Chapter 59
“Madam, please wake up. It’s morning.”
Olivier’s voice rang in my ears. I had fallen asleep late, and even as I heard her speaking, I found it difficult to open my eyes.
“Just a little longer…”
I was even more exhausted than I had been the night before. If possible, I wanted to sleep for another couple of hours.
But Olivier seemed determined not to let me fall back asleep.
“Madam, you really need to wake up. Someone is here to see you.”
“…Someone?”
There was no one who would come looking for me. Who could it possibly be?
Curious, I raised my hands to rub my face and sat up in bed. Seeing me still groggy and unsteady, Olivier helped steady my upper body.
“Thank you.”
After offering Olivier a brief word of gratitude, I headed straight to the bathroom. With the help of the maids, I took a quick bath and then changed into a dress that Luen had picked out. She also assisted with my grooming.
Once everything was finally ready, I opened the door to see who had been waiting for me.
“…Cecilia.”
Standing outside my hotel room was Cecilia.
The daughter of Duke Tristan and my stepsister—Cecilia Tristan.
Her eyes were red and bloodshot, as if she had been waiting in the hallway for a long time. When she saw me, her face brightened.
“D-Diarna.”
She clasped her hands awkwardly, her eyes filled with nervousness. I couldn’t help but furrow my brows at the sight of her.
“What are you doing here?”
My voice came out sharper than intended. But it would have been stranger if I had spoken to her kindly in this situation.
She had taken everything from me, tormented me in the Tristan household, and driven a wedge between me and Duke Tristan.
I was neither merciful nor generous enough to understand or forgive her.
Under normal circumstances, Cecilia would have scoffed at my tone and said something to get under my skin. But this time, she simply forced a harmless-looking smile.
“I had something to say, so I waited. Can I come in?”
At her cautious words, I frowned.
Since when did Cecilia speak like this?
I had never heard this tone or voice from her before.
“No. I don’t think so. If you have something to say, say it here. As you know, I’m busy.”
When I made my refusal clear, Cecilia bit her lower lip.
She must have felt humiliated that I, someone she had always trampled on, was now speaking to her like this.
But I knew better than anyone that she was in no position to be worrying about her pride right now.
“What’s with that expression?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll just say it here, then.”
At my direct remark, Cecilia hurriedly tried to mask her expression.
Though it was already obvious, I decided to hear her out.
“I’m busy, so just get to the point.”
“Diarna, I know I’ve treated you terribly. I want to apologize.”
“…Now?”
No matter how much she regretted it, the carriage had already left.
If she was going to apologize, she should have done it long ago—before I married Richard.
If she had, none of this would have happened.
I would have foolishly spent my nights crying in the Tristan household until I ultimately died from the Darnnella’s disease.
If that had happened, neither Cecilia nor Duke Tristan would be going through this now.
But things had already unfolded.
Instead of Cecilia, I had married Richard. And Richard, in turn, had begun legal proceedings to reclaim everything that Duke Tristan had taken from me.
Of course, I knew that Richard hadn’t started the lawsuit for my sake.
But in the end, that was how things turned out.
Cecilia, however, seemed unaware of this.
“Please, just stop here. I’ll apologize on Father’s behalf, too.”
Cecilia pleaded with me earnestly.
I quietly listened to her words.
“I’ll do my best to arrange for your fortune to be returned. If the noble title is the issue, I’ll speak to Father and make sure you’re named the next heir. So, please…”
“Cecilia, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”
I took a step closer to her and continued speaking.
“Even if you don’t do anything, I can reclaim both my fortune and my title. The verdict will probably be announced today. It should have been yesterday, actually.”
Those things were originally mine—things that Duke Tristan and Cecilia had stolen.
And now, she wanted to act as if she were doing me a favor by offering them back?
It was almost laughable.
After all, by the end of today, everything she was offering would already belong to me again.
The deal she was proposing was meaningless.
“Do you have anything else to say? If not, you should leave. I’m tired.”
“T-Then… Could you at least release Father? Since you’re the victim, if you speak to the authorities, they might let him go.”
“No, that’s not going to happen. Causing a disturbance in court is a serious crime. And he tried to kill me. His own stepdaughter. He did it in front of everyone, so there’s no way they’ll be lenient.”
“And think about it, Cecilia.”
I stepped toward her once more.
Cecilia instinctively tried to retreat, but with the wall behind her, she couldn’t completely avoid me.
“Because of Father, I almost died. If you were me, would you let him go?”
“He’s… he’s your father! If you have any gratitude—”
“Gratitude? So abuse is considered an act of kindness these days?”
“…….”
“You saw it too, didn’t you? How he abused me in the Tristan mansion. There’s no way you didn’t know. In fact, you encouraged it and stirred things up, didn’t you?”
Cecilia lost her words and stared at me, her jaw trembling. But no matter how she looked at me, I had no intention of showing her mercy.
Perhaps, up until the moment he wrapped his hands around my throat, I had the slightest thought of being lenient. But now, I had none.
“Yesterday wasn’t the first time your father tried to kill me. That boy who testified in court yesterday, the one from the slums—you wouldn’t know this, but he tried to kill me. Under your father’s orders.”
“B-but you survived!”
“…….”
Her words were so absurd that I momentarily forgot to argue back.
I survived. Yes, I made it out alive.
But if Sir Lorenz and Sir Jason hadn’t been there at the time, would I still be here now?
Or what about during the trial yesterday? When Duke Tristan had his hands around my throat—if Richard hadn’t stepped in, would I still be breathing now?
Of course not.
I would have died before I ever had the chance to see the trial to its conclusion.
“And the fact that I survived—does that somehow mean I should be lenient with you and your father?”
“Of course!”
“Even though it was your father who tried to kill me?”
“…My father?”
Cecilia, sensing something off in my words, blinked blankly and repeated my words. I nodded.
“Yes, your father. Strictly speaking, he’s not my father, is he?”
“…….”
“Either way, no matter how ridiculous your words are, I won’t change my mind. Everything will be set right. Everything you and your father stole from me will return to me, and the man who tried to kill me—your father—will be punished. And you… will be left alone.”
With each sentence, Cecilia looked more and more shocked, her eyes wavering, revealing just how confused she was.
“…This is unfair.”
After a long silence, Cecilia muttered in a small voice.
“Unfair? That’s what I should be saying.”
“No! You had everything!”
Suddenly, Cecilia raised her voice, almost shouting. For a brief moment, I instinctively recoiled from her outburst.
“The title of the Duke’s only daughter, Mother’s love—you had it all!”
She was practically wailing now, tears streaming down her face.
“Mother’s love? You think that was only mine? No, she took you in as her daughter and did everything she could for you. Do you not remember that?”
“I don’t! And don’t give me that nonsense! Every single servant in the mansion treated my father and me like unwanted outsiders. Do you have any idea how jealous and envious I was of you?!”
“So that’s why, after Mother died, you convinced your father to drive out all the household staff?”
“Yes! I told him to get rid of them all! There’s no need for servants who can’t even recognize their rightful master!”
Cecilia spat out the words, filled with resentment.
But I couldn’t just let her twisted reasoning slide. Even if the servants had been wary of her and her father, that didn’t justify her taking what was mine. It didn’t justify abusing me.
“If you’re done talking, can you leave now? I told you—I’m tired.”
“Diarna! You took something from me too!”
“I did?”
“Yes!”
Cecilia seemed so lost in her own emotions that she didn’t even realize what she was saying anymore.
Me? Steal from her?
If anything, she had taken what was mine, not the other way around.
“You became the Countess of Theodore—that was mine! You stole it from me!”
“What?”
I let out a hollow laugh at the sheer absurdity of her claim.
“The marriage you had with Count Theodore—that was supposed to be mine in the first place! But you stole it from me too!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You were the one who told your father you wouldn’t go through with the marriage, which is why I had to go instead. And now that things turned out like this, are you feeling bitter?”
Cecilia was practically growling now, her body shaking with rage. She looked like she was about to lash out at any moment, so I glanced at the knights nearby.
Thankfully, they were already on high alert, ready to restrain her the moment she tried anything.
“Interesting conversation I’m hearing.”
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out from the end of the hallway.
It was Richard.
