Chapter : 05
After getting out of the carriage, Valley was suddenly grabbed by the back of her neck by Rina and dragged roughly into the estate.
Thrown carelessly onto the living room floor, Valley’s knees slammed hard against the ground with a loud crash.
“Ugh…”
Her face twisted from the sharp pain, but she still tried her best to act like nothing was wrong as she slowly stood up.
But before she could fully rise, her mother walked over and slapped her hard across the face, making her collapse again.
“Ugh…”
“You’re already weak and worthless enough that no marriage proposals even come for you, and now you secretly meet a man alone on a terrace without permission? How can you choose only shameless things to do!”
Valley’s cheek instantly swelled red.
Rina had told their parents everything about seeing Valley together with Wayne on the terrace.
“We only talked briefly.”
“Talked? I already heard that man was half-undressed! Is that how you ‘talk’ with men? What would’ve happened to our family’s reputation if someone from another attribute had seen you?”
Her mother shouted furiously without holding back.
Beside her, Rina looked down at Valley proudly.
People who refused to listen even when told the truth.
Valley was sick of all of them.
“You’re going to sell me off anyway as long as someone pays enough money, so what does it matter if I look a little dirty?”
“What?! Don’t you understand how generous we already are for raising a worthless Grade 5 child like you and even arranging marriage prospects for you? Do you still not know your place?”
At this point, Valley could only laugh bitterly instead of answering.
Seeing her attitude, Rina crossed her arms and added mockingly,
“Mother is completely right. You should be grateful they didn’t sell you the moment your magic rank was tested. Without our parents’ kindness, you would’ve already died.”
The moment death was mentioned, Valley, who had been lying on the floor, clenched both fists tightly and stood up.
Then she glared directly at Rina.
“The one who suffers the most here is me.”
“What do you even have to suffer about?”
“Do you think I wanted to be born weak?”
Valley’s voice trembled.
“I was simply born carrying all the weak magic our parents had.”
“Are you blaming our parents right now?”
“It’s not blame. It’s the truth. If I hadn’t been born weak, then maybe you would’ve been the Grade 5 instead.”
“How can you say something so horrible?”
“Horrible? I’m the one living that kind of lif—ugh!”
Valley couldn’t finish speaking.
This time, her father stepped forward and slapped her across the face.
Smack!
The sound echoed loudly through the room.
The hit was so strong that her body staggered violently, but Valley forced strength into her legs to stop herself from falling.
“And now you’re blaming your weakness on my family?”
His blue eyes were cold.
“Among all our ancestors, no one has ever been as weak as you. You are the only disgrace of this family.”
“……”
“But since you are still my daughter, I’ll take responsibility and marry you off so you can at least become useful to someone. So stay quiet and obey.”
There wasn’t even a trace of affection in the blue eyes looking down at Valley.
“As punishment for your rude words today, you are forbidden from leaving the estate for one week. Tsk. I can’t even stand looking at you.”
After saying that, her father turned around first, followed by her mother and Rina.
None of them cared that Valley’s cheeks were badly swollen.
Even the servants simply watched like amused spectators.
Even though she had experienced this countless times since her previous life, it hurt every single time.
A life without love from one’s family was always miserable.
“Miss Valley!”
Edel came running after hearing the news late and quickly checked Valley’s condition.
“Your cheek…! How can they do this to you every single time?!”
Her eyes turned red as if she herself had been slapped.
“Are you alright? N-no, of course you’re not alright when it’s swollen this badly. Does it hurt a lot? Should I carry you to your room?”
“It’s not that serious, Edel.”
“How is this not serious when your face is swollen like this…? Please be honest with me whenever you’re hurt.”
Valley smiled softly at Edel, who looked even more upset than she was, trying to reassure her.
“Let’s go to the bedroom. I want to rest a little.”
“I’ll help you.”
Supported carefully by Edel, Valley returned to her bedroom.
“I’ll bring an ice pack right away. If you keep it on all night, the swelling should go down.”
“Edel, more than that, I need wilted flowers.”
“Flowers? Wilted ones?”
“Yes. Go to the flower market tomorrow and buy wilted flowers for me. I’m banned from leaving the estate again.”
Naturally, Edel tilted her head in confusion after being asked to buy dead flowers instead of healthy ones.
“What are you going to do with wilted flowers?”
“I’m going to train my magic.”
“Really? Until now, you always said your magic was useless and barely practiced it.”
“That’s true. No matter how much I trained, I was still only Grade 5. But now… I want to become stronger.”
“I understand. If that’s what you want, Miss, I’ll get them immediately. I’ll leave before sunrise tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Edel.”
Valley felt grateful that there was at least one person in the estate she could rely on.
The next morning.
Edel finished preparing to leave early in the morning and stood in front of Valley.
Valley fixed Edel’s clothes neatly for her.
“One basket should be enough, so be careful.”
“I’ll come back faster than a carriage could. And you mustn’t skip breakfast, Miss. Keep the ice pack on your cheek too.”
“Alright. I’ll do everything Edel tells me to.”
“Really? I’ll check properly when I come back to make sure you ate.”
Even while leaving the room, Edel kept worrying endlessly about Valley before finally departing.
Once left alone, Valley didn’t simply wait around.
“Let’s start with the basics.”
She grabbed the glass cup prepared beside her breakfast.
To practice filling and reducing water, she slowly closed her eyes and focused.
“Ughhh…!”
She guided the magic flowing through her veins into her palm and carefully controlled it so it would flow into the glass she was holding.
She concentrated so hard that her eyelids trembled.
Then, when she guessed the glass should be full enough, she slowly opened her eyes.
“…It’s not even half full?”
The first training method water attribute users learned was filling and emptying a cup of water with magic.
For higher-grade users, it was basic training they could master freely within ten minutes.
But even after concentrating with all her strength for twenty minutes, Valley couldn’t even fill half the glass.
Even though she had expected it, she almost sighed at how weak her magic truly was.
But she shook her head.
“I can improve through practice. I still have two days left.”
‘Within three days, revive a flower in under two minutes and reduce your recovery time to one hour.’
Whenever she became anxious, Valley remembered Wayne’s words and steadied herself again.
She continued training without rest until eventually she collapsed onto the bed from exhaustion, breathing heavily.
Then suddenly—
The bedroom door burst open without even a knock, and Rina walked in.
“Seriously, what time is it already, and you’re still lying down? You’re unbelievably lazy.”
The mocking tone immediately made Valley frown.
“I’m banned from leaving anyway, so what’s wrong with lying down comfortably?”
“This is exactly why our parents dislike you. If it were me, I’d already be writing an apology letter and begging for forgiveness.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, so why would I write one? If anyone should write one, it’s you.”
“What did I do wrong?”
“You spread nonsense.”
“Nonsense? I saw everything with my own eyes, so how is that a lie—”
“Enough. I don’t have time to argue with you right now, so leave.”
“I don’t want to look at your face either. I only came because Father told me to deliver a message.”
“Then just say what you came to say.”
Rina crossed her arms and tilted her head arrogantly.
“You have a visitor.”
“A visitor?”
Valley’s eyes widened for a moment, wondering if Wayne had come.
“Congratulations. Looks like you can finally get married.”
Rina smirked.
“A young master who saw you at yesterday’s party came saying he wants to marry you. Father told you to hurry up and come downstairs.”
At that moment, an unpleasant sense of familiarity crawled across Valley’s skin.
“Who is it?”
“Go downstairs and see for yourself.”
“Tell me his name!”
Valley, who was usually calm, suddenly raised her voice.
Even Rina flinched slightly before answering,
“The young master of Count Veburt’s family… Varteri Veburt.”
