CHAPTER 162………………………………………………
This could only be explained as a lack of interest.
Leona couldn’t even get up from her seat after picking up the last document and handing it to Pablo.
She felt so drained that she just wanted to lie down in the hallway and rest.
Pablo reached out to her with a troubled expression and helped her to her feet.
“No, milady. His Highness clearly cares about you. He just doesn’t show it. I, on the other hand, am proud of you.”
“…….”
Pablo’s words of comfort didn’t reach her heart.
Because what Leona wanted was direct acknowledgment from Lloyd.
She desperately needed a guardian who could emotionally connect with her, but Lloyd could not fulfill that role even with empty words.
Leona had studied out of habit and had claimed first place.
That was the year she turned ten.
“So, you’re Leona, huh?”
She had also placed first in the first exam of the year and went to Lloyd for a hint.
But there was already someone there.
A middle-aged woman who resembled Lloyd was seated in the main seat, smoking a pipe.
The woman greeted Leona warmly, tapped the ash from her pipe, and introduced herself.
“I am Priscilla Eckhart. I suppose I’ll be your grandmother. Your father has been so secretive that this is the first time I’m seeing you.”
She was a striking woman, with bright red lips and glacier-like eyes.
Her personality matched her appearance; even Lloyd in the same office seemed unable to assert himself.
The acrid smoke made Leona want to hold her breath, but she greeted politely, as she had been taught.
“Hello, Grandmother.”
“Call me Grandma, just like that.”
She hadn’t even done anything yet—why was this woman already so fond of her?
Priscilla wasn’t exactly Leona’s type, but seeing Lloyd’s family treat her favorably filled something long dry inside her.
Priscilla seated Leona and asked her purpose.
“I’ve come to deliver your report card.”
“Oh, really?”
Priscilla naturally took the report card.
Originally, Leona had planned to show it to Lloyd first, but Priscilla effortlessly received it herself.
Any irritation or discomfort was quickly drowned out by Priscilla’s exclamation.
“Excellent! First place so overwhelmingly. You never miss first place, it seems Lloyd wasn’t lying. It’s unfortunate you weren’t the top of your class at entry, but you’re doing well now, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“…Really?”
“Really, indeed. You’re doing very well. You’ve worked hard.”
It was the first praise she had ever received.
Her recognition-starved heart, which had long been dry as if a tiny cup could barely hold a drop of water, overflowed like a faucet finally opened.
Priscilla was in such a good mood that she couldn’t take her eyes off the report card and proudly boasted to Lloyd as well.
“Lloyd, don’t you want to see it?”
“I heard you just now.”
“Tch, the boy… He doesn’t understand how hard this is since he didn’t attend the academy. He should praise the child more; it would fuel her ambition.”
“……”
Lloyd, clearly uncomfortable, avoided her gaze.
Tsk tsk tsk, Priscilla clicked her tongue and apologized to Leona on his behalf.
“He’s always like that, Leona. Let Grandma say something.”
“Really?”
“Of course, really.”
“Ah, but don’t scold him too much.”
“The boy, alright. Understood.”
She said this with an elegant smile.
At first, Leona had been unimpressed, but she realized she had been too narrow-minded.
Leona found herself liking Priscilla very much.
And it seemed Priscilla felt the same way.
“I like you. Let’s see each other often from now on.”
“Yes, Grandma.”
Leona left naturally, her spirits lifted.
It wasn’t until she was outside that she realized she hadn’t received the hint.
She had been too excited to have been praised after so long.
“Well, I’ll hear the hint later. Grandma said she’d tell me something, so I can look forward to it.”
But there was no change with Lloyd.
When she went to get the hint, Lloyd coldly threw it at her and sent her away.
Unable to hold back, Leona asked:
“…Praise?”
“Praise?”
“Grandma told you to praise me.”
Even if she didn’t want to, her disappointment slipped out.
Honestly, by now he could have done it, so she looked at him with a quiet hope.
Her ears perked up as Lloyd’s lips slowly parted.
But.
“Isn’t the reason you got first place in the first place to get a hint for revenge? You’re going to receive a hint while saying you want praise after threatening to kill someone?”
“…What?”
What came from Lloyd wasn’t praise.
Not just a lack of praise—this was outright criticism.
“I never said I’d kill anyone! I just…”
Leona was unjustly reprimanded and tried to explain, but then fell silent.
Yes, she had studied to lay the groundwork for revenge.
But why did it feel so unfair and disappointing?
“I’ll give you a hint. They move according to tokens.”
Even though Lloyd saw her expression and her clenched skirts, he said only what he needed to.
“And this is the last hint. I can’t tell you anything more, so you don’t need to study any further.”
A one-sided announcement, like a bolt from the blue.
Leona, now grown, knew who was behind it all.
It was Crown Prince Mars—Minerva’s twin brother, who would soon become Emperor before the coronation.
However, she could not uncover the identity of the assassins who killed Minerva.
That was why she needed hints—but this was the last one!
“Wait, what do you mean by that? Doing this without any explanation—”
“Now leave.”
Leona was literally driven out.
This was betrayal.
Lloyd seemed to give everything but would never give what Leona truly wanted.
Even without doing anything, she felt the most anger since Minerva’s death—her breath short, hands trembling.
For the first time, she destroyed everything in her room.
Because she realized how Lloyd truly thought of her.
Exhausted, she closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the room had been neatly restored as if nothing had happened.
‘Huh…’
Even after wreaking havoc, he didn’t care.
She should have known all along that she was nothing but an outsider to him. She shouldn’t expect anything from family.
‘Right… my only family is Mom.’
What had she been expecting from others? She felt foolish.
From that point on, Leona grew increasingly rebellious.
No one punished her, no matter what she did wrong.
Her accumulating anger came out in breaking objects, indulging in luxuries, or teasing other students at the academy.
She gave up trying to uncover the assassin group.
Instead, she focused on a single, definite target.
She decided to approach Cassius, the son of Mars, who attended the same academy.
But Cassius was not easy to deal with, and Leona’s reputation didn’t help. They didn’t get along at all.
They were like oil and water.
Strange rumors spread.
That Leona had a crush on Cassius, followed him around, and got rejected.
Leona was furious at the rumor and caused chaos, making things worse.
She decided to change tactics.
Getting close to Prince Mars meant approaching Princess Gabrielle, not Cassius, making it a more efficient strategy.
If she became friendly with Gabrielle, she might be invited to tea, and eventually, she could find a way to kill Mars.
From that point on, Leona cut all interest in Cassius and focused solely on debutante preparations.
She maintained first place in her studies, hoping Gabrielle might look favorably on her.
For three years, Leona worked to become a lady admired by adults.
Finally, three years later, at fourteen, she was old enough to attend her debutante ball.
And that year, a girl named Ayla Wolfgang transferred to the Poface Academy.
