“Are you cheating on me again this time?”
“……Riley, this is a letter from the Earl of Herond.”
Riley couldn’t believe it. The letter contained a single, short sentence announcing that Leta was dead and that there would be no funeral.
The letter didn’t even contain the contents of Leta’s suicide note. It was just a short condolence for Leta’s death and a note of sympathy for the Trailla family.
“I shouldn’t have let her go……. I should have forced her to stay!”
Riley shook with despair. Her hands trembled and then fell limp, and she shook her head in disbelief as she read and reread the letter.
Her eyes were blurry with tears, but the words were clearer than ever. Riley choked on a mixture of guilt, grief, and other emotions.
“Aaah……. Ah…….”
Her throat felt tight, and the words failed to escape from her mouth.
Theo leaned down across from Riley and looked her in the eye. His voice was gentle, but there was a hint of sadness in it.
“Riley, it’s not your fault.”
You can’t say that to me.
Anger rushed through her at the way Theo acted like this had nothing to do with her.
If he hadn’t said he loved her, wouldn’t Leta have died?
If he hadn’t brought Anna back, wouldn’t Leta have died?
She didn’t. If she hadn’t hidden the sigil, if she had laid it down and lived as an imperial swordsman, Leta wouldn’t have died.
That’s why she ran away from home, blinded by Theo’s lies.
All she ever wanted was to be her, to be Riley, to live as herself…….
“Ah……. Aah.”
Riley couldn’t get any words out. Her mind kept repeating assumptions and denials.
Everything is my fault.
“……No, no, no, she told me yesterday she was fine.”
She was making justifications to take her mind off the pain. she was so horrified at herself that she wrapped her arms around herself and hugged herself.
The next thing she know, she saw Leta’s face in her mind’s eye and slammed her head into the floor, pulling her hair out.
“No, no, no, this is my fault, I shouldn’t have let her go when she said she was fine!
She couldn’t stop picturing Leta’s smile as she smiled at her yesterday. Her warm voice telling her it was okay, her fingers touching mine.
She could still feel Leta’s loving touch as she stroked her.
“……Riley. Ah!”
Theo moved toward the desk as if the image of Riley reminded him of something. He opened the drawer and found a small hairpin in his hand.
It was shaped like a butterfly.
Cautiously approaching Riley, Theo grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up. When she looked up, her eyes were empty and her face was covered with countless tears.
“……She told me to give this to you.”
“…….”
She hoped this was all a lie. For once, she could let it go, even if it was just a trick to make her suffer. she couldn’t accept Leta’s death.
However, as she realized that everything Theo had tell her was true, an overwhelming sadness wrapped around her that she couldn’t bear.
Riley grasped the pin with a trembling hand, hoping it was a memento of Leta’s.
“……Leta, did you leave this for me?
The design looked too young to be Leta’s. Riley clutched the pin and bowed her head. She knew nothing of how her sister had died or what had happened to her.
What if the Earl had killed him……. What would she do then?
Tears constantly gathered in the corners of her eyes. Her voice trembled with grief as she spoke.
As she began to face reality, a choked voice began to flow out.
“……I’m …..going, I have to go, no, I have to go!”
“You can’t do that.”
“…… get out of my way,I don’t waste my time arguing with you!”
“You won’t see him if you go anyway. The Traillas haven’t even objected; they’ve received a letter telling them to hold a quiet and speedy funeral.”
“……what?”
Riley stumbled to her feet, gripping the wall. Her whole body was numb and her mind was dazed from the shock. She felt a pain in her stomach and tried to relax as much as she could, but it was no use.
She couldn’t even muster the strength to struggle against the rising wave of emotions.
All she could think about was the need to see Leta. She hated Theo, she hated this house, she hated everything that stood in her way.
“……Dad, you’re crazy, too. Don’t you feel sorry for Leta, who must have been terrified? It was only one day! It took me over a year to even see Leta, and I can’t even protect my sister on my way home?”
“She was traumatised enough as it is, it’s not safe for her to be further traumatised.”
Theo was determined as if he would never move out of the way. Looking into his eyes, Riley grabbed him by the collar and tried to push him aside.
Theo sighed deeply when he saw that she wasn’t going to give up.
“Then calm down. I’ll come with you.”
Theo summoned a maid to bring warm water. She sat down in a chair and cleared her throat.
Theo approached her, his voice whispering in her ear, and her eyes dropped lower and lower.
“Madam, forgive me. For the sake of our family and yours.”
* * *
She had a long dream. She saw herself talking to Leta, enjoying the ordinary days of her childhood home.
She remembered sneaking off to her room with Leta’s beaming smile and laughing under her breath as we talked. She remembers dusting off her clothes as she cried after falling down while running around in the garden.
And memories of her smiling and laughing with a child she couldn’t remember flashed through her mind like a film.
‘Leta…….’
Her body felt heavy like it was being pulled downward.
Her breath caught in her throat as the weight crushed her.
Riley forced her eyes open. Looking out the window, sunlight streamed in, lighting up the room.
“Why did I……. Why…….”
Riley sat up in bed, lost in thought.
She didn’t understand why she was sleeping in her bed or what the hell was going on. She had memory of drinking the water Theo had handed her.
“How did you do this?
He must have put herself to sleep. At least a day must have passed.
“……Theo.
Riley was oddly calm.
“Ren, I need you to make the move you’ve prepared.”
“I don’t particularly like it, but if that’s what you want.”
As if in response to her call, the man called Ren appeared.
His eyelids arced beautifully over red eyes that matched his black hair.
Riley opened the door and stepped out, searching for the maid, but no one answered her call.
She searched the kitchen and the rooms, but no one was in sight. She turned to head for the duke’s office.
“My dear, my lady, you are awake.”
Anna appeared from within the house. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes twinkled with amusement.
“…….”
Riley ignored Anna’s words and approached the stairs to the second floor. Anna rolled her eyes, not liking the way Riley didn’t respond to her words.
“Must be nice these days, having the Duke all over you.”
The sarcastic words were followed by a piercing glare.
Her grip on the railing tightened as she remembered what had happened to Leta. She was the one who had hidden the letter and pushed Leta to the edge of the cliff. If not for her, at least she would have realised her situation sooner.
“Do you know how he treats me because you said something weird to Theo?”
Anna snapped at Riley. She hadn’t been seen all day, and when she asked the maids, they said she had fallen asleep. Anna hadn’t been able to get near her since the duke had given her a pill and she’d fallen asleep, and the duke had stayed by her side.
The handmaidens said that it was just like the two of them before when she first arrived.
“What do you think? You’re back in his good graces after all these years, aren’t you? I thought you were abandoned by him!”
Riley whirled around, putting one foot back down on the step, to see Anna’s hostile eyes on her and her lips pursed in frustration.
Stalking over to her, Riley gently stroked Anna’s cheek.
“It must have looked good in your eyes because I don’t have a love interest, so you can have it.”
Anna mocked, swatting away Riley’s hand. She hated that she, unlike her, didn’t even crave his love. She didn’t like the way she acted, as if it didn’t matter what happened to him.
Looking at her made her feel even more insignificant. Why did she feel nervous and insecure when she was the one who had taken everything from her?
“You’re a hypocrite, you’re in love with him, and he’s the father of your child after all!”
“Anna, is that all you have to say? Leta left my side because of your jealousy.”
Her hands were still shaking like this, but Anna didn’t show any sadness or guilt.
A flicker of anger rose to the surface. But then she gathered herself and looked at Anna.
“Wasn’t it wrong of me to send a poem to him, even though I knew it was obvious, or I’d be just as much of an abandoned…… as you are!”
Riley reached out and clamped her hand over Anna’s mouth. Anna’s eyes widened in surprise and she grasped Riley’s hand.
“Anna, don’t be impatient, for I have a great gift for you.”
“Ew!”
“Of course, you don’t need to thank me.”
Riley removed her hand from over Anna’s mouth and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her hands. Throwing the handkerchief on the floor, she looked down at Anna with a cold stare.
Riley had secretly summoned Bothe and Filia in the middle of the night. She handed them a piece of paper and told them to write down exactly what happened at the ducal residence.
Riley told the maids that she told them that Theo would send them elsewhere, but that was a lie. Bothe and Filia believed her and wrote down everything they knew about what Anna had done, but they were not offered new jobs.
She gave the papers she had compiled to Ren. It was a divorce petition to the Emperor and a list of Anna’s misdeeds.
Riley planned to send the papers to the imperial court through Ren. It would take a few trips back and forth, as there wasn’t much time for the seal to materialise, but it would allow her to do it without being detected.
She’d also contacted the newspapers. If they don’t hear from her for a day, he’ll go ahead with the contract.
Since she’d collapsed last night and couldn’t be reached, they would do as she asked.
“Just in case, Anna, do you have anything with you?”
“Ha……, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Well, I figured you wanted this job fast, so I took advantage of the law.”
“What, what?”
Anna turned to Riley, horrified. She hadn’t even realised she’d been in touch with the outside world.
“Don’t freak out, it’ll be on the front page of the paper in a few days.”
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