Chapter 47

Allamand, after watching the scene, laughed out loud and placed his hand on his forehead. He was a man who always kept up his noble appearance. He despised boorish people who could not conceal their emotions and laugh out loud in public. But this time he couldn’t stand it. Allamand’s eyes shone eerily with a bliss of hurting his enemy.

“What a great uncle-in-law! He helped his nephew by framing a princess that was beyond his reach, and then made her his daughter-in-law! Raphael, you must thank your uncle. If not, how could you marry my daughter? It’s truly ridiculous!”

Annette’s body, listening to Allamand’s mockery, stumbled forward. The mental stress accumulated from the confrontation with Allamand had reached its limit. Raphael, who was glaring at Allamand with his teeth clenched, embraced Annette’s collapsed body.

“Annette! Wake up!”

The listless hands of Annette’s drooping body trembled. Raphael, who did not even share a drop of blood with her, was very worried about her, but there was no agitation in the eyes of Allamand, who was her father. Allamand, blinking his thin eyelids, swept up his slightly disheveled platinum hair. And, with the tips of his lips curled up, he mocked Raphael.

“The Marquis of Carnesis? What nonsense! If it wasn’t for your talent, you would have been only Raphael by now. It’s more suitable for you considering your vile bloodline. Go and make your uncle like your rat. Who knows? He might help you by blaming someone else’s daughter.”

“Damn it!”

Raphael vented his anger, but now was not the time to growl at Allamand. Raphael hurriedly took off his jacket, wrapped Annette’s body in it and hugged her. The limp body in his arms was so thin that his chest tightened with unknown emotions.

“Please be nice to my daughter. ‘Someone’ smeared mud on her and no one knows how to get rid of it. I wonder how long this little house play would last.”

When Allamand glanced at the fainted Annette, he turned his back and walked away. Raphael’s eyes were blurred with confusion as he stood at the spot, hugging Annette’s body. He was also quite mentally shocked right now.

‘I thought he fell off a gambling board and died, but I never thought he was Annette’s coachman.’

In fact, it was Ben who Raphael was chasing after leaving Tina’s boutique last time. His sharp eyes somehow managed to find Ben mingling with the workers. It had been a long time since he had seen him again. Even after almost fifteen years, he still remembered Ben’s face. Because he was one of the main protagonists of Raphael’s dirtiest memories.

Ben, his uncle, liked gambling, to the point it had become a serious addiction. So Raphael thought that he would still be living on a gambling table after suddenly disappearing. He had even thought that it was better he died there. But it turned out that Ben was working in the Bavarian House as Annette’s personal coachman, under the fake identity of ‘Ivan’.

He didn’t know who recommended Ben for the position of the coachman of Bavaria. Somehow he became Annette’s coachman, and then he shot her wings and dragged her to the ground to live beside a bastard.

Although Raphael had no idea about all this, Ben was still his uncle. Even though it was disgusting, he couldn’t deny the blood ties. Therefore, Raphael could not say that he was not responsible for the situation. Because it was true that he had benefited from marrying Annette because of the false accusation. Raphael’s shocked eyes trembled.

‘Not knowing that, I…’

Until he first met Annette, Raphael thought she was a snob. ‘How much did you want to be a princess, to kidnap and kill your rival?’ And the fact that she was from Bavaria made him hate her more. He ridiculed her and looked down upon her.

But Annette was nothing but a poor victim. She was falsely accused by his uncle Ben, and was married to his nephew, Raphael, who again subjected her to abuse and humiliation the second time. But still, Annette smiled warmly at him every time. Whenever others pointed their fingers at Raphael, she always defended him by saying ‘He’s a good man.’

Raphael was so distressed that he wanted to yell and vent out his feelings. But as long as Annette was in his arms, he couldn’t do it. Her pale eyelids and still eyelashes were heartbreaking. Now by the time these eyes would open again, everything would be different.

Annette will now no longer smile at him.

* * *

Annette sat by the sunny window and looked out quietly. It was the first time she had lazed around when the sun was up in the sky. She had just a thin piece of chemise and had let her hair loose. She even sat on a window sill, instead of a chair. ‘Well, now since I’m supposed to be a patient, who would bother me about it?’

Last night’s garden party was like a beautiful hell. Annette, who had fainted, was carried out in Raphael’s arms. The host, Marquis Eloque was surprised to see her like that, but he believed in the excuse that she was sick. The excuse worked well because she actually looked very sick and pale. It was fortunate that there were no strange rumors.

The scenery beyond the window was beautiful. Everything in sight glistened under the golden sunlight. The green grass swaying in the wind, the yellow and purple flowers blooming in clusters. Even the hem of the new white skirts of the maids who were busy rushing around with their chores, were full of life. Only Annette was dull and spiritless, left all alone here.

“Madam, try a bit of the soup. Yeah? This  will only hurt your health more.”

Next to her, Annette’s maid, Mary pleaded with her. Annette rolled her eyes and looked at the bowl of soup she held. She didn’t have any appetite, but the word ‘health’ caught her attention. For Annette, who had died so young in her previous life, there was nothing more effective than this word.

“Give it here and just go. I will eat it.”

“Yes, madam! Please call me if the soup gets cold while eating. I’ll boil it warm again!”

Mary’s face lit up when Annette said she was going to eat. She handed Annette a tray of soup and left the room. Finally alone, Annette scooped two or three times, but as expected, her stomach didn’t accept it well. Annette put her spoon down casually, closed her eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze. There was only one thought in her mind.

‘I want to leave this place.’

When she saw Raphael’s face that day, she knew he didn’t know anything about this matter. After all, it hadn’t been long since he had become an aristocrat. Moreover, because Raphael didn’t socialise much, Annette had little contact with him until their marriage. So Raphael had no idea about Annette’s personal coachman.

But she couldn’t forgive everything just because he didn’t know. A lot could have changed if he had told Annette even a word about his biological mother and his maternal family before. He had an opportunity to speak, but Raphael remained silent to the end. He didn’t believe in Annette, so he didn’t tell her anything about himself.

And the result came back to them in such a dramatic boomerang. Ivan, the man who had sent Annette to hell, was actually Raphael’s maternal uncle. What kind of cheap third-rate play is this? Annette imagined herself politely calling Ivan, ” Uncle-in-law”. Then a dejected laugh came out from her lungs.

“Haha, ha… ughh, hmm…hmm”

It didn’t take long for the squeaky laughter to soon turn into crying. Annette had died young after living a passive life and being swayed by others. So in this life, she tried to change herself somehow. She even thought it was going well.

But she was still being played in the clutches of fate. She felt like a mouse, who believed it was moving forward as it ran round and round in a wheel. Annette cried again and again because of her unending despair.

“Ugh”

Strangely she felt a little refreshed after shedding a few tears. Annette rubbed her wet eyelashes and raised her head. Then, facing the garden, she leaned her head against the window, but somehow her eyes fell on Railin. Just in time, Railin, who was looking over here, smiled and said innocently.

“Oh, you must have cried.”

“..? “

Why are you out there? Annette sincerely wanted to ask. No matter how many illegal things the information guild did, this was too much. To intrude into an aristocrat’s mansion! However, Railin, who pretended to be innocent, looked very impudent.

“You’re not as surprised as I thought. As expected of my client.”

No! Annette was so surprised that she was speechless. She wanted to ask how he managed to get through the security and come to the terrace of her room. But she didn’t have to ask. At first, she didn’t know because it looked so good on him, but Annette’s eyes belatedly discovered the clothes worn by Railin.

“It’s a maid outfit. That too of our mansion.”

“Yeah. The fabric is of high quality. A family that knows how to invest in the servant’s outfits will never fail. It sure is a place that knows what true aesthetics are. I am very impressed with the high views of the Carnesis family.”

Annette wasn’t happy with his praise at all. Railin jumped off from the windowsill and looked around. Following his graceful movement, the skirt of the maid’s suit fluttered. He was a fine adult man, but she wondered why a maid’s suit suited him so well. There was even a frill headband sitting on Railin’s gorgeous purple hair.

The tears clinging on her eyebrows fell down her face when she saw this amazing look. She sighed and touched her forehead. Why am I thinking about such trivial things in this situation? No matter how amazing Railin was, he could not give her more impact than Raphael’s uncle. It was a shocking identity that she could never even imagine!

“Come and sit down. Since it’s a sudden visit, I can’t serve you tea.”

“It’s an honor, Madam.”

Railin grabbed the hem of his skirt and greeted somewhat like a real maid. Then, he walked lightly like a cat, and sat opposite to Annette. With his chin in both hands, he looked up and down at Annette, bent his eyes and laughed.

“You look so free today. Did you change your mind? For example, would you like to leave in search of more freedom?”

As expected, he was a quick-witted man. He easily grasped that Annette wanted to leave. Annette opened her mouth while looking at the mole on the side of his mouth.

“I would like to live in Osland’s Seylon area. It’s near the beach, and it’s a pretty big city. Most of all, I like the fact that there is a lot of translation work. It’s probably because there are many foreign merchant ships entering and leaving the port.”

“Okay. If so, what date would you like to pick?”

“It’s currently a bit difficult to set a date. There’s one more thing that I have to deal with here, and it has to be done soon.”

Annette said vaguely. All the preparations for the smuggling were completed, and she also had quite a bit of cash. So now, she could leave anytime she wanted. Nevertheless, there were two reasons for Annette to remain here. One was her lingering feelings about her marriage to Raphael, and the other was her determination to clear herself of all the false charges.

The former reason could no longer hold Annette back. Annette was now tired of the high walls around Raphael’s heart, which would never let anyone in. But, the latter case was different. Annette has not yet lost her will to prove her innocence. She had to meet Celestine Keers and say her piece of mind.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t see Celestine at the party.’

Annette frowned as she realised this quite late. The presence of her father, Allamand, was so great that she completely forgot about Celestine, who was said to arrive soon. After all she had gone to the party to meet her.