The Residence was in a rush.2
The guests who were worried about the fainting Marquis’ wife also hurried before long, and the maids trembled.
I sat in an empty drawing room. A nervous maid came and spoke briefly.
Most of the guests went back, and afterwards, they seemed to be tired of trying to appease the tiresome Marquis.
Looking after his wife, who cried and fainted and woke up again, seemed to be a reoccurring issue that would probably end up in the tabloids.
Raretis.
A promising Noble. A relative of the Marquis’ wife, a man who was friendly, and has the trust of the Windrose couple.
Ophelia looked at the man who was courting her as if he were a bug, but among them, Raretis was inevitably showing a softer attitude.
If Ophelia was like a fairy tale princess, Raretis was a fairy tale knight.
I was drowning in my thoughts while drinking the slightly astringent black tea that the maid had served.
When should I go out? Right now, the market is impossible. But it’s not a good thing to endure long.
In this mansion, Ophelia was absolutely on my side. Even the marquis couldn’t treat me carelessly.
However, Ophelia is dead and I am now subjugating the Marquis for no reason.
Since the years that have been spent by the Marquis have been long, half of the people who understand me and the other half of the people who criticize me if I don’t shed a tear.
However, technically speaking, she is not even a daughter of a Marquis, but it is not easy to imitate her by sticking to him.
I mean the truth, there have been quite a few people who have disapproved of me.
Ophelia was an angel and a sore sight to everyone, and such people were dissatisfied with her blind embrace of me, my appearance and status.
In particular, it was especially true of maids and young children of low-ranking noble families.
I’ve been sold for money, but I’m lucky to be the same age as Ophelia. Emilia, who monopolized all kinds of privileges.
People who think that if they had a chance, they would have become close to Ophelia. People who were jealous of everything I enjoyed.
But in truth, it was Ophelia, not me, that they were truly jealous of.
Ophelia’s beauty, background, love, and power. However, I cannot blame Ophelia, who is beautiful, pitiful and lovely, so I removed the missing accessories next to her.
(T/N: Accessories as in missing traits.)
Maybe they’re feeling sad by now. Finally the time has come to realize my purpose, I put down the empty teacup and slowly climbed up toward my room.
The faces of the bustling servants were all gloomy. A familiar-faced maid walked with her tray and she stopped.
“Miss Emilia, Where are you going?”
“In my room. How is your husband?”
“All right. Sir Raretis is next to you, so you can relax.”
“Then I’ll go in.”
“Well….”
The Maid Hesitated.
Sally had a cute expression.
Her braided short hair, and her freckles were clear at the tip of my nose.
“……are you all right? Aren’t you tired? Do you want me to bring you soup?
I smiled very faintly.
“Thanks for your concern.”
I spoke such empty words, Knowing that I wasn’t okay.
I didn’t cry. Ophelia was in much pain. At first, I prayed to Ophelia to get better quickly, but at the last minute, I begged God to let her go without pain.
If her periods of struggles in pain had been longer than this, I would have been seriously contemplating how to make her comfortable without being seen by others.
Fortunately, everything was over before that.
That was it.
Seeing Ophelia in the coffin, I think It was best.
Ophelia, beautiful, clean, neat as ever. My friend was as calm and beautiful as if she were asleep.
I put my woven flower crown on top of her silky hair.
The Marquis’ wife struggled with the coffin and the flower crown collapsed, leaving some flowers scattered, but that was fine.
I see. That’s the end.
I just seemed to have been blankly thinking so.
It’s really over now. You don’t have to hold on any longer.
I knew my destiny and others foretold. Even before I came to the Marquis’s mansion.
The memory of my past life was faint, but it was still quite helpful to me.
I chose not to be jealous of Ophelia and follow the story, but to be her friend.
But it was painful in its own way. She knew she couldn’t live long.
Shall we die together?
What I asked was my sincerity.
I liked her. That’s why any man would think that she’s not completely gone.
Even if She didn’t feel the same way I liked her, I didn’t really think about what I wanted to do or dream of a hopeful future after she died.
This world has always made me feel down and anxious to enjoy a bare picnic in gloomy weather full of dark clouds.
I don’t know when the reality will come. As cold as raindrops, but I don’t have an umbrella, and I feel anxious while being hit by the wind that makes the skirt flow.
And eventually the end came. It rained, and the picnic was over.
There is no longer a need to see men who will be unhappy with her in the future, nor worry about her.
I no longer have to suffer recklessly imagining the end of the young woman.
It’s over. I’ll go out of this luxurious mansion that doesn’t fit me and have my own ending.
I opened my door. And I laid down on the bed as if I were falling down.
I thought about whether I should change my black mourning clothes, but I didn’t want to and I didn’t have the energy to do that.
I never thought it would be this hard, but as soon as I laid down, I realized that my body was incredibly heavy.
As soon as I closed my eyes, the snowstorm came. I feel into a heavy sleep as if I were falling under a deep, deep lake.
* * *
‘Cassio is here again.’
Ophelia squealed from her mouth. I took the dandelion leaves off her mouth.
‘Don’t eat the flowers.’
‘If he comes again, I’ll tell you to dump cold water on him.’
I threw away the yellow petals carefully. Laying light cloth over the Marquis’ spacious garden, Ophelia laid on top of it.
Her white calf was revealed at the end of her light green dress shook like a butterfly.
Since I informed her that some of the flowers are edible, Ophelia has sometimes asked for petals like that.
‘Why do you hate Mr. Cassio so much?’
‘Bad Luck.’
Ophelia spattered grass leaves mixed with saliva. I chuckled.
‘I don’t like his eyes. Especially the way he looks at you.’
I took out the cookies in the basket that the maid had packed and grabbed them. There was a crunchy sound.
‘Why are you looking at me? Because I’m close to her, because you’re jealous of me.’
‘That’s selfish. I like you now. That’s why I’m going to spend a short time with him. He’s being selfish without understanding our relationship.’
Even if she lived her life in her bed, Her cleverness did not seem to disappear.
Ophelia leaned her head against my hand that handed over cookies. I felt soft hair falling on me.
‘If not, what else are you completely mistaking for?’
Ophelia’s voice spread out as clearly as if she was throwing a stone over a pool of water.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, my whole body was sweating.
I just woke up alone, the room I awoke in was unfamiliar.
Ophelia was lonely, so I would always sleep next to her. Even when I had a fever and she didn’t, I stood by her.
‘Sometimes I wish you and I were twins.’
Ophelia whispered to me like that and shook my head the next moment.
‘But I don’t want you to get sick because of the disease. I’m the only one who should be sick.’
Whenever She said that, She hugged me and patted me.
‘We are still close. Or bloodline might be far, but we are still related, and I don’t carry your disease.’
Whenever that conversation happened, Ophelia laughed.
“…… “
I woke up and took a deep breath.
There was only one black dress because it was urgently prepared. But I didn’t want to change.
The Formal Funeral Event had already ended yesterday, but I didn’t want to admit it yet. It was my own selfish stubbornness.
My legs trembled. I raised my body because I felt like I should at least eat.