Obey Me Now

As the rain that had been falling so appropriately stopped, the dense clouds that had once been so thick vanished, and sunlight poured down as if welcoming newly bloomed flowers. The weather was strangely on her side, almost eerily so. No one spoke first, and in the quiet stillness, Amelia smiled. She was so happy that it almost brought her to tears. For the first time, she was not the lady trapped in the Count’s household because of her weak heart. She had finally achieved something on her own.

‘That’s right. I did it. I succeeded!’

With trembling breath, Amelia clenched her shaking hands in exhilaration. Her heart was beating as though it might explode. The heart that had become healthy was now something special. The one-year expiration date wasn’t the only gift from God. An immense amount of mana, capable of making arrows infinite without tiring, now resided in her heart. And on top of that, the magical ability to cast elemental spells consecutively. For the lady who had been waiting for death, this was not only a new life but also newfound abilities. Of course, these abilities came at a cost. The time limit was precisely one year. But it was enough for her. She needed it desperately. From the beginning, she had never needed cover tactics or sniping.

‘Since it was possible to fire multiple times, close-range was more advantageous than long-range.’

In fact, since her skills in cover tactics and sniping were somewhat lacking, long-range was difficult for her.

‘What I really needed was the physical strength and agility to face off with a sword head-on.’

Amelia raised her head, beginning to search for him among the nobles.

‘Thanks to the Duke, this was possible.’

But the figure that had been there just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

‘What’s going on?’

Amelia looked around with a slightly stiffened gaze.

‘Where did he go?’

Strangely, she wanted to show him this moment, and strangely, she wanted to share this joy with him. In this moment, Amelia missed him dearly. Just as she was about to take a step to find Iclite, an overwhelming cheer and applause erupted.

“My goodness! This is the best!”

“Lady Amelia!!!”

Everyone was calling her name. It seemed that the result had already been decided without even needing the judgment of the referees. As Amelia’s name echoed throughout the arena, Isana smiled faintly and looked up at the sky.

“The monster Duke and the monster head of the family. Who could deny they’re a couple? Even the weather is helping them out.”

At Isana’s whisper, Mesarina, who had been frozen, flinched. Kallen, now coming to his senses, opened his mouth.

“C-Head of the family?”

“Of course. Can’t you see it? All those nobles have acknowledged it. Only by skill. Our new master will truly be a monster. No musketeer will be able to defeat her…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Mesarina’s completely broken voice denied everything Isana had said.

“Amelia is the head of the family? That girl is going to die. She’s going to die! She’s terminally ill!”

She couldn’t accept it. Who was calling her the head of the family? How could that dying girl be the head of the Fioré family? Something was wrong.

‘I am the head of the family. I am the head of Fioré!’

“I don’t care what kind of trick that girl has used, but this is not right. This can never happen!”

Isana sighed as she looked at the furious Mesarina, as though a mask had completely come off. Kallen flinched and subtly hid behind Isana. Mesarina Chezet. In high society, she was rumored to be incredibly delicate, elegant, and lovely. But now, seeing her, those rumors seemed completely untrustworthy. She had even heard that Lady Amelia had been bullying Lady Mesarina.

‘But looking at her now, it seems completely the opposite, doesn’t it?’

Gerald had said that a woman has a thousand faces, and it was completely true. Isana no longer wanted to listen to Mesarina’s incessant whining that was draining her ears.

“As a referee, you need to judge again. This is impossible! I am Amelia’s family, her sister. From the moment she was born, she was terminally ill. How could that be possible?”

“Well, it seems she’s not terminally ill anymore.”

“What?”

Isana smiled faintly at Mesarina.

“It seems like, miraculously, her heart has healed. Of course, it looks like there were circumstances she couldn’t share with her family.”

Mesarina paused at Isana’s words, but she didn’t back down.

“Huh, she didn’t even train properly.”

“Whatever training she did, it’s up to the person who planned the strategy.”

“So, you’re saying that’s possible? Ridiculous. I can’t accept it. She must have used some kind of trick. I could do that too. I could!”

“Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t.”

Isana smiled as if it were unfortunate and adjusted her disheveled clothes.

“An ordinary tier can’t do that. It doesn’t matter if you put in effort; that’s not needed right now. This is a position where results, not effort, matter. You’ve lost, Lady Mesarina.”

With that, Isana, still wearing her cloak, left the referee’s stand. Kallen quickly followed her, glancing around. Left alone, Mesarina’s clenched palm began to bleed, and her lips twisted into a pale grimace.

“Something’s wrong. No, it can’t be. Amelia is the head of the family? I couldn’t have lost!”

As the cheers poured in for her, Amelia’s head began to ache. This wasn’t the false congratulations and hollow attention she had hoped for. She wanted a different kind of recognition and celebration.

‘Where is he? I’m here, and he couldn’t have left without me. What could have happened?’

Concern filled her heart as she turned to walk again. As she did, Isana approached her. She looked strangely different from before the test. She was properly dressed, with a musket in hand. And she was accompanied by all of Fioré’s musketeers. Amelia hesitated, and the nobles who had been cheering for her lowered their voices. Isana stopped at an appropriate distance and, still smiling brightly, bowed to her.

“Lady Amelia.”

“What’s going on?”

“The test has concluded. Lady Amelia has killed all the shadow knights, and we extend our respects for her victory.”

Victory. That single word finally began to feel real.

“Our tiers will recognize Lady Amelia as our new mistress and follow her.”

With these words, Isana knelt in front of Amelia, placing her musket on the ground. The other tiers behind her also bowed their heads, showing their respect for Amelia. Although a formal title conferral ceremony would follow, the tiers of the family immediately recognized the winner of the test as the new head of the family and swore their allegiance to her. This was a pledge meant for all the nobles watching as spectators. The new head of Fioré had been chosen, and now her power would be officially granted. Amelia felt her breath grow heavy.