TINT03

Chapter 3

“Why—why wouldn’t it matter? Because you were stupid enough to get taken advantage of, our family became a laughingstock!”
“…”
“It’s always you. If it weren’t for you, there wouldn’t be a single problem with our family.”
“Exactly.”

Lysithea had always thought her half-sister’s words were senseless, but this time, she agreed.

“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what you said. Without me, there’d be no problem in this house.”

In this perfect family, the only flaw was her very existence.

She had never once forgotten that fact—not since the day her younger twin siblings were born.

“I—when did I ever say that?!”
“I thought it was just your actions that were lacking, but it turns out your language skills are, too. Oh well… guess that means there’ll still be a problem in this house, even without me.”

Lysithea lightly patted Celia’s shoulder and tilted her head.

Celia’s face flushed with anger at the blatant mockery, and she shrieked.

“Clean this up! And don’t change the subject! What are you going to do about it?”
“Why should I tell you? This is my business.”
“How is your engagement just your business? As long as you bear the Aster name, your engagement is our business too!”
“My engagement is mine alone. It always has been and always will be. There’s no place for your opinion in it—never has been, never will be. Want me to repeat that? You seem to be having a real problem with comprehension today.”

No one in the Aster family had ever taken an interest in Lysithea’s affairs.
And so, none of them had the right to meddle.

“So you’re going to cling to Spencer and keep this engagement going? Where’s that lofty pride of yours now? Why don’t you run crying to your precious mother’s family—”

“Celia Aster. That’s as far as my patience goes. Say one more word about my affairs, and see what happens.”

Lysithea clamped a hand over her half-sister’s mouth and looked down at her with a chilling glare.

Until she fell ill at sixteen, Lysithea had trained as a knight.
Celia, born frail, could never withstand that kind of presence.

Only when Celia began trembling, her face gone pale, did Lysithea finally release her.

“You’re insane. You’re actually insane.”

Celia coughed roughly, gasping for breath.

“You should be happy, Celia.”

Lysithea reached out and brushed away the tears at the corners of her sister’s eyes, her tone deceptively gentle.

“I’m offering to disappear from your perfect little home forever. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?”

She leaned close and let out a low, mocking laugh into Celia’s ear before pushing her aside.

Celia, weakened, collapsed to the floor, while Lysithea walked out of the toilette room without a backward glance.

“Ahhh! Aaaah! That lunatic did it again!”

Her half-sister’s indignant screeches rang out behind her, echoing through the halls.

If nothing else, she’s got the lungs of a knight.

It amazed Lysithea every time. Apparently, all of Celia’s stamina had gone into her voice.

A carriage was waiting at the entrance to the Aster marquisate’s annex, where Lysithea lived. Mary stood by, looking anxious.

“My lady, are you all right? Nothing happened, did it?”

Her voice was tight with worry, as if she’d been fretting the whole time.

“No reason it wouldn’t be fine. Celia’s behavior is nothing new.”

On days like this, when she was particularly tired, Lysithea might snap back at Celia, but usually she chose to ignore her half-sister’s provocations.

After all, you can’t bark back every time a bad-tempered little dog yaps in fear.

“…I just… I hate the people in this house so much.”

Celia often picked on Mary, too, but it wasn’t that the Asters were inherently cruel to their servants.
They simply acted like lunatics whenever it came to Lysithea.

Perhaps their happiness depended on her misery.
It was such a ridiculous thought, yet Mary found herself believing it.

But why does my lady have to be the one to die? If anyone deserves it…

Mary had been on the verge of tears since yesterday, as if one deep breath might set her crying.
Still, she couldn’t let herself break down in front of her lady.

She rubbed her eyes roughly, forcing the tears back.

“Mary, I feel the same.”
“…Pardon?”

Lysithea’s long, graceful fingers tugged loose the ribbon at Mary’s chest.

Smiling faintly, she retied it, the loops perfectly symmetrical.

“I hate the people in this house just as much. There—done.”

She looked pleased with her work.

People judged her cold and aloof based on her appearance, but Mary knew better.
Her lady was meticulous, considerate, and deeply kind in her own way.

“I’ve probably tied hundreds of ribbons more than you, and yet I can never get them right.”
“That’s why I keep you close.”

Mary didn’t understand the meaning, but her lady’s smile was enough to make her smile back as she opened the carriage door.

Just as Lysithea released Mary’s hand and began to step inside—

“Sister! We need to talk.”

A man appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her shoulder, and yanked her down hard.

She stumbled, losing a shoe, and was dragged to the ground.

Ha… what is it today, exactly?

Lysithea sighed as she looked at her disheveled hair and the lone shoe lying several feet away.
If she didn’t, she was going to start swearing.

“…My lady! Are you hurt?”

Mary, half-stunned, snapped back to her senses and rushed over.

“I’m fine. Mary, my shoe.”

Heat prickled at the corners of her eyes, anger surging in her chest.
She pressed her fingers there, forcing the fury down.

Mary retrieved the shoe with trembling hands and slipped it onto her foot.
The moment it touched the ground, pain flared in her ankle.

It seemed she had twisted it when she was forcibly pulled from the carriage.

“What did you say to Celia?!”

The man before her glared as though ready to devour her whole.

“Edward Aster, you’re skipping a step.”
“Does that even matter right now?”

He gave a disbelieving laugh at her remark.

Edward Aster—her half-brother and Celia’s twin.
A brilliant and powerful mage, he was the very hope of the Aster family.

Once, she had envied his talent.
If only she had magic, too—would things have been different?

Back then, she had stayed up countless nights thinking about it.
If she’d realized sooner that she’d never fit into that perfect picture, she could’ve spared herself the false hope.

“It matters. Imagine if the upright, reasonable young Lord Aster were known to charge at his half-sister like a wild colt. How do you think that rumor would play out?”
“…”
“Even if it’s family business, no secret lasts forever. And no matter how thorough you are, you can’t gag me, can you?”

Family disputes were like that—no matter how toxic, airing them in public only brought blame upon the victim.
The abuser’s cruelty would be dismissed as something that “happens sometimes,” while the victim’s breaking point would be branded as rash and foolish.

But Lysithea was free of such concerns.
There was no reputation left for her to lose.

For Edward, however—lauded as wise and virtuous—one small scandal could be fatal.
And Lysithea was more than willing to drag him into the mud with her.

Edward exhaled and raked a hand through his hair.
This wasn’t going to be a productive conversation.