Chapter 21 — I Want Her To Know Her Place

“What do you all understand, what do you all know…!”

Maryjun’s weak voice was quivering, as if she was about to cry. It was completely different from her lively attitude this morning. Even if Maryjun acted tough, she couldn’t conceal her fear and humiliation.

Even so, she looked dignified as she mustered up her courage to confront her opponents.

An unwavering heart even when she was facing many enemies, and always looking forward despite all the pain, reminded Violette of the heroines in the novels.

“You are the ones who should be ashamed for teaming against one person!”

“What did you say… Do you know your own place…!?”

“That has nothing to do with me! Judging a person by their birth and social status is the proof that you are all narrow-minded, isn’t it!”

Watching how the fight had escalated, Violette was at her wits’ end.

(This is the worst…)

Violette was a little relieved that this didn’t seem like the act of her blind devotees rampaging around for ‘her sake’.

Even so, what made Violette concerned wasn’t about that anymore, but rather it was about Maryjun who was trying to fight back.

Maryjun was abused, condemned, and slandered unjustly. It’s only natural that the situation would develop into a fight. If someone came to hurt her, it’s not wrong to accept the challenge. It takes two to make a quarrel, one couldn’t blame it entirely on the other side. There’s no need for her to conceal her turbulent  emotions at all the painful truths that were directed towards her.

But that was only the case if Maryjun wasn’t a noble.

Maryjun, who didn’t bear the name of Vahan family until just recently, still possessed the common sense of a commoner. Above all, her directness when she said that everything had nothing to do with her social status indicated so.

It’s true that prejudice and discrimination were “wrong”. Ridiculing someone for the part of the person that they themselves couldn’t do anything about was certainly unsightly.

However, judging people from their birth and social status was a skill  that nobles must have. It’s not something she could solve just by saying that it had nothing to do with her.

“You all are the ones who are wrong!!”

Maryjun boldly insisted that she was right. If she was just a normal high schooler that didn’t bear the name of Vahan family, she would’ve become the heroine of justice. But now, the good girl who unwaveringly stood by her own beliefs needed to come to an end.

After all, Maryjun was no longer a normal girl anymore.

“What are you doing?”

“Onee-sama…!?”

Violette approached them before Maryjun could further proclaim her righteousness.

There were five people surrounding Maryjun. The situation was quite similar to what happened before, but Violette was relieved that she didn’t recognize any of them.

Even so, the moment they saw Violette, their  complexions changed. It seemed like they roughly realized  that their behaviour was improper.

“Violette-sama… Uhm, this isn’t…!”

“Do you have anything to say to our Vahan lineage?”

“Ah…”

Violette unfolded her previously crossed arms, placing her finger on her cheek. Violette knew that her acting was somewhat unnatural, but she also knew that this gesture would affect them even more.

A little bit of exaggerated and unnatural movements  personified the beauty of a doll-like artifact better.

Rather than being a warm person, acting as a cold puppet had a bigger impact on other  people. Especially if the person was beautiful. Violette didn’t need to smile or even get angry. She only needed to ask the question with indifference, and that alone was already threatening enough.

“You seem to have various opinions about our family’s circumstances… but you don’t need to worry.”

Violette slowly approached them, making sure that she was covering Maryjun. With Violette’s tall figure, she forced the young noble girls’ line of sight to move away from Maryjun’s figure.

They could only see Violette’s expressionless face directed towards them. Rather than expressionless, Violette looked completely apathetic to them. There was a sense of incongruity, as if the person in front of them was a doll that couldn’t blink.

“She, Maryjun Vahan, inherited the lineage of Vahan Duke Family. I can guarantee you her birth and social status.”

Violette legitimized Maryjun’s existence in a slow and steady manner, making sure that the young noble girls fully understood what she meant to say. It’s easy to just tell them not to meddle in someone else’s family circumstances, but if possible, she didn’t want any other troublesome things happening again in the future.

Although taking a second wife was tolerated, it’s wasn’t very welcomed in the case of the Vahan family. One of the reasons being that Violette was someone that affected the feelings of others in positive and negative ways, but the main problem was her father’s overly optimistic perceptions.

Whatever it was, Violette disliked being left in the dark, whether it’s from her father or from a complete stranger. It was all unnecessary concern.

“B-but, Violette-sama, that girl is…!”

“Were you not listening to what I just said?”

“…W-we apologize…!”

One of the girls stepped forward and boldly tried to convince Violette. Yet, Violette didn’t give her any time to even begin her speech. Violette tilted her head as if telling the young lady that she wouldn’t forgive them if they involve themselves anymore than this. The girl’s face turned pale and she bowed deeply.

Violette didn’t mean to threaten her that much, but… she needed to strike the iron while it’s still hot. She should be as strong and thorough as she could, to crush their  courage and ensure they never come to look for trouble again.

“Then, you don’t mind if we end this conversation here, right?”

“Y-yes……”

The young noble ladies left, each of them unsteady on their feet as if they had lost their strength. After the last person finally disappeared from her sight, Violette turned back towards Maryjun.

“Onee-sama… Thank you for helping me!”

Maryjun energetically approached Violette, like she was going to embrace Violette any minute now. Her face was full of happiness, as if she was thankful to God for hearing her prayer.

In Violette’s mind, this was the kind of person that would make other people want to protect her. Contrary to her slightly trembling figure, Maryjun wholeheartedly expressed her happiness. Maryjun was a girl who matched the exact definition of the word ‘lovely’.

To be honest, Maryjun’s eyes clearly showed that she believed that Violette had obviously helped and protected her, and that made Violette felt even more guilty for what she was about to say to her. But if she overlooked this matter, Maryjun would definitely act like that again.

“Maryjun.”

“Yes, Onee-sama!”

“I’ve also been meaning to ask you this.”

“Eh…?”

“What do you think you are doing?”