DYBAR - Chapter 36 < It's Not Your Fault >

DYBAR - Chapter 36 < It's Not Your Fault >

Do Your Best And Regret It

It was her first time being alone in an unfamiliar room. Ethella clasped her hands together, suppressing her anxious heart. Her pink diamond necklace felt cold today as she held it there. Her throat was dry. 

She wants to drink some warm tea. The tea brought by the gruff-looking butler had already cooled down a long time ago. It's been quite a while since she's been here, but the door doesn't seem to open. 

As Ethella looked at the doorway with unconscious anticipation, a cold voice suddenly appeared in her mind.

"If you say you're confident you won't have any expectations, I'll let you in."

That makes sense. Ethella continued to look at the door. Ethella bowed her head again. Don't expect anything. Just coming here was too much for her, therefore. Don't expect to see her sister. 

Ethella continued to ponder the Grand Duke's words. As darkness fell, Ethella escaped from Madelein's mansion with the help of Veronica and Sally and arrived at Grand Duke Vikander's residence. There was no way to enter the tightly closed Grand Duke's residence. She just waited for her sister, who said was out, to come.

When a carriage stopped in front of the door, a cold voice poured over Esela's head. She looked up without thinking and saw Grand Duke Vikander reflected in the carriage window. 

He is a breathtakingly beautiful man. He's a man so creepy that it's hard to believe he's human at the same time. Normally, Ethella would have been completely frozen. But what kind of courage was it? 

Ethella said to the Grand Duke, clutching her pink diamond necklace.

Well, Ethella Madeleine meets the great hero Grand Duke Vikander.

"Just tell my sister that I'm here."

Ethella's voice that came out of her mouth was trembling badly, wondering where she had been taught to always be graceful and calm. 

As soon as Ethella finished speaking, the Grand Duke twisted one corner of his mouth and smiled. The red eyes looking at her flashed eerily. Ethella took a step back without realizing it because of the force that was pressing down on the person.

"If you're going to keep saying stupid things like that, get out."

That was the end of those words. Before Ethella could say anything more, the gate opened and the carriage drove away. A calm voice came from behind.

"What would you like to do?"

The brown-haired knight got off his horse, looked at her, and asked. Ethella spoke cautiously, feeling much more comfortable than the Grand Duke who used to freeze people.

"I came to see my sister. Can't you tell her that I'm here?"

Today might be her last chance. Since she sneaked out like this, she might have to stay at home from now on. Ethella had to look at her sister and say something.

However, contrary to Ethella's strong heart, the brown-haired knight stared at her and spoke bluntly.

"Do I really need to tell Lady Olivia that the princess is here?"

"Yes? What is that..."

What, a Lady? Her older sister is Princess Madeleine. 

Before she could point out the incorrect title, the brown-haired knight continued speaking in an indifferent tone.

"If the Young Lady knew that the Princess was here, she would. definitely want to meet you."

"But why!"

"Because she is kind. The Princess, who knew that, did not consider the Young Lady and came to visit her without any regard for your recklessness."

For a moment, Ethella felt numb, as if she had been hit in the back of the head. What does he know about strangers to be so rude? 

Ethella wanted to get angry right away, but her lips trembled. Ethella just wanted to offer her apology to her sister. She really has done so much wrong. She wanted to cry to her sister and ask for her forgiveness.

"The fact that you are here narrows down your options. Because, apart from deciding whether to see her or not, you are deciding whether to see her 'right now' or not."

But she didn't know that it would be a mistake to come to her sister without asking if she wanted to meet Ethella. There was not even a rebuke in the knight's voice as he spoke only the facts. 

When she came to apologize, it was something she never thought about. Olivia is her sister and Ethella doesn't know if she wants to meet her or not. How could anyone else think of it more than Ethella, and her family?

Ethella's head bowed softly. The knight who was watching this slowly asked again.

"...Don't expect the Young Lady to come out. If that's the case, you can probably have some tea and go. What would you do?"

There was only one answer Ethella could give. Ethella nodded her head weakly.

"Okay."

Ethella looked at the door several times. The tightly closed door remained as if it had never been opened in the first place.

Disappointment gradually piled up, but Ethella muttered to herself every time. She came in not expecting anything. Her sister might not come. The assumption that hit her heart so hard became increasingly true.

Ethella gently cupped her cooled teacup in her palm. Her cold feeling actually comforted her heart. Okay. Even if she had said she was meeting her sister now, she couldn't have been able to speak properly.

All she could say was that she was sorry. She's sorry for saying things she shouldn't have said to her sister, sorry for blaming her for her mother's death, and sorry for not being able to stop her father and brothers from treating her sister so poorly.

Every day Ethella played with her older sister, even though she knew Olivia would get scolded. She waited for her sister to come from the attic on the fourth floor. 

Suddenly, Ethella's eyes widened. Her grip on her teacup loosened.  Her older sister was only eight years old at the time. She's old enough to be scared of ghosts. Ethella too, feels uneasy about this unfamiliar room right now. Why did she never think that her sister would be afraid of ghosts? 

Her sister's face appeared in her mind. Olivia's face was always smiling from a step back. She wondered how her sister always had a smiling face. It must have been difficult for her because she was used to not paying a ticket. Among the things she passed over in vain, Ethella wondered how many things hurt her sister. 

The inside of her neck felt like it had been scratched by something sharp. The tip of her nose was tingling and ringing. She can't be like a fool and cry like this alone in the Grand Duke's residence. 

Ethella hurriedly got up from her seat. She didn't have the courage to see her sister today. Later, she said later she had to come back. Ethella had to write and send a letter that really expressed her thoughts about her sister, rather than the superficial apology she thought it would.

That was the moment when Ethella approached the door. As soon as the door opened, a familiar face came in.

"Uh, Sister."

"Ethella."

The person who opened her pretty green eyes wide in disbelief was Olivia. Ethella's mouth fell open as the thought crossed her mind that this might be her last chance. 

"Sister, I am here. There are so many things I feel sorry for sister. That's also why I came here now."

Her voice trembled to the point where it was unsightly. It was so rambling that she couldn't even tell what she was saying. Olivia looked at her without saying anything.

 It was her first time seeing such an emotionless expression, so Ethella was completely frightened. She looked like she was going to turn around at any moment and see her sister go. 

Ethella's heart sank. So she started saying what she wanted to say without even being able to organize it.

"... I came to apologize to sister. I'm sorry for coming so suddenly. But no matter how much I think about it, I shouldn't have said that to sister."

Ethella closed her eyes tightly. The words said were tangled in her head.

"Because of you, I really...nIs my mom dead?" 

"Don't touch me! You're dirty!"

"It was because of sister. Mother suddenly disappeared. It was all because of my sister!"

She was criticized carelessly and judged carelessly. How could she say something like that to my sister?

"I shouldn't have handed it over to my father and brothers after seeing what they were doing to my sister."

What would it have been like if she had taken her sister's side even once? If she said you were going to Veronia's tea party with her sister. Whenever her father didn't even pretend to see her sister's juice, she would give it to her father instead. Past events shattered like shards of glass and stuck in her mind. 

Irreversible events came flooding back to me.

"It wouldn't have been okay for my sister to have had a hard time at the imperial palace instead of me."

"..."

"It wouldn't have been better if only sister had been in the scary attic on the fourth floor."

The more she talked, the more she couldn't open her eyes and see her sister's face. Ethella's voice gradually became calmer. She shouldn't cry. She still has so much to say. Suddenly, Ethella opened her eyes. If this was the last time, she wanted to at least see her sister's face. 

The moment she raised her head and faced Olivia, Ethella had no thoughts. The last time she saw her sister's face had turned pale. She now had the prettiest glowing look she'd ever seen her. As if she was most comfortable here. And as soon as she noticed it, Ethella chewed her lips. Because she bit down really hard and it didn't hurt. Ethella muttered.

"Oh, what should I do?"

It was a trembling sigh as if she didn't know what to do. The bridge of Ethella's nose turned red, and soon transparent tears began to well up in her purple-amethyst eyes.

"I'm sorry, sister. I'm really, really sorry."

Ethella swallowed a sob and pulled the sleeve of her dress to wipe her face. It was by no means an impulse that Olivia, who had been looking at her blankly, grabbed her arm. When Eshela looked at Olivia with that surprised look on her face, only then did Olivia's disturbed mind settle down just a little.

Although she could not understand everything Ethella was saying. Olivia slowly lifted her finger. She then slapped Ethella's pretty round forehead.

“Ah!"

Suddenly, at night, Ethella stopped crying and looked up at Olivia. Olivia broke her stern face.

"What you said wrong really wrong,  Ethella."

Olivia was very, very upset. Esela's words came to mind and tormented her for a while, but Olivia tried to swallow them down. Even Ethella's attitude of not listening to her. It seemed like the same thing happened to Ethella that came to mind at that time.

Tears welled up in Esela's eyes again.

"However... For anything else..."

Olivia paused for a moment. Besides what Ethella said to her, she said that Ethella was sorry.

"Anything else, it's not your fault, Ethella."

"No. And all that..."

Ethella shook her head and spoke again. Olivia lightly grabbed Ethella's shoulder. Ethella's body was hot, perhaps because she was crying. Just like she was when she was young. 

So Olivia could speak more clearly.

"Ethella, it's not your fault."

"This is not your fault, kid."

The Duchess appeared on Ethella's face.

A kind, and infinitely elegant person. The one who never blamed Olivia even with her crying face. She knew it when she grew up. How difficult it was for her to blame her husband, the Duke of Madeleine, for me, who was the easiest person to blame. 

Olivia would be lying if she said she didn't hate Ethella. But at least she didn't want to put all of her faults on Ethella. Because she was told so by the Duchess. That's why the Duke hates her, and why Conrad and Jade despise her. It was also in the scary attic on the fourth floor.

"Because you apologized for what you said. I am okay."

Everything was the Duke's fault, and it was Conrad and Jade's fault.

"So don't cry."

Olivia told her not to cry. As soon as Ethella heard those words, she began to cry louder. Tears continued to flow down her round face. If she cried like that, her head would hurt. Olivia reflexively tried to wipe away her tears but stopped. She hadn't cared for Ethella in a very long time. 

If she approached Ethella, she would say no, she thought. But she wasn't anymore. Olivia awkwardly patted her shoulder. She did it once, twice. Ethella's eyes were wide and irritated. Suddenly Ethella hugged Olivia. Her unfamiliar warmth enveloped Olivia, and Ethella, who was crying at the same time, patted her back. Olivia always thought she was young, but she hugged her because Ethella's arms were warm. This hand patting her feels awkward. 

Olivia hugged Ethella without realizing it. When her warm warmth spread outward from the center of her palm for the first time in a very long time, Olivia's face began to get as wet as Ethella's.

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