CH 54

“What?”

Ophelia shook her hand and moved towards Catherine.

“Catherine.”

“Yes?”

Holding Catherine’s hand, Ophelia continued speaking. 

“Thank you for providing this place today.”

“Oh, no… I’m happy if it helped.”

The fact that Catherine’s face was red was something anyone could tell just by looking at the nape of her neck or the tips of her ears; there was no need to take off the snake mask.

Squeezing the hand a little tighter, Ophelia lowered her voice and whispered in Catherine’s ear.

“Did you deliberately choose red as the theme color? Bol… Because of Bolsheik. Thank you. I really appreciate it, Catherine.”

At Ophelia’s sincerity, which was repeated over and over again, Catherine pursed her lips, and in the end, she did not reply and just bowed her head.

‘She… noticed.’

Catherine thought she didn’t have to know. She just thought that if she helped, it was good enough for her.

Ophelia patted Catherine on the back of her hand, then shifted her gaze to Iris before saying,

“And I’m sorry. I think I’ll have to go.”

Before the two of them could say anything, Ophelia disappeared from the spot like the wind.

After leaving the evening party, Ophelia did not return to her home.

Without hesitation, she moved towards the Imperial Palace.

Because she had a story to share with Richard.

Ophelia’s steps toward him were accelerating.

.

The day after the party where Ophelia saw the terrible Raisa, which made her neck stiff with tension just by thinking about it…

It was a nice, warm day, but Ophelia was covered in cold sweat as she curled up in the dark.

The night before when she went to Richard.

“He went out?”

“Yes. Slightly before you came.”

“Yes. It happens. When… When will His Highness return?”

“He didn’t set a time.”

In view of Cooper’s answer, Ophelia waited until the early morning light came hazy.

But in the end she never met him and had to go home around dawn.

Ophelia collapsed on the bed as she was, unable to sleep properly despite her exhaustion.

After starting the infinite regressions, she had so many days with nightmares that it would be quicker to count the days she got a good night’s sleep. It could even be said now that nightmares were a close friend.

But today, she was suffering from a particularly terrible nightmare.

Even though she knew she had to die, she didn’t want to die, so she ran and ran away again.

Then, she opened her eyes in shock without knowing how it ended, and proceeded to fall asleep again as if she had fainted.

Ophelia rose for the fourth time, her shoulders shaking, and a few minutes later she stuck her head under the pillow.

The door opened without a knock.

The stuffy air inside flowed out through the crack in the door, and at the same time a shadow entered Ophelia’s room.

The woman looking around the room frowned once and quickly approached the bedside.

She immediately clicked her tongue.

“You really…”

The elegant canopy was randomly rolled up and tucked away in the corner of the bed, and the clothes that had been taken off were strewn all over. It was a mess.

She could have called the servants right away and told them to tidy things up.

If it was the usual, she would have tidied up this messy room by shaking Ophelia up whether she was sleeping or not.

But not now.

The woman just let out a light sigh, and with those extremely well-managed hands that had never been dipped in water, she picked up the clothes that were scattered all over the place and put them aside.

After roughly removing the clothes that would have wrapped around Ophelia’s neck if she rolled over while sleeping, she looked at the owner of the room, who was crouching in a corner, not in the middle of the bed.

“Ugh, uhhhh…”

Ophelia was lying on her side, curled up like a baby and moaning.

Her entire face was crumpled and she was dripping with cold sweat, so it was obvious to anyone that she was having a nightmare.

The woman stared down at her, then she reached out and wiped Ophelia’s round, sweaty forehead with her hand.

Bright red hair, which clung to the forehead, was tucked behind her ear, and she soon grabbed Ophelia’s shoulder.

“Ophelia?”

The shoulder which was held began to shake violently.

“Ophelia. Ophelia?”

More force was exerted as she went. 

“Wake up!”

“Huh! Hwa, ah, ah, ack!”

Ophelia let out a choked breath at the strong hand that shook her shoulder.

After inhaling and exhaling for a long time, Ophelia slowly opened her eyes.

“Mother?”

A familiar face came into her blurry vision.

Her mother, who did not hide her puzzled expression, touched the forehead of Ophelia.

“You have a fever. Although it’s not boiling, you should have taken medicine before it became like this.”

The mother’s hand brushing her sick daughter’s feverish forehead wasn’t particularly friendly, but her motions were constant.

“What kind of child are you…”

And the nagging that followed without fail.

She said she was a daughter she was very fond of and which she cherished, yet she still didn’t do anything for her.

She didn’t say much, did everything she wanted, and didn’t even tell her daughter that she loved her in her sleep.

She was not a dream mother from dramas, movies, or novels.

Rather, she was a very realistic mother who, whenever she met her daughter’s eyes, she would say something disapproving about her and nag not just in the first verse, but also in the second and third verses.

Thanks to that, even if Ophelia possessed a novel out of nowhere, she was able to adapt quickly.

“…What? You’re really…”

Ophelia was in a state where she was covered in cold sweat and even tears from the nagging that followed, but somehow a bashful laugh flowed out.

It was because the worry and affection underlying all the nagging and sharp words were so new.

It didn’t matter if she was her real mother or not.

It was too late for such a question, but it was the mother right in front of Ophelia who stood beside her, wiping her damp brow and watching with anxious eyes.

Was that why?

The feverish and agitated Ophelia brought up a story out of the blue.

She herself didn’t even know why she was saying this now.

“Mother.”

“Yes.”

“Do I not meet your expectations?”

“What?”

“Every time we make eye contact, you scold me.”

It wasn’t something she would throw lightly, but she somehow ended up saying it infinitely lightly.

And after she spat it out, she realized what a stupid question she had asked.

“No, um… nothing…”

About to dismiss it with her hand, Ophelia raised her body that was as heavy as water-soaked cotton, but an index finger pressed against her forehead and she was pushed back down onto the pillow.

Her mother, who made Ophelia lie down, responded.

“What do you mean by not meeting expectations?”

The answer that came out with a sigh was something Ophelia hadn’t expected.

“You’re an eagle hiding sharp claws. Or a lion hiding fierce teeth.”

It wasn’t a soothing voice or tone.

It just felt calm and composed, as if listing the facts.

“But what is it that scares you, no, what is it that makes you so anxious and stressed that you’re lying flat on your stomach?”

With a light sigh, the older woman poked the tip of Ophelia’s nose and widened her similar rabbit-like eyes.

“It’s not that you’re falling short of expectations, but you’re exceeding them, yet you’re just hiding it and it’s frustrating. Did you think that this mother didn’t know you were doing that?”

“That…”

The mother smiled faintly at her daughter, who was unable to answer and only blankly moved her lips.

“It’s the same with engagements.” 

“No… did you know what I was going to do?”

“Yes. Isn’t it obvious? A son-in-law like that is something that even this mother would not want.”

(TL/N: remember that unknown dude who ophelia is supposedly going to be engaged to? but she ended up stuck in infinite regression and became an aide to the crown prince.)

Those were good words, but her mother had a terrifying expression that convinced Ophelia that if she had really taken him in, she would have driven him out with a crushing blow.

“How can I put a bastard like that next to you?”

The one who was quickly demoted from son-in-law to bastard soon expanded its scope.

“To stand by your side, at least…”

Ophelia had to struggle to swallow the laughter that was about to burst out at her mother’s standard of ‘son-in-law’.

If that was the standard, one would have to catch a unicorn whose horn crossed the Milky Way and shone rainbow colors.

Ophelia paused as she listened to the conditions of her partner, whose image was gradually taking shape.

No… Wait, he actually existed.

A man who satisfied all of those absurd standards.

“Mother… that’s the crown prince.”

Ophelia’s words, which came out as small as the sound of an ant crawling, had an unexpected response this time.

“No.”

Ophelia blinked her eyes quickly at her mother, who shook her head so resolutely.

“Yes? No?”

No matter how she thought about it, Richard must be the only human who met the standard that didn’t even seem humanly possible… 

“It can’t be His Highness the Crown Prince because he’s similar to you.”

“What?”

At her mother’s sudden insight, Ophelia’s shoulder bounced like a harpooned tuna.

“Why are you suddenly so surprised?”

“No, that… that! You said I’m similar to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Ophelia bet her mother didn’t know the absurd secret they shared, but even so, she swallowed dry saliva.

“Uh… in what ways are we similar…?”

At Ophelia, who couldn’t even finish her words properly, her mother subtly scrunched her face.

“Everything to the unmotivated eyes and indifferent attitude.”

It was rude enough to judge the crown prince, but Ophelia simply shut her mouth and stared.

Her mother was so right, that she couldn’t find the words to answer.