But for some reason, David hated Ariella very much. Even though Ariella had done nothing to him, from the first day, he showed great malice towards her.
“You filthy, lowly bitch! Get out of our house right now!”
It’s just a natural wariness of a strange older sister. The sharp attitude will disappear over time, once I become more aristocratic.
Ariella thought so, but her wish was not fulfilled.
As time went on, David’s bullying became more and more vicious, and at some point, she began to hate him sincerely as well.
However, regardless of that feeling, Ariella was very curious about his reason.
Even at the moment Oliver died, even when she was forced to swallow a live rat. Even while feeling a deep-seated hatred, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Why? What did I do? You’re the one who’s always been favored by Father. Why do you resent me so much?
And the answer to this question was always.
“-It’s because of you that Mother died!”
It was so predictable that it was tiresome.
Ariella let out a hollow laugh. She felt like a fool for taking the time to ask seriously.
“Here we go again.”
She rubbed her throbbing head slowly and continued.
“You might as well say that there’s no reason, that you just hate my existence itself. That would be better than making up such nonsense and squawking about it all by yourself.”
“Do you think I’m the only one who thinks that way? Father thinks the same way!”
“Yes, Father did say that Mother attended that wedding because of my pleading. You’re really milking that one thing I heard back then.”
Talking any further would only be a waste of time. Ariella sighed and swept her long hair back.
“Once? Well, I guess it was just once for you.”
But as David’s voice continued, the hand that had been sweeping back her hair in annoyance paused.
“But I’ve heard that every day since I was very young. That Mother died because of you, that this house is in this state because of you!”
This was the first time she had heard this.
‘Father said that to David?’
She couldn’t believe it. Ariella hated her father deeply, and at the same time, she knew what kind of person he was.
He was the kind of person who would have openly talked about his dissatisfaction in front of her, not the kind of person who would lament behind her back, as David said.
Also, he didn’t enjoy talking about his dead wife.
To the extent that one might question whether the love story of Alcestis and Bedford, which other noblewomen talked about until their mouths were sore, was true, the Duke never mentioned or missed his dead wife anywhere.
As such, David’s words seemed likely to be false in many ways.
“From the very first moment I remember, until I met you at the age of ten. It was just Father and me in that house. Father, who had lost his mind because of Mother’s death… Every time he met you, he would talk about how much you resembled Mother and vent his anger and resentment, pouring all those negative emotions onto me, a young child. Do you know how scary that was?”
However, the problem was that the face, panting roughly, didn’t seem to be lying.
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had to live in that fear!”
David wasn’t good at lying. He didn’t have the brains to make up stories, nor the acting skills to say them naturally.
This meant that he was telling the truth now.
“You took away my right to grow up in a normal family!”
Seeing David shouting in resentment, Ariella was silent for a moment. It was because his claim was so absurd that she couldn’t say anything.
Even if we put aside the point that the presence or absence of family members cannot be the criterion for dividing normal and abnormal, even if Mother hadn’t died, would this family have functioned normally? Father is like that in the first place.
Also, Ariella didn’t think her mother’s death was her fault.
It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel any guilt, but she didn’t think that a five-year-old child should feel a great responsibility for pleading with her mother once.
The collapse of the cathedral was simply a natural disaster. If responsibility had to be assigned, the target should be the sky, not herself.
In addition, it wasn’t her fault that her father instilled fear in his remaining child. No matter how great the shock of losing his wife was, it was the father’s fault for not taking care of his child like an adult.
David was blaming her for everything, while not even uttering a word of protest to his father.
She wanted to lash out at him from head to toe. But Ariella swallowed it down and brought the derailed conversation back to its original path.
“So, I understand. That’s why you made a woman who isn’t even related to you your real sister, and you’re sleeping with her.”
“Slee, sleeping with her? Who’s…! Why would Lizzy and I do such a dirty thing? Do you have any proof? Do you have any proof that we slept together!”
It seemed that David had decided to be brazen now.
It was the reaction she had been waiting for.
Ariella touched her small chin as if contemplating, and then agreed with his words.
“Well, you’re right. Why would Lizzy, who has a bright future and all her limbs intact, sleep with someone like you? How disgusting.”
