My sister abandoned me and went to save you. She was worried that your noble self would feel the heat of your feet briefly dipped in hot water, so she left me in the fires of hell.
And so, she finally made up her mind.
I will take the life of that bitch who has everything but is not satisfied.
Since she took everything from me, I will take everything from you too.
This was Lizzy’s reason.
“…I see.”
Ariella, who had been listening quietly for a while, slowly opened her lips.
Yes, if that was the case, she could understand Lizzy. To her, who had lived in pain her whole life after her sister disappeared, the unhappiness Ariella spoke of would have seemed like nothing more than a complaint.
Just as Ariella didn’t know Lizzy’s reasons, Lizzy also didn’t know Ariella’s reasons.
“Lizzy, I have no desire to compete with you over whose hell is more terrible.”
Ariella removed Lizzy’s hand from her lap. Perhaps because she had scratched it with her nails while she was talking, there was a faint trace of blood on her leg.
“I also have no idea why Kaia abandoned her young sister and went to the Merrilbone Orphanage, or why she took care of me instead of you. But it was Kaia’s choice, and no matter what kind of life you lived because of that choice, I don’t feel any guilt.”
She brushed Lizzy’s hand away as if she were dusting off dirt and stood up from her seat.
“If you wanted me to think you were pitiful, that you had a hard time, that I should be sorry… I’m sorry to say that’s impossible. We’ve come too far to feel sorry for each other.”
Ariella nodded as if she were impressed by her own words.
“Yes, we’ve come too far. If you had asked me for my name and my life from the beginning, I might have just handed them over and left. Without causing these troublesome things, in the most peaceful way possible. Or, if you had revealed that you were Kaia’s sister from the beginning and demanded a price, I would have given it to you willingly. To repay the favor I received from her, I certainly would have.”
Just as Ariella had waited for Lizzy to finish speaking, Lizzy quietly stared at Ariella without interrupting with her sharp voice.
Thanks to that, Ariella finished saying what she wanted to say without any hesitation.
“But you didn’t, did you? Instead, you’ve considered me an enemy for a long time. So now, no matter what circumstances you have, or for what reason you came to hate me, I have no choice but to consider you an enemy as well.”
“……”
“I’ll pray. I hope that your thought that this kind of thing can’t be called unhappiness is sincere, and that your heart doesn’t change even after time passes and I disappear. That’s the last kindness I can do for you.”
***
Tap, tap.
The sound of quick heels echoed loudly in the hallway.
Ariella strode forward, her eyes empty as if she couldn’t see anything.
But all the way from the dining room back to her room, Kaia’s face lingered in her mind.
Tap tap, tap tap!
With each step, what had been Kaia’s face began to change. A little younger, more lovely, but with a venomous feeling.
Before she knew it, Lizzy’s face was drawn in her vision.
Bang!
Ariella slammed the door shut and entered her bedroom.
Fortunately, no one was in the room. Amira was away at Rose’s call, and Adam had gone to investigate the deaths of those who had worked at the Bedford Duchy more than a decade ago.
It was a relief. If they had seen her face, they would have been worried again.
She had pretended not to be surprised and spoken calmly to Lizzy, but in fact, her heart was as complicated as a tangled skein of yarn.
She had certainly succeeded in her first revenge. So now it was time to enjoy the refreshing feeling and prepare for the next revenge, but the new fact she had just learned made her feel uneasy.
‘Even if Lizzy is Kaia’s younger sister, nothing will change. My decision won’t change because of that.’
Even as she thought this, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of guilt.
What would the dead Kaia say if she knew the current situation? She would surely resent her. She would regret her past choice, saying that she had put her own flesh and blood in pain after saving her.
Useless assumptions choked her.
Ariella frantically groped her neck with both hands. Even though she wasn’t wearing a necklace, she couldn’t stand the suffocation.
And at that moment, a man suddenly came to mind.
The man who appeared in times of emergency and opened her airways, Nobert.
“You have no fault or responsibility.”
Would he say that again?
That she hadn’t done anything wrong, so she didn’t have to suffer.
For some reason, she was sure that he would. As soon as she thought that, an impulse surged within her.
‘Should I go to his townhouse right now?’
It was an absurd thought. Unless she had made an appointment with Mrs. Melana in advance, there was no way he would be at that townhouse. A person who was busy with Ashbon’s work alone couldn’t always stay in the capital.
