst with frustration. Then she stormed out, leaving Lyra alone in the lesson room.

Lyra couldn’t lift her head. The gaze that had been fixed on her felt particularly harsh.

‘Of course she’s angry.’

For someone who valued family honor above all else, yesterday’s events must have left deep scars on the elderly lady.

Lyra let out a heavy sigh and slowly closed her eyes.

* * *

“Still at it?”

Lyra’s depression continued uncontrollably. Kaylon had even temporarily suspended breakfast, sensing her discomfort at facing him.

He looked at Mrs. Beightle, whose face had flushed red with frustration, and inquired about Lyra’s condition. The elderly lady’s eyes bulged as she responded.

“This ends here! With that temperament, she won’t even manage to step on the hem of Miss Claudia’s dress!”

“Isn’t that rather excessive speculation?”

“Speculation? The outcome is clear as day to these old eyes. And that’s not all! When Count Almar learns of this! Haah… No, why did you bring someone else’s bride here in the first place? Must this old woman drop dead before you come to your senses?”

Mrs. Beightle glared fiercely at Kaylon after her outburst. She’d thought they’d simply brought in a lady from a fallen house, but instead, they’d practically kidnapped a lady who was already in marriage talks.

When she finally learned the full story from Isaac, the elderly lady had nearly fainted on the spot.

“You’ll raise your blood pressure. Why not calm down?”

“Do I look capable of calming down? Thanks to this, my blood pressure is already through the roof! Just look at the state of this household!”

“What’s wrong with the state of the household?”

“Ha! Can’t you see how everyone’s tiptoeing around, whispering?”

“And what of it?”

At his casual response, Mrs. Beightle grabbed the back of her neck in exasperation.

“Are you really going to continue like this?”

“I don’t see the problem.”

“This will wound that young lady too. In the end, she’ll be the one pointed at in social circles. Do you still not understand?”

Kaylon’s eyebrow rose crookedly.

“Well, that remains to be seen.”

Kaylon wasn’t entirely unconcerned. He’d known about Lyra’s fragile nature from the start, yet her patience had impressed him enough to catch his interest.

While he understood the current shock must be considerable, he didn’t believe she would keep burrowing underground forever. He was simply giving her the time she needed.

“No. There’s nothing more to see or say. We’ve fulfilled the promised period, so let’s end this here. If you really need a teacher, find someone else.”

With those words, Mrs. Beightle stormed out.

Kaylon gently rubbed his forehead.

“This is troublesome…”