# 37
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That key had never left his body.
He started feeling his body repeatedly, then an insult escaped him.
“Who…!”
The hangover came back, hitting him hard.
He staggered on the bed, trying to regain what was lost from his memory.
At that moment, Dana's face floated blurry in the gray darkness of the dawn.
Damn, wasn't that… not a dream?
The direction to which Dana's hand reached, with that hardened face, was definitely...
“Huh, have I lost my mind...”
Jimmy's eyes widened wildly.
How dare you touch what belongs to him? It seems he's been spoiling her too much lately.
As he ground his teeth and slammed his fist onto the bed—he felt a metallic solidity beneath his hand.
The key was shining, revealing its presence in the sunlight.
Perhaps what he saw in the dream was nothing but an illusion.
He grabbed the key and went out into the hallway, tilting his head hesitantly.
On his way to the library, and he thought of a distant possibility, he suddenly stopped.
Headaches rushed in, nausea set in, and everything seemed unpleasant.
“True, she's not the type to do something stupid like that.”
Jimmy shook his head and crossed the library to the stairs.
As for Dana's tightly closed room, he did not have the slightest interest in him.
Acres can never leave Hartwin's house.
***
Meanwhile, Edwin was flipping through Dana's papers, his features becoming complex.
“…They plundered a lot.”
Countless loan papers made him stifle a curse.
Dana Hartwin, Dana Hartwin.
All loans were in Dana's name alone.
Dana's life was pure exploitation.
“True, it's a lot more than I knew.”
Moreover, her identity card was also found inside the safe.
Her family can use it to get loans easily.
“I told you before, it's a strange law. Even in Kira's sister's law firm, there is another victim like her.”
“……The existence of a law like this is unreasonable.”
“I know, and I wish such weak laws would disappear.”
Edwin nodded, everything Dana wished for should come true.
Dana flipped through the papers and reviewed what the magical tool had recorded.
With just a soft click, the scene where her family had gathered appeared.
The crystal, fortunately, recorded their voices very clearly.
They were recordings of confessions that Dana had previously extracted from the servants.
After she left, they talked about her for a long time.
[Why are you behaving like this? Is it because I haven't scolded her these days?]
[I spoiled her a lot. We declared everything to her because she makes money.]
[Let us quickly send it to Viscount Humbern and finish the matter.]
The insults directed at Dana continued for a while.
'It's not surprising.'
The wounds continued, forming a solid barrier over her heart.
No small wounds can leave a trace anymore. Dana gave a wry smile.
At that moment, there was a popping sound, and the permanent ink pen in Edwin's hand broke.
The shattered pieces rolled to the ground.
“Edwin, what happened?”
Dana looked at him worriedly.
He only had half a pen in his hand.
“……Sorry, the pen was very worn out.”
He bent down and removed the scattered remains of the pen.
Edwin realized that the treatment Dana received inside the house of those scoundrels was much harsher than he knew.
If he could, he would not hesitate to find the people of the house and burn them in front of her.
To make them taste the harshest torture, and fall on their knees before Dana.
His anger was directed towards the innocent pen.
The fiery power of energy emits heat according to the feelings of its owner, and the effect of smoke has appeared on the pen.
He quickly erased the traces of this.
Fortunately, Dana was busy with paperwork. She looked at an old envelope and tilted her head questioningly.
“What is this? It doesn’t look like loan papers...”
The traces of time were evident on the old paper. The insults on the recording screen continued to play out.
[She doesn't even know who saved her! Slut!]
[We should have left her on the street! Why did we pick up a child whose origin we do not know and raise her...]
Dana paused at those words.
The content of the recording made her lose focus.
They picked it up? They raised her? she?
The couple's voices did not stop.
[Don't say such things! Fortunately, she lost her memory...]
The screen tapped with an electric sound, then went off. Registration has ended here due to capacity running out.
Dana stood holding the papers, staring with blank eyes.
'I... am not their biological daughter?'
Her past memories flashed before her mind.
Those moments when she felt isolated and excluded by her family.
The loneliness that I have been tormented with repeatedly.
Why didn't you find out earlier...?
She begins to understand all the discrimination she and Jimmy experienced.
Dana silently reconstructed the events of the past in her head.
Sometimes a sudden laugh came out of her, as if the situation had surprised her.
Then, she turned her gaze to the old, partially open envelope. Dana slowly opened the envelope and took out the paper.
The family register was for the house of Hartwin. Maybe Jimmy set it up for loan purposes.
Its civil record was from the year 484 of the empire.
This...she was six years old at the time.
The recording screen said the couple met her on the street, not at an orphanage.
'So, where are my biological parents...?'
Thinking about that made her mind dizzy.
Did they abandon her? Or was there some reason...?
Dana dropped the paper on the table, losing the strength in her body. And at that moment, warmth surrounded her hands.
It was Edwin.
"decent."
Her eyes met his.
“Everything is fine.”
His warm voice embraced her. Her trembling hand met his with a small movement.
Her trembling blue eyes reached his. They looked at each other quietly.
Her astonished lips moved repeatedly. She felt as if she was standing alone in an empty desert.
The frantic wind scattered every path, and everything was strange.
Even if her family was dry towards her, she did not doubt her connection to them. Perhaps for this reason, questions began to rain down like arrows in a row.
'Where is my real family...?'
How did she find herf living in the viscount's house?
Um, most importantly…
'If I was with my real family... would I be happy?'
The thought reached its peak, and her eyes filled with tears.
She longed for this: a loving look directed at her, a tender touch on her forehead on hot nights, a warm embrace for no reason.
Then, she felt warmth on her cheek.
Edwin's hand gently wiped away her tears. She regained her clear vision and came out of the vortex of thought.
In Edwin's red eyes, they were all for her alone.
Dana knew what that look meant.
Boundless love, tenderness, concern and care directed to one person. When she looked at him, she realized that everything she was looking for was here.
Anything that bothers her now is no longer important.
Her only husband, and her only family, is Edwin.
“…Edwin.”
She called him in a trembling voice.
He nodded with a calm smile, as if to say: Say something. Dana extended her arms instead of speaking, and looked at him comfortingly.
Edwin hugged her.
His large, solid body embraced her, and her feelings calmed down.
She needed more than any words, this warmth.
“Hug me tighter.”
He responded to her will, filled her chest forcefully, and extended his hand on her back.
His quiet comfort was permeating her body.