# 63
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Elizabeth stared absently at her own face reflected in the mirror. As she aged, wrinkles seemed to appear naturally on her reflected face. She touched her face with her fingertips, examining her features.
Considering she's back from the dead, she looks relatively good.
She let out a long sigh.
The dream she had that day is still etched in her memory. It was a dream she had when she almost died.
She had a terrible fever, and all the doctors called by her sons confirmed that she would not survive.
One day, two days, three days...
During this period, everyone was convinced that her life would end.
But Elizabeth survived. She ran her hand again over her cheek, feeling the warmth of life. It had been almost two months since that day that she thought would be her last.
'...Save me...'
'Save me, please…'
‘Please save two people… save us… I don’t want to die…’
Her features weren't very clear, but her face wasn't one she couldn't recognize either. It was a face that had spread across the continent since her marriage.
Evelyn Spelman.
The woman who is now Cyrtain's wife.
She was crying and ing to be saved, clinging tightly to Elizabeth. Elizabeth could still feel the pressure of her hands on her dress.
'I'm going to save you, so please, save me too... Save two cars...'
Elizabeth felt as if she was being dragged into a muddy swamp. She couldn't push away Evelin's hand, and she couldn't ignore those eyes filled with a strong desire for something.
‘…. Sure'
Evelyn and Elizabeth were drowning together in that black swamp. It was certainly an unknown place, but it was impossible not to know that the swamp was death. I just knew.
'You promised me, didn't you?'
When Elizabeth nodded, Evelin smiled faintly and let go of her hand. That stubborn hand that pushed Elizabeth out.
You asked to be saved, and yet...
Little Face shook his head without even being able to take the hand that Elizabeth extended.
Evelyn then drifted alone into the depths of the swamp, pushing Elizabeth out as she drowned.
After that dream, Elizabeth survived her illness. At the moment when everyone had given up and prepared for her death, she came back to life.
'This dream is connected to reality...'
If the dream was as realistic as she felt, Evelyn should have died.
But she didn't die.
Elizabeth's gaze moved to the tabloids spread around her. She had been following Lixia's news for a long time because she was worried about Sirten.
The newspaper pages were full of pictures of Evelyn.
Pictures of her in various events in which she participated, and pictures of her next to two biographies, and articles with provocative content.
'She's still alive...'
The dream was too clear to be an illusion. Elizabeth felt a shiver run through her body.
Therefore, once she regained her strength, she decided to go to Lixia.
That dream still haunts her.
“You asked me to save Sirtain, didn't you?”
Even when his father was throwing him to death without hesitation, he miraculously survived.
At thirteen years old, Certain was standing on the brink of death, with that lost look on his face.
“Why are you here? Has your father finally gone mad? What father does this to his son while he is busy filling his pockets? Come with me, I will bring you back myf.”
“What about after I come back? Will Auntie stay in Lixia?”
“I...I don't think so.”
"Then I won't come back. At least here, I've gotten used to this situation. I don't know where they'll take me next."
That skeptical voice. It was hard to believe he was a child.
Of course, Elizabeth left because she didn't want to see her messy brother and his son.
But she never imagined that he would abandon his son too.
Nevertheless, Cyrtain survived hard, and is now a mature young man. I made sure he returned safely to Lixia, but…
'I'll have to see it for myf.'
She had to make sure he was okay.
This may be the last thing she does in her life, but she wants to see that child, the last to carry Lixia's pride.
She summoned her maids.
“Have you finished packing? There is a lot to buy and prepare for. It has been a long time since my last visit.”
There was some enthusiasm in her voice.
***
Marquis Raymond finally came out of his room.
After days of isolation and refusal of visitors, his period of seclusion ended.
He had to make a fateful decision, a decision that would determine his future.
It was a moment when he had to make a decision that would change his life. The internal conflict was intense, and it took a long time to reach a final decision.
“Is this your final decision, Hazel? If you choose now, there is no going back.”
Marquis Raymond asked her in a voice mixed with sighs. Hazel was more like her mother than any of his other children, and that hurt him more.
She had failed in two engagements, and he was heartbroken because her misery seemed to begin there.
Hazel looked at him with a pale and tired face, then clenched her hands tightly.
Augustin was not the person she wanted, but she decided to marry him for the sake of the family.
Deep down, she wanted to prove her ex-fiancé wrong.
‘I will marry another man and live a miserable life until I die. This is what you wanted to see, right?'
This was an irrational thought, but Hazel had become more irrational since he left her.
He promised her eternal happiness, but he abandoned her and left alone.
In the midst of this despair, Duke Spelman was the only one who extended his hand to her. It didn't matter how terrible Augustine was, she just wanted to show her late fiancé how miserable she was.
'It's all because of you, Damon. You left me, and here I am suffering without you!'
But even this decision was broken by Augustin. Not only that, he completely destroyed her reputation, which was already at rock bottom.
She felt like the entire world had abandoned her, just as he had.
'See, Damon? I can't be happy without you. All that happens to me is more unhappiness!'
Perhaps her anger was directed at Augustin and the Szpilman family only out of stubbornness.
But she had no other choice but to move forward.
“With time, maybe I will be able to forget all this.”
“You have to understand, Duke Spellman is not an easy person. He will consider that we have betrayed his trust.”
"I don't care. Let him take it as he pleases. In the end, they were the ones who broke off the engagement first. I want to destroy Augustin. Why should I be the only one who suffers?"
Hazel muttered bitterly, as if she was destined to endure all the misery.
As for Augustin, he married another woman and left the capital.
Marquis Raymond looked at her sadly. She was still stuck in her grief over her late fiancé, and couldn't move forward.
“Prepare to enter the palace.”
Hazel nodded.
Was Evelyn his lucky charm?
Ever since he met her, it seemed like everything he wanted was coming true.
Cyrtain turned his gaze towards Marquis Raymond and his daughter, contemplating them for a moment.
“I apologize for the delay, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“No need to apologise. I'm grateful you came, and I'm also grateful for your decision.”
His voice was warmer than before. Marquis Raymond looked at him suspiciously, examining his expression.
He did not expect to see this face of Sirtain, who had always been like ice that would not melt.
Even his voice, which had always been devoid of emotion, sounded different now.
“I made the decision I had to make, Your Highness.”
“From now on, Miss Hazel will work with my advisors. If she proves herf competent, she will receive better treatment. But if she does not live up to expectations, she may lose her position.”
“I will do my best.”
Hazel answered coldly.
A smile appeared on Sertin's face, but it was the kind of smile that people described as a snake smile.
This was not just out of happiness; He had to ensure he had a firm grip on everything.
If he wanted to control Marquis Raymond, he would first have to gain Hazel's loyalty.
And he had the key to doing it.