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“…Your Excellency?”
But it looked like Yves Russell was too busy right now to accommodate her visit.
He gently stepped forward and blocked the doorway, a slightly inconvenienced expression on his face.
“I left a message through Allen. I said I was going to call for you.”
“He relayed it to me, but there’s something I need to tell you…”
“Um, now is a little…”
Then, a clear, high-pitched voice came through the door.
“Yves Russell, you still have no manners towards women. If there are guests, it’s only natural that they greet me and introduce themselves to me!”
He bit his lips, chewed on them, and then opened them once more.
With a forced smile, he opened the door.
“Come in then, Radis. Let me introduce you to my grandmother, the Marchioness of Russell two generations ago, Madam Mariel Russell. You can call her Godmother.”
Inside Yves Russell’s drawing room was an elegant old woman, standing there as though she had stepped out of a painting.
Mariel Russell was wearing a large gold-colored wig on her head, and she was as dignified as a queen.
The corners of Yves Russell’s lips twitched endlessly as he spoke.
“This is Miss Radis Tilrod.”
“Miss?”
Mariel shook her head towards Yves as though he was spouting nonsense.
“Yves Russell, you must have learned how to jest as well.”
“……”
“……”
While wearing David’s pants, Radis stood straight with her legs together.
Seeing their expressions, Mariel realized that Yves wasn’t joking.
Flustered, Mariel spoke.
“Oh my goodness, why is a lady dressed like this?”
Radis replied politely.
“I apologize. I don’t have many clothes in my possession.”
Shaaaaa.
It felt like a midwinter wind from the north had passed between them.
Radis was used to this kind of situation, so she was fine. The awkwardness inside that room belonged only to Yves and Mariel.
While Radis lowered her eyes, Yves was busy sending Mariel a look of reproach. Meanwhile, Mariel was also busy looking at Yves as though she was blaming him.
“T-That is!”
Mariel’s voice rose an octave higher out of embarrassment.
“It would be a problem if the Lady goes around in that kind of outfit at this time of the day! Yves Russell! Don’t you know any manners!”
Yves’ eyes were just telling Mariel, ‘Please, please just stop.’
“She’s my guest. Godmother, I’ll explain the circumstances to you later, so—”
“What? Guest? You…!”
Mariel’s eyes widened in shock.
In recent years, Mariel Russell’s attention was solely focused on just one thing.
The current Marquis of Russell’s—her grandson’s—marriage!
Even today, she visited just so she could nag him about it.
Now that she found a woman here at the estate, her thoughts naturally went towards that direction.
‘I can’t believe Yves has been hiding a woman!’
Mariel’s eyes immediately swept over Radis’ appearance.
She couldn’t believe this.
Yves Russell wasn’t that popular in high society, but he was still a Marquis.
His peerage as Marquis, his vast territory, his overflowing wealth, his youth.
There were many women who liked Yves Russell. He had everything.
Most of them would be willing to wed Yves, and they were all women from acceptable families.
But this child…
“Tilrod?”
Marial tried to recall the Tilrod household, which was buried deep within her memories.
She was able to recall the name Tilrod because of the man called Alexis Tilrod, the ‘Sword of Fire’, who was a contributor to the founding of the Empire.
If there was just an ancestor from 500 years ago to remember a family by, then it must be a lousy household.
‘But why? Why is she here?’
Radis looked over to Yves with an awkward expression, and in return, Yves Russell shot a grin at her.
It was even more suspicious seeing them exchange a look like this.
Mariel shouted inwardly.
‘No no no! I can’t allow this!’
If it was like this, then she’d need to stop it from the very start.
She’d even do as much as never stepping into the Marquisate of Russell ever again!
“Did you say your name is Radis?”
As she was called, Radis looked towards Mariel with wide eyes.
“Yes, Madam.”
“No matter what kind of relationship you have, it’s your choice. But it wouldn’t look good to have an unmarried or unengaged woman staying at a different family’s estate at this time.”
Mariel spoke with an exceedingly cold tone.
“Did you get permission from your parents?”
Permission, she said.
Her parents practically sold Radis in exchange for money from Marquis Russell.
Radis’ lips began to tremble minutely.
Seeing her expression, Yves Russell answered instead of Radis.
“Of course there’s permission.”
“There is?”
Even more shocked by this, Mariel looked alternately between Radis’ trembling lips and Yves’ stiff face.
When Radis could be seen biting her lower lip, Mariel’s resolve almost weakened, but she hardened her determination right then.
She had to make her leave right now.
“That can’t be true! Who in the world would send away their daughter to a man she’s not married to?!”
Mariel glared at Radis fiercely as she said this.
“I can’t even fathom how worried your parents must be! Hurry up and go back home. It’s obvious that your parents are heartbroken at your actions right now. Driving a nail into her parents’ hearts like this isn’t a child’s duty, nor is it even any human’s duty!”
Rather, every word Mariel uttered drove a nail into Radis’ chest.
Radis stared at the older woman with reddening eyes, then she opened her lips.
“You talk too much, Madam.”
“What?”
“The Madam might not understand, but there are people in this world who do not deserve to be parents.”
At Radis’ words, the drawing room fell silent as though it was flooded with arctic waters.
Now, it was Mariel’s lips that began to tremble.
“How arrogant… Miss Radis, even if some things go wrong, it’s very wrong of you to think like this. What do you mean, ‘Don’t deserve to be parents’? Parents and their children are connected by the heavens. What other qualifications do they need? After carrying you in her stomach your mother gave birth to you, Miss Radis. And your father raised you to be this old!”
Mariel spoke firmly as she looked alternately between Radis and Yves with anger behind her eyes.
“You don’t have any gratitude. Even if your parents make mistakes, even if they commit treason, if you are their child, you must forgive your parents’ faults!”
With her head bowed down, Radis’ expression hardened.
She muttered.
“…I’d rather that they committed treason.”
She meant it.
If Margaret and Jade had committed only the capital offense of treason, it would be much easier to forgive them.
Radis raised her head.
“The Madam is right. That’s also what I believed. I tried that as well. But the Madam can’t even imagine how much…!”
An unfeeling smile could be seen on Radis’ lips.
“But Madam, sometimes, there are parents who themselves drive a nail into their child’s heart. Strangely, people don’t ask those parents what reason they had to have done this. Is that acceptable? Is it only a child who has a duty towards their parents? Is there no duty that parents must uphold towards their child?”
Something that had hardened inside her heart seemed to have burst out.
After saying this, Radis stood there blankly for a moment.
It wasn’t like her to say those words.
A large thorn piercing her heart seemed to have gone loose.
Her entire body was trembling.
Radis couldn’t bear to look at Mariel’s face.
Mariel, who didn’t know Radis’ situation, had spoken only of the common notion that people believed regarding parents and their children.
Yet those words provoked Radis’ ire.
“…I apologize. I was too harsh.”
She couldn’t stand it any longer. Radis apologized as she continued to tremble. Then, she turned around.
“Hey… Hey!”
Mariel’s startled shout quickly faded in the distance.
Radis ran down the flight of stairs in a hurry.
As she passed through the hall, it felt like the maids were watching her with their necks craned out.
Radis was also terrified of the maids’ gazes.
“Miss Radis?”
Allen, who was standing near the front door, called out to her, but Radis ignored him as well.
She pushed the front door of the estate and ran towards the garden.
Just in time, the stableman happened to be unfastening the horses of a carriage.
Radis snatched the reins of one horse and climbed over it recklessly.
“Ha-ya!”
And like that, she disappeared like the wind.
* * *
’Driving a nail into her parents’ hearts like this isn’t a child’s duty, nor is it even any human’s duty!’
‘I just made a decision that would benefit David’s future along with the Tilrod family!’
Mariel and Margaret’s words echoed in her mind like auditory hallucinations.
For the future of the family. For the future of her younger brother, who was the pillar of the household. Just for their sake, was it right to crush the life of the eldest daughter who no one wanted?
Was that the duty of a child? The duty of all humans?
‘If this is true, then just one time is enough. Why was I given two lives? If there’s a god out there, if there’s a reason that I was born as the eldest daughter of the Tilrod family, that god should have let me die like that. Why do I need to live again? Does that mean that I’d have to live like that twice? It’s all too cruel!’
How long had she been running?
Radis drew the horse to a stop when she felt that its neck had become soaked with sweat.
Her face was frozen cold from the night’s strong breeze, but her body was sweating just like the horse.