21.The World is Inherently Unfair

I couldn’t explain exactly what the feeling was. However, due to the manifestation of emotion that was hard to express, Richton’s face showed unusual vibrancy. His expression, at best, stayed at the level of contempt, ridicule, and exhaustion all the time. He did not move any part of his face besides blinking his eyelids.

Living, breathing, Richton. How could this not be awkward? He pushed the veil over my head slowly, very carefully. The hand, which had finished its job, naturally fell.

“You’re closing your mouth after you made me justify myself?”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a very long time. A red lantern flickered as if it’s dancing in Richton’s eyes. Black ink covered the world, and only the light in those eyes flickered. The words I wanted to ask Richton always lingered in my mouth without lack.

Why does this man call me a demon?

What do I mean to this man?

How much does this man know of me?

“Master.”

The end of my voice cracked as if I had opened my mouth for the first time in a decade. Opportunities like this didn’t come around often. I wanted to dispel the anxiety right away.

“Do you find me horrible? Do you hate me?”

Otherwise, there’s no reason for a man to call me a demon.

“Why do you think so?”

Richton’s face, which had been showing vibrancy until just before, was showing its usual coldness again. The difference was so great that what I saw felt like an illusion.

“There are only two reasons why a person can’t forget a person. It’s either they love the person like crazy, or hate like crazy.”

Just imagining it made me gasp. In the same sense, I would never forget Richton either.

“No, it must be the third. It could be both.”

“Of all three, it’s hate. You don’t think it’s because I love you like crazy.”

“Does master’s love mean sadism? Then you must be in love with me.”

His eyes, faced only one step apart, were as dark and blue as ice flowers that had bloomed.

“You’re anxious. Or are you afraid to be the owner of my hatred.”

“I…”

“As I said last night, Susan. If you’re tamed by me, you lose.”

That may not be the case, but Richton seemed to want me not to be tamed by him. Did my memory fade over time, or was I too naive at the time? Richton, who read my mind right in front of my eyes, and Richton, who urged me to bet at the same time, felt like a different person. Perhaps the day’s dangerous Richton Ingord was a fabricated memory.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t a strange thing. This man has always been like that. Maybe since then I have been struggling meaninglessly on Richton’s palm, mistaking that I’m a woman of great significance to him.

‘No, let’s stop. Don’t think too much about it.’

This man made me think too much and worry too much. After all, it’s just a guess from beginning to end.

“Another thing I overlooked.”

Richton, who raised his arms quietly, slowly tucked my hair down the side of the veil behind my ears.

“Love is just a sandcastle in front of time, but pain and hatred are like ice caps that don’t melt even in heat. Far from being forgotten and becoming radioactive, it freezes colder. As an indelible stigma, letting me feel that I am myself.”

Richton was talking to someone deeper inside me whom I didn’t know. He was the one who left an indelible mark. He didn’t seem to be willing to hide his blatant feelings. Soon after, the cold fingertips reached my ears. His heartbeat was delivered over a thin layer of skin. It was a sound of silence and quietness that it was surprising he was alive.

“Did you ask me if I hate you? Exactly, Susan, you drove me into a hole that I couldn’t escape, and you made me regret for the rest of my life, but still made me unable to give up.”

You’re lying. I’m such a big deal to you?

I thought I was being treated like a toy, and every word he uttered sounded like a hoax. Thin blue-gray eyes scanned all over my face with devouring intensity His hand, which was simply around my ear, gently swept my ear lobe without thought of pulling away.

It’s been a long time since the memory of the moment I encountered Viscount Campbell had faded as smoke. This was not a disgusting and filthy touch. So all my nerves were focused on the ears which Richton touched. My lips opened instinctively in the midst of My stiffness.

“What the hell did I do to you?”

“If you’re curious, realize it yourself. You will have to work that hard to make it worthwhile.”

“This is unfair, master.”

His hands followed my ears and were already holding my chin. my tongue didn’t move properly because my mind was all over the place.

“The world is inherently unfair. I know that better than anyone else.”

“You locked me up in Ingord.”

“Because I had to.”

“You tied me to a terrible shackle so I wouldn’t get away from it, and made me hate you for the rest of my life.”

“Not bad. If so, you will never forget me.”

“That’s not what I’m saying!”

I felt like I wanted to grab something and throw it. If it was Kean, I would have jumped at him screaming, and if it was Berkne, I would have stuck to him like a leech and made him open his mouth somehow. But not Richton.

All I could do to him was to shout without understanding my position. I was always afraid of his dark and calm facade whose depth was unfathomable.

“Don’t worry, Susan.”

The hand that fell from my chin gently wrapped around the nape of my neck. The grip was light. His gaze was as peaceful as the day he shot and killed the wolf.

….Ah. I remembered this moment. It’s familiar as if I had experienced it once, but it felt just as confusing. Yes, this was a déjà vu.

“Do not worry about it. My hatred will only be directed at you until the day I die.”

I’ve seen this scene where he grabbed my neck once.

Not in the book, but in reality.

I felt dizzy and fell into the world of darkness.

***

When I woke up again, I was back in my bedroom. The headache was too severe to remember what had happened last morning. I gave up thinking and rang the bell and called the maid. And as soon as I was ready, Richton, as if he had been waiting, led me into the wagon.

Contrary to the promise that they would definitely catch the criminal, the Marquis mansion opened the door early in the morning.

As soon as the door opened, all the nobles attending the banquet went out like low tide. Dozens of splendid chariots left the Marquis without looking back, including Ingord. Only a few relatives remained in the mansion to mourn the end of the Marquis.

This was because the Crohertz family overturned the Marquis’ death as a suicide rather than a murder.

“We are entering Malta from now on, Your Excellency, Your Royal Highness. If you need anything, I’ll send you a servant.”

“…no, you don’t have to. Richton seems to have fallen asleep, so let’s go to Ingord.”

As they passed through the mourning of the shadowy city, Richton kept his eyes closed. I did not feel particularly satisfied with the result I had hoped for. The wheels turned slowly, and I stared at the hazy blonde hair reflected in the carriage, questioning.

So in the end, what kind of role did Richton expect of me?

A banquet companion simply named Beatrice? Was that it?

Suddenly, a knock on the carriage door was heard. A knight of the Crohertz family was seen riding on the saddle through the gap in the door the servant had opened.

“Excuse me. Your Majesty the Princess, you have left your belongings.”

The knight held out an object wrapped in a red velvet cloth, and as soon as I received it, he disappeared to the other side. As the door closed and the carriage moved again, Richton never raised an eyelid. Although he appeared to be sleeping deeply, all of his senses except vision would be sharply open.

I took my eyes off him and carefully unfolded the red velvet cloth. Inside was a palm-sized jewelry box.

“… Ah. So that’s where I dropped it ”

I took a slow breath while looking at Richton’s face, worrying if my voice would come out trembling. There were no items in the jewelry box that appeared to be jewels. However, there was only a somewhat familiar type of pressed pendant lying next to the square memo. And a dark rusty girl painted in an open pressed pendant. At the corner of the portrait, the girl’s name was written in very small cursive letters.

<Agrane Kerold>

The same handwriting was also written on a square memo pad next to it.

<My lovely sister. I think you’ll need my help one day, and I hope to see you again soon.>

Wilhelm.

My heart stopped beating. I forced my still heart to wake up, and quietly closed the jewelry box. My head was dizzy, perhaps from holding my breath for a long time. The girl’s face, which was painted on the pendant, lingered at the back of my mind countless times.

Cousin Wilhelm had searched for a long time. The cousin who had the same name and green eyes as me even though my hair color was different. It was like a typhoon had formed inside my calm mind.

Richton still had his eyes closed, and only my breathing resounded in the quiet carriage.