“You. Are. In the way.”
“What… Ugh!”
When the child heard Raymond speak with a look of boredom, she flared up again and tried to rush at him.
But as her body, suspended in the air, was suddenly pushed away as if sliding on ice, she instinctively flailed.
Her floating body moved steadily and without any shaking, and soon she was pushed out of Raymond’s palace.
It didn’t even stop there—she was dragged all the way to the separate palace where she stayed before it came to a halt.
“Hmph.”
Though she was let down without warning, the girl landed lightly on the ground like a feather.
Staring at the 4th Prince’s palace in the distance, she muttered: “The House of Count Estarote… What is that?”
She tilted her head. It was a name she had never heard before.
No—more precisely, she had heard the name but knew very little about them.
They were a family with no association with espers.
They were skilled in combat and savvy in finance, but most noble families who made it to the capital were like that.
You couldn’t survive in the capital without wealth and power.
The same was true for Aries’ own family.
“Tch.”
As her thoughts turned to her own family, Aries became slightly irritated.
Like all espers, she resented her own family—for passing down the curse of being an esper.
And yet, on the other hand, she loved them.
The people who had once given her love, her family.
If she had to quantify it, the hatred outweighed the affection—because that love had been suddenly taken away.
Of course, she understood.
Aries herself had been confused when everything around her suddenly changed, so it was likely her family was equally bewildered.
But she had been too young to take all that into account.
She was already overwhelmed with her own circumstances—too immature to embrace others as well.
That’s why Aries ran away from her family.
Her name was still on their list of enemies.
She held the title of Lady Esteban, but it had been years since she last saw her family.
Sometimes, perhaps out of a sense of duty, her parents came to the imperial palace to find her.
But whenever she saw the fear in their eyes toward the daughter who had turned into a monster, it always made her angry.
‘Why do you think I turned out like this?’
Wasn’t it all because they “gave birth” to her?
Every time she saw them desperately trying to express affection despite their fear, Aries felt disgusted.
If she hadn’t run to the imperial palace and had to see that every day, she might have gone mad.
She might even have ended up hurting her family with her own hands.
Aries hated her siblings—those close in age—even more than her parents.
They had been lucky enough to escape the curse because of her.
Even though she knew it was irrational, she couldn’t help it.
Biting her lip, Aries shook her head as if to shake off the past.
With a slightly clearer mind, she tried to deduce the connection between Count Estarote’s family and Raymond.
But since she had no information about the family, nothing came to mind.
“There were several names listed in the documents…”
She had only skimmed it, so she didn’t remember the details, but they were all from the House of Estarote.
The jobs and ages varied.
The only common factor might have been that they were all men?
‘I didn’t check all the way to the end, so I can’t be sure about that either.’
Still, one thing was certain: there was a link to the House of Estarote.
“Why on earth is Raymond interested in that house?”
Only espers aren’t afraid of other espers.
Even parents who give birth to and raise a child will grow afraid of them once they become an esper…
There was no apparent reason someone from a non-esper family would be involved.
For a second, she wondered if there might be a regular person who wasn’t afraid of espers.
‘No way.’
Aries scoffed at the absurd thought she’d just had.
That kind of fairytale possibility?
No way.
If such a person existed, they’d have to be a scammer.
“Did you go through all that and you’re still dreaming?”
Aries mumbled, looking somberly at the 4th Prince’s palace.
Aries and Raymond.
Born into families of espers, and by cruel twist of fate, they became espers themselves.
That’s why Aries understood Raymond’s sense of loss.
His hatred for the world because of it, and at the same time, the love that kept him from destroying everything.
If there were only one person in the world who could understand her, Aries believed it was Raymond.
And the same applied in reverse.
“Whether you were deceived or blinded yourself… either way, as your only true ally, I have only one thing I must do.”
To wake him from his illusion and drag him back into the swamp of reality.
It was cruel, but Aries believed it was what Raymond needed most.
The higher one flies, the harder one falls.
So she had to bring him down while he was still flying low.
That was the duty of his only true ally.
***
Online Forum Posts
So this b*tch—does she like the female lead or the male lead?
[PleaseWatchThisTrash]
Neither, maybe??
That’s a little too woke lol
[HuPiHomeIsTheBestHome]
Regret!
Anguish!
Obsession!
Whoohoo!
[PleaseWatchThisTrash]
Lmao but seriously, don’t you think so?
Like, she follows the male lead physically but emotionally it’s the female lead lol
She says stuff like “You’re my bird in a cage, baby” (didn’t actually happen) lmao
What kind of filter are you looking through to see that by yourself lol
I quickly gestured and minimized the window.
If I were home alone, I’d have taken my time reading it, but it popped up while I was out, so I had no time to check.
‘It really blocks my view—it’s distracting.’
So I quickly closed it after skimming.
There wasn’t much to the content either.
Apparently, the supposed fiancée of the male lead tries to separate him from the others, but the readers can’t tell if it’s really to separate them or to steal him.
In the end, they’re still unsure whether she’s after the female lead or the male lead.
‘So what’s the point?’
Why am I even being shown this out of nowhere?
Even though it had been a while since I’d heard from the gods, I had no idea what they were trying to say.
“Um, is something wrong?”
“Huh?”
“You were waving your arms…”
I said I would flip through it quickly and subtly, but the person sitting across from me probably saw it.
I was flustered, but I made up an excuse, saying I saw a bug, and they consoled me with a disgusted look, assuming I hated insects.
Sigh.
I may have gotten away with it for now… but honestly, being here is torture.
As I mentioned, we’re outside, and this is a gathering of noble families.
We’re sitting in a spot away from where the adults are conversing, and the kids are talking and playing among themselves.
I used to come to these gatherings a lot when I was young…
“After getting engaged to Pedro, I had no choice but to stop coming.”
Damn it… Everything somehow leads back to Pedro again.
I had brought him here, saying I wanted to introduce him to my friends.
But then he acted all high and mighty, claiming he was the best, and things turned out the way they did.
I was actually a bit hopeful before coming here.
Now that Pedro’s gone, maybe I could finally make a close friend at this gathering?
“Everyone probably hated me too because of Pedro, but they still tried to understand and even suggested I ditch Pedro and just come alone…”
So I thought there wouldn’t be a problem making friends.
“So, like… I read this in a book! In Fairyland, you have to do everything in reverse. If something feels good, you have to say it feels bad. If you’re sleepy, you have to say you’re not… Otherwise, the mischievous fairies will mess with you!”
“I know that one too! You’re talking about Miss Kit’s fairy research book, right? She lived in Fairyland for three years! I’m so jealous. I want to go on an adventure like Miss Kit!”
“Me too! Oh, did you know this? In the book, they didn’t mark the exact location of Fairyland, just in case someone else fell into it, but actually…”
Ugh… I’m dizzy.
Most of the conversations were like this.
Stories full of dreams and fairy tales—like how one of them saw a unicorn in a book and begged their father for one, so he bought a white foal instead.
But since that wasn’t enough, they cried, and their father said, “You need to get used to horses if you want to ride a unicorn,” so now they’re practicing horseback riding three hours a day.
The conversations were all soft and innocent, like those of very young children.
The noble girls were kind and gentle, but with an adult’s mindset, the conversations felt so childish that it was more like an aunt playing with her nieces than a peer group.
I didn’t realize…
Even though this was my third life, the time I spent with them was so short, and it had been so long ago that my memories were blurry.
All I remembered was the guilt from Pedro’s behavior and the good impression I had of them.
I just wanted to make friends, but I couldn’t bring myself to join in those conversations. And on top of that…
“That girl gets arrested for fraud three years later…”
Surprisingly, it wasn’t just the kids who believed in Fairyland.
Some naïve adults wanted to establish trade with Fairyland and actually sought out the book’s author to buy a map of it.
The author initially resisted, saying they could never betray their friendship with the fairies, but when huge sums of money came into play, they eventually gave in.
Those who bought the map tried to find Fairyland, but of course, it was a scam, and they never found it…
“Trying to recoup the losses, they started mass-producing and selling fake maps, and that’s when everything spiraled.”
The number of victims wasn’t just a few—it was in the hundreds, so things couldn’t help but escalate.
Of course, some may have bought it not out of belief but simply as fans of the fairy research book.
In the end, the author was arrested and even executed for the crime of disturbing public order…
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