Misfortune 91

Chapter 91

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Delnia stared blankly with unfocused eyes at the spot where Marian's coffin had been buried.

The brief funeral, which barely met the formal requirements, was said to be so modest as to be pitiful.

And Delnia was unable to attend even that.

Perhaps that was why. The fact that her mother lay buried beneath the ground simply did not feel real. The idea that she was buried beneath the very ground she stood on.

In truth, everything was unfamiliar. The people, the scenery, the air—nothing felt familiar.

While her mother was being buried in this unfamiliar, barren land with no connection to her life, what on earth had she been doing?

She lowered her gaze slightly and stared blankly at her feet. Mud clung thickly to her shoes, as if she had walked into a swamp.

Then, the ground where she stood felt like a swamp. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn’t escape. It was a black swamp that swallowed people whole and then fell silent as if nothing had happened.

If she were to surrender instead of struggling, and sink into it... so that she could meet her mother again there...

"Delnia."

At that moment, Margaret gently pulled Delnia out of the swamp of her thoughts.

Delnia, who had been frozen like a statue, slowly turned around. Her eyes, as hazy as a cloudy sky, gazed at Margaret.

“Let’s rest at the convent for a while and then come back.”

“…”

“You look so tired. You can rest properly and come out again after the rain has stopped, right? Okay?”

Margaret, speaking in a pleading tone, firmly grasped Delnia’s hands.

Suddenly overwhelmed by the warmth, Delnia’s head dropped downward. Her pale hands, buried in Margaret’s healthy-looking palms, were as white as a corpse’s.

Perhaps it was not her mother who should have been buried here, but her.

“Yes. That’s right.”

However, despite the relentless despair in her heart, Delnia answered obediently.

There was no reason for Margaret to stand there with her any longer.

As they slowly made their way out of the cemetery, leaving behind muddy footprints, they entered the corridor leading to the convent entrance.

Sophie was approaching from near the entrance, carrying a suitcase that hadn’t been there earlier.

“Sophie.”

Delnia called out her name first, acknowledging her presence.

Sophie’s downturned lips curved slightly into a smile. But it couldn’t hide the bitter tone of her laughter.

“Since I’ve seen you, I’ll be leaving now.”

Sophie cut to the chase and immediately announced her departure.

Her translucent eyes, clear enough to see through, flickered slightly as they held her nanny’s gaze.

“Leaving…? Where to?”

“Of course, to Belfort. Where else would I go?”

Sophie shrugged her shoulders as if to say that it was obvious.

“I can’t return to Belfort Castle, but there’s a mansion I’ve prepared on the outskirts. Though the entire estate has been confiscated by the royal family…………they wouldn’t dare evict the owner, would they?”

“I see……………….”

Delnia replied weakly.

But the fact that Sophie had a place to return to was a relief for her as well. Plus, the idea of going to Belfort made her feel a bit envious.

I wish you’d take me with you.

She knew it was impossible. Yet she couldn’t help but feel like a child, wanting to throw a tantrum.

As Delnia swallowed the words that rose like tears in her throat, Sophie gave her a disapproving look. Then she blurted out a sullen remark.

“You’ll end up going to that bastard Roan, won’t you?”

Margaret, who had been glancing at Sophie disapprovingly from behind Delnia, covered her mouth with both hands a beat too late. She hadn’t realized that the derogatory term referred to her master.

“That’s not something I can decide…”

Instead of making a scene, Delnia hung her head like a child who had done something wrong and mumbled. She couldn’t understand why she felt like she was making excuses, even though it was the truth.

Fortunately, Sophie, who had regained her composure since their first reunion, no longer blamed her. Instead, she gritted her teeth and muttered in a cold voice.

“I wish he had just died with his parents back then.”

At those cursed words, Delnia’s head, which had been buried in the floor, snapped up.

Sophie continued speaking with the same expressionless face, showing no signs of being deterred.

“If that had happened, he never would have set foot in Belfort Castle in the first place. The sin of failing to properly stop Lady Marian back then has come back to haunt me.”

“What…?”

Delnia stammered. She doubted that the person making such harsh remarks in front of her was the same nanny she had known.

Regardless, Sophie ignored her and continued in a sinister voice.

“Well, the real problem was the Count. If he was going to cause such a scandal, he should have made sure to eliminate the entire family without leaving any room for mercy. How dare he even consider bringing that woman’s children into Belfort.”

As the intricate details that were hard to fully grasp spilled out of Sophie’s mouth, Delnia felt a momentary dizziness.

Closing her eyes briefly to steady her vision and catch her breath, she spoke again.

“Did you know? About Roan’s parents… who…”

“Of course. Thinking about what happened back then still makes me furious.”

Sophie scoffed dismissively at Delnia’s words.

"Your father was sold off to become your mother’s groom, yet he couldn't forget that one woman and made such a fuss. I thought I'd finally cut off that stubborn attachment with my own hands, but I never expected him to stab everyone in the back like that. There are limits to ingratitude."

As Sophie vented her open hostility toward the Count of Eperne, her body trembling, Delnia’s dizzy mind echoed the Count’s final confession.

“I wanted to love you somehow. But I couldn’t. Love isn’t something you can force.”

Had her father, who had failed to love her in the end, ever truly loved someone with all his heart, rather than forcing himself to do so?

And did her mother know that fact?

Perhaps their original sin began at that moment.

“That’s why I kept telling Lady Marian. We can’t just leave that brother and sister like this. Where will all that hatred go? Especially the brother—I kept saying he just didn’t feel right…”

Sophie, who had been rambling on endlessly as if venting her grievances, stopped speaking the moment she noticed Delnia’s eyes flickering.

“..................Well, what’s the point of saying all this now?”

Sophie cut off the conversation with a long sigh. Her shoulders, which had been raised in fierce condemnation, slumped again.

Then, suddenly, she grabbed Delnia’s hand, which was hanging limply.

As Delnia bit her lip to suppress a groan at the rough touch, Sophie placed something in her palm.

Delnia stared blankly at her palm, which had been released.

A letter. And a necklace and two rings.

All familiar heirlooms. Especially one ring, which bore the family crest of a house that no longer existed. It was a family treasure that Marian had always worn as if it were part of her body.

“I still hate the young lady who never once showed her face to Lady Marian….”

“….”

“Still, how could I refuse Lady Marian’s final request?”

As she listened to Sophie’s heartfelt voice, Delnia gazed at each of the jewels that Marian had kept until her final breath.

Finally, her gaze fell on the envelope. It was adorned with Marian’s elegant handwriting, which Delnia had once so desperately wanted to emulate.

“Perhaps Marian sensed this ending. The fact that she entrusted me with her will suggests as much.”

“….”

“Even in her weakened state, she must have exerted every ounce of strength to leave this behind.”

Delnia couldn’t bring herself to lift her head. She felt endlessly guilty.

Everything felt like her fault. No, that was exactly right. At least failing to protect Marian’s final moments was entirely her fault.

Sophie, who had been staring at Delnia with a complicated expression, turned her head away as if to avoid her gaze.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Her voice, sounding indifferent as if she were deliberately trying to cut ties, echoed through the air.

“Take care, Miss.”

Sophie’s final greeting did not continue. There was no mention of writing letters to each other, no common promise to meet again.

As if they would never meet again.

Delnia lifted her head slowly, as if spellbound by something, and looked into Sophie’s face.

Until just now, she had seemed tired and sorrowful. But now, looking closely, there was deep regret in every corner of her face.

As if she were an old person preparing for death.

Only then did Delnia finally realize. What Sophie was trying to settle was none other than her connection with Eperne.

So, this was her final meeting with Sophie.

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