The gazes of Count Mushe and Marquis Valkyrie triggered Eliana’s trauma.
She sat beside Count Mushe with a face as if she had bitten into something foul.
The moment she sat down, she felt the gaze upon her and a wave of disgust rose.
For an instant she remembered the classmates and senior who had openly mocked and harassed her in the department room.
But Eliana forced herself to endure it.
Her eyes naturally met the gaze of Marquis Valkyrie, who sat across from her.
He looked even older than she had imagined.
The white haired old man grinned while looking at her. Then he openly moved his gaze, scanning her up and down.
The sensation was so repulsive that she quickly turned her head away.
‘Endure it. Just endure a little longer. Once I go to Hera, I will never have to see him again.’
She could not cause trouble. The quieter she stayed, the easier it would be to escape.
Eliana rationalized the uncomfortable situation like that.
“I called you here so you could at least see the face of the man who will soon become your husband.”
The count said this while pretending to be friendly, grabbing Eliana’s hand.
Eliana looked coldly at the count, who was acting unusually gentle.
Having read the novel several times, his behavior appeared completely hypocritical to her.
‘Since when has he ever cared about Eliana?’
Filled with inexplicable resentment, Eliana quietly shook his hand off.
For a moment the count flinched.
He still maintained a pleasant expression outwardly, but the look in his eyes as he watched her became sharp.
While the two were engaged in an unexpected silent stare, Marquis Valkyrie, who had been silently examining Eliana, finally spoke.
“Seeing how small her hips are, I wonder if she will even be able to bear children, Count Mushe.”
“What?”
Eliana stared at him in disbelief.
He was clicking his tongue while looking directly at her hips.
‘What? If hips were large on this body too, that would be even stranger.’
Eliana’s mood sank at the sudden evaluation.
The blatant gaze clearly revealed his lewd intentions.
At that moment, Count Mushe answered eagerly.
“She may not look it, but she is very healthy.”
The person who made Eliana feel even more miserable was Count Mushe himself.
He was introducing his daughter as if she were merchandise.
Count Mushe glanced nervously at Marquis Valkyrie’s expression with a servile look.
Marriage to a man who talked about her hips the moment he met her?
It was absurd.
And a father who abused his daughter while pretending otherwise was someone she should escape from immediately.
Both Count Mushe, who was trying to sell his daughter, and Marquis Valkyrie, who wanted to buy a young woman with money, were irredeemable trash.
‘This will not do.’
Eliana changed her strategy.
What was the point of enduring?
If she had been the type to endure everything, she would have taken a leave of absence out of fear when her senior first began tormenting her.
Eliana responded sharply.
“What do you think women are, Marquis? Seeing how you treat people like objects, I can imagine the sort of character you possess.”
“Oh my. It seems my words displeased you.”
“Eliana, do you know where you are that you dare interrupt?”
When Marquis Valkyrie lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile, Count Mushe jumped in alarm and scolded Eliana.
But Eliana had no intention of backing down.
She was not naive enough to stay silent after such humiliation.
After that, Eliana firmly shut her mouth.
It was her way of declaring that she would not apologize.
From the beginning, the person who should apologize was Marquis Valkyrie, not her.
Count Mushe grabbed Eliana and urged her to apologize immediately.
However, she sat upright without even blinking.
A moment later, Marquis Valkyrie looked over Eliana with an interested expression.
“That will do. She has quite a sharp temperament. It might be amusing to tame her.”
“….”
Eliana was so dumbfounded that she could not think of anything to say.
She simply glared at him with disbelief.
Their eyes met.
His gaze was cold and extremely sharp.
A person who pretended to be polite while acting entirely according to his own interests.
Someone who would destroy others without hesitation if they displeased him.
For a moment, Eliana felt something about Marquis Valkyrie that reminded her of her senior.
For an instant, his eyes overlapped with the senior’s in her mind.
Amusing to tame her.
It was not something one said to a person.
Marquis Valkyrie already regarded her as something beneath him.
People who never see others as equals, who justify cruelty under the pretense of putting someone in their place.
Her father treated her like merchandise, and the man she refused to even call her future husband treated her like an animal.
Eliana moved her lips but ultimately said nothing.
She knew it was better for one’s mental health not to waste effort on people who would never understand.
In truth, she wanted to run out of the room immediately.
But she had nowhere to go.
She had only recently possessed this body and still lacked understanding of this world.
As Eliana continued to remain silent, the count and the marquis began speaking among themselves.
Their conversation lasted longer than expected.
During that time, Eliana only waited for the time to pass quickly.
Before long, their conversation shifted to political matters.
They talked about Marquis Demeter possibly returning soon and about a mine in the borderlands that had a good location.
As their conversation began to conclude, Count Mushe stood up.
“I have some matters I postponed…”
‘Finally!’
Eliana started to stand as well, but Count Mushe pressed down on her shoulder.
It meant she should stay.
Confused, she looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Since you have already met, it would be impolite to send him away immediately. Your father will excuse himself, so stay and talk a little longer.”
“But…!”
“Then please continue your conversation.”
“Very well.”
Ignoring Eliana entirely, Count Mushe quickly exchanged farewells with the marquis and left.
Only the marquis and Eliana remained in the room.
The maids who had been standing nearby also followed Count Mushe out.
Their actions clearly held hidden intent.
Eliana’s heart pounded like an alarm bell.
The phrase about it being impolite to send him away lingered unpleasantly in her mind.
Eliana decided she should leave immediately and stood up.
“I am sorry, but I am not feeling very well…”
“Where do you think you are going?”
The moment she tried to turn away, Marquis Valkyrie grabbed her arm harshly.
He forced her back into her seat and sat close beside her.
Eliana’s eyes trembled violently at the sudden contact.
For a moment she almost cursed, but forced herself to hold it in.
The atmosphere felt dangerous.
As if it had been arranged beforehand, Count Mushe had left together with the maids.
Leaving only the marquis behind would normally be rude to a guest.
But what if it had been agreed upon beforehand?
‘Here, this is the money you like. Is this enough?’
‘Hey, if you take this, do something for me too.’
The disgusting words she did not want to remember surfaced.
The sexual harassment of arrogant male seniors echoed in her mind.
How had she responded back then?
She had crushed their pride with her words and left the room.
Her hands trembling in fear that they might follow her and harm her.
Yet she had still praised herself for saying what needed to be said.
And she had walked away.
Just as the memories of her previous life began to overwhelm her, she felt an unfamiliar hand on her thigh.
Eliana flinched and slapped his hand away.
Smack—
With the sharp sound, the smile vanished from Marquis Valkyrie’s face.
He looked quietly at the back of the hand she had struck, then raised it with a short sneer.
And then—
Smack!
A sharp sound rang through the room.
Her cheek throbbed and something warm trickled from her mouth.
She must have bitten her tongue in shock.
An empty laugh escaped Eliana’s lips.
She had been slapped.
Even her parents had never struck her.
Was this what it felt like when anger made one’s blood boil?
As Eliana stood frozen like a statue, Valkyrie roughly grabbed her waist.
“I tried to treat you nicely, yet you are quite insolent. For someone who has been sold.”
Her hands trembled.
Her fingertips grew cold.
The mocking smile, the gaze, the tone of voice.
Suddenly she remembered the one classmate who had told her the truth and offered to help her.
Yes, thanks to that person she had at least gained the courage to speak her mind.
Even when she was afraid, she endured it and faced those who attacked her.
The marquis sneered at the silent Eliana.
“What? Was that too direct? Your father has already received a mine, so whether you like it or not, you have been sold to me.”
At the word mine, it felt as though her head had been struck by a hammer.
So the earlier conversation about the mine had been the terms of the deal.
They had been discussing her price right in front of her.
Eliana’s hands trembled.
‘Poor Eliana. Foolish Eliana… Eliana, I will help you. I will save you.’
Eliana’s eyes gleamed as if she had made a decision.
This marriage must not happen.
No, she did not want it.
She no longer wanted to be easily harmed by those who scratched and wounded her.
A cold sensation spread through Eliana’s hand.
Without realizing it, she raised her hand to retaliate exactly as Valkyrie had done.
Another sharp sound echoed through the room.
At that moment Marquis Valkyrie screamed and collapsed to the floor.
“Aaagh!”
Eliana stared at him in shock at the unexpectedly violent reaction.
She had only slapped him.
But Marquis Valkyrie’s right cheek was freezing.
Only then did she look down at her own hand.
Something like white mist was swirling around it.