Free Web NovelChapter 65: Chapter 65: Misjudged
Chapter 65: Misjudged
As to why Matthias became fiercely protective toward victims trapped inside hostile noble households?
Perhaps it was because part of him never truly left that rain-soaked night standing outside Lyra’s empty room with her final letter trembling in his hands.
People often believed grief softened eventually.
Matthias had learned the opposite.
Some grief sharpened instead.
It settled quietly beneath the skin until it began influencing every instinct without permission. Every judgment. Every decision. Every prejudice disguised as caution.
And perhaps that was exactly what happened to him after Lyra’s death.
Because afterward, Matthias developed an immediate hatred toward cruelty hidden beneath noble refinement.
He despised anyone who used social standing to isolate and humiliate weaker people beneath them. He despised manipulation disguised as innocence. He despised households that quietly destroyed people behind closed doors while maintaining elegant appearances publicly.
And when rumors regarding Lady Aria Valen began spreading more aggressively throughout aristocratic society...
He listened.
At first, Matthias ignored them entirely.
Nobles exaggerated constantly. Society survived almost exclusively through gossip and boredom. Most rumors collapsed under scrutiny the moment someone investigated them properly.
But Aria’s name continued appearing repeatedly.
Lady Aria Valen insulted another young noblewoman during tea.
Lady Aria Valen humiliated a maid publicly.
Lady Aria Valen verbally cornered another noble’s daughter during a gathering.
Lady Aria Valen despised people beneath her openly.
Again and again.
The stories continued.
And eventually...
Something about the rumors unsettled him deeply.
Not because he believed every word immediately, but because he had heard similar whispers once before.
Back then, the rumors surrounding Lyra’s suffering had also been dismissed carelessly.
"Household disagreements."
"Women’s matters."
"Temporary conflicts."
Until his sister died.
And Matthias never forgave himself for realizing the truth too late.
So when Lady Aria Valen’s name began appearing more frequently beside words like cruel, unstable, vindictive, and prideful...
He stopped ignoring it.
Instead, he decided to observe her personally.
Not through gossip.
Not through secondhand accounts.
Directly. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Which was why he found himself following Lady Aria quietly through the commoners district several days later without announcing his presence.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
Lady Aria walked through the crowded streets accompanied only by herself. Her posture still carried unmistakable noble upbringing despite the simplicity of her clothing. Merchants bowed instinctively whenever recognizing her, though several looked nervous afterward.
Matthias noticed everything carefully.
The way she observed stores instead of flaunting herself.
The way she paused repeatedly whenever something caught her interest.
The way she occasionally muttered strange things beneath her breath.
It was... odd.
Not what he expected.
There was no visible arrogance.
No performative superiority.
No open disdain toward commoners surrounding her.
Still, Matthias remained cautious.
People performed kindness publicly all the time.
Then out of nowhere, she noticed the starving child near the market corner.
And everything Matthias believed began cracking apart slowly afterward.
Because Aria Valen crouched before that frightened street boy without hesitation despite the filthy ground beneath her expensive dress.
She spoke to him casually.
Naturally.
Not with forced noble pity or performative kindness meant to attract attention.
She spoke to him like he mattered.
Matthias remembered narrowing his eyes immediately afterward, suspicious rather than impressed.
Acts existed everywhere within noble society.
He had seen charity used as entertainment before. Some aristocrats treated helping commoners like fashionable accessories briefly worn before boredom replaced interest again.
So he watched carefully.
Waiting.
Expecting the cruelty hidden beneath the performance to emerge eventually.
But it never did.
Instead, she handed the boy several coins before telling him to purchase food and return so they could share it together.
Share it.
Not simply give charity and leave.
Share.
The distinction unsettled Matthias more than it should have.
Her smile remained burned unpleasantly into his memory because it lacked superiority completely.
No mockery.
No amusement.
No hidden condescension.
Just warmth.
Simple warmth offered without ulterior motives.
And Matthias...
Matthias did not know what to do with that.
"You have just been robbed of your coins," he remembered saying afterward.
At the time, he intended the statement as criticism.
Perhaps even warning.
Instead, she simply looked at him and answered calmly,
"He will come back." with no hesitation and no doubt.
As though trusting another person did not terrify her at all.
Matthias had spent years surrounded by deception sophisticated enough to destroy lives.
Yet this woman sat calmly beside a crowded marketplace speaking about trust like it remained natural.
It irritated him immediately.
Because part of him wanted her to be lying.
Wanted the rumors to be correct.
Instead, every answer she gave complicated things further.
"I prefer not to assume the worst when I do not have to."
The words lingered unpleasantly inside his thoughts even afterward.
Because Lyra used to speak similarly once before the world punished her for it.
Matthias remembered leaving the conversation intentionally after that.
If Aria Valen truly was manipulating appearances, she would reveal herself eventually once she believed nobody important remained watching.
So he hid nearby instead.
And waited.
But minutes passed and nothing changed.
She remained seated patiently beneath the hot sunlight without complaint or boredom.
Then the boy returned.
Not only did he return, but he brought food for her first.
Matthias narrowed his gaze slightly.
So the child had not run away after all.
He watched quietly as Aria accepted the food with genuine delight, her expression softening warmly enough to make the boy himself look startled.
Then she reached forward and gently patted his head.
Yet it was not like a noble rewarding a servant.
But like an older sister comforting someone smaller than herself.
Something twisted painfully inside Matthias’s chest at that moment.
Because suddenly, the image society built around Lady Aria no longer aligned with the woman sitting before him.
Then he overheard the rest.
"May I ask where your family is?"
The question sounded polite.
The boy hesitated before finally answering quietly,
"They’re gone. I was sold off to be a slave... but I escaped."
Matthias froze instantly.
Cold anger surged through him so quickly his entire body stiffened.
Matthias stepped forward instinctively before stopping himself, as his attention shifted toward Aria instead, watching her reaction carefully.
Most nobles reacted to topics like slavery with discomfort.
But Aria...
Aria looked furious. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Her entire expression darkened sharply while her hands clenched tightly around the pastry resting in her lap.
The market noise around Matthias suddenly felt distant while he stared silently, as his instincts failed him completely.
Because the woman before him did not resemble the monster society described.
If anything...
She looked painfully human.
Compassionate in ways difficult to fake consistently.
Sharp-tongued, certainly.
Reckless too.
But cruel?
No.
No, Matthias realized slowly with growing discomfort.
The rumors surrounding Aria Valen had not been true.
And now, he was more curious to know her more than ever.
