“Episode 3”
“Isabella!”
“Ha, ha…”
Taking a deep breath, I looked around. Ethan’s face, comforting me with his strong arms, caught my eye.
“E-Ethan…”
“Shh, it’s okay. It was just a nightmare.”
As his hand gently stroked my back, suppressed emotions burst out like a dam breaking.
“Sniff, sniff…”
Bursting into tears, he carefully wrapped his arms around me.
I buried my face in his sturdy chest, soaking in sadness for a while.
“Isabella, it’s just a bad dream. I’m here. Nothing will happen.”
Ethan’s voice penetrated my subconscious like a spell or hypnosis.
“When the day breaks, shall we go shopping in the market together? We’ll dine out and buy anything you want. So don’t be sad anymore.”
His tone was sweet, like comforting a lover. I wanted to ask why. Am I just a lost parrot passing through your life? *
—
“Allow me to introduce the sole employee of Holden House, Gus the coachman.”
As we stepped out of the mansion after getting ready, a dour-looking coachman was waiting for us.
After exchanging greetings, Gus bowed without a word and bent his waist. Only when we got into the carriage did Ethan speak up.
“Gus can speak, but due to an accident long ago, having ordinary conversations is almost impossible.”
“His tongue was cut?”
“Yes, from a very long time ago. I believe you’ll treat him without discrimination.”
I hadn’t even considered an accident severe enough to warrant his tongue being cut. Shoulder sagging in desolation, Ethan smiled slightly.
“Getting some fresh air might lift your spirits. Is there anywhere you’d like to go? Or if not, perhaps a place we used to frequent?”
Although there were a few places we frequented, even that was with Simon.
Grimacing at the melancholy lingering inside the carriage, Ethan broke the silence and spoke.
“Actually, I’ve changed my mind. May I lead us to where I want to go today?”
“Ethan, can you read minds besides memories?”
“Of course not. One dreadful curse is enough.”
The carriage, which had been running steadily, arrived at the destination: a fabric store in the Madrelli shopping district. It seemed the promise to make dresses until the wardrobe burst wasn’t just a boast.
“Ethan, this is too much. A couple of dresses would have been enough.”
To him, I was like a lost parrot. If new feathers sprouted over old wounds, he would simply let me fly away. The crimson mark on my cheek would fade before winter came.
“Until you leave, I’ll buy them all.”
For some reason, he ended up buying all the piled-up fabrics. The madame of the fabric store was uproarious.
“We’re off to the jeweler’s next. I want to buy a necklace as a gift.”
His voice remained incredibly affectionate, but his gaze upon me was as cold as ice. Not wanting to disturb his nerves, I quietly followed him to the jewelry store.
As Ethan was about to step over the threshold of the jewelry store, his steps suddenly stopped. Thanks to him, I bumped my forehead against his sturdy back.
Looking up at Ethan while holding my throbbing forehead, he lazily lowered his eyelashes and spoke.
“Isabella, shall we postpone the jewelry for another time?”
Ethan’s large palm settled on my eyelids. Through the narrow gap between his slightly parted fingers, I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.
The back of someone carefully selecting a ring while leaning against the counter in the jewelry store.
“…Simon.”
I realized belatedly that Simon wasn’t alone. A slender woman hung onto his once thick arm.
I scrutinized her face. She was the woman I had met at a reception once.
“Ethan, please wake him up quickly. It seems he’s having another nightmare.”
My only devoted believer, who I had sacrificed my soul for over the past ten years. And the betrayer who had sent me to the edge of the cliff with just one letter.
Eventually, Simon’s head slowly lifted. Ah, he had finally spotted me. Seeing me standing there defenselessly in front of the jewelry store entrance, leaning against the ghost duke.
While he would not even glance at me when I pleaded at the Duke’s door and begged, he now called me cruel and cruelly used my nickname.
“Let’s have a chat for a moment, Isabella.”
When he informed me of the annulment through a single letter, when did he suggest having a conversation? Now he wanted to have a conversation. Truly a futile gesture.
No matter how much I struggled, we couldn’t go back to the past. We would never be able to embrace each other again, nor hold each other’s thick palms.
“Isabella, don’t chase after him. You’ll only get hurt.”
“But…”
“Surely you don’t plan to chase after Simon Britton after suffering so much, do you?”
Yes, his words were right. Talking to Simon would be like pouring salt on a wound over a broken heart.
“Isabella, it’s impolite to have private conversations in front of people, isn’t it?”
Simon’s right eyebrow twitched noticeably. Whenever he felt uncomfortable, he would involuntarily reveal his emotions through some action.
“Sorry, Simon. Are you mad by any chance?”
More like a habit, my lips reacted before my mind. I was anxious that Simon might be upset.
Oh, foolish Isabella. It had been a long time since I gave up my position as his fiancée, yet my body still trembled to cater to his whims.
“If you’re willing to apologize, follow me. It’ll only take a moment.”
Unconsciously, I followed after Simon. But as I attempted to do so, Ethan’s long fingers gripped my wrist.
“You’ll regret it, for sure.”
“…I’m sorry. But it’ll only be a moment.”
I slipped out of Ethan’s embrace as if fleeing and headed towards Simon.
At the back entrance of the shop, Simon stood with a deeply uncomfortable expression, his arms crossed.
“…Simon.”
Uttering his name softly, he sighed heavily and met my gaze.
“Yeah, Bella. What’s up?”
He actually asked this time, his voice curt. As a fallen servant girl instead of his fiancée, I wasn’t even allowed a hint of affection.
“I just stepped out for a moment.”
I couldn’t bring myself to lay out the truth. Because of you, I had descended to the status of a vulture with nothing else to look upon but your face.
“Simon, your regret was palpable after sending the letter. I thought you might be struggling because of your tender heart and rich emotions.”
Regret? At his words, a bitter laugh escaped me. For a man who claimed to regret, he was strolling through the streets with a new woman by his side just three days after breaking off the engagement.
“Now, looking back, it seems like a futile endeavor. Unexpected indeed. I didn’t know you’d be so keen on wooing men.”
Simon, did you think I was like you? I ground my teeth at his cruel words, each one a dagger to my heart.
“If she wasn’t a new lover, then why did you abandon me?”
As I raised the long-buried question from the depths of my heart, Simon shrugged his shoulders and spoke.
“Because you’re too bothersome. The girl brings up marriage every day without a shred of self-respect. Who wouldn’t get tired of that?”
“Just because of that, you abandoned me after chasing after me for ten years?”
“If you say it like that, it sounds like I committed a grave sin. But the problem was solely yours.”
“I can’t accept that…”
I lifted my head stubbornly.
“Speak. Give me a reason I can accept! Even if it’s an excuse, please…”
I, who had never thrown a tantrum before Simon, sobbed before him for the first time. But instead of comforting me with gentle words as before, he avoided my gaze and turned away.
“Do I have to explain every little reason to you? Just looking at your wooden figure kills my appetite. If I have to live with a woman like that for the rest of my life, wouldn’t you feel sorry for me? At least other mistresses would act coyly like other women.”
Because of your capriciousness, I almost ended up as a naked man in the streets, and the maid Marie, who had served since childhood, became a human sacrifice to my father instead.
“Just because of such a petty reason!”
I bit my lip against the overwhelming sense of humiliation. Sharp fangs sank into my tender flesh, mercilessly crushing it. Soon, thin rivulets of blood trickled down my lips.
“By the way, who is that man? I’ve never seen him before.”
Raising my head at the soft voice that penetrated my ears, I saw Ethan’s eyes shimmering with emerald green beyond the tears clouding my vision.
“It seems like the conversation is getting longer than expected.”
Simon scrutinized Ethan’s face with a wary gaze. Despite the piercing sunlight, Ethan responded with a delighted smile.
“Although it’s a bit late, shall we introduce ourselves? I’m Ethan Holden.”
When Ethan extended his hand first, Simon reluctantly shook it with his chubby face twisted.
Even as the heir to the prestigious Britton Marquis, he couldn’t afford to ignore the courtesy of the Duke of Holden, even if it was rumored that Ethan was a fallen noble ghost.
“…Simon Britton.”
Simon shook hands with Ethan with a sullen expression. Ethan’s clear eyes suddenly turned cold as they met Simon’s hazel eyes. A momentary confusion flickered in Simon’s eyes.
In that instant, as they held hands perfectly, Ethan, who had been gripping Simon’s hand tightly, pushed Simon’s body away mercilessly.
“Oops, my hand slipped.”
