NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 146 - 41. Into a Novel They Criticized. (1)
“…”
“Remember when you were young? There is no sister in the world as obedient as me. I was always kind to you.”
She took a step closer to Purson with the box in her arms.
“Whenever you asked me for something, I gave it to you, no matter how much I cherished it. Things like toys and writing instruments…”
“…”
“Because I wanted to look good for you. I know you’re the real power of this mansion.”
Fanora soon bent her legs slowly. Then, her gaze became the same as Purson sitting on the floor.
“But you hated me that much?”
“…”
“I won’t hit you if you’re being honest, Purson.”
Purson was still fiddling with the back of his head, which was still tingling, and spoke with an irritated face. “Fanora, are you dissatisfied with that? Because I discriminated against you because of your bloodline…?”
Bloodline. It’s about bloodline.
Fanora listened calmly to his words and suddenly smiled. “Purson, I guess you also believed your mother saying she was the baron’s daughter.”
“What?”
“That’s why you’re so confident. Oh my… Didn’t you get bullied for this at the academy?”
Her kind tone felt at odds with the sentences that followed. So Purson didn’t know how to respond. He just tilted his head.
Then Fanora told him the truth. The truth that adults didn’t tell him. “I haven’t known it for a long time, but in fact, our father has been trying to give me the successor position instead of you for a few years now.”
“The successor… What did you say?”
As soon as he heard it, Purson frowned. He couldn’t say it out loud because she still held the box in her hand, but he wanted to refute it right away.
That’s understandable. Did he become paranoid because he thought I would covet the successor’s position?
It was unbelievable news to him. Because Hanar always said that in this family, he’s the only one who carried the blood of Count Celsius. He just needs to rest assured because his sister, whom he didn’t know where she came from, would never become the successor.
Purson completely believed what his mother said. So, he simply treated Fanora just like he was educated in a noble society. Even at a young age, he was able to quickly realize what it meant to be an illegitimate child of a commoner.
Harboring such an illegitimate child seemed to tarnish the honor of the family he would inherit. That’s why he hated Fanora. He thought that the Celsius family would be perfect when she was gone.
“…”
Since Purson rarely expressed his thoughts, Fanora spoke on his behalf.
“Why would you do that? Because you’re convinced that I’m not father’s biological daughter? But there’s still something strange about it, right?”
“…”
“You’re already receiving solid training for succession, but to suddenly change it to me… It’s unreasonable just because it turned out that I’m his biological daughter.”
Until now, she had heard Purson call her vulgar several times. She folded her fingers and stopped counting. Instead, she decided to return the same words to him.
“So let me tell you. Actually, your mother is not a noble woman. It is said that while walking around the streets, she caught the eyes of our father and became a countess.”
“…?!”
“Our father spent his money to put her on the family register of a baron.”
So, who is the lowly blood now?
When she asked back, Purson got angry. How could she insult his mother with such lies, but Fanora’s expression didn’t waver.
“Really? Then I guess it’s no wonder that Hanar’s family hasn’t visited since her wedding.”
“…”
“I thought it was really strange.”
In addition to this, there were many ways to check if it was true. It was just that they never doubted it until now.
“…”
He had no doubt that his mother was noble from birth. Because Hanar always had a noble attitude. Right. It was a noble-like attitude that almost seemed like an obsession.
“I can’t believe someone like you is mixed into the blood of the Count family.”
Fanora rose from her seat and whispered in his ear. It was an insult she had heard so many times throughout her life, and even after her regression.
“That’s disappointing.”
When Purson heard the words, he lowered his head in surprise. It seemed that it took a lot of time to accept this situation.
Fanora, who saw the scene, quietly turned around because she had nothing more to say. She also put the necklace she had removed back into the box she was carrying. She took them out separately, so the jewels didn’t get damaged even though she used the box roughly.
I returned what Purson had said to me. I let him know that it is him, not me, who is vulgar.
She thought as she went back to the room with a box of jewels.
But insulting him didn’t make me feel any better.
Clearly she had enough of a conversation with Purson. But why does an unanswered question continue to remain in the back of her mind?
Then why did Purson bother me all this time?
* * *
It was a few days after that. Finally, the long-awaited birthday banquet of Purson has come.
“…”
As soon as Fanora woke up in the morning, she checked outside the door. The hall on the first floor was decorated so splendidly that it reached all the way to the second floor. It was only natural as the budget of Purson’s birthday banquet, held every winter, was set 10 times higher than for her birthday.
Because managing the banquet budget is Hanar’s responsibility.
To think that Bael believed she was living well in this mansion while his daughter was openly subjected to discrimination. Bael is truly a humorous person.
Panora returned to the room after seeing the banquet hall outside.
“L-Lady. Are you really going… to wear this?”
Behind her, there was a maid looking at her. Then she saw the black dress on the mannequin.
“…”
The clothes she ordered last time arrived just in time for the banquet day. It was a dress made mostly of black fabric from shoulders to toes. From a distance, it looked like a burnt tulip.
They won’t be able to see it at night.
Still, perhaps as the designer’s last conscience, gray fabric was also used sparsely. But that didn’t change the fact that this dress would attract attention in a bad way.
“What expression would my family make if I appeared like this?”
“Yes?”
Fanora said, fiddling with the sleeves of the dress. “Could this prank also be revenge?”
Cecil didn’t respond to her words. But it was fine. Because Fanora already knew the answer herself.
“Cecil, please help me change my clothes. It’s an important birthday banquet to announce that Purson will be making his debut, so if we’re late, we’ll be in big trouble.”
Fanora eventually changed into the black dress she had prepared. Unlike funeral dresses that had no decoration, it was made in an ornate style.
I think this is the first time I like myself in the mirror.
After she was fully dressed, she looked through the mirror and was satisfied. However…
“Cecil.”
“…”
“Cecil?”
Now that she’s dressed, it’s time to straighten out her disheveled hair. However, her only maid, had been looking at her with a blank expression.
“Cecil!”
“Yes, yes?” Cecil looked through Fanora, dressed up, and came to her senses later.
“I want to have my hair up neatly today…”
“Ah, yes! Lady!”
When she asked for her hair tied up, Cecil scrambled to start her job. Fanora just tilted her head at Cecil’s unfamiliar behavior.
And an hour later, nobles began to arrive one by one at the banquet hall prepared by Celsius.
“That splendid noble is none other than the young Purson. What a remarkable growth. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, is the count feeling better?”
Although these were faces she saw all the time, Hanar treated them all with sincerity. Today is her one and only son’s birthday banquet ahead of his social debut. She had no choice but to put in more effort than other times.
“Purson, come here and say hello to him. Your godmother’s relative…”
“Ah, yes.”
They greeted the guests who were rushing in until the threshold was worn out. As a result, the hall on the first floor was filled with nobles.
“Madam, have all the guests arrived now? What about Countess Maquil?”
“She said she would be late because she was coming with her son. Marquis Andras’ family hasn’t arrived yet either. And…”
Hanar remembered that Princess Guelder hadn’t responded yet to her invitation.
I thought I could use her because she’s close to Fanora, but did something go wrong in the meantime?
Still, she gained something as a result of sending invitations to people associated with Fanora. This was because she got a reply from Countess Maquil and the Marquis of Andras, who dominated the society.
“…No, only Andras’s family hasn’t come.”
How much effort was put into today’s birthday banquet? Hanar walked across the hall in quick steps. Today’s protagonist, Purson, also followed behind her.
“
Gasp
!”
“Oh my gosh.”
“That….”
But it was then. People began to sound surprised from the corner of the hall on the first floor. Although it was noise that could be missed due to the overall noise of the banquet, Purson had already turned his head in that direction.
“Baby, what are you doing? Come to the plat—”
When Purson stopped walking, Hanar also shifted her gaze toward his son’s eyes. A black figure could be seen beyond the ornate chandeliers in the decorated hall.
“…!”
When Purson spotted her appearing in the banquet hall, his eyes widened.
The person who appeared on the stairs on the second floor was none other than Fanora, the eldest daughter of the Celsius family. She slowly walked down the stairs, step by step, holding the hem of her skirt. It had been a long time since people’s attention had been focused on her, not on the protagonist of the banquet.
“Why did Fanora come to my birthday banquet…”
The reason why attention was focused was not just because Fanora showed up in society after a long time. It wasn’t because she was a peerless beauty like Vasago. The nobles just couldn’t take their eyes off the clothes she wore. Among the nobles wearing bright and colorful clothing, that woman in dark clothes like a crow that caught your eyes at once.
“How dare she… trying to ruin your banquet…”
Fanora appeared wearing a black dress with a fancy design that had never been seen in society before. The horizontal neckline created a contrast between her fair skin and the black fabric. The black silhouette of the fluttering hem of the dress seemed as if the shadows were coming to life and moving.
Is there anyone in this place who looks better in black than her?
Hanar looked at Fanora, who appeared in a pitch-black dress, with an angry look. However, it was Purson who stopped Hanar’s actions.
“Just leave her alone, Mom.”
“Purson!”
“Let’s leave her alone. She’s the one who gets embarrassed anyway.”
He stopped his mother in a discreet voice. For some reason, Purson seemed reluctant to confront Fanora.
“I’m sure…”
Hanar was upset when she experienced this situation.
Fanora had voluntarily not participated in Purson’s birthday banquet. When she was young, she would lie about having a stomachache or fever. Still, it became natural for her not to attend without any special reason.
“That child definitely did this because she knew count wasn’t here!”
But then she showed her face at her brother’s birthday banquet, which she hated so much. Even more, with that kind of appearance!
“Wearing funeral clothes to the banquet, this is telling you, the main character of the banquet, to die!”
She wanted to kick Fanora out of the banquet hall right away. But this anger was once again met with opposition from Purson.