It was a well-known fact that the young miss, despite her hustle and bustle, had a terminal illness that would bring her to her death at a young age, which led to her being absolutely pampered and spoiled by her family.
Since her life was short and there was no hope yet of preventing this, the young miss was denied the informal education that all nobles, including her brothers, underwent.
And thus, after being taught the simple basics such as reading, writing, and so on, the Castellans insisted on having her fully enjoy her childhood before her tragic fate arrived.
Despite her family revolving around her — to the extent of her parents and brothers taking shifts just to accompany her — the young miss still felt lonely.
One day, during a walk across town, she met a dirty street kid, bright and happy as could be despite their obvious state of wretchedness, and wanted them as a playmate.
While her brothers complained about how the dirty brat was an eyesore and shouldn't be on such streets but rather in more wretched corners, Rosanna pointed at the jovial child and declared her a friend.
Being suddenly elevated, the street kid, now named Verity, was more than grateful to the young miss and treated her like a goddess.
Despite the disdainful treatment from her family, she remained the young miss's companion and enjoyed her days with her. But then, one fateful day, while the young miss was feeling mischievous, they set out on a rowboat into a beautiful lake, a bit away from the Castellan family.
Out of nowhere, the young miss's sickness flared up and she passed out, falling overboard into the cold waters.
And just as Evelyn had done, Verity also leapt into the water and pulled the young miss to shore.
The same slap, the same threats, the same disgrace. Only this time, Verity had made an effort to defend herself — and worsened everything instead.
From then on her life went downhill.
After the storm had settled slightly, Evelyn entered her room, pulled out the journal that had been gifted to her by the young miss, and half-heartedly began compiling the plot lines she could recall.
In the story, after the incident, Verity was forcefully separated from the young miss and curled up in her room, crying and starving until the next day when the young miss awoke.
Despite clearing Verity's name, the Castellans preferred their version of the story and loathed Verity even more.
Verity accompanied the young miss until she died three years later, with the dying wish that Verity be made the miss in her stead and treated with love as she was. One promise was fulfilled while the other was ignored.
The most decency the Castellans gave was to ignore her, and thus Verity became a ghost in the Castellans' house.
Such a thing to such a child was as terrifying as it was damaging, and soon Verity was obsessed with getting attention however she could.
Whether it be the bad kind, she wanted any, and so she sought it madly.
She appeared before her family, no matter how much they despised her, and soon her brothers couldn't hold back their hate and began bullying her, and she... absolutely loved it. Her parents, however, remained adamant about treating her like air.
The behavior of her brothers extended to the outside world, whenever the noble children gathered together and Verity was brought along.
She was treated like the clown of the show, the disgusting street kid pretending to be what she wasn't— and she went along with it, just to be included.
But Verity was no fool, and she fully understood everything that was happening to her but was too helpless to stop it all.
One day, while hidden away from the group of kids and crying, a black-haired, dazzling young boy with eyes red as blood approached her with a handkerchief.
"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
Unable to comprehend that someone could show her such kindness, she simply burrowed into herself and cried more. The boy, however, did not leave, but instead consoled her, and that simple action began the tale of Verity's cursed love that led to her death.
Evelyn placed back her feather pen after she was done and lay on the bed in a daze. She felt hungry, but going out for food in this state would be quite foolish. Suddenly, she suspected Verity's starvation was more of something she had no say in, rather than a willing decision.
The rest of the plot was pretty much as one would expect. Verity fell hopelessly in love with the crown prince. She summoned the courage to ask the Duke to have her engaged to him and for some reason, which Evelyn suspected was a twisted form of sadism, the Duke agreed.
For the Duke, along with everyone but Verity, knew her fate as the crown prince's wife was far from being the rosy romance story she thought it would be. Yet, the Duke agreed.
The crown prince, unwilling to be tied to a girl he barely knew, met with Verity and asked for a dissolution, but was vehemently rejected. And thus his dislike for Verity gradually began.