DYBAR - Chapter 32 < On The Way To My Sister >
Do Your Best And Regret It
"Miss, Please eat just a little bit of this, yes?"
A dark room with curtains blocking the sunlight. Veronica braced herself and held out a bowl of soup. The cooled beef and potato soup, deliberately not hot, was also Miss Ethella's favorite food. But the Young Lady only shook her head and did not take the bowl. Her face, shadowed by her long hair, looked paler today.
"Miss, Why are you doing this?"
Veronica was on the verge of crying. She is upset that the girl who always smiled like sunshine has lost her smile and has already skipped several meals.
Considering that she hasn't been able to eat properly since the day the eldest Princess left...
Veronica swallowed back tears.
"Veronica, I have to go to my sister."
In the end, Veronica burst into tears in a faint voice that seemed to be dying out.
"I said you shouldn't say that. Because of those words, the Duke ordered you to be placed on probation, Miss."
"Sister!"
A few days ago, the Duke was very angry when Ethella said that she would go to her sister. Perhaps because he could not control his anger he's being harsh to Ethella for the first time.
"What business is there with her?"
"I have something to say to my sister, Father. "I really have something to say to her."
"No way. Before you change your mind, Ethella, you must know that you cannot even take a single step out of the room!"
Even though he was rumored to be as cold as ice, the Duke was always a gentle father to Ethella. Despite facing her father's fiery anger for the first time, Ethella never changed her mind.
The final punishment was probation. Veronica was ordered to watch over Ethella while she was on probation.
She couldn't help feeling upset in this situation. Without realizing it, Veronica repeated her words as if she were complaining and filled with tears.
"This is all because of the Big Princess. If only she weren't the Crown Princess."
"No. This is because of me, Veronica.
"Yes?"
It was a solid voice that Veronica had heard for a long time. Veronica stopped crying without realizing it and looked at Ethella. Ethella took something from under her pillow. It was a pink diamond necklace that she held tightly in her hand every time she fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Even when I was young, I used to stay in the room with Brother Jade like this and played with my sister."
Her second brother, Jade, who is five years older than her, complained a lot whenever she got off guard. However, the two did not give up secretly going to hang out with Olivia. One day it was bread, another day it was soup in a concave bowl, and one day it was with crayons and paper.
"But one day, Brother Jade stopped going to see my sister."
Jade, who loved playing with Olivia so much, suddenly changed his attitude one day. She was Jade when she was just ten years old.
There was longing in Ethella's gaze as she talked about the old days. Her purple amethyst eyes, which had been cloudy, gradually became clearer.
So Veronica kept her mouth shut even about this absurd story. She had a feeling what the outcome of this story would be, but she had no intention of stopping the bright Young Lady for the first time in a long time.
"So what would I have done? I should go alone."
Ethella wrinkled her nose mischievously. She said the reason Ethella, a heavy sleeper, beat her first sleepover was so she could sneak out and play with her older sister.
"My sister's room was in the attic on the fourth floor of the mansion, right? Veronica will know too. On the fourth floor."
"Are you saying there is a ghost?"
"Yes, that."
Ethella chuckled at Veronica's answer. She doesn't know who started the rumor, but it was effective for young Ethella. When she went with Jade, she didn't mind, but when she actually went alone on the fourth floor, it was different.
The atmosphere on the fourth floor was so eerie that it sent shivers down her spine. Stairs that seemed to make a strange creaking sound. It seemed as if a hazy ghost would really appear before her eyes.
Five-year-old Ethella repeatedly walked up to her older sister's stairs to visit her. Of course, the result was a failure every time.
"Then one day, I was standing on the stairs. There's a creaking noise coming from above. I just closed my eyes and cried, thinking that a ghost was coming down and eating me."
The reason Ethella remembers so clearly that day when she couldn't even make a sound and cried, was because of the next scene.
"Then my sister appeared."
Ethella muttered dreamily.
“Ethella?”
Olivia, who appeared with only a candle holding a candle, looked like a hero. She is a hero who proudly appears from the fourth floor, which seems to be inhabited by ghosts.
Was it because she was relieved? Or maybe it was because of the face of her sister she hadn't seen in a long time. At that time, Ethella burst into tears. Through her blurry vision, she could clearly see that her older sister was at a loss.
"But even though I was crying, she wouldn't hug me or comfort me."
"..."
"I don't know how sad it was. So I cried louder on purpose?"
"Ethella, don't cry."
In the end, Ethella won. Her older sister, who had been struggling for a while, hugged her again. She wiped away her tears and even invited Ethella to her room.
It's smaller than her room but comfortable. That place was her sister's room. After that night, an unspoken secret arose between Ethella and Olivia. Late at night, Olivia would sneak down the stairs without anyone noticing her, and Ethella would rub her sleepy eyes and wait for her older sister to pick her up.
Ethella smiled faintly as if she was remembering old times. Then, when she made eye contact with Veronica, Ethella smiled a secret smile, the kind reserved for people sharing her secrets. And she slowly confessed her secret.
"I was a really bad kid."
"Yes?"
Veronica, who had been listening to the sudden confession, opened her eyes wide.
Lady Ethella is a bad girl. She was talking nonsense. Everyone loved Lady Ethella. She is as bright as the sun and as lovely and kind as a tulip in full bloom. But Ethella shook her head.
"I am actually bad."
Veronica held her breath as Ethella's voice deepened. Ethella said slowly, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"I knew that my sister got scolded every day after playing with me."
At first, it felt like a vague shape. Things like her sister's dark expression and her father's clicking his tongue. But things that were vague, like fog, became increasingly clear.
She heard a sharp voice calling her sister's name, saw her brother hiding her sister's book, and saw her sister standing alone at a distance in the warm evening when her family was gathered around. Meanwhile, Ethella noticed. She says this happens every day after she plays with her sister.
"However, my greed prevented me from giving up playing with her sister."
Esela's voice, which had been trying to pretend to be bright, gradually became calmer. The bridge of Veronica's nose also became cold.
"My sister always told me to sleep well at night. Even though I forced myself to go visit my sister."
Veronica hated the Eldest Princess. The Duke always told the Eldest Princess to be careful not to expose Lady Ethella in a bad light.
One day the Grand Duchess may give Lady Ethella hurt.
"My sister didn't even notice anything like that and got scolded by herself."
But suddenly Veronica had this thought.
"I couldn't tell her at the time. Saying thank you and saying sorry. It was because I was young back then."
"Ethella must never know."
Even though she knows everything, she loves her sister like this.
"But now you're all grown up."
What more should I monitor? Veronica's eyes trembled. Ethella raised her head. Her face, marred by her tears, looked longingly at Veronica.
"Now I have to tell my sister, Veronica."
The voice was clear and strong. Because that's what Lady Ethella is like. Veronica thought her prediction was correct. She shouldn't have listened to the story at all.
She grumbled inwardly, but Veronica's heart had already given up.
"Therefore. Help me just this once."
In fact, the hard-looking Veronica never completely defeated Ethella. Veronica was always helplessly on Ethella's side. So she was the same this time too.
"... Please finish your soup. And, and let's go."
Veronica turned her head as if she couldn't bear it anymore. Ethella smiled brightly, her tear-stained face.
***
Inside the carriage returning from the Imperial Palace to the Grand Duke's residence. I looked out the window as things changed rapidly.
As soon as I realized I was out of the imperial palace, I quickly relaxed. My body was tired, but she did not want to lean against the carriage. I actually wanted to straighten my posture even more.
"You said you were tired. Lean back a little and rest."
It was because of Edwin sitting right in front of me. Looking at his worried face, I shrugged my shoulders as if it was no big deal.
"I'm not tired."
"Really? Your face feels paler than usual."
Edwin muttered to himself. The languid voice was somehow more pleasant to hear than usual.
"Maybe it's because of the dress."
"A dress?"
Olivia said, looking at the dark blue dress.
"Yes. Because it's a deep indigo color, my face may look whiter than usual."
"The Princess is only looking for dark-colored dresses, right? I guess that's why the Princess looks pale now, aside from your whiteness."
Why did I remember a secret I heard at a boutique before Debutante?
At that time, I didn't know how to ignore other people's words, so my heart ached quite a bit. I thought I was going to get upset again. It was strange. The words that were hurtful back then have now been transformed into great answers, but I didn't feel offended or hurt. It was a strange feeling.
I've heard it so often that it can't even hurt me anymore. Or not?
I raised my head naturally.
"Then your clothes are wrong."
"Yes, yes?"
I, who had been answering without thinking, opened my eyes wide. My clothes were wrong. What nonsense is he talking about?
But Edwin shrugged his shoulders casually.
"I blame the clothes for making me keep asking the Young Lady if you're tired."
I laughed and cleared my throat loudly. It hurt my pride that I thought something like that was funny.
"I guess you like jokes."
"I like it, though. Was this serious?"
"Are you saying my clothes were wrong?"
When I looked at him with an expression of astonishment, Edwin nodded with an expression of wonder.
"Yes. In that sense, would it be okay to stop by Lheirn for a while? Fortunately, the Young Lady is not tired. Because you wore the wrong clothes. Right now, let's put together a few dresses for the Young Lady."
Anxiety crept up behind my back. I had already checked the dresses in the closet to see how many dresses were in the standard of the sweetly smiling man. But before I could protest, Edwin knocked on the coach's seat.
"Go to Laheirn Street."
"Yes!"
The coachman's lively reply continued. Edwin smiled brightly.
"Sobel already said he wanted to decorate a new dressing room in the room next to you. It went really well."
The corners of my mouth slowly turned up as I looked at Edwin as if I was dumbfounded.
"I'm only going to choose the really good ones."
"Is that really what I want?"
I chuckled. As long as I was next to that man who gave me sly remarks as if it were obvious, the sharp, dagger-like stares and harsh words seemed to turn into nothing.
That's probably why. The reason I wasn't upset when I met Conrad today is.
Before I knew it, I felt like my fatigue had gone away. I laughed, fully enjoying this pleasant pounding feeling.
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