Chapter 27 

She turned her head toward the voice, startled by the somewhat rude question. There stood an unexpected figure.

“Lady Cherville?”

It was Diana, who had been about to approach and strike up a conversation.

‘She spoke to me first…?’

She had seemed so standoffish that Isabella hadn’t imagined Diana would be the one to initiate a conversation.

Caught off guard, Isabella was at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Diana’s gaze persistently followed the lines of Isabella’s dress. Feeling oddly self-conscious, Isabella twisted a loose strand of hair between her fingers before reluctantly responding.

“Ah, um, this has nothing to do with a curse…”

But she suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

‘Don’t tell me Lady Juvel misunderstood too…?’

Realizing too late why Camilla’s group had suddenly disappeared, Isabella gave a bitter smile.

‘I should’ve been clearer.’

But regrets couldn’t reclaim missed chances. This time, she made her meaning perfectly clear.

“Lady Cherville, this outfit was custom-made solely to suppress my dark magic.”

“Dark magic?”

“Yes. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but my mana is so vast that I still can’t fully control it. I wear these garments and carry special items to prevent it from leaking and affecting those around me.”

Diana fell silent for a moment after hearing this. Then, without warning, she stepped closer. Hiding her lips behind a fan, she leaned in and whispered into Isabella’s ear.

“Then… you don’t have any curse-related abilities at all?”

“Pardon?”

How was she supposed to respond to that? Was this some kind of insult?

But Diana didn’t seem to be mocking her. Her hazel eyes were filled with such seriousness, she looked almost desperate, like someone clutching a lifeline dropped from the sky.

She pressed on.

“For example, curse-breaking or anything like that… ah!”

Her question was abruptly cut off. Gripping her head, Diana winced in pain from a sudden headache.

“L-Lady Cherville? Are you all right? Are you feeling unwell… L-Lady Cherville!”

As Isabella reached out to support her staggering form, Diana swatted her hand away irritably and fled. Staring after her retreating figure in stunned silence, Isabella slowly lowered her hand, her expression growing grave.

‘What… was that just now?’

A faint, sweet scent and a familiar aura had lingered from their brief contact.

‘Why would Lady Cherville have traces of dark magic on her…? No… could it be…?’

Isabella hurried after her. But Diana had already vanished.

Coming to a halt, Isabella twisted a strand of hair in thought.

‘The Tear of Infernus… It was definitely the aura of one of the fragments. Is she being influenced… or is she the host?’

Whatever the case, Diana was in danger.

Isabella didn’t know which of the four missing dark relics was attached to her, but she knew all too well the kind of harm they could inflict on a person.

‘What should I do? We’re not even close… I can’t just barge in on her…’

As she tangled and clenched the strand of hair around her finger in frustration, a sharp voice reached her ears from the far corner of the balcony where she had wandered in search of Diana.

“So annoying! Wasn’t her name Isabella? Is she pretending to be innocent, or is she just dense? I can’t believe how shameless she is!”

‘…!’

The venomous words made her heart sink. But she calmed herself and cautiously peered through the partially open balcony doors.

‘Those girls…?’

Inside stood a familiar group. Camilla and the two young ladies. Still fuming, the blonde spoke up again.

“Did you see her fawning over the young men earlier? For someone supposedly cursed, she should be grateful His Grace is even protecting her and stay quiet! But no, she’s out here flirting like some low-born tramp!”

“Exactly! She’s making all women look bad! Girls like her give the rest of us a bad name!”

Margot chimed in, feeding off Blondie’s malice.

“Right? And your fiancé’s been cheating on you again, hasn’t he? Honestly, how could he do that when he has such a proper fiancée?”

“That’s what I’m saying! It’s definitely girls like her who encourage that kind of behavior!”

Listening to their crude and venomous exchange, Isabella covered her mouth in shock.

‘…What did I do so wrong to deserve this?’

It was so unfair.

Had it not been for the tradition of asking for the first dance, she never would’ve approached those young men herself. 

Even then, hadn’t they all run away as if terrified? How could they possibly interpret that as her trying to flirt?

‘Hmph. Do they like the Duke or something?’

From their words, it seemed their outrage had less to do with Isabella and more to do with projecting their own jealous frustrations onto her. And then came the most shocking part.

“Camilla, say something too! You saw how fake she was acting. Don’t pretend you weren’t laughing. You hate her even more than we do, don’t you?”

“Hah. Hate? She’s a cursed wretch who dared to set her sights on my place. She should’ve stayed rotting in the backwater she came from!”

The kindly Camilla from earlier shattered in an instant. Everyone had two faces, but realizing her malice had been aimed at Isabella all along still hurt.

Unlike Isabella, the others seemed to take great pleasure in dragging her through the mud.

“We know how hard you worked to be the right woman for His Grace. It made me mad just watching.”

“Seriously! Why would he pick someone like her over you? Oh! Could it be that?”

“What?”

“They say dark magic can control people’s hearts. What if she’s secretly using it on him?”

“Oh! I’ve heard that too. Supposedly her face is so disfigured from those filthy spells that she always hides it behind a veil.”

“Huh! I knew it. When she said she was sensitive to sunlight, I knew it was nonsense.”

‘…!’

It felt like a stake had been driven straight through her heart. Unable to take it anymore, Isabella fled the scene.

‘From the start… they never intended to hear me out. To them, I was nothing more than a cursed girl.’

They heard only what they wanted, believed only what they wished to believe. She had foolishly hoped they might become friends once the misunderstanding cleared up.

Blinded by that hope, she had let herself get hurt.

Overwhelmed by emotion, she stumbled into an empty balcony and yanked the curtains shut.

Bang! Swish!

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed into a crouch.

Throb.

A sharp pain flared in her ankle, one she had been ignoring until now. Forcing herself up, Isabella sat on the nearby sofa and examined her ankle. It had swollen badly from the misstep she took earlier while dancing with Hayden.

“It hurts…”

She told herself the pain came only from her injury. Otherwise, the agony from those cruel words might have made her heart scream.

With a deep sigh, she gazed out at the desolate night of the imperial palace.

“What a mess this is.”

Her earnest wish to make friends had ended in failure, and the fantasy of her debutante ball had crumbled under the weight of malicious gossip. Isabella yelled out into the air.

“Ugh! A shadow pretending to be the sun!”

The palace, once grand and radiant, now looked cold and lifeless, perhaps because her emotions had changed so drastically since arriving. Just then. 

Knock, knock.

Someone tapped on the terrace door.

Click.

The door opened, and someone stepped inside.

“…Your Grace?”

It was none other than Cedric.

“You… why are you here?”

Was it a coincidence? Or had he come looking for her?

Aside from their first meeting, they hadn’t exchanged a single glance or word all evening.

And yet, with a distance she hadn’t sensed at the ducal residence now looming between them, this moment felt bewildering. Without a word, Cedric approached with his usual stern expression and tossed something at her.

It was a white bandage.

“Why are you giving me this…?”

Startled, she asked, wondering why he’d brought her a bandage.

Cedric glanced at her injured ankle, then turned away and said, “If you don’t need it, throw it away.”

“…Ah.”

Isabella looked down at the bandage, then at her swollen ankle, and suddenly realized two things. 

First, that priests had been standing by throughout the banquet in case of emergencies. Any other noble would have summoned one for healing the moment they were hurt.

But for her, holy power was poisonous. More importantly…

Not even her parents had noticed her injury. 

‘He had.’

Only Cedric had realized she was hurt, and instead of calling a priest, had quietly brought her a bandage. Something about that made her chest tighten.

Clutching the bandage to her chest, Isabella whispered, “Thank you.”

Cedric didn’t reply, simply turning to leave the balcony. Isabella lowered her gaze and reached for her ankle.

‘Huh?’

Her fingers couldn’t reach.

“Urgh…”

No matter how she strained, she couldn’t bend far enough. The corset made it impossible to reach her ankle.

‘Come on… just a little more!’

She trembled, stretching as far as she could. And then a large hand suddenly enveloped hers, gripping the bandage.

“Allow me.”

Startled, she looked up to see Cedric beside her once more.

“A-ah, no! I can do it! I’m already grateful enough. You really don’t have to go this far…”

She waved her hands in protest. But the more she did, the darker his expression grew, so she quietly handed him the bandage.

“Just extend your leg.”

Cedric sat beside her, patting his knee. Timidly, she rested her injured foot on his leg.

His large hand gently cupped her ankle. Surprisingly, his touch was delicate. And perhaps because of that, every time his gaze or fingers touched her skin, she felt as if she were on fire.

‘W-Why is it so hot in here…?’

……

T/N: I could imagine Isabella blushing through the veil hahaha