Misfortune 120

Chapter 120

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Roan, having been called out on his expression, stroked his jaw.

He couldn't tell what kind of face he was making. It had been happening often lately.

Sophie rolled her eyes blatantly at how that look must have appeared.

"Why don't you just be honest already? You're the one who wanted this ruin, after all."

"...."

"You think it's funny, don't you? Then just laugh openly."

It carried the implication that he should do just that. As if a slaughterer should be nothing but cruel and ruthless. As if any human traits like hesitation or indecision were utterly unacceptable.

"If you succeeded in your revenge, then show a face worthy of it!"

Sophie’s eyes, now bellowing at him, glinted with madness.

But no matter how much she pressed him, Roan couldn’t easily escape his confusion.

Until now, he had never considered Evan Eperne and his family separately. There had been no need, no reason to.

Even if the outcome was somewhat harsh for Marian, who was only guilty of marrying the wrong man, she too was ultimately an Eperne. Therefore, they were essentially cut from the same cloth.

He had never even considered the possibility that they could be separate entities with different stances.

"I ……………."

Sophie, who had been glaring at the hesitant Roan as if she found him disgusting, delivered a sharp rebuke.

"If it's just petty guilt, then drop it. That doesn't mean we're not your enemies."

"What?"

"At least it wasn't that bastard who got rid of your sister from Belfort Castle."

The voice, filled with rage, made Lena's words from long ago strike Roan's mind like a hammer.

“But that person was Count Eperne's man, right? Strange. As far as I remember, he mostly hung around with Aunt Sophie…”

The sound of teeth grinding echoed through the dim mansion.

"So it was you... who plotted to kill Lena?"

Roan demanded in a voice thick with fury. He had long since abandoned any pretense of polite address.

Sophie didn't answer yes. Instead, she smiled lightly, as if relieved. That was her answer.

Roan clenched his fist to keep his hand from reaching for the gun at his waist. His nails dug into his flesh, sending a sharp sting of pain through him.

"I merely finished what that incompetent fool couldn't accomplish. That idiot, trembling with rage at the insult of being sold, yet never once thinking to escape—he was never going to properly deal with your mother’s offspring."

"What bullshit are you talking about...!"

"Bullshit? It's the truth. I failed to finish the job back then, and now you've become the monster that will devour Eperne."

Her eyes, bloodshot and stained with hatred, fixed on him as if they would tear him apart.

"Yes. I should have... I should have disposed of you long ago. I should have made sure that woman's children never dared set foot in Belfort in the first place. I begged Lady Marian, telling her they would surely become a source of trouble, that we had to kill them immediately and wipe out their seed!"

Watching Sophie mutter to herself before suddenly erupting in rage, Roan lost all will to fight. She clearly wasn't in her right mind.

It felt like tormenting a wandering lunatic, leaving him only foul-mouthed and uneasy.

Deciding reason was futile, he sought to escape this torturous situation. Had it not been for the words that followed, he truly would have left.

"Because young lady Delnia happened to take a liking to a wretch like you…."

Her voice, brimming with injustice like a tragic hero toyed with by fate, made him sink back down. And it made him listen once more to this madwoman's lament.

"Even if Lady Delnia made a mistake, it was a terribly misguided one. That she only now realized her shame, and satisfied by that mere realization, she simply..."

"Shame?"

The word, so out of place, made Roan blurt out the question without thinking.

Fortunately, Sophie seemed too exhausted to be angry, and she accepted his words.

"Yes. Before that, the young lady was no different from a wild beast. Every time she was disciplined, she’d wail without a shred of shame, screaming until her voice gave out. You couldn’t help but see whose blood ran thicker in her veins!"

Sophie’s unhesitating use of such insulting language toward a noble lady made Roan’s face slowly stiffen.

Yet she remained utterly unconcerned. Perhaps he no longer registered in her awareness at all.

"That young lady began to change, all because of you. She endured harsh beatings without uttering a single moan, even hiding the fact to preserve her pride. Finally acting like a proper noblewoman."

"...."

"So it's no wonder Lady Marian, who worried about the filthy blood flowing through her veins, fell head over heels. Naturally, my sincere advice couldn't reach her ears either."

Unable to hide her displeasure, Sophie nodded her head, feigning magnanimity.

"Right. I understand perfectly. I was Lady Marian's one and only confidante. That's why I couldn't actively stop her. Using you for the young lady's training did prove effective, after all."

"….."

"But at some point, things started changing. More precisely……."

Sophie, who had been spouting unbearable words, suddenly fixed her gaze on Roan. Her eyes flashed with a fierce glint, as if to say, When did I ever seem out of my mind?

"It was when you started liking the young lady."

"………………What?"

Caught off guard by the accusation, Roan's tongue stiffened. He managed to stammer out a question, every sense numb as if he'd swallowed deadly poison.

"At first, I didn't believe it either. I thought the young lady might, but not you. At least, you seemed aware of the truth."

"….."

"That’s why we let our guard down. We thought, ‘How could he possibly like the daughter of his enemy?’ We held you in too high an esteem. Lady Marian was the first to spot that fatal flaw."

Sophie sneered sharply, twisting the corners of her mouth upward.

“Think about it. The young lady has thick blood running through her veins from a man whose life was ruined by his first love. If, in the midst of that, she were to even lock eyes with someone like you... Can you imagine how dreadful it must have been for Lady Marian?"

"...."

"So in the end, I had no choice but to step in. To take Marian's place once she finally realized my fears were justified."

The tone she used, as if attempting to murder those siblings was some divine revelation, was sickening.

Yet Roan couldn't refute those absurd words. He couldn't gather his wits at all.

So, in the end, it was all because of him.

Because he ended up liking Delnia, someone he should never have cared about.

The root of all this misfortune was that he...

Suddenly, nausea surged. His vision spun, his stomach churned.

He tried to shake it off—it wasn't his fault, he had no idea—but the voice clung thickly, refusing to let go.

"So, Roan."

Then, Sophie called his name. Very softly, with precise pronunciation. Though it was a name called countless times, somehow it felt like the first time she had ever properly addressed him.

His eyes, drawn by that unfamiliarity, trembled relentlessly yet managed to focus on her.

Within that gaze, she wore a haughty smile, like a victor.

"I will never forgive you."

Roan stared blankly at the woman who could say such things so casually.

It was all your fault. So you have no right to blame me. Carry the curse of a life that will never be forgiven, forever.

That's what the madwoman's eyes were saying.

"Ha…………."

A rough gasp and a hollow laugh tangled together burst from between his teeth.

Now, at this point, he didn't need some petty forgiveness. He wasn't afraid of her cursing him for life, or anything like that.

But even within that story, impossible to hear with a sane mind, one thing gnawed at him relentlessly.

"In the end, there was no one who cared about that woman (Delnia)..."

He muttered hollowly, like a man who had let go of everything.

The person he sought forgiveness from was never the madwoman before him.

That woman (Delnia).

The woman who had drained herself dry, trying to bear the endless torrent of his hatred.

But at least, before it came to this, he had thought of her only as a noble young lady, raised in a comfortable castle, loved and cherished.

Even if she wasn't the enemy's daughter, she was still a noble being he could never dare to covet.

Even her once-yearning for his love was dismissed as nothing more than a tantrum thrown by a spoiled child clamoring for a toy she couldn't have.

All those gestures were merely the whims of an arrogant young lady ignorant of the world—that's how it was written off.

But now, to hear that even that was false.

Then...