SOWD Chapter 116

Chapter 116 

“Edgar… Langburn…? No, I’ve never heard that name before.”

“That’s understandable. He’s a distant relative of Count Canyon, but not even of baronial rank. He lives on Duché Street in Maze Sector 7.”

Maze Sector was mostly inhabited by lower- and middle-class commoners. And Duché Street, being one of the most densely populated areas, was a place Idel had no reason to ever step foot in.

“But why are you bringing him up?”

“Because Count Canyon sent that distant relative—whom even you don’t know—not once, but twice, a large sum of money.”

“How much?”

“100,000 Ringtons twenty-five years ago, and 80,000 Ringtons two years later.”

Considering how long ago that was, it was a substantial amount. But given the Canyon family’s wealth, depending on the matter, it was also an amount they could easily afford to spend.

“Did that have something to do with me?”

“Idel…”

Barbara looked at Idel with eyes filled with worry and unease.

“What happened twenty-five and twenty-three years ago?”

“Well… That’s around when I was born, so I don’t really know what events occurred in the family. From what I recall when I studied our family history, it was a relatively peaceful time…”

Barbara grasped both of Idel’s hands tightly.

“Idel. You were born twenty-five years ago. And your younger sister, Lyn, was born two years later.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

“And each time, large sums of money were sent to Edgar Langburn.”

Even after hearing all of that, Idel’s eyes were still full of questions.

Barbara shut her eyes tightly and confessed.

“Idel… Edgar Langburn is your biological father.”

“What?”

Idel was more stunned than when Laszlo had proposed to her. She stood frozen, mouth agape.

“According to the midwife who delivered Geoffrey Canyon, Ludmilla Canyon became unable to have children after her second childbirth. Thanks to the midwife’s meticulous records, it wasn’t difficult to confirm.”

Idel still said nothing.

“But Dustin Canyon felt he needed daughters to secure marriage alliances. His solution was to buy children from a poor relative with too many mouths to feed.”

At first, Dustin had personally gone to seek out the newborn Idel. Later, when Lyn was born, Edgar contacted Dustin first.

“Of course, adopting children isn’t uncommon when one has none. But he had a clear motive. He specifically bought daughters and falsely registered them as Ludmilla’s biological children. You understand why he had to fabricate the parentage, don’t you?”

Of course. To marry into high-ranking noble families, the daughters needed to be direct descendants of the count’s bloodline. Who among the Four Great Houses of the time would have accepted a “fake” child of low birth as a daughter-in-law?

“Then…”

A voice barely audible and fragile as dust escaped from Idel’s parched lips.

“Lyn and I… were daughters abandoned by both our birth and adoptive fathers?”

Barbara lowered her head as if she had committed a crime, while Idel murmured, blankly staring into space.

“No wonder it all felt off. Even if daughters become strangers after marriage, how could they be so cruel to their own children? I might understand Father, but even the mother who supposedly bore me… that always felt strange.”

Tears trickled down Idel’s cheeks, and her voice gradually rose.

“No, I still don’t understand. Aren’t humans supposed to feel sympathy even for strangers who die? But a sixteen-year-old girl took her own life, and they were just… so cold about it?”

“Idel…”

“Lyn, our poor Lyn… what was the point of her being born? Where is the justice for her sorrow and pain?!”

Overwhelmed by the memory of Lyn’s tragic death, Idel collapsed on the spot.

“If she had grown up a commoner, she might’ve been free. If they didn’t like her, they could’ve just let her go. Why did they push her off a cliff instead…!”

The emotions she had long repressed exploded, and tears poured out, but the anguish and resentment were so intense she couldn’t even cry aloud.

“Lyn…! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I should’ve saved you…!”

Choking sobs were the only sounds that escaped as Idel beat her chest and clawed at herself. Watching her, Laszlo clenched his teeth before rushing over and holding her tightly.

“Idel! Breathe! Scream if you have to! Yell! Don’t hold it in—just cry!”

As he shouted and patted her back, a scream finally burst from Idel’s mouth.

“Aaaaah! Uuuhhh, ugh!”

A refined and elegant duchess would never cry like this.

As far as she could remember, this was the first time Idel had ever cried so loudly.

And she didn’t care.

The rage of being bought and sold like an object, raised merely as a tool. The injustice of sacrificing her life for the glory of those who weren’t even her real parents, who abused her all the while. The guilt of being unable to protect her only blood relative—these emotions began tearing down the fortress called Idel from within.

“It’s so unfair! It’s so unfair! What crime did Lyn commit?! What right did they have to kill her?! Bring her back!”

Idel screamed her fury at the Canyon family into the void.

She hit Laszlo’s shoulders, clawed at his back, and howled in agony.

She shook her head wildly, her neatly styled hair falling loose, her face a mess of tears and snot.

But who would dare tell her to calm down?

Idel…!

Laszlo had only recently learned that Idel even had a younger sister named Lyn. He had known that Count Canyon’s youngest daughter had died, but he had only just learned that her name was Lyn.

The same name as Rinia’s nickname—Lyn.

“Lyn Canyon. She died at sixteen, falling from her room’s balcony. They said it was a sunny day and she must’ve leaned too far over the railing.”

That was all the investigation had revealed about Lyn Canyon.

But now, he realized how deeply Lyn’s death had shocked and scarred Idel.

Was that why she was always so soft with Rinia…? Because of her dead sister?

Piece by piece, the puzzle was falling into place.

What made Idel who she was wasn’t just vast knowledge, manners, or compassion—it was a sorrow that transcended all of it.

“Idel. You can’t collapse here. You must escape that house—those people more vile than pigs. That’s the path you must take for your sister.”

Laszlo gripped Idel’s shoulders, which were beginning to go limp, and said firmly.

Idel still looked dazed, but when he mentioned “the path for your sister,” her eyes refocused.

“A path for Lyn…?”

“You need to avenge your only blood relative. And if you want to stick it to the Canyon family, you first need to make sure they can’t even touch you.”

“I…”

“What? Does revenge sound petty or disgraceful to you? Think that after you’ve gotten it.”

But Idel slowly shook her head.

“So what if it’s petty and disgraceful? I will avenge Lyn. I’ll make them pay for trampling all over my childhood.”

As he saw the light returning to Idel’s eyes, Laszlo finally smiled.

“So stop worrying about me and use me. I’ll gladly be used.”

At his outrageously confident offer, Idel finally nodded.

Then she slowly turned to Barbara with firm resolve in her voice.

“Barbara. I’m going to become the Countess of Chrysos. There will be all sorts of scandals, and I’ll cause trouble for Lord Chrysos’s future… but this time, I need to be shameless. I must be.”

“You’ve made the right decision, Idel. And don’t worry. Marrying you is a blessing for this man, not a burden.”

Barbara jabbed her cane into Laszlo’s back as she smirked.

“Isn’t that right, Count? When else would you ever have a chance with someone like Idel?”

“I completely agree. By the way, the tip of your cane is quite sharp.”

“Then maybe let go of her before I put more strength into my hand?”

At that, Laszlo gently helped Idel sit next to Barbara.

Though Idel had managed to stop crying, she was still dabbing away lingering tears with a handkerchief.

But her mind was clearer than ever. Because the sky always becomes clearest after a storm.

“You don’t seem surprised that I’m marrying Count Chrysos. I suppose that means you already knew?”

“Just a few days ago. I wasn’t thrilled, but it’s the best option we have.”

Idel nodded.

“Then tell me now. As Countess Chrysos, how should I act? How can I make the Canyon family truly regret everything?”

Barbara gently swept back Idel’s disheveled hair and said kindly, her voice tinged with soft fury.

“Just keep doing what you’ve always done. Become the most brilliant countess in the empire. And be happy—boldly, unapologetically. There is no revenge more perfect than that.”

Happiness.

As Idel savored that word, her eyes blazed fiercely.

“If my misery brought happiness to the Canyon family, then fine—I’ll turn my happiness into their ruin.”

 

The happiness she had always believed would never come to her—at this moment, with all her past laid bare, Idel finally resolved to seize it