Episode 2
Charlotte truly carried out every task she was given without complaint.
Even when she learned that the Aubrey Ducal House had adopted her as a second-best option—because they had to arrange a marriage alliance with Richard Cosmo, the illegitimate troublemaker of the Count Cosmo family.
Even when she found out that the Duchess of Aubrey was already pregnant with a child of her own, Charlotte endured her assigned fate and tried her best to persevere.
As a result, Charlotte went from being called “the lucky wench who accidentally became a noble,” to “a girl who’s at least decently educated,” then further to “a wise and clever young lady,” and finally, “the eldest daughter of the House of Aubrey.”
How much humiliation had she endured to rise from a lowborn girl to a recognized ducal lady? How much pain had she swallowed? By all rights, she could have acknowledged her own worth—but she never did.
The reason she was adopted.
The reason she was granted a life of sudden fortune.
It was all because of her younger sister, Marlene.
Officially, Marlene was five years younger than Charlotte.
The Duke and Duchess, who had been unable to conceive throughout their marriage, had become devoted followers of the Tawaret faith, which worshiped the ancient god of abundance and fertility, Tawaret.
People around them quietly mocked the couple, saying that the money they poured into the Temple of Tawaret could have built another castle in the capital. Yet astonishingly, the Duchess became pregnant with a daughter.
They were overjoyed—yet anxious at the same time. They remembered the marriage promise made in their grandfather’s era with the Count Cosmo family.
Surely the Count Cosmo family would not offer their legitimate heir to them either. They would likely send the second son born of a courtesan. To marry their precious daughter to such low blood and lesser standing? Absolutely not!
So, before Marlene was born, they hastily adopted Charlotte.
Thanks to the maid who read this story to her every night like a fairy tale, Charlotte deeply engraved in her heart that her value as a person had been decided by Marlene, who had not even been born yet. In truth, if not for Marlene, she would still be starving somewhere.
So even after Marlene was born, when every servant in the ducal house focused solely on their true daughter—
Even when Charlotte survived on the leftovers Marlene didn’t finish—
Even when the education she received as the duke’s adopted daughter was tailored entirely around Marlene, and she suffered constant scolding, injuries, and illness—
Even when she was forcibly engaged to Richard Cosmo, known as a libertine, a delinquent, and a lecher—
Charlotte never once complained. She never once dared to think the situation unfair.
After all, everything she had was thanks to Marlene.
So Charlotte was always grateful to Marlene. She always loved her. She always tried to cherish her as a sister.
Yes. She tried to.
“Ugh…”
Charlotte clutched her abdomen and groaned. A pain like her insides were being torn to shreds wracked her body again and again.
The doctor said she had been poisoned.
Poisoned? Since when? Why?
The moment he heard it, the Duke raged that some madman dared to poison someone within his house, staining the family’s honor. He ordered the culprit to be found.
But the culprit was never caught. The investigation simply stopped.
That was when Charlotte understood. No—when she knew.
The culprit was someone within the ducal family.
Whatever the case, her life was over. There was no antidote. Even if she consumed no more poison, she had less than a year left to live.
Why…
Why was she dying?
Because she lived a life beyond her station?
Because she dared to covet the side of a great noble?
Was that why?
“Cough—!”
She vomited blood again. It wouldn’t stop. It soaked her white slip dress crimson.
Blood crept toward her throat. She tried to cough, but her mouth would not open. Her lips, dry and cracked, were stained red.
She began to see the end. The end of life. The end of emptiness. The end of desire. And the end of loneliness.
She had already accepted death. Had she never entered the ducal house, she would have died long ago. In that sense, perhaps this death was even a blessing.
Still, there was one regret.
If only I could see my sister one more time.
To tell her thank you. To tell her that because of her, she had lived.
“Unni!”
At that moment, as if in a miracle, Marlene’s voice rang out. She burst through the door, pushing past the maids who tried to stop her, and tightly grasped Charlotte’s hand.
“Unni! No, you can’t die like this! Not yet—it’s not time yet!”
Charlotte could no longer speak, but she could still feel. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at Marlene.
My sister.
The only one in this ducal house with whom I had any bond.
The first and last person in this finite world who loved me.
“Oh, Richard! You’re here! You made it in time!”
And my fiancé.
The man who had never once visited her, even after hearing she was waiting for death.
Then…
Why?
Why were they holding hands?
“You made it in time to see my sister die. How fortunate.”
Why was he looking at Marlene so warmly?
Why was Marlene in his arms?
Why…?
“…Why?”
“She looks wretched.”
“She’s dying, after all.”
“Indeed.”
They spoke indifferently, as if observing an animal in a cage.
Even though her sister was dying before them.
Even though his fiancée was coughing up blood before his eyes.
They watched as if witnessing the end of a stranger—no, worse.
Only then did Charlotte finally acknowledge the strangeness of the situation, and the suspicion she had buried deep within her subconscious.
An unbearable thought flickered across her mind.
Surely not. Not Marlene. Not her…
“Unni.”
When she heard Marlene call her softly—
Was it really impossible?
Was Marlene truly the kind-hearted sister she believed?
Was she truly angelic?
Before Charlotte’s trembling gaze, a small glass vial appeared. Marlene shook it lightly and smirked.
Marlene’s blue eyes had always been so clear they were breathtaking. But now? They were cold enough to pierce bone. No longer a bright sky, but a fogged and filthy windowpane.
“You lived well thanks to me. You enjoyed everything by riding on my back. Your cheap life was extended because of me.”
Was that why?
Because the window had grown so dirty that it could no longer show what lay beyond—only spew such unbelievable words?
“So it’s only fair that I get to choose your death, right?”
Pop.
Without hesitation, Marlene opened the vial and poured its contents into Charlotte’s mouth.
“Cough—!”
“Goodbye, Unni.”
The colorless, odorless liquid mixed with the stench of blood. It was revolting, but Charlotte could not move even a finger.
Only now did she fully understand.
The investigation had stopped because Marlene was the culprit.
“In the next life, I hope we never meet again.”
Marlene and Richard kissed tenderly before Charlotte’s dying body.
It was so grotesquely out of place—like trying to create life in front of a corpse losing it—that Charlotte could do nothing but feel her breath falter and fade.
I was truly…
She swallowed what little breath remained.
Such a fool.
Red tears slipped through her closed eyes. As they fell to the floor, her hand gave one final weak motion in the air.
There was no one to mourn her—only those who sneered.
A life, utterly and painfully lonely.
Thus ended the short life of Charlotte Aubrey.
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