That Piece Of Trash Was Me
Maddy
그 쓰레기가 나였어요 May 28, 2026 11 views
chapter 7
Lec Kelposher was one of the very few people who cared for Tullia a little more than Corico.
He was loyal to the Frazier family by nature, so compared to Corico, who was merely a daughter-in-law of the family, he paid a bit more attention to Tullia, a true blood granddaughter of the Fraziers.
Even when every character in <Geumil Bread> hated Tullia, Lec Kelposher remained courteous to her until the very end.
“You may speak comfortably, Lady Tullia. I came to deliver His Grace’s orders.”
“Grandfather said… what?”
For a moment, tension made me ask reflexively, but then a thought crossed my mind and I changed the question.
“Were you waiting outside the door the whole time?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“About two hours.”
Internally, I clicked my tongue in disbelief. Even though only a few days ago, I myself had spent nine hours a day standing during part-time work just to pay the rent on my tiny one-room apartment.
“That must’ve been difficult.”
As if surprised to hear such words, Lec blinked several times. Soon, a faint but gentle smile spread across his lips.
“It was His Grace’s command. Still, thank you for your concern.”
He continued while handing me a document.
“His Grace has summoned you to the main estate. From now on, you will reside there. To begin with, how could a direct descendant of the Frazier family live in a place this rundown…”
Lec tactfully trailed off and extended a gloved hand toward me. His posture was upright and proper, like a knight carrying a sword.
“Let us go.”
It felt strange.
Even though I was fully aware this was unfamiliar courtesy in an unfamiliar world, for one brief moment, I felt safe.
It was such a long-forgotten emotion that it almost felt foreign.
Even when I’d been kicked out of my house and forced to live alone in that tiny apartment, I’d always been anxious that my brothers might suddenly show up and cause trouble.
Was it because it had been so long since someone treated me with respect?
Or because this man, no matter what, had been sent by Tullia’s family as a shield of protection?
As I took Lec’s hand and started walking, an oddly refreshing feeling began to bloom inside me.
‘Wow. I really do feel like a young lady now.’
Because of yesterday’s huge commotion, Lilius hadn’t even managed to reclaim the hastily redecorated first floor he had paid for out of pocket.
Unlike the shabby second floor, the first floor gleamed beautifully. The gap between them was as vast as a miserable attic and Cinderella’s castle.
Thanks to that, during the short walk down the stairs, my heart pounded as if I were under a spell.
Of course, I was still dressed like a beggar in pajamas and slippers.
“Lady Tullia. Yesterday, I noticed you called His Grace ‘Grandfather.’”
“Well, I can’t exactly call him ‘Grandmother,’ can I?”
When I stared at him in confusion, Lec let out a light laugh.
“Yes. It’s simply been a very long time since I’ve heard that title.”
That was all he said before falling silent. But the faint smile lingering on his face clearly showed he was pleased.
Only a beat later did I understand what Lec meant.
‘Ah, right. The Frazier grandchildren usually address the Grand Duke as “Grandfather Lord.”’
Most nobles in this empire called their parents “Father” and “Mother.”
The imperial family used “Imperial Father” and “Imperial Mother.”
And the Frazier Grand Ducal House was a family powerful enough to rival the imperial family itself. After all, it was the empire’s one and only grand ducal house.
That was why the other sons of Grand Duke Asis Frazier formally addressed him as “Father Lord,” just like how Lilius had bowed and scraped before him yesterday.
It was a kind of etiquette unique to the Grand Ducal House.
But there was exactly one son who didn’t.
‘Marquis Frazier.’
Tullia’s father.
For reference, the relationship between Grand Duke Asis and Marquis Frazier was terrible. Calling them father and son would be less accurate than calling them enemies.
“A tiger whose teeth have begun falling out can no longer manage even his own household properly.”
In the entire empire, the only person bold enough to say something like that to the iron-blooded Grand Duke Asis Frazier was Tullia’s father.
A marquis with that kind of personality would never follow proper etiquette toward the Grand Duke, so naturally he never called him “Father Lord.”
‘No wonder Lec said it’d been a long time since he heard that title.’
Even when I met the Grand Duke again, there probably wasn’t any need to change how I addressed him.
Tullia was already quietly suspected of not truly being a legitimate Frazier by blood anyway.
If I could use even little things like this to emphasize similarities between myself and Marquis Frazier, then it was beneficial for me, not harmful.
‘Besides, if the Grand Duke really thought I was being disrespectful with that personality of his, he’d have chopped my head clean off already.’
I was grateful my head was still firmly attached to my neck.
Though who knew when the status window might suddenly decide to slice it off instead.
Even now, looking at the wealth stat blinking bleakly in the negatives made me clear my throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, Lec.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Um… when exactly will my allowance start being properly provided?”
“You’ll understand once we arrive at the main estate.”
As expected, the Grand Ducal House’s chief aide did not speak empty words.
It wasn’t as though my new bedroom was piled high with dazzling treasures.
But several thick stacks of documents had been placed atop a wooden table.
Since the amount of money was what mattered most to me, I rushed over the moment I shut the bedroom door.
Carefully opening the thick envelope, I focused hard as I began reading the contents.
‘Thank goodness I can read the writing.’
My eyes moved line by line through the small, complicated text—and by the time I reached the end, they had widened completely.
The documents listed an astronomical amount of money that made my heart pound wildly.
I quickly pulled out the promissory note I had received from Viscount Lilius. It was filled with dangerously tight deadlines, just before ownership of the land would be completely transferred away.
The moment I handed the sealed document to the aide Lec had left behind—
A system window began flashing before my eyes. A strange rush of exhilaration and excitement swept over me.
Just how much debt had she accumulated that even after obtaining this much money, her wealth stat still couldn’t exceed 1?
I shook my head in disbelief.
Then suddenly—
Rainbow-colored effects filled my vision in an instant.
[System] As a bonus for your first rank-up in evaluation, 1,000 coins have been awarded. [System] Coins Held: 0 → 1,000
Current Overall Evaluation: F
The Grand Duke’s House
Grand Duke Asis Frazier stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window.
It was hard to believe he was a man well into old age; his eyes were as fierce and savage as a beast’s.
“To think that child already has such a rotten disposition at his age, bullying his deficient cousin…”
The confiscation of Tedric Frazier’s direct-line necklace had caused a far greater stir than expected.
However, the exact reason behind it had not spread in detail. People only knew that he had offended Grand Duke Asis’s temper.
There had only been a handful of people present yesterday, and the Grand Duke’s chief aide had made sure the servants kept their mouths shut.
Lilius, Tedric’s father and the youngest son of Grand Duke Asis Frazier, would naturally work even harder to cover up his own son’s wrongdoing.
And Tullia Frazier…
“That child is alone.”
Like many of the Grand Duke’s grandchildren, Tullia feared him greatly—more than most.
She had always trembled in his presence, unable even to greet him properly, so it had been a long time since he had truly looked into her eyes.
Yet strangely enough, he could not remember the color of Tullia’s eyes.
What he remembered vividly instead was the despair and terror filling the eyes of his granddaughter as she looked up at him, trembling.
Such desperate emotions did not suit a fifteen-year-old girl.
He believed raising grandchildren was the responsibility of their parents.
He himself had done his utmost to raise his own children, so he thought it only proper that they, in turn, fully raise their own children.
That, to him, was the duty of proper parents.
If Tullia had been the child of his eldest daughter Hyacinthia, who had already passed away, it might have been different. But the girl was the daughter of his perfectly healthy second son.
And yet, something about it still bothered him.
The eyes of that granddaughter, filled with desperate pleas to be saved, continued to nag at him like drops of paint spilled onto white cloth.
“Lord Head.”
With a knock, his chief aide, Lec Kelposher, entered the room.
“Lady Tullia has come to see you.”
At those words, Grand Duke Asis Frazier’s brow furrowed sharply.
Just as Hanina had already learned from the game, Grand Duke Asis Frazier was a strict and uncompromising man.
He disliked relatives tattling on one another, and he considered it pathetic and spineless for someone to come whining after a judgment had already been made.
That was why neither Lilius, who had hurried away yesterday with a dark expression, nor his wife Aubrey dared to come visit him.
“Tell her to go back.”
“Yes. She already has.”
“…?”
“She already left, my lord.”
Even Grand Duke Asis Frazier looked momentarily bewildered by those words—a rare reaction for him.
“Then why did she come?”
When he turned around, he noticed that Lec Kelposher was carrying something.
A small basket covered with white cloth.
“The young lady asked me to deliver this to you, my lord.”
