Chapter 12
“No. I don’t want to bring any more shame to the family name. I may be lacking, but I want to be a Sephardi to be proud of.”
I never once wanted to be part of some ridiculous family with a name that’s even hard to pronounce.
Still, even if she hadn’t been caught yet, Maribel had sins she’d been piling up until now.
She hadn’t cleaned those up, and if she wanted to keep a decent relationship with Gabriella, she first had to shake off the bad reputation she’d earned.
Not to mention, she also had to figure out a way to get out of here with her head still attached to her neck.
There was a lot to do.
“Yes, my daughter.”
My father stepped closer and took my hand tightly.
I was caught off guard, staring blankly at the hand suddenly seized.
“I feel as though you’ve finally become a true member of the Sephardi family. It’s time to cast off the veil and leave the memories of your old family behind.”
“Wh-what?”
What was he suddenly talking about?
When they first put it on me, they said it was hideous and I should keep it covered for life—now he just wants me to take it off?
“You’re twenty-four now, aren’t you? You never had a proper coming-of-age ceremony. Let’s hold a grand one this time together with Gabriella. It’s about time we present both daughters of the Sephardi family to Naparo.”
I was frozen, unable to understand what he was saying, when my ears were struck by my mother’s thunderous voice.
“What on earth are you saying? Leaving aside the veil, do you realize how important Gabriella’s coming-of-age ceremony is? And you dare decide something like this without a single word to me?”
Her words were icy sharp, and they snapped me back to my senses.
I quickly pulled my hand back and shook my head.
“I don’t want that. I… I just want to stay quiet without stirring up any fuss.”
The veil was hot and annoying, so I didn’t care about removing it. But a ceremony, a spectacle—drawing attention to myself at a time like this was the last thing I wanted.
There was already so much I needed to quietly clean up…
I shook my head desperately.
“Just as you said, it’s an extremely important day for Gabriella. She’ll only turn twenty once—it’s her one and only coming-of-age ceremony. As for me, I really don’t need one.”
“But if you don’t hold a proper coming-of-age ceremony, it’ll be used as an excuse to criticize your marriage prospects. You must know that much.”
“M-marriage…?!”
“The younger sister cannot marry before the elder, of course.”
This was exactly why I hadn’t wanted to face the duke and duchess.
In the original story, when Gabriella’s marriage was arranged, Maribel too was pushed into a rushed marriage.
That was because of Naparo Empire’s absurd law that the elder sibling must marry before the younger.
So, for the sake of Gabriella—who was to become crown princess—Maribel was forced to get married in a hurry. Furious at being shoved into it, she refused to accept the marriage and caused endless trouble for Gabriella.
I couldn’t afford to repeat that now. All I could do was try to twist the situation carefully.
“But Gabriella is to become the crown princess. Wouldn’t it not matter if she married before me?”
Please, let this end here.
Maribel’s marriage was nothing but poison to her villainous life.
“Besides, who would even want to marry me? I’ve hardly ever even shown my face at any social gatherings.”
Even as I said it desperately, someone did come to mind.
Because in the original, there was exactly one lunatic who did.
“Suddenly you sound worried. Yes, you’ve been unhappy for a long time, haven’t you? Don’t worry. Do you think I’d marry the first daughter of Sephardi to just anyone?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
“There’s already a family we’ve discussed with. You’ll be married before the summer ends, one way or another. Don’t trouble yourself. And tomorrow at the banquet, remove your veil. You must show your face properly to the one who’ll be your husband.”
Talk of families, talk of faces—none of it mattered. I already knew the man meant to be given to Maribel.
And it was a marriage where she would be far, far better off not marrying at all.
The talk of marriage reminded me of long ago, when perhaps out of some sense of duty as the eldest daughter, I had brought Gabi home to face her own troubles with marriage.
I never regretted it. Because through that, I gained her friendship.
But within the family, I was blamed for worsening Gabi’s illness, accused of trying to ruin the household.
‘Even if I refuse marriage with all my life here, it’ll be the same story.’
Here too, I was the illegitimate eldest daughter.
No matter how much I struggled, the one who’d be blamed and cursed would be me. That much I now knew.
If I didn’t protect myself, no one else would do it for me.
So I couldn’t give in.
That was the lesson I’d earned from playing this hopeless role of “eldest daughter.”
I should only protect what was mine, only the people I truly cared for. Just that.
If it meant being selfish, so be it. If I kept being forced into taking on responsibilities that weren’t mine, at least here I would slip out of them like a loach.
And if I couldn’t, then at the very least, I would demand the price and treatment for it.
And to do that, I first had to find an escape route.
The story of Gabriella Sephardi, who fell in love with the crown prince of Bernau and overcame countless trials.
Yes, in the story written by Yoon Gabi, five great families were central.
The children of those families were all written to be in their early to mid-twenties.
Among those five houses’ precious young heirs, alongside the dazzling protagonists, there were three villains.
One was Maribel Sephardi. In other words, me.
Another was Pedro… I couldn’t remember his last name.
His mother had been a maid who became the emperor’s lover, but he couldn’t be officially acknowledged by the imperial family. Instead, he was secretly adopted into another grand duke’s family as an illegitimate son.
Obsessed with the throne, he schemed to incite rebellion in a perfectly stable empire, a bastard who also lusted after Gabriella simply because she was to be crown princess.
And one special note—he was to be Maribel’s husband.
Though he had no money or power, he had vast intelligence networks and insatiable ambition.
Through that network, he discovered the massive fortune Maribel had scammed together by creating a false persona named “Mua.”
He volunteered to be Maribel’s husband, promising her—who resisted marriage—that one day she’d become empress through rebellion.
Tempted by that promise, Maribel finally went through with the marriage.
And besides the two of them, there was one more villain.
Pedro’s pawn, Arius.
I couldn’t recall his family name either.
He had lost his parents and eldest brother in the empire’s unification wars, becoming a young duke at twenty-four.
Until resigning his commission, he had been known as the youngest genius general, unmatched in tactical brilliance.
It was Pedro who used Arius.
With cunningly twisted information, Pedro convinced Arius that his family’s deaths were the result of imperial conspiracy, pushing him into the role of commander of the rebel forces.
A racehorse driven by nothing but revenge—no love, no friendship.
Compared to the pathetic Pedro, I actually liked this character and even rooted for him in a way.
Anyway, today was the day those three villains and the protagonists would sit together at the same banquet table.
“Luisa, it doesn’t matter if you keep it simple.”
“What? What are you saying? This is the historic banquet where Lady Maribel’s face will be revealed for the first time! After hearing from the duke yesterday that you’d remove your veil today, I was so worried about how to prepare that I couldn’t even sleep last night.”
“So that’s why you looked exhausted all morning?”
“Exhausted? Not at all! I’m full of energy now. After all, today is also the day you’ll meet your future husband for the first time! A banquet—it’s so exciting.”
Luisa clenched her fist in excitement.
Even though she served a mistress who often scolded and threatened her, she seemed genuinely delighted. Her innocence only made me laugh helplessly.
“All right. Do as you wish.”
“I told you, didn’t I? The duke went looking for a husband for you. I knew this day would come.”
“Yes, yes, you were right. But why are you so excited about me taking off the veil?”
For me, it was a relief—the veil only made me hotter and more uncomfortable.
Luisa, parting and brushing my hair, answered cheerfully:
“Because of all the strange rumors outside the duchy, of course.”
“Rumors? What kind of rumors? You mean there are more than just the story about the dead pearl?”
