The Obsessive Villainess Vol. 1 ✔

32. Monochrome Characters

Chapter 32: Monochrome Characters. Not black or white, but grey exists too.

I walked into my room late at night, feeling... apprehensive? Worried? Nervous?

No, what the fuck is this.

The maids silently worked on getting me out of my clothes and into my nightgown. They wiped my face clean of the make up and undid my hair. Soft velvet slippers were placed gently under my feet and Avea stood by, observing them, ready to attend to me.

I cleared my throat and before I could ask for some water, she had already prepared a glass for me, bringing it to me. I took it quietly, drinking it all. The maids finished with me and stood, waiting for further instructions. Avea watched me for a moment, before waving at them, dismissing them from the room. They curtsied before leaving and I heard the door shut gently behind them.

There was silence in the room, until I broke it.

"That fucking bitch...." My voice was a mutter through gritted teeth, my grip on the carved-crystal glass tightening until my knuckles were white.

"She won't be a bother to you anymore, my lady." Avea's murmur was meant to soothe me. Strangely, it worked.

"How did he find out?" I asked, loosening my fingers and placing the glass on the dresser beside me.

"When Marquess Viridis confronted her, she confessed to everything, my lady."

"...She didn't even try to hide it?" I finally looked towards the mirrow, watching the reflection of my red-haired aide behind me. She looked as expressionless as ever as she reported it to me.

I was returning from dinner with my father.

...It was quite a surprising dinner.

A bomb was dropped onto me.

"Come back with me, Nora..." His eyes looked nervously but earnestly into mine. He'd leaned forward and taken my hands into his, displaying his desperation. "I've been away from you long enough. Living was a punishment, all these years... all these years without you, without Kaira. It's been hell. Hell, and I was in it all alone."

My breath had stuck in my throat. I pulled at my hands, just a little. It's like I'd intended to leave his grip, but stopped midway. Stopped and felt the warmth a little longer, of those older, rougher, calloused sword-wielding hands.

Alone?

"You have a family," I mumbled, averting my eyes and trying to pull out again, and once again, stopping myself.

What the fuck? I chided myself. How childish, not letting go of this hand.

"No!" He shook his head. "No!"

I furrowed my brows and he continued.

"I've never once considered them my family. I never once touched Thalia."

What...?

"But your daughter..." I spoke in a confused voice and he raised his eyebrows in shock.

"She's not mine! She's your step-sister! Have you forgotten?"

I felt a little numb with surprise.

"She's Thalia's child out of wedlock. It's why they wanted to have her married off however, those backward, dim-witted Ceridwens. Emory is Thalia's illegitimate daughter, whose lover has long passed on."

Eleonora was never the focus of the story. Only her obsession with Cassian was. And so, her family history wasn't of much importance in the story. But still, what the fuck.