Chapter 15

When I reached the main entrance of the banquet hall, the handkerchief pressed tightly against my neck solidly stopped the flow of blood.

Maybe it’s because Winter is a wizard, so there’s no way to say that he didn’t secretly cast a spell.

Before entering the banquet hall, I carefully check myself to make sure everything is fine.

‘I didn’t expect the dark subdued colored dress I wore today to be so helpful.’

Thanks to the dark color, the blood stains on my dress are barely visible.

Thanks to it, all I had to do was fix my hair.

I easily found Derrick.

This young master was glowing with a cold light and stood alone among the crowd that surrounded him.

”He told me to keep quiet and not make a fuss …… If he sees me with a cut neck, he’ll be furious.”

Being so concerned with his warning, I didn’t notice the eyes that were watching me from all around as I entered the royal hall.

Just because my dress was fine, that didn’t mean my person was fine, and I failed to notice that.

“…… Brother.”

I called out to him.

Even though my voice was so faint it sounded like a whisper, he still managed to notice and look back at me.

“I, for one, don’t feel too well …… might have to go home first.”

Derrick looked at his pale sister, her blue eyes slightly widened, the handkerchief around her neck stained with blood, and she seemed on the verge of passing out.

“Now, immediately ……”

With those words, the world went dark.

The last sight I had before I lost consciousness was the figure of a pale-faced Derrick running towards me in haste.

After fainting on the ground, I didn’t know what had happened.

“Miss-!”

“Hurry! Call a doctor!”

I heard faint yet urgent shouts and hurried footsteps.

Although it was only a small cut, it was ridiculous that my life was actually hanging in the balance for several days because of it.

Probably because I was so busy trying to stay alive, all the neglected stress exploded all at once, like a mountain.

During those days, I dreamed of many things.

I expected to dream about Penelope’s past, but instead I dreamed about my own. Immediately after being brought into that house, I was sent to an aristocratic school.

After class one day, I was about to pack up and go home when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, your brother is looking for you, he told you to go to the equipment fitness room in the gym.”

The person who spoke was one of the kids who had befriended asshole number two, the asshole who had almost as much power over the school.

I didn’t think too much of it and walked towards the locker room.

I did know he had something to do with school bullying, but didn’t think about it in depth.

“Brother ……?”

I cautiously walked into the locker room and gently opened the door.

I couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

Just as I was wandering, something that looked like a plastic bag was suddenly placed over my head.

“What’s going on …… ah!”

With my face covered I was dragged into the deeper darkness and beaten hard.

I wasn’t given any second to react before dozens of pairs of kicks came at me. And now, the only thing I could do was only, curl up and accept all the abuse that was being inflicted on me.

“Wow, that’s so much more comfortable! Where did this beggar come from? She doesn’t even have the qualifications to be in this school with us.”

“Hey, is this really okay? If we let her brothers know that we did it, won’t it be over?”

“It doesn’t matter, they hate her to death. When I accompanied my father to a meeting earlier, there was mention of her in conversation. They hate this sister to the point of gnashing their teeth.”

They laughed and said some asshole things while they watched me try to find my consciousness with what little strength I had left.

Those words hurt mostly more than what they did to me.

“Hey, from today on, don’t let yourself into our sight. No telling anyone what happened today.”

With that said, the sound of their footsteps leaving the locker room reached my ears.

After that, I lay quietly on the floor for at least an hour.

The pain prevented me from moving.

It was a long time before I could stand up.

I took the plastic bag off my head and realized that my book bag and school uniform were torn.

I went into the restroom and kept trying to wipe the staining clear of the footprints off my clothes until I reacted to the fact that it wasn’t really the uniform that I needed to worry about.

Through the mirror, I saw the bruises in the corners of my eyes and my bruised body and face quite literally.

It was almost as if it signaled the fact that I had been beaten, and it made me giggle.

I can’t remember what it was like to be beaten because my head was blank at that point.

All I could do was trudge back to that hellish house, the one that I loathed and wouldn’t set foot in even if I were to die. I had nowhere else to go.

As I entered the house, I had the misfortune of bumping into my stepfather and stepbrothers, who were having afternoon tea in the living room.

“I’m back.”

I wasn’t one to join them, so I just bowed hastily to them and prepared to go upstairs.

“Wait, stop right there.”

Usually, none of them ever cared if I came back or not. But that day was destined to be an unlucky one…

Asshole number two called out to me.

“Hey, I told you to stop!”

Just as I ignored his voice and continued on my way, he stood up.

Before I could even step on the steps, my wrist was pulled by him.

“What’s gotten into you? Did you take a beating?”

“Nothing, I fell.”

I replied skimming my head, to hide the bruise on my face.

“Hey, look at me, did you get hit?”

“No, I told you, just fell.”

“I told you to look up!”

Obviously I just wanted to go back to my room and have a good time for the rest of my day, but he made me stand and raise my head.

“Why are you hurt like this, what fucking asshole ……!”

He forced me to show my own scarred face quite.

“I said it was nothing.”

“How is it nothing? What the hell is this ……!”

“I said it was nothing! It really was nothing! Please!”

I think I was going crazy as I yelled and shook his grip off of me.

Even my stepfather and other stepbrother were wide-eyed, probably because they had never seen me look so angry.

At that moment, I don’t think anything could have been more painful.

They were sitting at home enjoying some fruit while I was being punched and kicked in the storage room.

“Since when do you care about me! I told you there’s nothing!”

The sight of them having a good time when I entered the house made me envious and jealous from the bottom of my heart.

And not being able to join them I was ……

“Spare me! Have I ever asked you to do anything for me? I didn’t even do anything, but why! Why are you all always ……!”

The silence that made one sweat filled the entire living room.

I had always thought that crying meant admitting defeat and failure, but in that moment I couldn’t help myself. The tears that I had been holding back until now came out like a waterfall.

I let out a cry like a child and wondered what kind of expression they were looking at me with.

A few days later, as the bruises at the corners of my eyes faded, asshole number two found me and spoke, “I got all those guys and have taught them a lesson to the death.”

He spoke to himself without a greeting, when in fact I had already known from rumors that the troubled students had been hospitalized.

“How despised are you that you let those guys make waves.”

He muttered, shaking his head at me.

“Either way, nothing like that will ever happen again.”

Even so, I wasn’t grateful to him at all.

I was isolated even more in school, and nothing had gotten better. In fact, I got bullied more often.

“…… Thank you very much, brother.”

I wanted to tell him out loud that it was all his fault more than I wanted to spare myself some words of gratitude.

Why should I thank you when you wipe your own ass for your own mess?

I just, really ……

Just really…

“…… is what you said, but why won’t she wake up ……!”

I heard high decibel yelling but couldn’t tell who was speaking.

My head hurt, and I managed to sleep through my heavy eyes.

“……Try it too, you and that asshole crown prince ……”

“…… It’s too noisy.”

When I squeezed my voice out of my throat shout, someone immediately approached me.

“Hey, you wake up ……”

Everything was so blurry that I couldn’t even see the face of the person in front of me.

It was the second asshole in that house.

“…… I hate …… you.”

I forced myself to say the words I hadn’t been able to say before.

“…… Really, I hate you. A hundred times, a thousand times more than you hate me ……”

As the words left my mouth, I closed my eyes once again, finally feeling some relief.

I didn’t get to see it because I was once again in dreamland.

Those violently toned blue eyes of a stiff pink haired teenager, standing motionless.