Erich looked at her as if he couldn’t believe it.
“……Cornelia.”
He thought she was dead.
He had even jumped into the water to find her, searching the entire country just to recover her body.
But whenever he couldn’t find her, he was always engulfed by despair.
He wanted to die countless times but couldn’t.
Because he couldn’t find her.
‘But now you are.’
With pale skin, a nervously furrowed brow, tightly pressed red lips, and vividly glaring violet eyes.
Everything about her was full of life.
Cornelia was definitely alive.
Only then did a sense of relief wash over him, and something hot surged up from deep within.
‘You’re really alive.’
Just as he unconsciously took a step closer to her—
Bang!
“Don’t come near me!”
She shouted again after firing a gun near Erich’s feet.
Fear laced her voice, as if she faced an unknown enemy instead of her husband.
Only then did Erich come to his senses and look at Cornelia with a bitter expression.
‘Yes, the reason you’re acting this way… is because I was foolish.’
After marrying her, Erich had always harbored an arrogant delusion.
Someday, when his brother comes back, he can leave her at any time.
He believed he could live without seeing her for the rest of his life.
He thought that was the best path for her.
But reality was different from his ideals.
‘I wanted to see you… even in my dream.’
For years, he had given up everything to search for Cornelia.
However, aside from a tattered hat and a piece of dress fabric, he couldn’t find any trace of her.
It was tormenting.
Every night, when he closed his eyes, he prayed.
That when he opened them, she would be there, or that he would die instead.
But the cold empty space beside him and the vast emptiness of the room greeted him when he awoke from a light sleep.
He felt empty.
Like his chest had been pierced through.
He wanted to see her, even in dreams.
But at some point, she stopped appearing even in his dreams.
He even tried to forget her.
He let himself get lost in a strong drink and took medication.
But instead of falling into a deep sleep, his past mistakes resurfaced vividly.
The first mistake he had made was on their wedding night.
<Don’t have any foolish thoughts; I will never hold you.>
In truth, Cornelia, sitting before the flickering candlelight, looked beautiful. It was enough to make him anxious, worried that he might lose his composure if he let his guard down even a little.
But she was his brother’s lover, so he had no choice but to draw a firm line.
Looking back, those were excessively harsh words for a newlywed to hear. Yet, at the time, Cornelia’s response was…
“Erich, I know you disapprove of me. Still, I will try.”
People called Cornelia a wicked wife, but she was not.
In fact, during their early days of marriage, Cornelia did her best to please him. That is, until she burned herself with hot water while brewing tea for the Grand Madam.
<What is this?>
The red burn on her white skin wasn’t severe, but he was furious at the fact that such a wound had been inflicted on her noble hands. And yet, she…
<Oh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.>
She spoke of her injury as if it was no big deal.
<How can you not worry?>
<Still, it can’t be helped. If I want to be a good mistress, I need to know how to handle this much.>
At that moment, Erich lost his temper.
<Who told you to act like the mistress of the house? You can’t even brew a proper cup of tea!>
<Erich, I know I’m lacking. But it was just one mistake…>
<Cornelia, don’t do anything stupid again.>
After that, she began to hover around him, watching him, as if begging for his attention.
But the affection that he, a fake, could give her never existed from the beginning.
<Just wait, Erich Lennon Blant! You’ll have no choice but to acknowledge me as your wife!>
Eventually, driven by anger, she began to act like the wicked wife people spoke of.
<How dare you throw glances at my husband?>
Whenever she saw him speaking to another woman, she would confront them aggressively.
<Tell me why you went to that widow’s salon today!>
She watched his every move.
At that time, he should have comforted her and revealed his true feelings. But he was foolish and didn’t realize his mistakes.
Even when she, exhausted, asked him if she had done anything wrong recently.
<I thought about whether I’ve done anything wrong to you lately, but no matter how hard I think, I can’t find anything.>
Believing that was the end, Erich’s heart was filled only with pain and regret. He was certain he would never see her again.
‘But you’re right in front of me.’
If he ever saw her again, he had so much to say.
Starting with an apology and all the heartfelt truths he had kept hidden. But when it came time to speak, the words wouldn’t come.
Then, Cornelia opened her mouth.
“Do you know why I didn’t return to the duchy?”
Erich bit his lip and then firmly closed his mouth, staring at Cornelia.
She glared at him with fierce eyes and said,
“Because it was horrible. The thought of going back to that hell.”
At her cold words, Erich silently questioned her.
“What was so horrible?”
He thought that he needed to hear her out in order to make a proper apology. Cornelia then let out a hollow laugh and said sarcastically,
“Right, you wouldn’t know. Having to endure the hatred of your mother, the disgust of the servants, and the flirtations of your childhood friend, my cousin, who’s always trying to get close to you. And you just accepted it all, didn’t you?”
Erich frowned. At least he had never entertained Medelin’s advances.
“Cornelia, that’s a misunderstanding.”
“That damn misunderstanding! What did I misunderstand? That you didn’t consider me your wife? That you said you’d never hold me? That you told me not to come near you?”
He knew she would resent him, but hearing her grievances fired at him so rapidly made him truly realize the extent of his wrongdoing.
‘Still, it’s a burden I must bear.’
Erich spoke in a subdued voice.
“I know. I hurt you, and I was wrong.”
At that, Cornelia’s lips twisted.
“If you knew, why did you come looking for me? How could you show your face?”
“Cornelia, I didn’t know you were alive.”
“Oh, really? Then you must have been disappointed when you found out I was alive.”
At that moment, Erich raised his voice.
“How could I be disappointed? I searched everywhere for you.”
“I have no intention of listening to your pathetic excuses. So, put my child down immediately and get out of my sight…”
At that moment, the child in Erich’s arms screamed.
“Mom, please listen to Dad!”
In that instant, resentment deepened in her violet eyes.
“Dad? Did you tell him to call you that?”
Having finished her words, Cornelia bit her own red lips. Then, a furious scream erupted from her mouth.
“Erich Lennon Blant, give me back my child!”
My child. At those words, Erich looked again at Demian. The child he had seen in his dreams, the one he felt a bond with even when thinking of him as someone else, the child who called him Dad, had striking violet eyes.
‘Yeah, he looks just like this.’
As he smiled bitterly, the child hugged Erich tightly.
“Dad!”
The child in his arms radiated a warmth that was as comforting as his presence. He couldn’t bear to let go. But…
‘You’re not my child. Besides…’
He could see Cornelia looking at him with a face that seemed about to cry. In her gaze, there was a coexistence of anger directed at him and worry for the child.
‘It didn’t make sense that a few words could undo years of accumulated karma.’
Even if he apologized, it would only be for his own satisfaction. He could never make up for the years of suffering Cornelia endured.
‘So I…’
Finally, Erich carefully set the child down and said softly, “Go to your mother.”
The child, with tears in his eyes, shook his head vigorously.
“No! I want to stay with Dad!”
Seeing the child trying to return to Erich made Cornelia’s face twist with indescribable sorrow. Erich, shaking off the small hands, erupted in anger.
“I am not your father!”
At those words, Demian bit his small lips and raised his voice.
“Dad is stupid!”
However, the child stood there, crying but not going to Cornelia. Seeing this, Cornelia clenched her fists and shouted at Sardin.
“Sardin, what are you doing? Hurry and bring my child back!”
Sardin then brought the struggling child to Cornelia.
“Mom, you can’t just let Dad go like this!”
Cornelia hugged the child with a sad look and then shot a glare filled with anger at Erich.
“Now just get lost.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Erich replied,
“I can’t do that.”
Shoooooooot hiiiiiiiiimmmmmm