Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

It was as Edward said.

Lie. It was a lie.

The Countess knew the rumors about Damon. That was why she put Elysia in instead of Rowena. It didn’t matter if she got retaliation. It would be good if it went well, and there was no loss even if it went badly. After all, it was Elysia Caitlyn from the County.

“All right. I’ll do whatever you want. Please don’t let Elysia go.”

“You mean you’re attracted to even that half-blood? You’ve never been like this to Rowena.”

The Countess was incapable of bearing children. Edward, Elysia, and Rowena were not all children of the Countess. Edward and Elysia were the children of the Count to another woman, and Rowena was the child of the Countess’ family.

“From now on… I’ll be nice to Rowena, too.”

“I don’t need it. Even if it’s not to Grand Duke Raphael, anyway, she’s destined to be sold somewhere. If it’s a Grand Duchy, she should rather thank me.”

Without having to open the door, she could tell that Edward was on his knees begging inside. Elysia clenched her fists, trembling with anger, and stared at the door.

‘Am I destined to be sold, anyway?’

To some extent, she had expected this treatment of herself. Still, hearing it like this was another story.

“…Please. Mother.”

“Yes? Then, show your sincerity. Edward, are you the son who never disappoints her mother?”

“…Yes.”

She couldn’t hear anymore because it was disgusting.

Elysia clenched her trembling fists and hurriedly made her way to her room.

It’s been a long time since she lost her appetite as if she was not hungry last night. She never thought that such a secret could be hidden. The Countess’s pleasant voice and Edward’s wretched voice still lingered in her ears.

“Ugh…!”

Thanks to this, she ate nothing and continued to vomit. She didn’t think it would be so bad. Still, the Countess pretended to take care of Edward. But, she didn’t know if that was the reason.

“Uugghh!”

As she tried to think of other thoughts, the Countess’ shrill laughter continued to linger in her head. Elysia couldn’t contain her anger when she thought that Edward would have been subjected to the Countess’ unreasonable demands for so long.

Knock, knock.

She covered her mouth for a while and was nauseous when she heard a quiet knock.

Edward was the only one who would give such a gentle knock like that.

“Elysia, it’s me.”

“Brother…”

He couldn’t find out that she was nauseous. Perhaps, Edward knew she was ill and must have been worried. He must have been the one who suffered the most, so she couldn’t show her weakness.

“What happened in the morning?”

“I have something to tell you.”

Elysia’s eyes closed tightly at the thought that it was finally coming. It was frankly hard for her to talk face-to-face with Edward now. It was difficult for her to hold back the tears that seemed to flow at any moment.

“Elysia…”

“Yes.”

“Leave the County tonight.”

Ah, in the end, she heard the words she didn’t want to hear the most.

After listening to the conversation last night, she knew why Edward had been visiting her since morning.

Last night, he tried to protect her until the end, and now, Edward tells her to leave…

Now, all the pieces fit together.

In fact, it was all thanks to his protection that she was able to stay in the County until now. Without knowing it, she was making a cowardly excuse not to leave the Count because of Edward.

“Why do I have to leave?”

If she hadn’t witnessed the situation last night, she could have left without any regrets when he told her to leave. Edward was the only one holding her ankle. So, when he told her to leave, she might have flown away.

However, after witnessing the conversation, she couldn’t just leave like this.

She finally found out. Why did Elysia in the original story marry Damon?

Maybe, she couldn’t leave Edward behind either. Just like she was now…

“Mother said she sold you to slavery. Don’t say anything else and leave tonight. Because I have the carriage ready.”

“The Countess can’t do that.”

Selling her to slavery was a white lie. He was lying because he knew she was going to leave right away if he said this.

“Please leave, Elysia.”

Why didn’t she notice it until now? She was foolish to think that the Countess would be as kind to Edward as she was.

“If I leave… What about brother?”

“When you leave, I feel at ease.”

“Okay, then I’ll leave.”

She couldn’t say no to Edward’s desperate expression.

Elysia already knew. It was the case with the exceptionally shiny necklace gift. It was meant to be useful when she later ran away.

“I’ll do whatever my brother tells me to do.”

She felt sorry for Edward, though she had no intention of doing what he said. Even if she fled, it was impossible to leave, considering the humiliation that Edward would be subjected to.

“Once you get on a carriage, go for the capital. And, from now on, you have to run away on your own.”

Edward was surprisingly naive. The Countess, who even knew the secrets of the Duke, could hardly have been unaware of his plans. Still, pretending not to know what the plan was was to fool the two of them until the end.

“Yes, I got it.”

“Elysia… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, brother.”

It was the Countess that should be sorry. Although the Countess hated her, Elysia had never felt sorry for the Countess. Even though she bothered her, it was all within acceptable limits.

But, now it was different.

As long as she knew everything, there was no way she could escape to live alone.

“No matter what happens, don’t worry.”

Elysia bowed her head to Edward one last time before getting into the carriage. The Countess, a person of bad temper, would pursue her only after the wagon had left. She would come to scare Elysia as she slowly pressed, as though she was catching a cornered prey.

Because of that, she hated the Countess more.

She would probably be following soon. After all, the Countess had no intention of letting Elysia move the way she wanted.

‘Stop the carriage as soon as you leave the County.’

‘But, outside the County, there are only dark alleys. At least go downtown…’

‘I don’t need it, so let me down. I will run from there.’

Before the carriage departed, she had already spoken to the coachman. At least, when she was arrested, even if she was, she wanted to be a little bit troublesome.

“You can get off.”

“Thank you.”

Elysia couldn’t get rid of the suspicion that the carriage had something to do with the Countess.

“Now, where should I hide?”

The morning streets were dark. In particular, the more eerie the back alleys rather than the city. Originally, she would not have been able to take even a single step out of fear, but now she was not afraid anymore.

There was nothing more terrifying than marrying the greatest eminence grise here.

It was not strange even if something came out of the dark alley.

Elysia wanted to hide her body in the pitch-black darkness. If she were well camouflaged, she wouldn’t be caught right away.

“This…?”

As she was about to move into the alley, the smell of fishy blood lingered on the tip of her nose. The smell was so strong that she couldn’t understand why she had never felt it before.

When she smelled the blood, she recalled the memories of twenty years ago, which she had long forgotten.

Her own body was stabbed by a person who she did not know. Blood gushing out like a fountain and the smell of a gurgling fountain of iron. The cold asphalt that caught her falling body. Everything was vivid…

After being possessed, she never saw blood, so she thought she was fine.

However, she still couldn’t get rid of the terrible memories.

Elysia’s body was trembling like a tree. Her heart was pounding as if it was about to explode in her fear.

“Gasp…!”

Her heart was beating so fast that she couldn’t even breathe properly. When she closed her eyes, the horror of the day unfolded vividly. She thought she was all right now, but she wasn’t okay at all.

She then grabbed her chest, which was about to explode tightly, and staggered towards the smell of the blood.

If the bleeding person is still alive… Then, Elysia had to help them. On that day twenty years ago, she had no one to help her. So, it had to be different from Elysia herself. She couldn’t even ignore it.

At the far end of the dark alley, there were bloodstains on the floor. Just by looking at these, she could guess how critical the other person was. Seeing that there was no sound except for the smell of blood, it seemed that the criminal had already left.

“Haa, excuse me…”

The figure, which looked vague, was lying on the ground. Blood was still dripping down the ground. Elysia’s brow furrowed in a situation where the whole body was covered with blood to the extent that the figure could not be recognized.

That person lying there now looked like her twenty years ago.

“Are you still alive…?”

The man had his eyes closed, though the movement of his chest signaled that he was still alive. Of course, even if he was still breathing, he was in a critical state, not knowing when it would stop soon.

Please don’t die…

It was something she did without realizing. The man lying down with blood all over his body was her in the past.

…He was bleeding, waiting only for death.

“No…”