“You had everything from the start. A noble status, a home where you didn’t have to shiver in the cold or go hungry… I was born with nothing but my sister, no home to protect me from the cold, no food to satisfy my hunger. But why did she abandon me and choose you, the only person I had? Why?”
Ariella couldn’t say anything and kept her mouth shut.
Kaia was Lizzy’s older sister. The sister Kaia had left behind in her hometown was Lizzy…
Even if Lizzy and she were bound by fate, this was too much. It was an excessive connection.
“Unhappiness, unhappiness… Do you even know what real unhappiness is? Think about it, Arrie. How do you think a four-year-old child survives after losing their only family overnight?”
“……”
“I spent all day working as a servant in other people’s houses, getting beaten by the owners for the smallest things, saving a single piece of stale bread for days, working with my hands in ice-cold water all winter, working under the scorching sun all summer! I lived like a slave for years, and after finally escaping, I lived in fear of some bastard hitting me over the head or raping me. Insults and disregard were commonplace, and violence and s****l harassment were just minor events!”
Lizzy unleashed the emotions she had suppressed for seven years, like a dam bursting. Then, she gasped for breath, her chest heaving.
By that time, Ariella had regained some composure and was staring intently at Lizzy.
Even that look was unbearably hateful to Lizzy, and she let out a laugh.
“That’s unhappiness. Not crying because your father scolded you while wearing pretty dresses and eating good food, not crying because some mutt died.”
She whispered slowly, recalling a memory from the past.
Seven years ago, one autumn day, only a few months after Lizzy had entered the Bedford Duchy.
When Ariella returned to her room after a walk, there was a dog corpse hanging from the ceiling.
It was probably one of David’s nasty pranks. He had been doing all sorts of bad things to harass Ariella since before.
Each time, Ariella would only react indifferently.
Even when her newly tailored dress was covered in mud, or when a gift she had received from her father disappeared without a trace, the young lady Lizzy served would only sigh, as if all of it were boring.
So, it would be the same this time. Lizzy thought so.
But the reaction Ariella showed that day was completely different from before.
“Ah, ahhh! No, no! Oliver-!”
Ariella screamed wildly and hurriedly pulled the dog down. Then, she held the corpse and sobbed. As if it weren’t dirty, she endlessly stroked the fur that was thickly covered in dirt and blood.
Lizzy had known for a while that Ariella cherished the dog. She couldn’t have missed it, since she often went to find the dog and crouched down beside it.
However, Lizzy wasn’t interested in what kind of bond had formed between them. She was simply annoyed by Ariella’s appearance, as she was troubled and immersed in sorrow for days.
‘She’s crying like that just because a dog died? It’s ridiculous…’
In Lizzy’s world, death was too natural and common. Even if a child she had been close to yesterday suddenly died today, she couldn’t grieve.
If she grieved over such a thing and couldn’t concentrate on her work, she would starve that day, and if things went wrong, she might even die.
But just because a dog died, she was suffering as if she were carrying all the unhappiness in the world.
An instinctive revulsion surged within her.
Ariella had no idea how precious the things she enjoyed were. She also didn’t know how blessed her life was. She didn’t even try to know.
Whenever Lizzy saw Ariella, who seemed bored with her fancy dresses, sweet desserts, and a fiancé who seemed to have come out of a fairy tale, Lizzy really wanted to rip out that pink tongue.
She was even more angry when she found out that she had lived in an orphanage.
Why did she meet someone who took care of her even in the orphanage? Was it because her innate bloodline was noble? So, could she easily overcome any adversity that came her way?
Then what about herself? Was she, who had a humble bloodline and was abandoned even by her only family, destined to live like this forever?
That was the first time she had ever felt such contempt for the gap she had taken for granted. She hated everything in the world and felt wronged by her fate.
And that hatred grew uncontrollably the moment she learned who Ariella’s benefactor was.
“My benefactor’s name was Kaia. She was twelve years older than me and a devout believer in the Maranatha Order. She was a woman who looked a lot like you… Her eyes were blue, but her hair was a deep blonde like yours. She was a very beautiful and kind person.”
After hearing about her benefactor several times, even though she didn’t want to, Lizzy realized.
