Terdeo entered the reception room and, with a somewhat rough gesture, sat down on the sofa and asked.
"Did you come to pick up Selphi?"
"Hardly."
It seemed that Harari, who didn't even want to touch the items in the mansion, shivered and laid her handkerchief on the sofa before sitting down.
"I wouldn't come back to pick her up after I abandoned her."
Terdeo's red eyes shone darkly, completely different from before.
"Oh, I just left her because seeing her was terrifying and frightening, and I didn't care if she lived or died. Indeed."
Terdeo, with a mocking smile, roughly pulled the curtain. Despite the clear mockery, Harari's expression didn't change. To her, it was just hearing a fact she already knew.
"Why did you come? What's the reason for you to walk in here on your own? You know that if you were noticed by Lady Gloria or Seresia, you wouldn't be able to survive."
"I couldn't just stand by and let another victim like me be created because of you."
"Victim?"
Terdeo's eyes glinted menacingly at Harari's calm demeanor. His hand reached for his sword, but Harari maintained her composed posture without flinching.
"Yes, a victim. Didn't His Highness the Duke send Her Highness the Duchess to the bedroom first because of the curse?"
Terdeo frowned, as if he had been hit where it hurt. No matter what, Harari was a victim of the curse. She had lost her beloved and happiness and fallen into despair because of it. Terdeo didn't want to show the end of that to Phershati. He wanted her to not tremble in fear during the few days left that she would be with him, and he didn't want her to look at him with disdain.
"Do you know the secret of this family now?"
"...... Even if I didn't, it's not something you should care about now that you're an outsider."
"You said you weren't interested in marriage or women and didn't want to create more victims because of the curse."
Harari's eyes, devoid of emotion, were filled with disdain, not just for Terdeo, but for the entire Laphreon family.
"His Highness, in the end, is just a selfish Laphreon family. There's nothing I can do about it."
"Did you come all the way from afar to congratulate me on my marriage? I've been married for quite some time, but I'll gratefully accept your congratulations."
"I thought you would be different, Your Highness."
Harari straightened her back and placed her hands on her lap.
"How difficult it was for me after your brother died and I was left alone. How futilely two innocent people died because of your sister's mistake."
"......"
"You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? I believed you wouldn't fall into the same selfish trap and create more victims."
Terdeo clenched his fists and glared fiercely at Harari.
"It might be just a trivial matter to you, but for someone like me, it's a matter of life and death."
"You're overstepping your bounds."
"Yes, I am. But if this overstepping can save someone, I'll do it."
"If you really wanted to do that, why didn't you keep and raise Selphi instead of abandoning her?"
Terdeo's words caught Harari off guard, and her eyebrows twitched for the first time.
"If you knew so much about the Laphreon family's reputation, you must have known that Selphius is in this mansion."
Harari's face contorted in pain as if her last bit of conscience had been pierced. She gripped her hands on her lap so tightly that they turned white.
"Did you never think that you might run into Selphius if you came here?"
"......"
"Did you never think that Selphius would be distressed if he saw you?"
"...... I couldn't love that child. I couldn't. If I had taken him, I would have either neglected him, abused him, or even worse, killed him."
Harari paused and took a deep breath.
"...... I would have ended up killing him."
"Shut up. Didn't I just tell you that Selphius is in this mansion?"
"I don't want to be entangled in this curse again."
"That's why I let you leave, so you could abandon Selphi and get away. You should have lived with your ears and eyes closed to whatever happened here."
Terdeo growled menacingly, baring his teeth. He emphasized each word as if he were tearing and devouring them.
"You should have at least thought about how Selphi would feel seeing you, even if you have no brains."
"If I could have thought about that."
"......"
"I wouldn't have abandoned him in the first place."
"Hmph."
Terdeo sneered and roughly ran his hand through his disheveled hair. Harari still maintained her elegant and dignified demeanor, but her appearance had changed. Her hat was faded, and the hem of her dress was frayed. The end of the woman who once believed that love could overcome everything and tried to transcend the curse was pitiful. Terdeo still remembered how Harari, on the day of his brother's funeral, had fainted from exhaustion after crying so much. She had spoken as if all her happiness had ended and she was dying, left alone on a shipwrecked vessel with no hope of sailing again. Harari hated the curse that had made her lose her beloved, but she also feared it. The scarred woman had abandoned Selphi, who shared the same curse, and fled to survive.
"Since you pity Selphius so much, you wouldn't want to create another child like him, right?"
"What?"
"Even if the Duchess is now relying on you, you never know when someone cursed might suddenly die, like your brother or my ex-husband. If you die like that, the Duchess will be left alone, just like me."
It felt like being stabbed in the heart. These were the feelings of guilt that rose every time Terdeo looked at Phershati and felt happiness, and that weighed heavily on his heart. It was a reality and despair he had experienced many times, even yesterday and today.
"Or, you might kill the Duchess with a minor mistake, like your sister did."
Her voice was dry, like she was eating sand. Her eyes, devoid of any emotion, were as dry as a desert storm.
"The pain of being a victim is something you, the perpetrators, will never understand, even if you die and come back to life. You might think you are the most pitiful because you are cursed."
"......"
"But the truly pitiful ones are those who are dragged into this curse and become unhappy, even though they are not cursed themselves."
Terdeo clenched his fists tightly to hide his trembling hands.
"Are you here to give me this advice out of old feelings?"
His face darkened even more. The darkness that had secretly crept in through the window clung to Terdeo.
"Are you here to ask me to release the Duchess for her sake?"
"Yes. I couldn't just stand by and think of the Duchess, whom I don't even know, suddenly losing her beloved and living in this place, where the shadow of death looms, with a cursed child."
"Lies."
Terdeo's thin smile made Harari raise her head in anger. But she froze when she met his deep, piercing eyes.
"You're not here for the Duchess, but for yourself, Lady Harari."
"......!"
"Do you think you can be saved by saving the Duchess? They call this 'vicarious satisfaction,' don't they?"
Harari's breath trembled. It was a direct hit. In the past, she couldn't escape and ended up in despair. Even when she tried to start anew, her invisible past always held her back and brought her back. So, Harari decided to save the Duchess. She thought that if she could save the Duchess from this cursed hell, her heart would feel lighter, and she could live a new life. Yes, as if saving her past self. Projecting her past onto the Duchess, her breathing quickened. Harari raised her trembling hand to cover half of her face.
"I'm still living in pain even after escaping this mansion. My hell hasn't ended yet."
Her rough, unrefined hands were neither soft nor beautiful as they used to be. Terdeo just watched her silently. Even though he could have driven her away and ignored her words, he didn't. He listened to and endured all her accusations as if it was his duty.
"You shouldn't have brought me into this hell just because you love me. Even if I had wanted it, you should have stopped me! I didn't know the curse would be so painful! I wouldn't know since I'm not cursed! But no one stopped me!"
"......"
"You shouldn't have dragged me into this curse if you loved me! You should have sent me far away to live happily! Even if there was no way to break the curse!"
Harari, with her eyes wide open, slammed the table with her fist. Her noble demeanor quickly disappeared. It seemed she couldn't control her anger when she recalled those memories.
"I don't want to feel like a sinner again! ... This is proof that you are selfish."
Harari's small body trembled. She wrapped her arms around herself after running her hands through her hair.
"Your very existence is a curse. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have lived in pain all my life."
Her voice, damp with tears, echoed widely. Terdeo leaned back, twisting his lips bitterly.
"You're right. This place is hell."
"......"
"But what can we do? We have to live, even if we're called selfish."
Harari shivered at his casual tone.
"So, you're a selfish Laphreon family, just as I thought!"
"Of course. Why would I be cursed?"
Terdeo, with his long fingers, stroked his chin and smiled bitterly. He laughed dangerously, as if walking a tightrope on the edge of a blade.
"I'm no different from a living hell."
Terdeo was always the villain. People, to protect themselves, can cruelly push others away without hesitation. Most people entangled with the Laphreon family were like that. They didn't want to admit that the reason for their pain was not their fault or that they were wrong. They needed a shield to push away, and Terdeo always took on that role.
"You don't truly love the Duchess, do you?"
"That too."
Terdeo stood up from the sofa. His dark, lowered eyes were directed at Harari.
"I have no reason to answer you."
"......!"
"I'll listen to you up to this point. If you've vented your feelings, go back."
"I won't just stand by and let another victim like me be created! Even if I die! You can't do that!"
Having vented her secrets that she couldn't tell anyone, Harari would live for a while without dying, even if it was in despair.
"Surely you're not here to say something ridiculous like you love the Duchess!"
Terdeo stopped in his tracks. The moon, which had been illuminating the night, was now covered by clouds. The world was dyed dark, as if it had fallen into hell. He turned his body.
"So what if I do?"
The darkness completely covered Terdeo's face. In the pitch-black darkness where nothing could be seen, he laughed and answered.