Chapter 3

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 2, 2025

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Pinterest Telegram

Jeremiah Anderson.

Born as the eldest daughter of the Anderson family, she lived a life where no one in the family had any expectations of her.

For the Andersons, who were swordsmen, the necessary successor was a man, not a woman.

Her parents, who gave birth to her, always looked down on her, and their love and investment were solely directed toward her younger brother who was born later.

The only value they saw in her was to marry into another family they favored and contribute to the family’s revival.

“Keep your appearance neat and your behavior proper. Attend social gatherings so everyone can take notice of you.”

While her brothers learned swordsmanship, she learned dance and makeup. While they received their parents’ love, she learned how to be loved by others.

That was the only way she, born a woman, could contribute to the family.

Having been taught this way, Jeremiah eventually came to believe that being loved by a man from another family was her only worth.

“A marriage proposal has come from the Duke’s family. If you marry him, our family’s standing in this country will become even more secure.”

In time, the match was made with the Duke’s heir. A partner chosen by the family, regardless of her own feelings.

Yet, Jeremiah accepted her fate.

Even though she didn’t love him, she believed that by marrying into the Duke’s family and creating a bond between the families, everyone around her would be happy.

“I don’t love you.”

Even if her partner openly expressed contempt for her.

“There will never be such a thing in the future. Our engagement is merely a relationship arranged by our families. I will treat you with the minimum courtesy as a partner, but don’t expect anything more.”

Even though they had driven the final nail into the coffin of their loveless relationship, Jeremiah was willing to accept even that fate.

Because even without love, they could still be bound together.

In the life she had learned as a woman, love was not important. She intended to focus solely on the significance of being bound to him and on supporting him in their life together.

She simply accepted that living this way was natural for her life.

“Have you heard the rumors? They say the Duke’s heir has been spending time with a commoner woman.”

But why?

Why did he deny her simple wish, the very value of her existence that had been emphasized throughout her life?

“A commoner woman? With so many suitable people, why a commoner woman?”

“Not to mention, he has a fiancée. What about Lady Jeremiah?”

As the rumors spread, Jeremiah felt a deep anger she had never experienced before.

She had lived solely to be bound to him. Even if she didn’t truly love him, she believed that being bound to him would prove her worth.

So how could she just stand by and watch a commoner woman win his favor?

“Why do you care who I spend time with?”

She hoped he would deny it, but he stood firm.

He boldly took a sharp stance, driving a dagger into her heart.

“You never truly loved me either, did you?”

Yes, as you say, I never truly loved you.

But the world bound us together. Since we were bound, regardless of our feelings, we shouldn’t turn our eyes to others.

If you were to have such feelings, they should have been directed at me. Why did you turn to someone else now?

If this was going to happen, you shouldn’t have engaged with me in the first place. You shouldn’t have given me the expectation that my worth would be proven.

“Disappear from his sight immediately. If you’re a commoner, know your place!”

The anger echoing inside her soon turned toward the commoner woman he favored.

Because she felt threatened by her. Because she was angry that this woman was ruining the fate she had accepted and had his true feelings, which she never received.

This malice grew increasingly excessive, eventually turning even the people around her into enemies.

“Jeremiah Anderson! You have brought your sins upon yourself!”

And at the end, the one who led the judgment was her fiancé.

He exposed all her misdeeds in front of everyone and completely severed their relationship.

“Do you know how grave your sins are? Do you know how many people have suffered because of your greed, and yet you dare show your face before me?”

“……It’s all because of you. This is what you made me.”

“Enough with the excuses. The sins you committed were done by your own hands, weren’t they?”

Excuses?

If you think about it, it was because he turned his eyes to another woman instead of me. Does he really believe he bears no responsibility for what happened?

“With such crimes, you can no longer remain in the academy. Naturally, the family won’t want to continue a relationship with someone who has been dishonorably expelled.”

“……Do you really have to go this far?”

“Yes, this is the end of our relationship.”

She was expelled and her engagement was annulled.

And that was no different from losing her worth.

Her parents, who had only hoped for her to marry an outstanding man, vented their rage upon hearing the news.

“Useless wench. I don’t even want to see your face, get out of this house immediately!”

It wasn’t her choice for their relationship to fall apart.

She had always clung to their relationship, hoping to fulfill their desires, and thus poured her malice toward the woman he favored.

But such details didn’t matter. Her family only saw the result and drove her out to a detached mansion.

Leaving her alone in an empty mansion with no one to visit.

“I just wanted to prove that I was a person of worth.”

That was all she had strived for in life.

She had lived to please her parents who looked down on her, devoted herself to someone she didn’t love, all for that purpose.

“But why have I fallen to such a state?”

What is love anyway?

What is a sincere longing for someone, and why did that person reduce me to such a miserable state?

Did he truly believe it was right to label me as a villain?

If that’s the case, does it mean I was born wrong from the start?

“……I hate you.”

I didn’t want to accept it.

That this fate was predetermined from the beginning, and I was meant to accept it as it is.

“I resent everyone who made me this way.”

A life where neither her parents’ expectations nor her relationship with her fiancé ever went as she wished.

When even the denial of her existence came at the end, a small seed of malice began to sprout in her heart.

Still formless, but with the right trigger, it could grow uncontrollably—a vague desire for revenge…

“Pardon me, but may I show you some goods if you have a moment?”

It was around the time she was seeking a trigger to ignite that emotion that a peddler visited the mansion.

Though he looked suspicious at first glance, Jeremiah, who needed something to cling to, took a strong interest in him.

Perhaps she could find the means to fulfill her vague desire for revenge.

“……What is this book?”

“Ah, that book is about dark magic.”

“Dark magic…?”

“Specifically, it’s about summoning demons from Hell. And according to rumors, demons grant the summoner’s wishes.”

A being that grants wishes.

Jeremiah felt a strong attraction to that.

For someone who didn’t know how to act on her desire for revenge, a being that could fulfill that wish was more necessary than anything else.

“How about it, would you like to buy this book?”

The peddler’s sly smile.

Though it seemed eerie and sinister, Jeremiah accepted the book on summoning demons from him.

Even if he had malicious intentions, it didn’t matter to her.

Even if the future that unfolded after accepting this book led to her ruin, it didn’t matter to her, who had already been abandoned by the world.

*****

“What I desire is not a butler, but revenge.”

Yes, Jeremiah desired revenge.

Though it was still a vague desire without a clear plan, the sincerity of that emotion couldn’t be denied.

The man in the butler’s uniform before her was summoned to give that emotion a concrete form and turn it into action.

“I want to take revenge on everyone who abandoned me. That’s why I summoned you.”

“Yes, I understand. You summoned me because you desire revenge.”

“Then……”

“But it seems there are many things we must do before fulfilling that wish.”

Things to do?

What else is there to do when nothing remains for her but the desire for revenge against those who made her this way?

“First of all, this mansion is quite large but not properly cleaned. I’ve done some cleaning, but it will take quite some time to clean it all.”

“……You don’t need to worry about cleaning.”

“No, it’s a very important matter. It’s not fitting for my future master to live in a dirty place.”

“That’s……!”

Her life had no meaning without revenge.

So it didn’t matter if she lived in a dusty house.

“Besides, you seem to be neglecting yourself.”

As she tried to argue, he raised a finger to her lips and continued in a quiet voice.

“You haven’t had a proper meal in days, your face lacks vitality, and your hair has been neglected for so long that it’s damaged. Not to mention, you don’t seem to care about your appearance even in front of a man……”

“Eek!”

Jeremiah, covering the exposed skin under her nightgown, shrank back.

As if finding even that adorable, he smirked and continued.

“Revenge is good, but more important is taking care of yourself first. If you’re so consumed by revenge that you neglect yourself, you won’t even feel the satisfaction of achieving it.”

Satisfaction?

She never desired such a thing.

In a life where she had never received any reward, expecting a reward for revenge would be strange, wouldn’t it?

“You……!”

But before she could scold him for his advice—

-Growl.

The sudden sound made Jeremiah blush and cover her mouth.

“My, it seems you’re hungry.”

“Th-that’s none of your concern…!”

“How can it not be? I can’t ignore my master going hungry.”

“I-I don’t need someone to serve me, I need someone to fulfill my revenge…… Eek!?”

The man suddenly lifted Jeremiah’s body.