After finishing their conversation, the two spent a leisurely afternoon. Then, the man standing among the dense bushes staggered.
"...Get in."
Joseph, who had been standing behind, put Etienne, who was still not feeling well, into the cart. Leaning back weakly like a haystack, he covered his eyes with both hands. He had not suspected her at all, even when he had seen her kissing Count Noah.
He assumed there must be a reason for it. After all, Shioana wasn't the type of person to betray him.
'She probably said that because she couldn't withstand Eli's threats.'
Etienne slowly ruminated on the conversation the two had just had.
'There aren't many people to get along with in Regbell, so...'
He could not believe Shioana’s words that she had become close to him, a slave, because she could not overcome her loneliness, and that she had briefly harbored wrong thoughts as a result.
"The gentleman and the young lady are different from us."
Joseph, who was not very talkative, spoke briefly.
"The young lady will soon become Countess Noah."
Joseph's harsh words became a dagger that hurt him more than an unhealed wound. However, Etienne still could not abandon his affection for Shioana.
"..."
Looking down at his hand in stinging pain, he saw red blood flowing from the fingertip pricked by a rose thorn. Since some time ago, whenever he smelled the scent of roses, he could only think of Shioana, who had been weeping silently in the corner.
She was everything to Etienne.
***
Shioana did whatever Eli told her to do.
It looked pathetic, but it was the best she could do right now. Etienne could only be safe if she followed Eli's words.
'Look at yourself right now. Do you think you can be called a beautiful bride like this?'
She applied honey every night because of her damaged skin, and she ate diligently to gain weight.
'If you just keep doing what you do these days, you will soon be able to become a lady.'
In her lessons with Mrs. Hooper, she diligently learned the etiquette of high society. Although she had said she would quit, she stated that she would continue the lessons until her wedding. For the upcoming autumn wedding, she had a wedding dress made and selected a matching veil. She also faithfully wrote letters of gratitude for the gifts sent by Count Noah.
"I think a gift of a handkerchief embroidered with the Count's name would be meaningful.
"... Yes."
She did not enjoy embroidery at all, but she accepted it. While ordinary noble ladies would be embroidering or painting, she used to run and play in the fields. She placed a white practice handkerchief into the basket and picked up the needle. Because she was not used to sewing, the needle kept pricking her fingertips. Each time, Shioana quietly bit her finger.
"...Ah."
The metallic smell of blood filled her mouth, and Shioana could easily trace back to the past. Etienne had grabbed her wrist and brought his blood-stained finger to his mouth. Even now, thinking of that moment made her heart sink. The wet sound of him sucking her finger was vivid in her ears, and she could almost feel the sensation of the papillae of his tongue touching hers. It was the first time Etienne, who always acted so arrogantly, had blushed at her.
Much later, she found herself embroidering Etienne's name, not Count Noah's. It was rough, but it contained her heart.
"...Martha."
Martha, who had been making a quilt, stopped working and looked up. She felt she could tell what Shioana was thinking just by looking into her eyes. After all, these days, the young lady's only interest was that slave in the barn.
"Don't worry. I checked on it last night as well. Although it was a bit slow, it definitely looked like it was getting lower."
"...Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. If there's anything else you want to tell me, please give it to me. Understood?"
Martha added, worried that Shioana might go to a slave.
'I hope nothing bad happens...'
Actually, there was something she couldn't tell the young lady. He was always a wild man, but lately his energy had become even fiercer.
As he was leaving the food and medicine behind, red eyes blazed like hellfire through her shaggy black hair. She was so startled that Martha, who was backing away, almost fell over.
'I wonder what on earth you like so much about a man like that, young lady...'
Even though she had raised Shioana her whole life, it was truly something she never knew.
"Martha, I'll be right back."
Shioana, who had been silently sewing, broke the silence and spoke.
"Miss, let's go out together."
Martha jumped up as she put down the quilt piece. She had no idea how shocked she was the day she saw the young woman running toward the whip through the window, thinking she was going to lose Shioana.
"Don't worry. I won't go toward the barn."
She is not foolish enough to do such a thing, knowing full well that her brother is watching her. After all, all Shioana wants is to safely get Etienne out of there and escape this place together.
Until then, she was determined not to act rashly at all.
Leaving Martha behind, who had promised to follow her to the end, she stepped outside. The almost complete absence of cold air made it feel as though the peak of summer had arrived. Shioana took a deep breath at the scent of grass seeping into her nose.
The sky, mountains, and fields were all dyed blue, to the point where it was blinding.
“...It’s really pretty.”
Except her.
Shioana could not remember the time just a short while ago. How she had laughed, what she had liked, or how happy she had been.
Her back had almost healed, leaving behind an ugly scar. It no longer oozed, and it didn't sting even when the chemise brushed against it. However, it strangely burned and throbbed, so she had to take painkillers every night.
'Miss, is this all you can do with such a beautiful body?'
Martha choked up as she applied the lime, said to smooth the skin, to her back. She had never seen it before, but when she reached out and felt around, it was very long and bumpy. She would never be able to wear a backless dress again.
'Just in case, if the Count sees this...'
That night, Shioana flared up in anger at what Martha said.
'What reason would he have to see my bare back!'
In fact, Martha had done nothing wrong, yet she got annoyed for no reason. All of this is her fault. She ended up suffering from this nightmare because she was foolish, pathetic, and selfish.
'I have no regrets.'
Even if such a moment were to come again, Shioana would do the same. She would block the whip again and again to protect Etienne. And she would hold him with the red eyes in her heart.
'I must convey these feelings of mine to him....'
The problem was that it was impossible.
She wore a bitter expression as she fiddled with the handkerchief bearing his name.
She was pretending to prepare for the wedding because jer brother was threatening to harm Etienne. She was afraid that Etienne might misunderstand the situation. She wanted to have Martha tell him that all of this was a play, but she was hesitant to do so.
'Joseph was circling the barn like a hunting dog.'
Etienne was still in a position where he could not move freely, and she had no power to protect him at this moment. However, if Joseph were to overhear their conversation, there would be absolutely no hope left. Martha was currently searching far and wide to find Highbell's coachman.
'So, Etienne, please wait just a little longer, even if it's hard.'
After walking for quite a while, she arrived in front of an abandoned building.
"I never thought I would find my way here on my own two feet."
Shioana smiled bitterly as she arrived at the annex that had given her nightmares in her childhood. The image of her crying and pleading as she was dragged here by Joseph was still vivid in her mind.
"Brother! I won't do that again."
She begged for forgiveness unconditionally, without even knowing what she had done wrong. Yet, no matter how much she pleaded, she was never once forgiven. Shioana let out a small sigh as she recalled the woman of the past.
'...There isn't much difference between then and now. '
Nothing had changed about her pathetic appearance.
Shioana, holding the dress lightly, slowly entered the annex building. Leaving behind the hideously faded wallpaper, torn curtains, rattling windows, and layers of accumulated dust, she slowly headed toward the stairs leading to the basement.
Shioana's shoulders trembled slightly at the intensifying smell of mold. As she opened the unlocked basement door and stepped inside, her eyes welled up with tears
'...Etienne.'
The night they spent together not long ago felt like a dream.
He knelt down toward her as she sat on the bed and whispered softly.
'I offer myself to you today. Will you accept me?'
At his words, which sounded like a line from a beautiful poem, Shioana's heart felt like it would burst with excitement. As she retraced the perfect night the two had become one, Shioana leaned against the door and let out a sigh.
Even though she missed Etienne terribly, all she was allowed to do right now was to find places of memories and retrace her steps.
"It's too dark and messy."
That night, it had felt like the most precious sanctuary in the world, but this place she found alone was no different from a ruin where ghosts seemed to wander. As she fiddled with the handkerchief she had taken from her pocket, she heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs.
“...Who is it?”
It was a place that Eli used except to punish her, and where even the employees did not visit. Startled, she tried to quickly close the door, but it was of little use as the lock was on the outside.
Creak.
The noise of old hinges rang out, and a moment later, a truly ghost-like figure appeared. Even with its shabby appearance and disheveled hair, she recognized him instantly.
'...Etienne.'
The news she heard through Martha was woefully insufficient. She wanted to see him in person, hold his hand, and talk to him. But when she actually met him, she was speechless and couldn't say a single word.
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