Chapter 5: The Day Elise Fitzroy Died
“I… believed in my mother. Even though she never once looked at me, I thought she would someday like me too.”
Elise smiled at him with a face he had never seen before.
“When you told me you loved me, I felt like I had the whole world.”
Or maybe it wasn’t a smile. Maybe she was crying.
“I was stupid.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
‘I was just too foolish. That’s why I ended up living like this.’
It was just her fault. She had lived the wrong way.
At this moment, nothing came to mind. It hurt too much to think.
It felt like her heart was bleeding out.
Elise covered her trembling face with both hands.
“I’m done. Hurian, I don’t love you anymore.”
She slowly stepped back.
“El…”
“If you follow me, I’ll kill myself.”
When Hurian tried to move, Elise screamed. Her voice was filled with pain, like a wounded animal.
Hurian froze in place.
Seeing that, Elise twisted her face and then let out a short laugh.
Sometimes, crying comes out sounding like laughter.
“Ha… Hahaha… Even now, you’re not going to stop me, huh?”
Her birth mother had tried to kill her.
The man she had loved for six years had betrayed her.
What was the point of this life?
That man who said he loved her would soon smile at another woman with the same face and the same voice.
Tears, like rusty water, flowed down her cheeks.
“Hurian Iberk.”
He had killed her heart.
“I will never forgive you.”
Elise ran into the rain. She didn’t even know where she was going.
“Ahhh!”
The rain drenched her completely. Her wet hair stuck to her face.
Without a single thought, she just kept running through the city streets.
Eventually, she reached a river.
She stood still before the bridge. Below it, the river water flowed fiercely.
Should she die? In her despair, the river looked too tempting.
But she couldn’t die.
Even now, there was a child in her belly. A child abandoned by its father.
…She was the only one who could protect it.
And then, in the mist, Elise saw someone near the bridge.
“…Lydiana?”
It was her friend, Lydiana.
“Elise!”
Lydiana ran to her and hugged her tightly.
Then she looked all over Elise’s face.
“A-Are you hurt anywhere?”
Seeing her friend’s face, Elise burst into tears. Like a wanderer who had finally found a place to rest, she grabbed Lydiana’s arms. Yes, she still had a friend. A precious friend…
Just as Elise was about to hug her—
“Diana?”
Lydiana stepped back and gave an awkward smile.
“…I’m sorry, Elise.”
The wind blew through Lydiana’s blue hair. Every strand looked strangely clear, as if time had slowed down.
Even in her exhausted state, Elise was confused.
Why was there a sword in her thigh?
“Ly… Ly-Lydiana? This… This is a joke, right?”
Who were those men standing beside her?
Five men stood behind Lydiana in the shadows of the rain.
Lydiana’s face flickered between clear and blurry.
“I’m sorry. Really, I am… I… I just wanted to live… even if it meant betraying you.”
That face, crying so sorrowfully, was the face of her dear friend. She should comfort her… but it felt so unfamiliar now.
Elise staggered backward in fear. Who was that? Why did she look like her friend?
No, this couldn’t be real. Her friend would never stab her.
But she was already weak and bleeding, and the men grabbed her easily.
“Ly-Lydiana? W-What is this? Let go of me! Let me go! Lydiana! Lydiana!”
Rain poured down. Lydiana’s figure grew distant.
Far away… and then disappeared.
“Ahh!”
Elise struggled violently, but her body tilted and she fell over the bridge railing.
Fortunately, her survival instinct kicked in, and she barely managed to grab onto the railing.
But her grip was weak. She could fall at any moment.
The men looked down at her in shock.
But none of them reached out to help her.
Below was the raging river.
“What are you doing? Take her already.”
“But… she’s under the bridge…”
The only difference now was that the river current had become even stronger.
Then footsteps approached, and someone stopped in front of her.
“Ah, hello, Lady.”
It was Iris Abecherene.
Why was she here?
“You’re wondering why I’m here, right?”
“…”
“I came to cut off the root. I only meant to send you away, but…”
The woman smiled beautifully.
“I didn’t expect you to jump on your own. I’m so touched.”
With her umbrella, Iris looked like a flower blooming in the rain. Elise felt like she was dreaming. No, if it was a dream, it was a nightmare.
“Why are you doing this to me? L-Lady, I’m scared. Please don’t do this.”
Iris didn’t answer. Instead, she took out a small bottle.
Elise’s eyes widened in horror.
That bottle…! Soon, something wet dripped onto her face.
Rain and the liquid seeped into her mouth.
She wanted to spit it out, but she was barely holding onto the railing.
“I heard you already drank it once. But I want to be sure.”
“Please! Cough! Please don’t! Don’t do this…!”
“The man I love can’t make up his mind. So I’ll make the choice for him. You understand, right?”
Elise flinched.
“T-The man you love?”
“Yes. You know him well. Hurian. He’ll be my husband.”
Elise shook her head desperately. Still holding onto the railing, she screamed.
“No! Please say it’s not true! Please! Please!”
She wanted to beg until her hands bled.
If only she could turn back time.
“Please… Please pull me up! I have his child in my belly. Please, just spare my baby! Please!”
Rain and tears blurred her vision.
“Just save the baby… Even if I die…”
But through her tears, Elise saw Iris smile cruelly.
“Why should I?”
Elise would never forget that face.
“You’re carrying another man’s baby. Don’t you get it?”
“A…ah… ah…”
Even in the pouring rain, her stomach burned like fire.
Her heart pounded wildly.
Her hands lost strength.
As her vision darkened, Elise remembered only one thing—
The face of that woman, smiling like a devil.
“Your last act is to die as a filthy woman who slept with just anyone.”
Her distorted smile, filled with pleasure and excitement…
Elise couldn’t even speak. Her vision faded into black.
A cold voice rang out.
“She pitied herself and jumped into the river… How pathetic.”
Elise didn’t hold on for herself.
She held on for her unborn child.
It was superhuman strength.
But that didn’t last long. As her grip faded, footsteps rushed in.
“Elise!”
It was Hurian’s voice. Elise heard it clearly through the darkness.
‘…I can’t speak…’
She forced herself to try. She had to call him.
She had to do something…
“Hurian!”
“Lydiana! Iris! Where is Elise?! Where is she?!”
Elise reached out weakly, but her hand didn’t reach him.
“I saw her jump into the river,” Iris said calmly.
She blocked Hurian’s view so he couldn’t see Elise clinging to the railing.
‘…I’m here…’
Elise thought Hurian would be angry.
“You promised me!”
But he said something else.
“You said you wouldn’t kill her.”
Elise’s eyes shot open.
‘What did I just hear…?’
Was this her last moment? Her hands went numb.
She couldn’t believe what she’d heard.
“Oh dear. Don’t blame me. She jumped before I could stop her. And who do you think pushed her this far?”
“…”
“It was you.”
Elise trembled harder.
She wanted to climb up and look into his face.
She wanted to ask her friend—now a traitor—why.
What did I do wrong? Why? Why?
“Shall I say it again? Hurian, you killed her.”
“No. You wanted this. You did it! You killed her!”
“If you want to believe that, go ahead. But the truth is, Elise Fitzroy threw herself into the river. And really, how different is that from what you wanted? For her to become a cripple and never leave, or just die.”
“…”
“It’s cruel either way.”
There was nothing Elise could do.
All she could do now was quietly close her eyes.
Tears or blood slid down her cheek.
She remembered it all.
The sneering red lips that looked down on her like she was garbage.
‘I’ll remember everything…’
Even their cruel words at the end.
The splash as Elise fell into the river was drowned by the sound of rain.
Hurian never saw the woman he was looking for.
***
Splash.
Elise opened her eyes again, choking on water in her lungs.
‘It hurts… I can’t breathe.’
She barely opened her eyes and saw only darkness.
She knew she was sinking.
No matter how she struggled, nothing helped.
She was running out of air.
‘Am I going to die like this…?’
Just then, she stopped sinking.
And her body was suddenly pulled up fast.
As soon as she felt air, she started coughing.
But her cough was weak. She couldn’t breathe.
“We found her, Duke!”
Voices she didn’t know. Footsteps.
“Save…”
Shoes. Shouting men.
Her breath was fading.
Something soft touched her lips repeatedly, and someone pounded her chest.
“…! She’s breathing!”
Pain shot through her chest, and slowly, Elise opened her eyes.
The sky was dark with rain.
She could barely see, but she noticed one thing.
“You can see me?”
A man with jet-black hair stood over her.
His pale face was so beautiful, it didn’t seem human.
But his emotionless beauty was terrifying.
Looking up at a stranger, Elise’s face crumpled.
Her mind was too foggy to recognize even familiar people.
“…Is this hell?”
She didn’t even have the strength to ask who he was.
“If you want it to be, then maybe.”
She instinctively held her stomach.
“P-Please save me. Please…”
“…”
The man, Eugene, said nothing.
“Not me… My baby. Please save my baby…”
Elise looked down.
Her body was heavy. She couldn’t move.
With trembling hands, she held her belly.
“If you save us, I’ll do anything.”
She felt suffocated. Angry. Wronged. Why? Why?
Why did she and her innocent baby have to suffer?
Was she pitiful?
No, she had just been stupid. But her child, abandoned by its father, was pitiful.
She hated her friend. She hated her betrayal.
What had she done to deserve this?
Why did her lover, her friend, that woman, and her mother throw her into the river?
No one helped her as she screamed in rage.
She cried like a wild animal.
“You died today.”
When her crying stopped, a low voice came.
She looked at the man.
“I am Eugene Russell. I’ve come to take you.”
His name didn’t matter.
“Elise Fitzroy is gone from this world. Do you want revenge?”
His voice, like a devil’s whisper, was irresistible.
“If you accept my offer, I’ll save you.”
Elise smiled.
“Yes.”
In that moment, her face was no different from a devil’s.
“Y-Yes. Let me do it. Please…”
She had been foolish. Her world had been too small.
So she thought he was everything.
Her only crime was loving him so much that she thought she’d rather die than lose him.
She died today.
That weak, foolish woman.
That pitiful woman, abandoned by everyone.
“I will give you a new life.”
It was the day Elise Fitzroy died forever.
