# 4
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Ariana felt like the scene was like a nightmare as she couldn't move her body.
The one I like was shot.
Everything seemed slow, but my senses were very vivid.
My heart felt like it was going to explode against my rib cage. But when he fell, Ariana hurriedly looked at him.
"Kenneth! Ken…!"
The voice that was calling him so desperately was cut off from his vocal cords.
Ariana was dizzy when she saw the red light covering her palms.
What is on this hand? This is…
“…Ariana,” at that time, Kenneth grabbed her wrist roughly.
Even though he was twisted in searing pain, his turquoise eyes still sparkled sharply with the life in their grasp.
“...Ariana...”
Takak-! I heard the sound of a gun being loaded off the top of my head again. Ariana looked at her attackers with a devastated face.
I never imagined a moment like this in my life.
I didn't think anything of it.
'Am I going to die like this?'
I'm still eighteen... I don't think I've done anything yet...
However, the man standing in front nodded to his subordinate behind him.
“Take young lady with you.”
“Yes!”
“We were asked to serve her politely, so don't do nonsense.”
I couldn't understand their conversation properly.
They were not talking about the young lady in a sarcastic tone, but rather treating her as an employee at work.
"Hey, let go of me! This is…!"
Ariana screamed and struggled as she was grabbed. But there was no way she could defeat the men.
“Kenneth...!”
The velvet curtains of the box seats were drawn back, making it impossible to see anything. Only then did Ariana realize that her dress was soaked red.
The blood of the man I admired.
From the moment this truth seeped into every corner of my mind, I began to break out in a cold sweat and my limbs began to tremble.
“Huh… ah…”
Finally, a violent attack of nausea occurred, and Ariana fainted.
From that day on, the peaceful days were completely over.
* * *
The people of Cremisa have long talked about the incident in which Duke Clifford was attacked.
An attack with a firearm in a place frequented by the upper class.
Most of those present died.
The Duke miraculously survived, but his whereabouts are unknown.
This alone was an incredibly startling situation, but Kenneth wasn't the only one who was attacked that day.
Not only their son, but even the Duke and Duchess, were attacked while they were on their way to attend a social event.
The explosives tore their bodies into pieces, so they were unable to have a proper funeral.
The detainees were immediately executed by firing squad.
However, the assassination on this day was desired by the Claude Imperial Family, who was jealous of the Clifford Family, and of course the Imperial faction involved was alive.
The Aberdeen family name shone with pride among the participants.
"Well done, Ariana. It was hard to know the Little Duke's schedule!"
Josefina smiled sweetly at Ariana, who was lost.
It had been a long time since my mother had been nice to me, but I felt lost.
“I never thought you would attract that little Duke to the world of beauty. Did they teach that at school?”
“Oh mommy”
“Thanks to you, our family was able to take their place!”
Only then did Ariana understand.
'Kenneth's location was exposed that day because of me,'
If only he hadn't adjusted his schedule for no reason.
If he hadn't come to see me, I wouldn't have been hurt so much.
But Ariana turned her attention to the one person who avoided eye contact.
“Brother… did you know?”
"Weren't you close friends with Kenneth? Our family is-"
“It was inevitable that our family would grow.”
"Yes? How could that…!"
Quentin sold Clifford family secrets through the business he ran with Kenneth.
The information that the Aberdeen family handed over was the best fodder for the families who were jealous of Clifford.
Many of Clifford's family businesses were torn apart, and many people lost their jobs.
However, Quentin tried to convince Ariana that it was "unavoidable damage."
“And this isn't bad news for you, Ariana.”
“What does that mean, I...!”
“The Crown Prince appreciates our advantages and will shower us with rain.”
“Yes? So stay calm. It's all for the family.”
And for only two years.
The Aberdeen family enjoyed truly unimaginable wealth.
They and the Imperial Faction thought that this moment would last forever. Although they felt bad for not being able to find the little Duke who had disappeared while bleeding, they felt relieved that the Duke's family was over.
But Kenneth miraculously returned.
He hid with the help of his assistants, and secretly prepared to return through acts unknown to the imperial family.
He strictly punished everyone who betrayed him.
The companies whose management rights were acquired by the imperial family caused a series of bankruptcies, and evidence against those who attacked the family was revealed.
This was also on the wedding day of Ariana and Crown Prince Andrew.
The Empire was seething with anger at the truth of the tragedy that had befallen the honorable Duke.
Andrew was frightened by what he had done and ran away.
The Emperor, who had to face Kenneth instead of his son, chose the easier way to resolve the situation.
It was a clear ending, the Aberdeen family being sent to execution as an example.
Josefina and Quentin struggled, but eventually accepted reality.
“We cannot die in the same way as banal things.”
The two escaped to their deaths first by hanging themves from prison bars.
Ariana, left with the bodies of her family, was dragged outside in a dazed state.
Then Kenneth came in front of her.
“It's been a long time, Ariana Aberdeen.”
“Kenneth...”
The man with eyes like the abyss of hell was smiling.
Behind him, the feet of another noble who had just been executed were floating in the air.
The return of unrequited love was no savior.
The punishment ruler who appeared as a sacrifice for her sin.
The reaper-like man grabbed her chin.
"Ariana. What happened?"
“Huh, huh….”
“I am afraid of death”
“Please save me”
“… … Okay, okay. Let us find a use for you.”
Afterwards, the imperial family was initially embarrassed when the potential daughter-in-law they had abandoned was not punished, but they soon resorted to more dirty tricks.
Let's throw that woman to Kenneth Clifford.
So, since this man is abusing women, if we do that, we can change public opinion, right?
However, this only gave Kenneth wings.
Because he chose the daughter of a traitorous family and a benevolent winner took as his wife the person who was abandoned by even the imperial family.
Ariana lived to accept the ridicule and bad reputation that were poured upon her as a natural punishment.
“But the baby died too.”
Then I felt as if all the ties that connected me to my life had been severed.
“Because there is nothing now...please, I want to rest,”
Ariana really believed that when she took a bullet to the head.
However, as with everything related to Kenneth, something unexpected happened this time.
* * *
"my lady!"
“Ma’am, stop...!”
Behind Ariana's back, the workers were screaming in panic.
Maybe everyone didn't expect this because she was originally a woman as quiet as a ghost. I didn't expect that the woman who had been out of her mind for the past few days would suddenly walk out of the palace.
“Ha, ha…!”
Ariana frantically ran into the park barefoot. The place I headed to was the edge of the garden.
All members of Clifford's family were buried in the family grave, but those born less than a year ago were not eligible to do so.
So Ariana's baby slept in the corner of the garden full of flowers. Ariana set up a small headstone, and cried for the last time.
“Not found”
But there was no gravestone for the child.
“Beatrice”
However, I wonder if this was a dream.
Ariana sat in front of the headstone and started digging in the ground.
“My baby”
I was afraid the long name would be too much for the little girl, so I thought I would name him “Baby.”
Is my beautiful daughter buried here?
Was the funeral already held? Did you bury the coffin?
The servants who followed her whispered under their breath.
“I think she's crazy...”
“Someone try to stop her!”
“Your Excellency-”
Even though the surroundings were noisy, Ariana didn't mind at all.
In a situation where you can't even feel the blood flowing from a broken nail in the first place, what good are other people talking about?
I did not catch my breath until after digging in a shallow hole.
“…there is nothing”
There is no child. Because he didn't die.
Because he was not born into this world yet in the first place.
“Ah, ha, ah...”
Ariana covered her face with her dust-covered hands and let out a sigh that was a mixture of laughter and crying.
“It's not a dream”
She came back alive for unknown reasons.
One day, before my daughter was born, just a year after I got married.
It was early spring when Ariana was still twenty-one years old.