Chapter 2: The Lady Had a Fiancé Part 2
It is known to her that this Lucifela had jumped into the water herself. But why did she do it? Even when she asked the servants, they hushed and she couldn’t find out the reason. Estelle closed her eyes and continued to listen to the Count’s sobbing. What should she do?
Of course, she had never wished for such a situation. She had tried to die out of despair.
But is it right to end up like this?
Even if it was Estelle who died, it was still Lucifela’s body. It was not her place to let her die, even if it was not her own body.
The Count took care of her with utmost sincerity. He even refused to attend the court meetings held at the palace and carefully looked after her every need by her side. She was infinitely weak to begin with, and in her eyes, the Count was a weak person as well. His stature was not small, but his body was frail, and he lacked energy. However, his two eyes, those silvery-blue eyes, always brimmed with love for her.
If being a knight with a sense of responsibility and friendship with colleagues, and a sword were the reasons and meaning of life for her, then for this man, his daughter Lucifela would have been the reason and meaning of his life. Is it right to take away the reason for living from this man?
It wasn’t that she didn’t hate the people of Jansgar. She also knew that they were not responsible for the war. Furthermore, she understood that the reason Jansgar invaded Ersha was justifiable. If Jansgar had committed the same atrocities as her own country, her army would have marched into Greenhill beyond the border.
At that moment, a warm hand was placed on top of hers. It was the Count’s hand. In the end, she couldn’t completely give up. Her character, which couldn’t be completely cruel to the enemy, did not become completely despicable like this. The feelings of betrayal and anger belonged to Estelle. This woman, Lucifela, was not supposed to embrace it.
No, come to think of it, there were many options other than this passive one of taking one’s own life. Even if she couldn’t get her hands on a sword, she could have obtained a dagger. There were even ways like jumping off a building, using a broken teacup to scratch her wrist, or using that sheet to hang herself.
But she didn’t do that. Because she didn’t want to. Let’s admit it. She first wanted to die, but also decided to acknowledge the desire to continue living.
Her complex thoughts had already reached a conclusion during the three days of turmoil. She would not give up her life. And she had to become Lucifela, not Estelle.
It wasn’t just because of that this man. Even though she became weak with affection, he was a complete stranger to Estelle.
She had to see Ersha after three years and find out what happened to everyone else. As she thought about it, she felt that it was such a waste to throw away her life. She was not the kind of person who would kill herself while being consumed by negative emotions.
Although she had become a noble under the Emperor of Jansgar, it was an unavoidable circumstance. What could she do? It had already happened after Estelle’s death.
It is the last blessing of Astra to her, who was betrayed and died.
She decided to live for now. And she opened her eyes as Lucifela, not Estelle.
The Count called for her. Life was returning to her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry, my lady!”
“What are you talking about? No, you are?”
As Lucifela regained her senses, she became truly curious about what kind of life the owner of this body had lived. When she came to her senses, she realized that the servants were groveling to her excessively. She knew this was the behavior of the courtiers who groveled to the King of Ersha.
“So a drop of tea….”
Lucifela looked around and saw that the drop had fallen onto the saucer beneath the cup. She wasn’t skilled in the art of drinking tea gracefully, so she had been drinking it clumsily. And because the maid was following her with the tea at a fast pace, the accident had been unavoidable.
Lucifela wondered why spilling a single drop of tea could cause such a fuss. She was genuinely curious about the laws of the nobility. When she checked the red liquid, and then looked at the maid, who was trembling and kneeling, Lucifela was bewildered. Was it really necessary to kneel down because of that one drop?
“Why are you kneeling?”
“I-I’m sorry, my lady, please…”
Please, what’s next? When she looked at the maid indifferently, the maid spoke while meeting her gaze.
“Please don’t beat me. Please!”
“…Beat? What do you mean?”
It seems impossible for the lady with such weak wrists to have beaten the maid.
“Me?”
“Yes, yes!”
“I beat you with a whip?”
“Yes!”
“Did I only use the whip? Was there anything else?”
“I-I also had to walk with shoes on the back of my hand while putting my hand on the floor.”
The maid was so naive that she was confessing all the misdeeds she had committed. What if she actually told everything she knew because she couldn’t withstand the torture? Lucifela was holding her chin as she spoke.
“Stop bringing me tea for now.”
“Yes?”
“Just, just stop bringing it.”
The way the lady spoke that she imagined was overly idealized, so sometimes, Lucifela used an unnatural tone.
The maid looked shocked at the overly kind tone and then realized it was an expression of forgiveness, and she withdrew.
Lucifela looked out the window.
The season was transitioning from summer to autumn, and it had only been a few days since she woke up.
She had tried to live as Lucifela, but it was not as easy as she thought to live as someone else. She had no noble manners or elegance, so she just drank the tea as it was served, without any concern for proper etiquette. She knew she had to use the bathroom frequently, but she tried not to draw attention to it.
The diagnosis of memory loss had surprisingly been a useful cover, and she managed to avoid suspicion. However, she sighed at the thought of having to live like a weakling forever.
At that moment, the door opened, and the Count walked in. Lucifela hesitated on what to do, but eventually put on a formal smile. Even that was enough to make the Count’s face light up with joy.
“Lucy! You look much better now.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, no, it’s nothing.”
Sometimes her speech would slip into the accent of her hometown or the military accent she had picked up. The Count smiled with satisfaction and handed her a gift.
“What is this?”
Despite her slip-ups, the joy of giving a gift to his daughter made the Count seem unfazed by her awkward speech patterns. He handed her a gift with a ribbon beautifully tied around an elegant paper box. Although she didn’t expect anything, she had to force herself to look excited. When she opened the box, she found a pair of blue earrings that were shining brightly.
“It’s the finest quality among the items that came in this time.”
According to what she heard, the Count said he owned a small gem mine on his estate and that selling gems was his source of income. Other than the fact that it was a blue gem, she didn’t know much about it. She just gave an awkward smile and thanked him.
“I don’t know when we’ll be able to attend another banquet, but when we do, our Lucy should stand out the most. Of course, even without these earrings, you would still be the most beautiful.”
Well, it must be. She was also aware that the physical appearance of her body was beautiful.
Banquet, huh? Is it really necessary to participate in such things as a noble? It was a natural thing to do as a noble. Just the thought of seeing the faces of the nobles in Jansgar made her feel terrible.
“I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Me too.”
Upon hearing those words, the Count seemed to show a happy and bright smile. He was a handsome middle-aged man, so it was nice to see him with such a face.
“Ugh!”
The embrace still felt awkward and burdensome. After a long and scary hug, the Count spoke.
“Oh, I have good news. Actually, I wanted to tell you when you woke up, but I couldn’t.”
Of course, she was in such a situation that it was understandable that he couldn’t speak up. Good news? She asked, curious.
“What is it?”
“It’s a fiancé. You have a fiancé. Can you guess who it is?”
Fiancé. When I thought about it, Lucifela was twenty years old and should have started a family a long time ago. But getting married at a time like this, it became more and more difficult.
“Who is it?”
It was a half-hearted tone, but the Count shouted as if it were enough.
“The Duke of Heint asked for a marriage!”
Heint? I’ve heard the name before. She furrowed her brow as she tried to recall his face. Heint, Heint. How could I forget!
“Zedekiah Heint!”
“Oh, yes! That’s right. You got it. Our Luci is really smart. That’s the name of your fiancé. Unfortunately, Duke Heint succeeded to the title just after his father passed away.”
Oh my, she’s smart. But at the same time, it seemed inappropriate for a twenty-year-old daughter to act like that.
Zedekiah Heint, isn’t he the Black Lion of the battlefield? A savage beast that would burn everything in the Ersha Kingdom to the ground. Everywhere he went, he was famous for leaving no blade of grass. And he even had connections to ‘Estelle’.
Why of all people! It was hard to believe that the enemy commander was now her fiancé.
In this unbelievable situation, paradoxically, she realized that she was completely a noble of Jansgar and in the body of a woman named Lucifela Aydin.
“He said he’ll visit in two days.”
“….”
“Surprised, aren’t you? The previous Duke Heint really did as he said.”
“….Yes?”
Count Aydin shook his head as if to say it was nothing in response to Lucifela’s question.
“Lucy? You don’t like it? You still haven’t forgotten about His hHghness the Crown Prince?”
What do you mean by ‘His Highness the Crown Prince’?
***
Thank you for reading!
