This world was filled with contempt and malice towards Ines. Ines Swenden, a reckless woman who had fallen into a giant trap, ruined not only herself but everything around her.
As she reached the place where her husband's grave was, rain began to fall steadily. It was not easy to find a place she had only heard of and had never been to.
After passing three hills lined with graves, she walked along the drainage ditch and finally found her husband's grave. The drizzle that had been falling steadily was now pouring down enough to soak her entire body.
The moment she thought he was laughing as he raised his head stiffly, Ines’s body rose into the air with a thud. The horse, startled by the shrill screams of the women, crashed into the carriage and trampled Ines’ body, which had fallen to the ground. The surroundings became dark and her vision narrowed.
As she reached the place where her husband's grave was, rain began to fall steadily. It was not easy to find a place she had only heard of and had never been to.
After passing three hills lined with graves, she walked along the drainage ditch and finally found her husband's grave. The drizzle that had been falling steadily was now pouring down enough to soak her entire body.
He was someone she had once loved, but she could not shed tears in front of the grave. She was not in a position to buy even a single flower, so she offered herself as if she were a flower in front of his grave.
Joseph Benoit, 322-349.
Joseph Benoit, 322-349.
Even the resentment in his eyes lies here.
Ines raised her head with difficulty to see her husband's grave. Her face was too innocent to be called a murderer who had brutally murdered her husband and a great seductress who had many mistresses.
“Is this resentment directed at me, Joseph?”
The name she had called dozens of times a day ten years ago was stuck in her throat, her pronunciation slurred. She ran her hand over the name Joseph Benois. The wedding ring she had received from the prison guard twitched on her finger. When he proposed to her, he was 25 and Ines was 20. The following year, they were married, and the following year, he died.
“Did I really kill you?”
Ines slowly leaned against his gravestone. She had not expected warmth, but his gravestone, hit by the cold rain, was suddenly so cold that it gave her goosebumps.
“The whole world says I killed you. Everyone says that, so now I don’t know. I can’t trust myself anymore, Joseph. Is it warmer where you are?”
Of course, she couldn’t hear an answer, but she was annoyed at her husband who didn’t say anything. What on earth happened to him that day? Ines didn't even see her husband's body.
Before coming here, Ines had gone to Swenden Manor. Ten years ago, her home and the house where her beloved family lived happily. There, she met Susan, a former maid, and heard stories that were simply unbelievable. Her mother's death, the unification of Landhill, the confiscation of her title, and her father's suicide...
How on earth could the Swenden title, which had lasted for over 300 years, have passed to Benoit, a commoner? Did Joseph really have a twin brother?
Ines lifted her head to the sky with thoughts that she couldn't quite process. She couldn't breathe if she didn't do that.
Her body was shaking uncontrollably. Ines, who was looking up at the cloudy sky with no sign of calm, heard a hallucination in her ears.
'To such a beautiful and noble Lady Ines Swenden, how dare this poor and lowly Joseph Benoit... I want to propose to you.'
Joseph's voice rang like tinnitus in one of her ears, which had become hard to hear after being bumped around here and there in prison. She remembered his neat face as he shyly proposed to her, asking her to marry him.
However, her body, which was soaking wet and shaking, did not even allow her the strength to despair or be angry.
As the sun began to set, Ines got up and moved to go to the place where she had lived with Joseph. It was a place with terrible memories, but there was no place to lie down tonight.
After passing the familiar market and walking down a quiet road for a while, she would come across the place where the two of them had lived. Of course, there was no guarantee that the place had not been taken over by someone else after ten years.
The street had not changed much since she had thought. The familiar scenery, which made the long years seem insignificant, made her heart ache even more.
As she walked, dragging her injured foot four years ago, she began to see the house where she had lived in the distance. Although she could not guarantee anything, Ines put all her strength into it. But at that moment, she heard an unbelievable voice.
“Hey, 4568.”
The familiar voice chuckled, and she thought she was having a terrible dream.
“It’s true, they said I could see you here.”
Zemern Winningstone, the guard who had been madly obsessed with Ines during the ten years she was in Romfield Prison. She turned around, her body creaking, unable to move properly, and there he was, smiling cruelly.
Ines couldn’t even scream but froze in place. She trembled reflexively in learned fear. In an instant, a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. He pushed Ines close to the door of the house.
“I told you so. You can’t escape from me.”
Haa, the damp breath made her whole body shiver.
“I’m going crazy seeing you without your prison uniform.”
Zemern grabbed the doorknob to drag Ines into the house. The door opened with a dull thud and she fell to the floor.
Ines' left ankle, which had been severed by him four years ago, began to hurt sharply. He laughed like a devil as he watched her.
"Don't you wonder who told me?"
"..."
"Who could it be? Your dead husband."
At the same time, Zemern reached out to Ines again. However, she quickly rolled over and escaped his grasp.
He raised one corner of his mouth as if he found it funny, but Ines clenched her teeth. This was not Romfield, where running away from Zemern was useless.
Looking around, she saw some kindling lying around on the floor. Ines grabbed whatever she could find and swung it.
"Ahh!"
She ran through the door that was still open, leaving his screams behind her. The rain had gotten heavier than before, and the ground was covered in mud.
As she reached the street where people were busily coming and going, Ines looked around. However, she had no choice but to stop for a moment because of the carriages moving at a fast speed.
The moment the rainwater washed away her eyes, completely blocking her vision, Ines saw a familiar figure standing across the street.
“Joseph?”
Was this a vision that she had called out in desperation? No, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t the first time she had seen visions, but this wasn’t one of those illusions.
“Joseph.”
Although Ines’ voice couldn’t be heard from where he was standing, the man’s gaze shifted exactly to where she was.
Ines could feel it clearly at that moment. He hadn’t come to catch her, but he had been watching her the whole time she was running away.
“Joseph!”
When Ines called his name loudly, he quickly started to run away, hiding his face. She tried to move her body to catch him, but it was difficult to keep up with her weak legs. He headed toward the busier market.
Joseph kept looking back to see how far Ines had followed him, and when he saw her barely walking, he let out a snicker. When she faced his taunt, she felt goosebumps and stopped in her tracks.
Her legs were stuck in the swamp and she couldn’t move. If there really was a God, He would never be this unkind to her.
“Get out of the way. Get out of the way!”
At that moment, a strange man’s shout was heard amidst the commotion.
Joseph, whose eyes met, no longer tried to hide his presence and fixed his gaze on her.
Ines raised her head with difficulty to see her husband's grave. Her face was too innocent to be called a murderer who had brutally murdered her husband and a great seductress who had many mistresses.
“Is this resentment directed at me, Joseph?”
The name she had called dozens of times a day ten years ago was stuck in her throat, her pronunciation slurred. She ran her hand over the name Joseph Benois. The wedding ring she had received from the prison guard twitched on her finger. When he proposed to her, he was 25 and Ines was 20. The following year, they were married, and the following year, he died.
“Did I really kill you?”
Ines slowly leaned against his gravestone. She had not expected warmth, but his gravestone, hit by the cold rain, was suddenly so cold that it gave her goosebumps.
“The whole world says I killed you. Everyone says that, so now I don’t know. I can’t trust myself anymore, Joseph. Is it warmer where you are?”
Of course, she couldn’t hear an answer, but she was annoyed at her husband who didn’t say anything. What on earth happened to him that day? Ines didn't even see her husband's body.
Before coming here, Ines had gone to Swenden Manor. Ten years ago, her home and the house where her beloved family lived happily. There, she met Susan, a former maid, and heard stories that were simply unbelievable. Her mother's death, the unification of Landhill, the confiscation of her title, and her father's suicide...
How on earth could the Swenden title, which had lasted for over 300 years, have passed to Benoit, a commoner? Did Joseph really have a twin brother?
Ines lifted her head to the sky with thoughts that she couldn't quite process. She couldn't breathe if she didn't do that.
Her body was shaking uncontrollably. Ines, who was looking up at the cloudy sky with no sign of calm, heard a hallucination in her ears.
'To such a beautiful and noble Lady Ines Swenden, how dare this poor and lowly Joseph Benoit... I want to propose to you.'
Joseph's voice rang like tinnitus in one of her ears, which had become hard to hear after being bumped around here and there in prison. She remembered his neat face as he shyly proposed to her, asking her to marry him.
However, her body, which was soaking wet and shaking, did not even allow her the strength to despair or be angry.
As the sun began to set, Ines got up and moved to go to the place where she had lived with Joseph. It was a place with terrible memories, but there was no place to lie down tonight.
After passing the familiar market and walking down a quiet road for a while, she would come across the place where the two of them had lived. Of course, there was no guarantee that the place had not been taken over by someone else after ten years.
The street had not changed much since she had thought. The familiar scenery, which made the long years seem insignificant, made her heart ache even more.
As she walked, dragging her injured foot four years ago, she began to see the house where she had lived in the distance. Although she could not guarantee anything, Ines put all her strength into it. But at that moment, she heard an unbelievable voice.
“Hey, 4568.”
The familiar voice chuckled, and she thought she was having a terrible dream.
“It’s true, they said I could see you here.”
Zemern Winningstone, the guard who had been madly obsessed with Ines during the ten years she was in Romfield Prison. She turned around, her body creaking, unable to move properly, and there he was, smiling cruelly.
Ines couldn’t even scream but froze in place. She trembled reflexively in learned fear. In an instant, a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. He pushed Ines close to the door of the house.
“I told you so. You can’t escape from me.”
Haa, the damp breath made her whole body shiver.
“I’m going crazy seeing you without your prison uniform.”
Zemern grabbed the doorknob to drag Ines into the house. The door opened with a dull thud and she fell to the floor.
Ines' left ankle, which had been severed by him four years ago, began to hurt sharply. He laughed like a devil as he watched her.
"Don't you wonder who told me?"
"..."
"Who could it be? Your dead husband."
At the same time, Zemern reached out to Ines again. However, she quickly rolled over and escaped his grasp.
He raised one corner of his mouth as if he found it funny, but Ines clenched her teeth. This was not Romfield, where running away from Zemern was useless.
Looking around, she saw some kindling lying around on the floor. Ines grabbed whatever she could find and swung it.
"Ahh!"
She ran through the door that was still open, leaving his screams behind her. The rain had gotten heavier than before, and the ground was covered in mud.
As she reached the street where people were busily coming and going, Ines looked around. However, she had no choice but to stop for a moment because of the carriages moving at a fast speed.
The moment the rainwater washed away her eyes, completely blocking her vision, Ines saw a familiar figure standing across the street.
“Joseph?”
Was this a vision that she had called out in desperation? No, it couldn’t be. It wasn’t the first time she had seen visions, but this wasn’t one of those illusions.
“Joseph.”
Although Ines’ voice couldn’t be heard from where he was standing, the man’s gaze shifted exactly to where she was.
Ines could feel it clearly at that moment. He hadn’t come to catch her, but he had been watching her the whole time she was running away.
“Joseph!”
When Ines called his name loudly, he quickly started to run away, hiding his face. She tried to move her body to catch him, but it was difficult to keep up with her weak legs. He headed toward the busier market.
Joseph kept looking back to see how far Ines had followed him, and when he saw her barely walking, he let out a snicker. When she faced his taunt, she felt goosebumps and stopped in her tracks.
Her legs were stuck in the swamp and she couldn’t move. If there really was a God, He would never be this unkind to her.
“Get out of the way. Get out of the way!”
At that moment, a strange man’s shout was heard amidst the commotion.
Joseph, whose eyes met, no longer tried to hide his presence and fixed his gaze on her.
The moment she thought he was laughing as he raised his head stiffly, Ines’s body rose into the air with a thud. The horse, startled by the shrill screams of the women, crashed into the carriage and trampled Ines’ body, which had fallen to the ground. The surroundings became dark and her vision narrowed.
At that moment of death, Ines ironically recalled a verse from the Bible that she had held onto as if it were her life.
“If someone offers you his hand and asks you to walk ten steps with him, give him everything you have.”
Feeling the hot blood draining from the back of her head, Ines slowly closed and opened her eyes.
“But those who want too much will eventually return empty-handed.”
And then she saw.
Joseph Benois, who was laughing at her dying self, among the crowd of astonished faces.
Ines slowly regained consciousness and realized that she was not dead.
“Why is your fever not going down?”
But it was still a dream. Otherwise, she would not have heard this voice again.
“I’m really upset. Where have you been wandering around in this rainy weather?”
Without opening her eyes, Ines reached out and gently grabbed the hand touching her forehead. Even though it was a dream, she felt warmth vividly.
“Mother...”
Was God taking pity on her for pouring out resentment? What she felt under her palm was definitely her mother’s hand.
Her mother had passed away the year after Ines was imprisoned. So was she now following her mother to heaven?
Since her husband’s death, Ines had never had such sweet dreams. No, not even for a single day had she escaped the nightmare of that day, that courtroom.
Ines wanted to see her mother’s face, but she thought it would disappear if she opened her eyes, so she squeezed her closed eyes even tighter.
“What did you do right to cry?”
“Ugh, I was wrong. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
No matter how much she begged for forgiveness over the years, Ines always had to beg for forgiveness a little more.
“I know. Don’t cry. If you cry, your fever won’t go down anymore. This won’t work. I’ll have to go and get some more lukewarm water.”
As she said that, her mother’s hand that was under hers withdrew. Ines opened her eyes in surprise, but her mother had already gotten up and was walking toward the door.
“Mom?”
“Don’t get up. I’ll be right back.”
'No, no. Mom, don't go. Face, face... just let me see it once.'
As if someone had grabbed her neck, she couldn't speak, so she jumped out of bed to grab her mom and stepped on the floor. And at that moment, she realized sharply.
Everything she was experiencing right now was completely real.
She didn't feel any of the pain that had been piercing her ankles whenever she stepped on the ground. Startled, Ines stopped following her mom and looked down at her feet.
Her sight was filled with white, unscathed feet. Ines closed her eyes for a moment at the unbelievable sensation. She placed both feet on the floor, straightened her body, and consciously lowered her feet, and without any problem, her heels touched the floor. Ines' eyes widened at the familiar, soft texture of the carpet beneath her feet.
'What on earth is going on?'
At that moment, the door her mom had left opened again and the maid came in.
"Miss! Why are you up?"
"Susan...?”
“Oh, you don’t look okay yet. Go to bed and lie down. It’s time to take your medicine.”
Ines looked at Susan’s young face. Susan, whom she had met just a few hours ago, looked like a woman in her thirties at first glance.
Ines suddenly turned her head toward the fireplace. Of course, there was a family crest hanging above the fireplace. Ines felt dizzy when she saw the symbol and sank into the bed sheet.
“Are you okay, young lady?”
Susan approached her in surprise, but Ines raised her hand to stop her approach. Then she looked at the family crest again.
Am I crazy? Have I really gone crazy like Lena?
Lena Mariere was a woman who always laughed, making a strange sound like a giggle. She always sat staring at the wall in her cell and babbling nonsense.
If Ines hadn’t gone crazy like Lena, how could all this be possible?
But everything that unfolded before her eyes now seemed more terribly real than ever.
The aspen tree pattern, the living mother, Susan who had grown young again, and the ankle that was not sore.
The meaning of these vivid things was clear.
“Susan, you... how old are you now?”
“You are the same age as me, and you don’t know my age? I am twenty now.”
Ines Benoit, no, Ines Swenden, had returned to her home twelve years ago.
“If someone offers you his hand and asks you to walk ten steps with him, give him everything you have.”
Feeling the hot blood draining from the back of her head, Ines slowly closed and opened her eyes.
“But those who want too much will eventually return empty-handed.”
And then she saw.
Joseph Benois, who was laughing at her dying self, among the crowd of astonished faces.
***
Ines slowly regained consciousness and realized that she was not dead.
“Why is your fever not going down?”
But it was still a dream. Otherwise, she would not have heard this voice again.
“I’m really upset. Where have you been wandering around in this rainy weather?”
Without opening her eyes, Ines reached out and gently grabbed the hand touching her forehead. Even though it was a dream, she felt warmth vividly.
“Mother...”
Was God taking pity on her for pouring out resentment? What she felt under her palm was definitely her mother’s hand.
Her mother had passed away the year after Ines was imprisoned. So was she now following her mother to heaven?
Since her husband’s death, Ines had never had such sweet dreams. No, not even for a single day had she escaped the nightmare of that day, that courtroom.
Ines wanted to see her mother’s face, but she thought it would disappear if she opened her eyes, so she squeezed her closed eyes even tighter.
“What did you do right to cry?”
“Ugh, I was wrong. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
No matter how much she begged for forgiveness over the years, Ines always had to beg for forgiveness a little more.
“I know. Don’t cry. If you cry, your fever won’t go down anymore. This won’t work. I’ll have to go and get some more lukewarm water.”
As she said that, her mother’s hand that was under hers withdrew. Ines opened her eyes in surprise, but her mother had already gotten up and was walking toward the door.
“Mom?”
“Don’t get up. I’ll be right back.”
'No, no. Mom, don't go. Face, face... just let me see it once.'
As if someone had grabbed her neck, she couldn't speak, so she jumped out of bed to grab her mom and stepped on the floor. And at that moment, she realized sharply.
Everything she was experiencing right now was completely real.
She didn't feel any of the pain that had been piercing her ankles whenever she stepped on the ground. Startled, Ines stopped following her mom and looked down at her feet.
Her sight was filled with white, unscathed feet. Ines closed her eyes for a moment at the unbelievable sensation. She placed both feet on the floor, straightened her body, and consciously lowered her feet, and without any problem, her heels touched the floor. Ines' eyes widened at the familiar, soft texture of the carpet beneath her feet.
'What on earth is going on?'
At that moment, the door her mom had left opened again and the maid came in.
"Miss! Why are you up?"
"Susan...?”
“Oh, you don’t look okay yet. Go to bed and lie down. It’s time to take your medicine.”
Ines looked at Susan’s young face. Susan, whom she had met just a few hours ago, looked like a woman in her thirties at first glance.
Ines suddenly turned her head toward the fireplace. Of course, there was a family crest hanging above the fireplace. Ines felt dizzy when she saw the symbol and sank into the bed sheet.
“Are you okay, young lady?”
Susan approached her in surprise, but Ines raised her hand to stop her approach. Then she looked at the family crest again.
Am I crazy? Have I really gone crazy like Lena?
Lena Mariere was a woman who always laughed, making a strange sound like a giggle. She always sat staring at the wall in her cell and babbling nonsense.
If Ines hadn’t gone crazy like Lena, how could all this be possible?
But everything that unfolded before her eyes now seemed more terribly real than ever.
The aspen tree pattern, the living mother, Susan who had grown young again, and the ankle that was not sore.
The meaning of these vivid things was clear.
“Susan, you... how old are you now?”
“You are the same age as me, and you don’t know my age? I am twenty now.”
Ines Benoit, no, Ines Swenden, had returned to her home twelve years ago.
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