# 80
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“Miss, you better run away quickly. I’m afraid you might get hurt if you stay here.”
“No, I want to meet Kenneth…Duke Clifford.”
She had to say that what happened in the Separate Palace was a misunderstanding, and that she did not bring maids into such a place.
She was only pretending to cooperate under Andrew's threat.
But the butler lowered his head sadly.
“The maids who were purchased when the Duke’s lady was brought in had...”
“They actually admitted that they were the ones who informed the Crown Gazette...”
Theodora bit her chapped lips so hard that they nearly bled.
These vile bastards. After they took everything you gave them, they open their mouths now?
But after her anger subsided, fear began to creep into her.
'I might really die like this.'
The color on Theodora's face began to fade as her sense of reality returned.
How harsh was Kenneth in punishing traitors?
Obviously her father is gone, but she should at least live.
“Butler, immediately… flee. Quickly check which ship is still on our side.”
“…Yes, miss.”
A ship can be found. But with the Count's family assets confiscated in the capital, even if Theodora succeeds in escaping, she will not be able to enjoy the previous luxury.
On the contrary, it was clear that she would sink to the level of the women she despised.
But at that moment, no one talked about the clear future.
The butler was serving her as a final duty, and would leave after putting her on the ship.
As the car that was heading to the South House accelerated toward the sidewalk, Theodora bit her lips as she cried.
'It's all because of Ariana Aberdeen.'
No matter what, if she ever met her, she would never leave that girl.
Even when the car was damaged by people who recognized her on the way to the curb, she was towed, and the last of her jewelry was stolen, her resolve remained steadfast.
* * *
...It was one night shortly after the little girl's funeral.
“For you to finally think about killing me, that's impressive, Ariana.”
Kenneth sneered softly at the woman standing in the dark room, illuminated by the moonlight behind her.
A fragile blonde woman, as if the wind would blow her away, was standing holding a silver pistol.
If he had been more rational, he would have first asked where that gun came from.
But his mind was a little confused then.
At first, he thought he had dealt well with the imperial family in curbing their desire for war. But the ideas that flourished did not fade from people's minds.
If the situation continued like this, the Duke's family would lose support if it did not take the lead in investing in the war, and things were changing…
Then the little girl died.
At her small funeral, he shed no tears.
He just felt increasingly disgusted with everything.
So, if Ariana had made the decision to end it all, he would have liked it.
“And you're even thinking about shooting me, that's amazing. If you want, shoot me.”
“Have you thought about who will protect you next?”
“...Obviously no one. But, Kenneth, you didn't have to be so cold to our child. I didn't want you to cry. But couldn't we have been sad together at least a little?”
When scolding Ariana, Kenneth remembers the baby buried in the corner of the garden.
A baby girl started tossing and turning at 120 days, swayed at 11 months, and died shortly thereafter.
A baby girl who came because of his subconscious search for Ariana.
A weakness that revealed his constant desire for that woman.
“…Why should I do that?”
“Kenneth-”
“That baby was a mistake.”
Some late nights, when he passed the little girl's room, she would sit in her bed, blinking with eyes that looked like her mother's.
“Abba, abba.”
She called him “daddy” with lips wet with saliva as she looked at him.
But a child from a relationship like theirs was not wanted from the beginning.
"It's really touching, Ariana. It seems like you loved the baby."
She was not a child of a love affair. So, it had to be a mistake.
He tried to think that Ariana only saw the baby as a lifeline.
Thus, he did not have to despair of her death.
But Ariana pointed the gun at her temple.
“In fact... the day you almost died... I was going to say I loved you.”
At that moment, his hand trembled slightly. Even though he ignored everything she said thinking it was a lie, he stopped at Ariana's first expression of love.
Then Ariana destroyed herf.
It was an unfathomable choice. In the blood-stained room, he knelt down and thought only of this.
If she had someone to blame, she should have killed that person first. He survived this way, so he thought others would too.
But why, instead of killing him, Ariana...
“…why?”
He hugged her bloodied body and asked an empty question. But he knew he had already heard the answer.
Ariana tried to give him a chance until the end.
At Ariana's funeral, Kenneth noticed "that presence" for the first time.
That woman, who appeared as a ghost at Beatrice's funeral and then left, was also present at his wife's funeral and stayed for a long time.
Kenneth looked at the nun and thought: 'Is this a human being?'
Even as he faced her, he knew that if he turned around, he wouldn't remember her features. No one notices its presence.
But instead of a chill, he felt it was an opportunity.
The nun did not seem surprised when Kenneth harshly blocked her path. There was even a hint of pity in her eyes, but the indifference towards those who regretted it late was stronger.
“Your wife will return to the dust, and so will Beatrice. Even if she notices me, nothing will change.”
“Then why do you show up and can't leave?”
“I don’t know what you are, but since you’re stuck here, you’re staying at a dead woman’s funeral...!”
The nun raised her eyebrows slightly.
It was painful, even for a saint, to see a mother and her child end a miserable life.
The husband, who had no piety and insisted on harassing her, finally told her.
It revealed that there is a last chance for those who died through no fault of their own.
“If Ariana hadn't ended her life, I would have sent her back to a 'better time without you'...but that's impossible now, so your baby will have a chance.”
Kenneth laughed dryly. It was ironic that the opportunity was only given after a painful engagement.
But if this is the only way, it should be in Ariana's best interest.
When Kenneth brought up the unfairness of this “deal,” Saint nodded.
“...Okay, Kenneth. But you'll have to pay.”
For a holy being, the saint imposed difficult terms like a greedy business opponent.
But Kenneth accepted all conditions with confidence.
The saint looked coldly at the arrogant man who believed in his ability to fulfill her.
“So, our agreement extends until the baby girl’s third birthday, in this life and the new life together.”
* * *
The city of Rouen in Dobris.
Owned by the Marquis-Baptiste family for about 200 years, this small town was known as a land of artists.
But poverty always goes well with romance. The royal family had been struggling for a long time to develop this city.
But with the support of the royal family of Damien Baptiste, the area began to regenerate. Reorganizing roads, improving commercial security...
The opening of the “La Belle” commercial store was the culmination of this renewal.
The store, filled with merchandise pictured in catalogues, was a palace of dreams.
Designer Bernoit Fossier, who made La Belle famous, was running excitedly into the office.
"Mary, Mary! Are you there?"
“Bernoah?”
Fortunately, a woman with ash-blonde hair turned around. Her blue eyes sparkled with every flutter of her golden eyelashes.
She was wearing a white ruffled blouse and a light brown skirt, a style common among middle-class women in Dobris.
A baby girl in her lap suddenly raised her head.
The baby was an exact copy of her mother, from the hair color to the round eyes. A white ribbon tied around her blonde hair swayed with the movement of her head.
The little girl waved her little hand, opening and closing it as a greeting.
“Hello, Uncle Bernoit.”
“Hello, my little angel Baby!”
~ 57 chapters left until the end 🕊
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