The Perpetrator Who Become The Victim

"There is someone who survives!"

A royal soldier shouted as he saw two human shadows limping out of the burning manor.

The smoke and flames made it impossible for him and the other soldiers to see vividly, but when the two figures emerged from the fire, all of them were stunned and unable to react quickly because they were too astonished.

"She was Lady Roxana!" the soldier repeated his sentences. "She was Lady Roxana! She was alive!"

Roxana coughed several times as she accidentally inhaled the burning smoke. Her face was covered in black ash, and some parts of her clothes looked torn and damaged from the burning.

She walked with limp legs, while her waist and arms were supported by Damian so that she looked like someone so weak and helpless.

The royal soldiers flocked to Roxana, they took over her body from Damian and told a physician to check on Roxana's condition.

"My Lady, what exactly happened?" the royal soldier asked worriedly, his face looking pale as he watched the Duke's Manor begin to crumble from the flames. "Where are the Duke and Duchess of Oberon? Are they safe?"

Roxana covered her mouth with a handkerchief as she coughed. Her blue eyes glazed over as soon as she heard the soldier's question. She lowered her face, then wiped the corners of her eyes that were wet with tears.

"Father ... my father was ...." Roxana sobbed, she showed such a pitiful expression that it made everyone around her feel pity. "He had a magic deviation and went crazy. He burned down the entire manor and couldn't even recognize his family or the soldiers in the manor."

Roxana covered her face with her hands, her back trembling as she let out a heartbreaking sobbing sound. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the ground. "My father unalive himself after realizing his actions. No one in the manor could survive except me."

The physician who examined Roxana's condition stroked her back, trying to calm her down, who still looked shocked and frightened. Everyone looked at Roxana with pity and even felt her fate was miserable.

But in reality, Roxana didn't feel sad at all. Although tears continued falling down her cheeks, her lips secretly smiled slightly, and her heart was enveloped in great joy.

Damian narrowed his eyes, he laughed inwardly and couldn't even stop praising Roxana for her extraordinary performance. Had she not been born a noble, Damian was sure she would have become an excellent theater performer.

"Can you take her to a safer place?" Everyone turned their eyes toward Damian as soon as they heard his voice. "She might get even more sadder if she stays here."

A royal soldier approached Damian and looked at him suspiciously. "Sir, I don't think I have seen you here before. Are you a new soldier at the Duke of Oberon's residence?"

Damian formed a friendly smile on his dazzling face. "I am just His Grace's guest who arrived yesterday evening. He intends to command me to become Lady Roxana's knight. However, I did not expect the situation to turn out this badly."

The intonation of Damian's voice and demeanor were so convincing that the soldier before him fell into the trap of his lie.

"Ah, Lady Roxana must have survived because of you!"

The soldier immediately signaled another physician to check Damian's condition, but he prevented the physician from approaching him and said, "I'm fine. You should focus more on Lady Roxana."

News of the fire that hit the Oberon family residence spread quickly throughout the Vithia Kingdom. The nobles sent letters of condolence to Roxana while the commoners gossiped about the Oberon family endlessly.

Most of the people of Oberon City did not have any compassion for the Duke as they had suffered for so long under Julius Oberon's leadership. They also even sneered at Camilla, who eventually died along with the treasures she kept in her magnificent manor.

"I think they deserve it."

A middle-aged woman winced as she heard the gossip about the Oberon family for the umpteenth time. "They've forced us to pay high taxes to the point of making commoners like us suffer. I used to feel happy when I heard they died so painfully."

"Shhh. Don't say it in a public place like this." Another woman looked to her right and left, ensuring no one else could overhear their conversation. "I heard that their daughter, Lady Rosaline, will punish those who speak ill of her late parents."

"Are you sure? Isn't Lady Rosaline famous for her gentle demeanor? A few months ago, I even heard she helped a merchant whose stall was destroyed by bandits."

"You're right. It seems she wouldn't do such a bad thing. Then what about his other daughter?"

"You mean Lady Roxana?" She sneered, "She's even only capable of lighting candles with her magic, so how could she possibly be capable of punishing us?"

Tuck.

"Ouch, who threw a pebble at my head!" The woman picked up a pebble that had previously hit her head quite hard.

She rubbed the back of her head and turned around to look for the person who had done such a rude thing to her. However, no matter how hard she looked, she was unable to find the suspicious person around her.

Her other friends returned to talking about Roxana. "If the Duke is dead, then who will replace him?"

"Of course, it would be Lady Rosaline! How could Lady Roxana—"

Tuck.

She stopped speaking as a small pebble was thrown at her head. She grunted in annoyance and looked around along with her companion.

Meanwhile, a man stood on top of the clock tower in the city's capital. His red eyes gazed at the people on the street as he twirled a small pebble between his fingers.

He smiled slightly, then threw the rest pebbles to the people who constantly talked bad about Roxana. "Why do humans always only dare to talk bad in secret? If you want to fight, wouldn't it be more fun to meet the person directly and engage them in a fight? What do you think?"

Damian lowered his head, staring at the red pendant tied around his neck. "Roxie, why are you silent?"

Moments later, the pendant emitted a dim reddish light. "Stop playing around. I only asked you to listen to the conversations of the Oberonians after the fire, not disturb them."

Damian grimaced, "They talk bad about you."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Roxana said, "They would never suspect me of being a perpetrator because I look too weak and fragile. What have you heard there?"

Damian rested his head on the fence. "They were discussing the successor of The Duke of Oberon. I can deduce that most of them think Rosaline will be appointed as the head of Oberon."

Roxana spoke calmly, "I know. It was natural for them to favor Rosaline over me."

Damian tapped his fingers against the fence, then raised his head to see the gray sky beneath him. The clouds seemed to cover the sky, making Damian certain it would rain soon.

"You are such a weird human," he said.

Roxana curved her lips upward, then replied, "Why do you think so?"

Damian narrowed his eyes as the thunder growled in the sky and made the people who had been talking bad about Roxana hurriedly run away to find shelter.

"You are too calm, like a cloud that can secretly bring a storm."