The Marquis, who looked exhausted, let out a deep breath and seemed to choose his words carefully.
“Lisellon… is a sorcerer.”
“…Yes.”
That was something she already knew.
“So you came here already knowing that much.”
“…Yes.”
“But I am saying that I saw him using sorcery with my own eyes.”
“What?”
“…The target was you.”
Edith shot up from her seat in shock.
The Marquis, as if he had expected that reaction, gave her a moment to calm herself.
“…P-Please, tell me more.”
Edith said, barely steadying her trembling heart.
“I don’t know the details, but Lisellon placed you inside a formation. You looked frightened, and Lisellon, who seemed to be soothing you, began muttering something to himself.”
“…”
“After that, you collapsed. And beside your fallen body was Aisha.”
“…What was Aisha doing?”
“She was simply standing beside you. At first, I didn’t know what it was, so I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was just some kind of game.”
“Ah.”
“But then I heard that you collapsed and never woke up. That was when I realized something was wrong.”
The Marquis had suspected Lisellon.
So he inquired about what he had witnessed that day, and learned that it was sorcery.
“I was afraid. My daughter was involved in your collapse as well, so I thought it must not be revealed.”
He continued speaking calmly, like he was making a confession.
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“…You covered it up.”
“I did. My daughter was precious to me. As precious as my daughter was… I overlooked that someone else’s daughter was just as precious…”
Now, the Marquis knew.
He knew that many people had suffered because of Aisha.
So he often imagined it.
What if, the first time he witnessed those two, he had revealed everything and made them face punishment at the proper time?
Would things be different now?
“…You came to see me because you sensed something, didn’t you? I no longer wish to hide it, so I’m telling you honestly. Aisha is my daughter, but she has done far too many wrong things until now.”
At first, he didn’t think it was strange.
He thought he was simply being overly sensitive.
But then—
“Uncle!”
One day, Aisha called him uncle.
With a bright smile.
‘Uncle?’
He found it strange, but it was only for a brief moment, and he simply thought Aisha was joking.
However, as days like that increased, the Marquis grew uneasy.
Then he overheard a conversation between Aisha and Lisellon.
It was about Edith’s soul.
“She said you kept surfacing.”
“…”
“And then, before long, Aisha was going to get married. After hearing that conversation, I was shocked, and thinking that Aisha’s partner was deeply unsettling, I sent her away, believing that Luzbel would be better instead.”
“…That was me?”
Even though she had recovered all her memories, perhaps because it had been only a fleeting moment or for some other reason, she had no memory of meeting the Marquis when she was young.
“There might have been a mistake during the spell. I don’t know the details myself.”
In any case, after Aisha got married like that, Lisellon seemed to have taken care of something.
Edith guessed that what he had done was erase her memories.
However, when Aisha’s body was on the verge of truly dying, the soul he could no longer control must have surfaced again.
Having been trapped inside Aisha’s body for so long, she had remembered Aisha’s mixed memories as if they were her own…
That was what had happened.
“Marquis…”
“I believe that child needs to come to her senses. Of course, it’s not entirely without fault on my part for having indulged her too much.”
“Please do not blame yourself too much. This is not your fault, Marquis.”
It was simply bad luck.
He had a daughter, and she happened to be a reincarnator who remembered her past life.
It would have been fine if she had lived well after reincarnating, but Aisha, who knew her entire fate, struggled desperately to escape it.
This was the beginning of all these twisted destinies.
“…Thank you for saying that. If there is anything I can help with in the future, I will cooperate.”
“…Are you sure you will be alright?”
Edith had only come to confirm what the Marquis knew.
His offer to help was no different from stabbing a blade into Aisha’s back.
“I have no intention of forgiving Aisha.”
“I understand.”
“…Marquis.”
“That is why I will help. Once she receives punishment for what she has done, I can take care of her again. This is what I should have done from the beginning.”
The Marquis murmured with a face full of regret.
It seemed he had done a great deal of thinking.
“Thank you.”
Edith bowed her head to him.
“…I’m only doing what I should. I should be the one apologizing for being too late.”
***
When she returned home, her family and Luzbel were waiting.
“Did the conversation go well?”
“…Yes.”
It hadn’t been a pleasant conversation, so her mood had unknowingly sunk.
But seeing that everyone had come out because they were worried about her made her mood lift again in a simple way.
“…Did you gain anything from it?”
“Yes. The Marquis said he would help.”
“The Marquis?”
“Yes. He also apologized about Aisha. If he testifies properly later, it will be a great help.”
“Is that so?”
“Nothing happened, right?”
“Yes. Nothing you need to worry about.”
They must have been curious about what kind of conversation had taken place, but they didn’t ask about it.
It was probably because Edith’s expression hadn’t been good when she came in, so they couldn’t bring themselves to press her.
“Let us go inside and rest.”
“Yes.”
Edith entered the mansion surrounded by her family.
Blocked by them and unable to approach, Luzbel circled around restlessly like a dog that needed to relieve itself, not knowing what to do, before following them inside.
***
They had a meal.
It was clear everyone was trying to accommodate her as much as possible.
Of course, even so, Luzbel couldn’t even come near Edith’s side.
He was barely eating at the far end of the long table.
Whenever Edith seemed to pay Luzbel even a little attention, everyone showed signs of discomfort, making her conscious of it.
Whenever Luzbel noticed those looks, he quietly withdrew on his own.
She felt somewhat sorry, but for now, it couldn’t be helped.
She thought it was understandable for them to be this petty.
Of course, if it went on too long, Edith would say something as well.
Anyway, she felt they didn’t need to go this far, but it seemed like they would keep acting like this unless she told them what kind of conversation she had today.
She understood that they were doing it because they cared about her in their own way.
“You do not have to be like this. Really, nothing happened.”
“That’s a lie.”
It was Ellos.
“It is not a lie.”
“Your expression wasn’t good when you came in. One of us should have gone with you after all.”
“No, really, it is not like that. I just heard stories about my childhood that I do not remember, so I became a little sentimental.”
“Stories about your childhood?”
“Yes. Well. The Marquis saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“What happened on the day I collapsed.”
“What?!”
The Duke and the Duchess shot up from the table.
Edith had been surprised too when she first heard it, but their reaction was even more intense than she expected, making her flinch.
“Oh, that startled me. I almost lost the baby.” (korean expression)
“What?!”
This time, Ellos and Theo also shouted.
“Gasp.”
Edith was truly startled and rolled her eyes.
“What?! Ah, my heart…!”
“A baby? Edith, a baby? What do you mean by that!”
“Huh? What did I say?”
Unable to say it out loud, they only opened and closed their mouths.
Edith retraced the conversation and realized she had said she almost lost the baby.
“But why?”
“…Are you… pregnant…?”
“Whaaaat?!”
Did the expression “almost lost the baby” not mean “I was startled” here?!
“Y-you, I will kill him…!!”
Huh?
Before anyone could stop him, the Duke immediately charged toward Luzbel.
“Aaah, Dad!”
Edith screamed in shock, and the table flipped over, turning the dining scene into complete chaos in an instant.
***
“Oh dear…”
Edith sighed as she applied medicine to Luzbel’s bruised cheek, which had turned bluish.
“It hurts, does it not?”
“It is fine. I would have done the same.”
“…Still.”
“Honestly, I was very surprised too. When you suddenly said something about losing the baby…”
Ever since she became Edith, there hadn’t been many chances for Luzbel and her to be alone together, so pregnancy in that time made no sense.
Luzbel would know that better than anyone.
“Still, there is one good thing. The Duke feels very sorry.”
“Yes?”
“I can finally be alone with you like this. Edith, do you know how much I wanted to be with you?”
Luzbel smiled faintly with his split lip.
“Ah… that hurts.”
He smiled, but soon groaned as blood showed again.
“…I like it too.”
“Right?”
In any case, it had been nothing more than a simple incident.
Edith insisted that she wasn’t pregnant, and that it was just an expression people used.
But in truth, such an expression didn’t exist here.
So she escaped the situation by making the excuse that her memories had become confused while she was in soul form.
In fact, the knowledge that “losing the baby” was an expression used when startled was from Aisha’s memories of her previous life.
Still, it was true that her memories had been confused…
“More importantly, you were really okay today, right? I was worried too.”
Luzbel asked carefully.
“Yes. I am fine. Did my expression really look that bad earlier? Everyone was worried.”
“It was not exactly bad, but… you looked like you had many thoughts.”
“Really?”
“It must be because there was a witness.”
“Actually, I was also worried about the Marquis.”
“The Marquis?”
Luzbel’s expression hardened.
“There is no need for you to worry about him. He is someone who hurt you while prioritizing his daughter’s safety.”
