Chapter 4

I was nervously fiddling with my brittle purple hair when I realized that I had no time to dawdle. I took out everything I owned, but what I had was useless.

“I really have nothing at all to work with.”

I had gathered the bag provided to the orphanage by the country for each child, a few sets of clothing, an old pair of shoes, and a couple of hair ties.

“I didn’t need to stay here all this time. Why did I just accept things as they were?” I should have run away a long time ago. But if I did, I would not have been able to be at my mother’s side when she passed.

I squeezed the garments in my fists and tried to cool my burning anger. My mother had died, and tomorrow I would suffer the same fate. Afterward, time would pass, signaling the beginning of a new story. The daughter born of the duke in part one would grow up living a charmed life. She would go on a whirlwind trip to a neighboring empire, make precious friends, and meet her one true love, living her life to the fullest.

And then she will live happily ever after.

I felt sick because it made our miserable deaths seem like a just punishment. I decided that I didn’t want to sit around and watch that happy ending unfold. Would the plot follow the same course if I twisted things around a little, or maybe even a lot?

I smiled, suddenly curious. If the story stubbornly stayed the same, it would mean that the novel was fated to unfold as it did on paper. But if things changed...

I resolved not to think about the outcome before giving it a try. I listened carefully for any noise outside, then took one of the old garments, wet it, and cleaned my wounds. My right ankle throbbed with pain—I must have twisted it as I fell—so I wrapped it tightly.

I pushed the bed away from the wall slightly to reveal a tiny door.

“It’s fortunate this room is meant for storage.”

I was not allowed to share a room with any of the other children. Publicly it was to prevent me from causing a fuss among them, but really it was so they could abuse me quietly and lock me away by myself for long periods of time. That was exactly why I had been put here.

“I’m lucky that no one noticed this isn’t just a wall.” The door led to the large storage room located right next door. I could get out through there. “I hope I’m not being reckless by doing this. I have no other choice though.”

I recalled the second part of the book and tried to pick out details that could prove useful. After my mother and I had perished, the new main character snuck into an estate in an attempt to take the owner’s life. His plan failed, and he was captured. Impressed by his spirit, the estate owner named the main character as her successor. He would then go on to become the estate owner himself, eventually crossing paths with the duke’s daughter. They would fall in love as they adventured together, facing adversities and trials, before finally finding their happily-ever-after.

“First of all, I need to make sure he doesn’t go to that estate.” That was how the main character would eventually meet the duke’s daughter and fall in love with her. I had to prevent them from meeting. I also needed a safe place to stay so that I could manipulate the story.

There is only one way. I was the villainess’s daughter, but there was still one person who would provide me with protection if I could prove my value.

Chloe Benedito, the owner of the Benedito Estate, was the main character’s adoptive mother. She was the one who had been impressed by his spirit and would take him in as her son. She felt as though she could use him to execute her revenge, and so had adopted him. She had been raised in this very orphanage and sold off to the underworld when she’d come of age by the director, who she had once considered her friend. She had to suffer through endless trials in order to take her place as the owner of the Benedito Estate and sought revenge against the director and all those who supported him.

According to the novel, the director stores all his secret documents in his office. He was careless enough to keep them in his drawers, and in the novel they broke into the orphanage in order to find those documents. People had always told me that sinners must pay. So he should have anticipated this fate as far as I was concerned. When everyone went to sleep, I had to steal the documents and get out so I could make a deal with Chloe Benedito. I have to finish this before tomorrow.

I endured the pain coursing through my body, holding my breath. I waited for everyone to fall asleep. My body, more tired than usual, demanded that I rest, but my mind remained clear. I supposed that this was to be expected, since my survival was entirely dependent on whether or not I escaped this place safely. The variety of noises echoing throughout the orphanage began to slowly disappear one by one.

I was well aware that the director and the rest of the staff usually retired to their rooms before midnight. Nobody took night duty at the orphanage. I hope nothing out of the ordinary happens.

Trying to calm my thumping heart, I waited for more time to pass. Soon, the highest clock tower in the city began to chime. The tolling of the bell told me that it was midnight. I slowly stood at the sound. After cracking open the little door behind the bed, I wrapped my feet with strips of torn cloth and padded out into the hallway. My footsteps were much quieter than if I was wearing my old pair of shoes. I kept to the shadows, making my way to the director’s office.

The orphanage after midnight was utterly silent. There was no one in sight. All I could hear was my own breathing, as if I was the only person alive in the whole building. It felt like the silence was breathing hope into me, reassuring me that I would survive.

The night chill was harsher than usual, but my determination did not falter. I could see my breath forming ghostly puffs, and I tried to swallow them back as I snuck through the hallways. I went along before finally arriving at the director’s office, which was quite a ways from the storage room. I took the doorknob carefully in my hand, which I had also wrapped in cloth just like my feet.

The director, who didn’t seem to care about safety despite overseeing children, had not locked the door. I opened it noiselessly, and found the room was dark—a sign that no one was inside. I could not hear anything, so I entered the room and quietly closed the door behind me.

Releasing a sigh of relief, I looked around the room, trying to spot anything fancy that might be out of place in an orphanage. Is he getting money from elsewhere on top of the money he gets from the country? He was an extravagant man, after all. Mentally cursing the director, I remembered that I had no time to waste, and began to rummage through his drawers.

The first drawer did not contain anything special, and neither did the second. The only one left was the third drawer, which was a little bigger than the other two and was locked. I tried to open it, but it would only clatter noisily and remain shut.

“I need a key.”

I did not anticipate that this would be a problem. Of course, the male lead was described as very strong. He would have had no problem breaking open a simple lock like this.

I hastily tried to open the drawer a few more times but quickly looked elsewhere for other ideas. I need to think carefully. The director is much more incompetent than he looks. He might have hidden a key around here just in case.

I straightened up and went back to the center of the room. There was a wall filled with expensive-looking books, a desk made of dark brown wood, two large pots, a thick carpet on the floor, and a large sofa. He is lazy, so if I were to pick the closest possible hiding place it would be these pots, and seeing as he is left-handed… I went to the pot to the left of his desk and sifted through it. And there it was: a tiny, twinkling key. Found it!

Fortunately, the key I found unlocked the drawer. I inserted and turned the key, and the sound of the drawer opening was music to my ears. Unfortunately, I had not learned how to read, so it was difficult for me to identify what the documents inside were. That’s fine. I just need anything I can trade with.

I took all the documents and carefully put them in the bag that I had brought with me. But what’s this? Among the documents, I found a peculiar-looking stamp. I guess it must be important if he stored it in here. I’ll take this too. No one was watching me, but I surreptitiously slid it in my side pocket nonetheless. And with that, I had everything I needed. I closed the drawer, locked it, and put the key back in the pot.

All I had to do was sling the bag over my shoulder and get out, but at that precise moment I heard footsteps outside. By the sound alone I could tell that it was more than one person. What do I do? What do I do? The office was located at the end of the corridor, which meant the footsteps had to be heading this way. If I went out now, I would without a doubt be caught.

I might get beaten to death here and now. The director was more short-tempered than any of the other staff and was often overly violent with the children when they made mistakes. If he realized that I was trying to run away with his documents, he would kill me on the spot.

I’m doing this to survive. Get it together, Daphne! I tried to gather my wits about me as I looked around the room hastily. If I jumped out the window from the second floor given this fragile body, I could die. There were no wardrobes or cabinets in the room, and I had no time to waste. I realized there was only one place left to hide. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, clutched the bag close to my chest, and forced my body under the sofa. Fortunately, my underfed, fragile frame fit into the gap after a little wiggling.

I had just pulled down the drape to hide myself completely when the door opened. I held the bag with one hand and covered my mouth with the other to stop any sound from escaping.

Then I heard the director speak. “So, you plan on taking Daphne there tomorrow?”

“Yes. I was a little soft on her, and she’s become too headstrong. She needs a good beating,” Yuriane replied.

“Look at you. So upset because your plan went awry. You know the people there hate her mother? They might beat her to death. People with purple hair are uncommon.”

“They won’t kill her. I just want to give her a little scare to tame her.”

“Do what you will. The duke doesn’t care anyway, and her mother’s side has kept quiet. I guess they intend to abandon her. The poor child.”

“Poor child? I didn’t think you felt sorry for her.”

There was a slight sneer underlying her playful tone. However, they quickly abandoned this topic of conversation.

“Come here for a moment.”

Their footsteps sounded as though they were approaching the sofa. Did they see me? I held my breath, covering my mouth and withdrawing further backward. Their feet stopped right in front of the sofa.

No, please, please. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping they didn’t know I was there.