Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everything and everyone were the same. The Porillian Hill. Mrs. Mesha was a person whose smile was sweeter than the apple pie she baked. Narr, a guard dog that was once her companion, was sitting by her side. Those were memories of the past that she thought she would no longer experience.

“Let’s get in, dear. You’ll catch a cold if you continue to stand here blankly.”

After he gently stroked her head, she continued staring at her grandfather’s back as he approached the door of the mansion with a refined gait. As soon as he opened the door, she noticed a soft, sweet smell coming from inside the house.

Whenever she came to the Porillian Hills at the end of a quiet day, her grandfather always said a word of praise for the apple pie made by Mrs. Mesha.

Memories of the past that she always thought would last. When she recalled the painful years when she was forced to flounder through the dimness of the past, she felt as if she was dreaming.

“Come in, Roa. It’s getting cold outside.”

But the reality before her was as clear as water to be a dream.

“Yes, Grandpa.”

It was a sweet feeling that she didn’t want to lose.

Warmness enveloped her as her grandfather opened the door for her to enter first and then he followed.

The large oven in the kitchen, that was deserted after Mrs. Mesha’s death, was the best place where she could make an apple pie. Her secret recipe was still unknown. Uncle Robert, who was fanning under the stove, also helped her in the preparation of the sweet pie.

“Is this enough?”

“Oh! Put more! Didn’t I tell you that we should make more dishes today? It’s been a while since we had a guest. Or are you planning not to pick up firewoods for tomorrow?!”

“N-No! That’s not it.”

Uncle Robert’s bewildered voice and Mrs. Mesha’s cheering voice, who handled him skillfully, were always pleasant to hear.

This was the residence of the Aztane family, the family that was very short in size than the mansion itself. Contrary to the imagination of those who thought they would live in the royal palace, she and her grandfather did a lot of work here.

“Let’s have a look.”

As soon as she got home, she would sit beside her grandfather at his desk, where he would look through a pile of papers with his monocle eyepiece. Likewise, she would look at the documents piled up before her.

A small smile perked up on her face. When she was younger, she would get flustered with the documents and would call her grandfather. That was because she found the calculations on the documents very difficult to analyze. But her grandfather used to explain them so easily that she became smart at solving them with time.

Turning her head slightly, she looked at the serene face of her grandfather. Her grandfather, who took care of her from the moment she was born and never let her feel the absence of her parents, who had passed away. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw him at the age of sixty this year.

People used to make jokes that he was some kind of a monster or wolf to have such a young face. She thought it was only natural.

But she became speechless in front of his body, which turned white the day after he passed away.

Her grandfather, who was present around her all the time, had turned into a cold corpse. At that time, he looked 20 years older than his actual age.

“Roa?”

She turned to face her grandfather upon hearing his soothing voice. He paused his work and took off his monocle. His eyes were full of concern.

“Are you feeling okay, my dear?”

She followed his gaze which was focused on her hands. Oh, no. She was crumpling a thin sheet of paper tightly without even realizing it.

She quickly put down the paper and scratched her head with an awkward smile on her face. He asked her again in a low voice.

“What’s going on? You’ve been quiet since you woke up from the nap earlier. Normally, you’d look very active, dear.”

“Ahaha……”

Ah, she has been like this for a long time. In fact, the biggest complex was that she couldn’t even bear an affectionate expression. For those people who are associated with business, their expression always stays stern for it is a side effect when dealing with business matters.

“Feel free to share it with me.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

She shook her hand and smiled as if she were okay, but her grandfather’s worried look didn’t change a bit. She slowly sighed, thinking that she was too weak in front of her grandfather.

“Actually…I had a nightmare.”

“A nightmare?”

“Yes.”

At the rattling sound of her chair, she got up and slowly approached him. Grandfather stroked her head with his big wide hand and gave her a warm smile.

“What kind of nightmare was it, my dear?”

“….It was a very painful one.”

Closing her eyes tightly, she recalled the memories that were not so comforting.

“I dreamt of getting betrayed by the people I trusted the most. Furthermore, I failed in protecting that last will left behind by the person I respected and loved the most. It made me feel….so painful to the point that it was difficult for me to continue living on.”

Yeah, maybe she has gone mad. She was referring to something that would be insufficient to compare with any sense of loss or pain. For someone to be betrayed by someone in the same family business.

Once again, the despair of that time crushed her heart. She grabbed her chest tightly as if she was trying to escape from it. The sense of despair that unfolded before her forced her to close her eyes. Their laughter that echoed in her mind made her heart ache again.

“I…”

“There there.”

The hand that was stroking her hair came down and rubbed her cheek lightly. He brushed away most of her tears that flowed along her cheeks. Raising her head, she encountered his kind and gentle face greeting her with a warm smile.

“You don’t have to think of such nightmares anymore, my dear.”

“Grandpa…..”

“I’ll arrange everything for you today, dear. You should go and take some rest.”

“But…”

“A guest will be visiting any moment now. There isn’t any time for you to arrange these, is there? So now, get freshened up before you dress up. Besides, don’t you have to meet your little sister?”

“….My sister?”

A calm wave of emotion reeked over the word. She felt nauseous as if her insides had been hit by a storm. But she couldn’t show it. So she forced up a smile before hurrying out of the room and closing the door behind her. She said as she took deep breaths,

“….Sister.”

Erusia, her twin sister. The sister whom she cared for, whom she protected, and whom she loved so much. Her sister’s name, which always had a meaning of compassion for her, now became a meaning of hatred.

The mansion was quite lively today. But she was used to it. She continued on her path, slowly thinking of what happened today.

Since Erusia was ill, her room was always destined in one corner of the first floor. It made it easier for her to walk down the stairs.

Whenever Laurentia had entered her room, she had always felt pity for her younger sister.

But not now. Now, Erusia was no better than anyone else. Unless it was a dream.

After sighing, Laurentia slowly knocked on the door.

“Yes.”

A person inside the room replied in a voice that was very similar to hers. She opened the door with firm determination.

In a comparatively darkened room full of a strong smell of medicine, a slender woman was sitting quietly on her bed. She had the same looks as Laurentia, but certainly not as disciplined as her.

“You’re here, sister?”

That smile. She had no doubts that the smile her sister greeted her with wasn’t very warm.

In that past, she had seen enough evidence piling up but she couldn’t question her sister because she was concerned about her health. But she ended up losing everything she ever had. She was such an idiot.

“Yes. It’s getting chilling outside.”

But she didn’t want to be sharp with Erusia right away.

No matter what she experienced, Erusia was still a weak girl in the eyes of the world. She had never been out of the room and had always been dependent on medicines.

However, she was a bright child who encouraged people to cheer up during their hard times. Even though she was sick, she was loved by many people.

So it was obvious that if Laurentia acted harshly on her sister, she would have faced many criticisms followed by her grandfather’s disappointment. That was the last thing she wanted.

Erusia slowly approached and looked out of the window sill. She looked down at the darkness outside before she turned around and put her hips on the window frame. She smiled softly.

“Was it a tough day?”

“Not at all. Rather, it seems as though it has been hard for you.”

She had always felt encouraged by that sweet and warm voice….

“Did something happen today?”

“Nothing that is worth your attention, at least. Everything was just as usual.”

“Usual…?”

Erusia’s eyes turned watery at her reply. She couldn’t imagine how a person who was so evil could make a face that was as innocent as an angel’s. It was that particular face that caused her to meet her end.

“Ah! It might be about the guest.”

“The guest?”

“Oh, sister, didn’t you tell me? A very important person is visiting us today.”

She did remember that they were going to have a guest, but she didn’t know that he would be an important one.

She tried to let go of the matter, unable to remember about the person. But Erusia clasped her hands enthusiastically.

“I’m sure….I’m sure he is a wonderful person. I’m so proud of you, sister.”

Laurentia couldn’t even face the glistening face of her sister. All that seemed pretentious now that she had been wronged.

She somehow managed to not curse in front of her sister. She turned around and approached the door.

“Are you not going to eat outside tonight? I don’t need to help you prepare yourself, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yes….”

Erusia answered in an unfamiliar tone as if she had felt her sister was acting differently from her usual self. Laurentia nodded without even looking back at her. She closed the door, leaving the room.

“Sigh….”

Her nauseous feeling worsened. She felt like she would have to go to the washroom.

She couldn’t return her smile and couldn’t even say a kind word. All of this seemed as hard as it could be.

“It would be better to just sign up a contract instead.”

Pressing her lips firmly, she swallowed her voice. By the time she was trying to calm down the waves inside her while leaning against the wall, she could hear the sound of the front door opening along with the chatter of people.

‘Is that the guest? Who is it that everyone is so excited to meet?’

Walking along the wall, she turned at the corner and approached the front door. About five to six men dressed in stylish attire were greeting each other half-heartedly with gifts in their hands.

“…..”

It seemed familiar. But unable to remember anything, she leaned against the wall and stared at the guests. Her grandfather, who went to the front door first, was greeting a man with a welcoming smile.

“Impossible….”

She could not believe that she was looking at that face again.

Yes, it was today. She had forgotten. The very same day when a man, who began to intervene in her life, met Laurentia.

“Here you are! Miss Laurentia, thank you for inviting me today.”

A man who had captured the hearts of countless women with his looks, his gentle smile, his shyness, his hand gestures, and his body movements. Most of all, he was the very same man who had cursed him.

“The Marquis of Acpencia….”

The man who swore he loved her and would do everything for her. And the man who had betrayed her along with her sister, as if he was just flipping a paper. The one who would soon look down at her broken self and mock her.

‘Today was the day he offered me an engagement.’