I Became the Heroine’s Stand-in - Chapter 94

“You.”

It was the first time. The first time she had ever spoken words to her father that so openly displayed her hostility. And it was the first time she had ever looked down upon the Count, a man she had once thought to be an infinitely towering figure.

“How dare you say such a thing to me!”

When things didn’t go as he planned, the Count found himself utterly speechless. He had assumed that if he intimidated her, she would tremble and obey him as she always had in the past. He suspected that her display of courage during the banquet had only been possible because of Ersivan’s presence, so he had deliberately waited for a moment when she was alone.

He had barged into her room without a care for the concerned gazes of others. He couldn’t believe it. This girl, who had always been terrified whenever they were alone, who would have committed suicide without hesitation if he had ordered it, had somehow changed like this.

“The Duke of Valencia declined, saying he’s too busy to push the business forward. What do you think about me proceeding alone? I believe I have more than enough capability.”

“I do not doubt your capacity, Count, but I invested specifically because of the Duke of Valencia’s name. If the Duke is not involved, then I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”

“I share their sentiment. I hope to see you again when a better opportunity arises, Count Mernard.”

He thought of the humiliation he had endured at lunch today because of the plans Diana had ruined. Unable to contain his simmering resentment, his face quickly twisted into a venomous expression. His fists were clenched so tightly that even though he held his arms still, his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

“It isn’t finalized yet; I was merely asking for your opinion. I intend to persuade the Duke again myself. I ought to see some benefit from having such a son in law, haha.”

To avoid massive losses, he had to win Ersivan over. To do that, he first needed this foolish girl to be submissive and devoted to him. But even when he acted the part of a kind father, she showed no sign of listening, and the Count’s patience was wearing thin.

“Using that shallow courage of hers to babble on without knowing her place.”

He opened his fist, his stiff palm facing the ceiling. His straightened arm retracted before his coarse, rough hand struck Diana’s delicate cheek without mercy.

The sound of the impact was loud. Diana’s ears rang from the blow, and for a moment, she couldn’t hear a thing. But because this wasn’t the first time she had been struck, she wasn’t even surprised.

Her head, which had been knocked aside, slowly returned to its original position. When she touched her stinging cheek, even the slightest graze of skin against skin made the inside of her mouth smart.

The Count raised his hand again. His arm swung downward without hesitation, intending to strike the other side of her face. But this time, he didn’t reach her. The arm the Count swung was caught in a firm grip, halting his movement entirely.

“I thought once would have been enough for you.”

“You, you!”

“You seem to have a lot of built-up anger.”

As she spoke, she tasted the metallic tang of blood. Her pronunciation didn’t come out clearly; it leaked out in a slur. A fluid, she couldn’t tell if it was blood or saliva, dripped through her teeth. Having no time to wipe it, she let it fall, blooming like dark red flowers upon the white marble floor. It hurt terribly. The inside of her mouth had finally torn.

“How dare you!”

The Count tried to pull his arm away with force, but his eyes soon widened in shock as he scanned her. Instead of being released, the grip on his wrist grew even tighter. He was a grown man and a knight who had trained his body since youth. There was no way he could lose in a test of strength to Diana, a girl who didn’t even weigh half as much as he did and shouldn’t have had any physical power.

“This is…”

Diana was equally bewildered as she watched the Count, who was pinned and unable to move. She caught a glimpse of her necklace. It was clear the spirit was lending her its strength.

Applying even more pressure to the hand holding him, Diana finally succeeded in throwing the Count’s arm aside. Flung by the force, the Count tumbled to the floor and groaned in immense pain. His body hitting the floor was one thing, but his arm felt as though it had been crushed.

Fumbling at the injury with his good arm, the Count finally screamed.

“How can you turn your back on the laws of heaven!”

“The laws of heaven?”

“To fail to recognize the father who loved you, cared for you, and embraced you, to commit such filial impiety! Surely, God will be furious!”

The Count’s face turned from a bruised blue to a deathly pale, clearly in genuine pain. Diana thought it a pity that if his pride were only a little shallower, he would have been blubbering at her feet. Instead of tears, the Count glared at her while sniffing back snot. Diana looked down at his wretched, broken form with a hollow gaze.

It was only natural, but she no longer held a single lingering attachment to her father. Someone once said that if you give your best, you are left with no regrets at the end. Those words fit her perfectly now.

“The laws of heaven, Father? From the moment you abandoned me, such a thing ceased to exist, did it not?”

Diana spoke as she slowly approached him. But for every step she took forward, the Count scurried a step back. Sensing the strangeness, she took two steps forward, and he immediately retreated two steps. Finally, she broke into a light jog toward him. He tried his best to flee, but he eventually hit the wall and collapsed.

She bent her waist to match his eye level. Once she crouched down, their gazes finally met.

“Are you doing this because of that bastard?”

“That bastard?”

“You rebelled like this last time, too. It was because of him then. Right, this time it’s because I suggested a business deal to him, isn’t it? Because you’re afraid he’ll suffer a financial loss! Because you’re afraid I’ll harm him!”

Strictly speaking, he was entirely correct. However, it was contemptible that he used those facts to justify his own behavior. It wasn’t as if he had only hurt her twice in her life.

“If that’s what you believe, then I suppose it is.”

Since she didn’t want to bother pleading her case, Diana simply gave a cold affirmation. Such tedious efforts were only reserved for when one still felt affection for the other person.

“That damn bastard, stealing my daughter away!”

“Father.”

Diana called out, cutting him off. Usually, he would have ignored her and poured out whatever he wanted to say, but for some reason, he yielded the floor to her.

“I will tell you one thing. Do not touch him. I am telling you that no matter what happens, do not involve the Grand Duke in our affairs.”

Diana knew Count Mernard all too well. She knew him better than the Countess or the butler, who had spent half their lives with him. Because she had seen every inch of his hideous side, she could easily predict his next move.

As villains often resemble one another, he would strike at his opponent’s weakness, just as the Empress had. In this case, the Duke of Valencia, Diana’s weakness, would become the Count’s target.

Tragedy must not repeat itself. To prevent it, she had to intervene now. Ersivan’s life, a life so noble it was beyond reproach, was not something so trivial that a mere house like Mernard could be allowed to ruin it.

“Of course, you’ll likely take my words lightly. So, I’m going to try something. You know, that thing I learned by watching over your shoulder.”

“…”

“Blackmail.”

Her cold gaze swept up and down his injured arm. The Count flinched repeatedly as Diana’s fingers twitched, as if she intended to touch the wound.

“If you touch His Grace, I will risk everything to expose you.”

“…”

“Every single foul thing you have ever done. All of it.”

The Count felt a chill run down his spine. The cold sweat he had broken out in from the pain turned icy in an instant.

“What?”

“Do you think you can escape the charges just because there’s no evidence or witnesses? If that’s the case, you’ve forgotten that I am right here, the living evidence and the witness to everything.”

She was telling him she would expose her father for using her as a double. Of course, Diana would suffer as much as he would, but if she could punish the Count, she was more than willing to bear it. If a decisive blow was needed, she even intended to reveal the fact that he had conspired with the Empress to kidnap Ersivan.

Having finished her piece, Diana stood up from her crouched position. She was curious to see how he would react. She paused for a moment and looked down at him.

Surprisingly, the reaction was even more violent than she had anticipated. Like a man sentenced to death, his limbs shook like aspen leaves. It wasn’t just his body trembling uncontrollably; his purple-tinged complexion was masked in sheer despair.

It was indeed a massive secret that would destroy the House of Mernard. However, his reaction was far too intense for a threat regarding things that hadn’t happened yet.

Shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it, the Count finally scrambled to his feet. He reached out with one arm and grabbed Diana by the shoulder.

“You, do you remember everything?”

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