Miranda looked more confused than angry, her brows drawn in bafflement rather than outrage. Magnus remained his usual stone-faced self, while Selene tilted her head slightly, ears pricked.
Well, if I can't watch the live drama, I'll just enjoy the radio version, she thought, adjusting in her seat and waiting for her eyes to heal.
Miranda finally snapped out of her daze, rose to her feet, and fixed Lucien with a sharp glare."I don't know what heavenly delusion you've been living in to think I'd ever marry you," she said, her tone cutting. "But stop. Not in your wildest dreams."
Her eyes narrowed further. "You conniving fox. I hope one day you're forced to marry the ugliest woman alive."
Lucien's cheeks went crimson, whether from anger, humiliation, or both, it was hard to tell.
Then Miranda turned to Leo, her expression twisting in disgust. "And you, stop looking at me like that. You look like a greasy pig."
Leo's face flushed just as violently.
Even Magnus looked faintly stunned.
Selene, however, silently clapped, still with her eyes closed. Back on Earth, those were exactly the words she'd screamed when those two took Eri's virginity in the game. The fact that Miranda had unknowingly repeated them almost word for word made her want to cheer.
Her soft claps caught the twins' attention. Seeing her sitting there, eyes shut yet smiling faintly, seemed to make them even redder.
Lucien's temper snapped. "How dare a worthless commoner like you insult me?! If you hadn't pulled that vile trick, I would never have been engaged to you in the first place!"
Miranda's brow furrowed deeper. "…What vile trick? And what engagement are you even talking about?"
Lucien scoffed. "Don't act dumb. You purposefully fell, then cut your own cheek, just to force me into marriage."
Miranda let out a cold, incredulous laugh. "First of all, on that day, Leo was harassing my friend. I stepped in. Second, you pushed me because I called you pigs. My mother is a priestess, remember. She healed the wounds from the fall."
Her voice darkened. "The scar? That was my father. When he heard I insulted you and your brother, he cut my cheek with a knife as punishment… and wouldn't let my mother heal it. That's why it stayed. That's why I hated you both. And as for this 'engagement' you keep bringing up, I've never heard of it."
Silence fell like a dropped curtain.
Lucien and Leo exchanged stunned, searching looks. Magnus, even more taken aback, rubbed the back of his head and turned toward Selene.
Her eyes were still closed, but the smile on her face was unmistakable. It didn't take a genius to piece together what was happening.
Kevin, she thought bitterly. Vicious and calculative as ever. And then, remembering he had just tried to offer Miranda to Magnus, she sighed inwardly. What did I expect?
Before she could dwell on it, a cool sensation bloomed over her eyes. She opened her eyes and realized she could finally see again.
Not just see, everything felt sharper, clearer, almost unnaturally so.
She turned to Magnus. "My vision's back… but I think it's better than before."
Magnus looked down at the vial still in his hand, then, without a word, tilted his head back and applied a few drops to his own eye.
Selene's jaw dropped. "Are you insane?! You promised to protect me!"
He smirked faintly. "You can handle it on your own."
Selene blinked at Magnus, baffled by his sudden carelessness. She was about to scold him again when a sharp, ragged scream split the air.
She whipped her head around.
Lucien was clutching his head, knuckles white, his face twisted in agony."Damn it!" he roared, the sound almost animal.
Miranda froze, eyes wide. Even Leo looked taken aback by his brother's outburst.
"You..." Lucien snarled, pointing at her with shaking fingers. "You and your entire family are a pack of cunning foxes!"
His voice pitched higher, words unraveling into an incoherent stream. Fragments of insults and accusations spilled from him until, suddenly, a sentence cut through the chaos.
"I had the chance, THE chance, to be engaged to Lady Seraphina Valtieri of the Valtieri Ducal House! But because of you and your damn father, the proposal was cancelled! Do you understand what you ruined?! That was my perfect opportunity! And instead..." His lips curled as though the words tasted foul. "Instead, I was forced to be engaged to the daughter of a broke noble clinging to the Ravencroft Duchy's coattails… the same one who paid for my statue!"
Miranda blinked, anger warring with confusion."What are you talking about? What does your cancelled engagement have to do with me?"
But Lucien was too deep in his rage to answer, pacing like a caged beast.
Selene exhaled through her nose. "There is an engagement between you two," she said quietly.
Miranda's head snapped toward her. "Between him and… me?"
Selene nodded.
The girl stared, her expression collapsing into disbelief, then horror. "I… I had no idea…"
Selene sighed. "In noble society, a girl's face is her most important asset."
"I know that. So?"
"There's a rule," Selene continued evenly, "that if a boy, accidentally or not, ruins a girl's face, he's forced to marry her. Not only that, but he will also be absorbed into her household."
Miranda frowned, still trying to connect the pieces.
So, Selene dropped the last stone. "Kevin went around telling anyone who would listen that Lucien pushed you, and you fell… and a stone smashed into your face."
Selene's gaze dropped to the scar when she spoke the final word. When she looked back up, Miranda's pupils were blown wide, tears swelling until they spilled over.
And then, she smiled.
The tears fell harder. Her lips trembled… and she gave a small, broken chuckle before her knees buckled.
Selene lunged forward, catching her before she hit the ground.
Miranda's fingers clutched weakly at Selene's sleeve. Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper.
"Why…?"
Selene's mouth opened, then shut.
What could she possibly say? That her father was an unhinged bastard who didn't deserve the title?She bit her lip hard enough to taste copper.
Miranda, trembling in her arms, seemed to take her silence as an answer. Her grip shot up, clutching both of Selene's arms with desperate strength.
"Why?" she screamed, her voice raw. "Why, WHY?!"
Her words tumbled out faster, jagged and uneven. "I've been a good girl, just like he told me to! I quit my dream of being a ballerina because he said it was… it was an unclean job! Even when he told me to do things I didn't want to, I obeyed! I wasn't rude, I tried, tried, my hardest not to embarrass him in public! So why... why would he do this to me?"
Her voice cracked, breaking completely. "Wasn't it enough? Should I… should I have done more? Would he have loved me then?"
Her sobs tore through the air, ragged and unrestrained.
Selene wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close. She patted her back in slow, steady motions, though her own chest ached from the words.
Miranda's voice shook as she choked out, "Except for bad things… I did everything… just so he would care about me. But Victoria..." her face twisted, grief and bitterness blurring together "... she did nothing. And he… treats her better than he's ever treated me…"