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“…Kit, Kitty—”
I called Kitty in a trembling voice. Even though I knew that she was already dead, I still did not want to believe it… To be more precise, I did not want to believe that Cassius Brudenell had killed her.
“I killed her.”
Cassius declared calmly.
It sounded like he was explaining the truth as if he would not give me any hope. Confused, I turned my blank gaze down towards Kitty. Even though I wanted to close her wide-open eyes, I did not even have the courage to put my hand on her face.
I did not even have the decency to do that…
Tuk.
Cassius threw his dagger onto the floor and approached me.
“Evelyn.”
“Don’t come near me.”
I instinctively stepped back and uttered again.
“Don, don’t come!”
“I’m sorry I killed the maid you loved.”
He apologized in a low-pitched voice. As I looked up at him with a tremor, I was so terrified that I could not even cry.
“Why… why did you do that?”
I wanted to hear why. Whatever it was, I wished there had to be some convincing reason for him to do such a thing.
Cssius’ reply came back slowly.
“…She touched your jewelry.”
“Did you kill her for that reason?”
I screamed and got up from the floor. Even though my legs were trembling and it was difficult to stand up properly, I did not care.
“Evelyn, you’re going to fall.”
His worried tone also only felt egregious. He just killed someone, yet he was worried that I would fall?
“She… she was my maid. Even when I found out that you’ve hired her, I still brought her.”
“….”
“If you’re going to touch my people, you should’ve told me. Then, I would’ve figured out myself whether I would fire her or scold her. Lord, to kill her—”
It was not until tears dripped down to my knees that I realized I was crying. The more I grasped the situation, the more uncontrollably the tears fell, and before I knew it, I was sobbing and crying.
“You promised! Before you kill, you’ll tell me. But why, why…! Why Kitty? Tell me, why her?!”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Get out of my house.”
I cried my heart out.
“Why are you here when you’ve never been invited? Get out of here now!”
“….”
Even though I was lowering my head to cry, I could still feel Cassius’ gaze.
“…I see.”
“And never again, ever appear before me.”
He did not respond to that.
Thud, thud.
Only after the footsteps were completely silenced did I get out of the room. I was afraid that if I came out early, I would run into him again.
As soon as I got out of that bloody room, I collapsed in the hallway.
“Hue, huuekk…”
When Cassius was there, I was terrified and could not even utter a proper cry.
“Huek, hu-huuek, huueukk….”
When we first met, I remembered Kitty, who kept coming to me despite my cold attitude. I just felt annoyed and uncomfortable then.
However, our relationship changed when she followed my journey to the frontier village. If it were not for Kitty, who realistically grasped the situation in that village and supported me, I would have collapsed sooner.
‘…I shouldn’t have come back.’
Whatever Hermia was saying, I actually knew.
Even if a common-law marriage was established, it could be divorced then since you could argue that it was null and void in the first place.
As the matter of fact, if I completely abandoned Evelyn Garneid’s identity as originally planned, it doesn’t matter whom Evelyn Garneid married. Still, I came back and went directly to Cassius Brudenell myself. And, I had a completely different kind of exchange with him…
‘It’s my fault.’
I should not have taken Cassius out of the room.
He would have escaped one day on his own anyway because it was something he had just made up himself, but there was no need to get him out so quickly.
‘Kitty died because of me.’
Evidently, although I had walked a considerable distance from the room, a fishy smell wafted through the air. Sinking down to the floor, I buried my face in my knees. I just wanted to solidify into this state.
“Young Lady!”
“Oh my God, are you hurt?”
“Blood… Young Lady, please speak. Sarah, call the doctor! Hurry!”
Fortunately or not, just in time, a group of people passing by found me.
“…You don’t have to call.”
A hoarse voice came out.
“It’s not me… Kitty’s dead.”
ﾟ· : * ✧ * :· ﾟ
The killer was not caught.
I did not bother to say that Cassius Brudenell killed Kitty. After all, he must have already completely destroyed the evidence. Even if I made an accusation, it would only be accepted in the sense that a crazy woman was saying something crazy again.
“…Young Lady, have a drink. Yes? Madam and the Master are really worried.”
“Go.”
The newly assigned maids roamed around me like a mother chicken taking care of her chicks, but it was just annoying.
I closed my eyes.
One thing has become certain.
‘I have to make a blood oath in some way.’
A blood oath was necessary to protect my family and, furthermore, me and Ophelia’s descendants. However, I will never see Cassius ever again.
‘…There are ways to form a relationship with the Duke.’
Nonetheless, it was unclear whether the Duke would sign a blood pact with me. He was a man who could always disregard any promises made between the Duchess and me, or between Cassius and I.
“Evelyn, are you sleeping?”
“…Mother.”
I rose up from my seat as my mother walked into the room with gentle steps.
“You don’t look so good.”
“….”
“Are you eating something?”
“….”
“I know your maid’s dead and you’re heartbroken, but we’ll catch the culprit someday. As long as their identity is revealed, your mother will take revenge no matter what. So, ease your mind for now.”
I looked at my mother.
It was not a lie to say that she was worried, her cold and beautiful face was full of deep emotions. However, what my mother had just said was a promise that could never be fulfilled. It was because even if the culprit was revealed, it was a person whom she could not take revenge on.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.”
My mother came to my side.
“Everyone has a time like this. You’ve only been through a little earlier, my daughter.”
Tears welled up in my eyes all of a sudden.
My mother and I were not even twenty years apart in age.
Even when she was still Young, what did she think when she saw the daughter of the ex-wife whose personality was said never to be good? Ever since I became Evelyn Garneid, she must have felt more skeptical. She must have wondered how well she had raised me though I suddenly started doing nothing but traveling.
Thinking about it now, I wondered if her sending me to a psychiatric hospital was also a struggle to try to treat me somehow.
“Me and your father… We wish only for your happiness.”
“I didn’t think that way before.”
Even though I knew it was a bad thing to say, my mouth moved on its own.
“The reason you tried to marry me to marry Lord was because our family benefited, isn’t that right?”
“You fool!”
Her voice was filled with intense anger.
“Who will inherit our family’s name? Isn’t that you, Evelyn?! Then, what benefit would it have for our family? Think about it.”
“Still, if I get married… Even if you inherit the County, my duties as the duchess take precedence.”
My mother scoffed.
“I never thought my daughter was so incompetent that she couldn’t do such duties at that same duty.”
“…I’ve run away many times already.”
“Well, let’s just say it was a short wandering. But, you’re finally back, aren’t you?”
Holding my hand, even though her cold hand was on top of mine, I seemed to feel warmth for some reason.
“You’re my daughter. No matter how different, you’re still my daughter.”
“….”
My throat was choked by the weight of emotion in my mother’s voice.
It was not just because I was moved. However, I am not the real Evelyn Garneid… This feeling was for the real Evelyn Garneid, the original villain who would have died earlier.
‘You were loved, Evelyn.’
I did not feel guilty though.
In the original case, the County of Garneid would perish miserably. Because I was possessed into this novel in the middle, the Count Garneid and his wife lived, and Ophelia escaped from the devastating fate. I am not going to be harsh on myself enough to feel guilty for doing something like this.
However…
‘This is filial.’
I wiped the tears with the back of my hand.
Whether it was real or not, from my point of view, the Count and Countess of Garneid already considered me their own daughter and treated me that way. Even from the Countess’ point of view, even though I was not her own daughter from the beginning.
“…I’ll eat.”
An invisible smile spread across my mother’s face.
“Thank you.”
I raised the spoon.
The soup, which seemed to have all the ingredients that would obviously be delicious, had no taste. Nonetheless, I could not stop the spoon at the reaction of my mother, who was happy with each bite I took.
It was when I emptied the plate…
“Madam!”
A servant ran into the room, half screaming.
“D-Duke of Brudenell is dead…!”