In the end, you and I are both headed for the same grave. Instead of this nonsense, he ought to smother his useless jealousy.

A short while later, they entered the dining hall. One man was already seated: the master of the house, Duke Sorpel.

Ludville, his son, was nowhere to be seen.

So it’s this point in time.

Seeing that Ludville wasn’t at table, Camilla could roughly place the moment.

It was when a major uprising had broken out in the western region. Ludville had marched out with troops to suppress it.

This is where it starts.

Ravi’s jealousy would begin to boil over—because Ludville would return with a resounding victory.

Anyway...

Camilla let her gaze rest on Duke Sorpel and couldn’t help a small, private admiration.

Sir, you could remarry and no one would complain.

Even now, he drew flirtations from society’s ladies; his presence was undeniable.

It’s a shame to let that go to waste.

Camilla and Ravi’s mother had remarried the duke, and for a time they’d lived contentedly enough.

But it didn’t last. Less than a year after the wedding, she died suddenly in a riding accident.

After her death, everyone assumed Camilla and Ravi would be cast out of the ducal house.

There was no blood tie binding them to the duke—no reason to keep them, or so people said.

But Duke Sorpel defied expectations. He took the two motherless children in as his own. Under his protection, Camilla and Ravi grew up and, in the end...

“......”

At their entrance, Duke Sorpel set aside his newspaper and removed his spectacles, turning his eyes to them.

Wow.

His aura was no joke. Meeting his gaze, Camilla felt her body lock up before she knew it.

Drag her away.

That cold voice ordering the knights. The blade of a stare that had frozen her in place so many [N O V E L I G H T] times.

How many deaths had she met under those eyes?

She swallowed, careful to show nothing. Cold sweat slid down her back; the tips of her fingers trembled.

In the instant she saw him, it all clicked.

Where she was. And what end awaited her if she stayed on this track.

“You’re late.”

Duke Sorpel looked from Camilla to Ravi, and spoke for the first time.

“Well, I—”

“I’m sorry. I overslept.”

“......”

“......”

Both the duke and Ravi turned to her at once, the same emotion in their eyes.

Puzzlement—and surprise.

She was the girl who could scarcely lift her head in front of the duke, much less speak.

Her usual responses were a pinched mouth and a face full of simmering discontent—and silence.

Looking him squarely in the eye and answering like this was almost unheard of.

And she’s smiling?

Convinced she still wasn’t fully awake, Ravi gave a faint shake of his head.

“Sit.”

The duke said nothing more and gestured to their places. As soon as they sat, the maids hurried dishes to the table.

Breathe.

Get it together.

Facing the duke, Camilla doubled down on her composure.

When had she ever been more grateful to be an actress? She’d finished a scene smiling through the agony of a burst appendix, once.

This much is nothing.

She let her eyes fall, cool and steady, to the plate set before her.

Meat for breakfast.

Meat... good.

And seasoned meat.

When had she last eaten a properly marinated cut, what with diet control?

She stared for a beat at the glossy steak, then slid her gaze sideways. A few maids were snickering behind their hands, watching her.

Go on. Laugh while you can.

It ends today.

Camilla gave them a thin, crooked smile of her own, then looked back to her plate and began slicing the meat quickly.

“Father.”

“Mm?”

Having cut the steak into neat, bite-sized pieces, Camilla carefully offered her plate to the duke.

“Please have this. I carved it to be easy to eat.”

This time the duke’s eyes widened visibly. Ravi, too, coughed dryly and set down his glass with a clatter.

He dabbed his mouth with a handkerchief, staring at Camilla with a look that might as well have said, Has she finally lost her mind?

“...Very well.”

After a brief glance between Camilla and the plate, the duke accepted it without much suspicion and set it before himself.

In exchange, he personally placed his own plate in front of her.

“—!”

“—!”

The sharp reactions weren’t limited to the head of the table.

Camilla could feel the maids gulping air, but she ignored them and ate as if nothing were amiss.

Oh... that’s good.

Meat really was right for breakfast.

Tender and rich. A moment later, a piece of meat went into the duke’s mouth as well.

Now came the crucial part.

“......”

Clink.

Chewing, the duke set his fork down—quietly, yet the sound rang.

Camilla looked at his deeply furrowed brow in frank puzzlement, then—ah—sprang up from her seat as if remembering something she’d forgotten.

“F-Father! I’ll take that back and eat it!”

As if a thought had just now occurred to her, she reached, flustered, for the plate in front of the duke.

“Wait.”

The duke stayed her hand, dabbing his mouth with his handkerchief.

Meeting his eyes, Camilla let her gaze tremble uncontrollably. Tears gathered.

Just as they were about to spill, she ducked her head as if to hide them.

She even bit her lip, gently, for effect—like a child caught in something she’d never wanted anyone to see.

What was it today, I wonder?

No one noticed the faint curl at the corner of her mouth, hidden by her bowed head.

A lump of salt? A fist of pepper? Maybe both.

Or maybe the meat had taken a detour through the trash.

Most of the household staff despised Camilla. They used every means they could find to torment her.

It had started small—careful. A touch too much salt in her food. Slightly harsher tea leaves slipped into her cup.

She hadn’t told the family. Pride—the last of it—kept her silent.

When she stayed quiet, the torment escalated. If she finally snapped, some of them even wept like the wronged party.

And in the meantime, the eyes of her family—including the duke—grew colder and colder when they looked at her.

She’s not even blood. What’s “duke’s daughter” supposed to mean?

Exactly. At least Young Master Ravi has ability. But the young lady...

Idiots. Is that scrap of pride going to save you? Use your words. They’re infuriating too.

She’d pick at one bite and stop, meal after meal, and none of them had noticed?

It wasn’t as if they’d only eaten together once or twice. The fact that no one had sensed something was wrong was absurd.

How had they let all that time pass and just... looked the other way?

“This isn’t the first time.”

The duke’s voice cut in again.

“N-no!”

Yes! That was the response of a true head of house—grasping the situation at once!

Inwardly cheering, Camilla shook her head hard, face suitably stricken, the corners of her eyes still red.

“...We’ll revisit this later.”

After a long, silent look, the duke rose slowly and fixed his gaze on one spot.

“First things first—we deal with them.”

Where he was looking, the maids had gone pale as paper.

****

“Why? Got something to say?”

“Did you swallow poison this morning?”

“I didn’t swallow anything.”

Shame. The meat was delicious.

Out in the corridor, light on her feet, Camilla finally stopped under Ravi’s drilling stare.

What punishment will they get, I wonder?

She glanced back at the tightly shut dining-room doors, and the corner of her mouth drew a quiet curve.

The duke had summoned everyone from the butler down to the head maid. Proof enough this wouldn’t be handled lightly.

I know it very well.

The fear he inspires.

That decisiveness.

When it comes to anything that threatens what’s his—or the house—he leaves no gaps, and cuts without mercy.

Which is why he’d killed Camilla and Ravi without hesitation, even though they’d lived together over a decade as “family.”

Camilla studied Ravi anew. What to do with a man charging around with no idea how he ends?

He wasn’t completely rotten yet on jealousy and spite. There was still room to rehabilitate him.

Until she appeared.

Her. The woman who collected the attention of every notable man in this world and reduced every other woman to an extra.

Once her interest turned to Ludville, Ravi’s inferiority would detonate—

Camilla hesitated, then shook her head.

Why should I care? I only have to leave.

The moment her real body in the other world came to, she’d slip out of this one.

I only pity the one who’s going to die.

Not that he doesn’t deserve it.

Tap, tap.

With a faintly sympathetic look, Camilla patted Ravi’s shoulder and walked past him.

“...What was that?”

What was this filthy feeling?

Ravi watched her go, staring for a long moment as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just seen.