Chapter 24

Thanks to everyone's support, the book is being published! Thank you so much.

This time, I will post a side story from the stepmother's perspective.

The scenes from Lewis and Kanan's perspectives have been expanded in the book.

"Sir, Cynthia is a holy maiden, isn't she?"

During the holy maiden ceremony, I repeatedly asked Daniel, and each time he answered with a frown, "It's fine," I felt a sense of despair. Because I knew.

—This man frowns when he lies—

I met Daniel at the royal academy.

Of course, I was well aware that a mere baron's daughter like me could never match a duke's son like Daniel. In reality, Daniel was always surrounded by marquises' and earls' daughters, who were potential fiancées.

But Daniel found me.

I don't know what triggered it or what about me touched him, but Daniel started to pay attention to me, neglecting the other young ladies. Sometimes he even insulted them for things that weren't even their fault.

So I saw it as an opportunity. Perhaps I could become a duchess. Yes, my feelings for Daniel were not love but calculation.

Soon after we turned 20, Daniel's parents suddenly died. Daniel, the only son of the ducal family, was supposed to have a bright future. The poor Daniel, who lost his parents in an accident.

But there were no nobles in the kingdom willing to help Daniel. The parents of the potential fiancées, who had been neglected by Daniel in favor of a baron's daughter, had given up on him.

Daniel said he had been betrayed by the adults he trusted, but it was all due to his own arrogance.

"…If I don't get help, I'll be ruined."

The night before he went to the empire to seek aid, Daniel came to my family's house and said this, trembling before my eyes. Despite always feeling only calculation towards Daniel, I was moved by the sight of that arrogant man showing his weakness to me alone.

I couldn't shake him off when he hugged me and ended up accepting it.

"If you don't get help, you can just inherit this baron's family, can't you?"

I even said something like that. Daniel looked relieved and said, "Thank you."

"That might be a good idea."

Daniel's words were not a lie. I never thought he wouldn't come to see me again after that.

"The Silver Duke's family seems to have recovered with the help of the baron's family from which the new duchess came. Moreover, the new duchess is already pregnant."

By the time such rumors reached the countryside, I realized I was pregnant. So I felt even more "unforgivable." I thought about Daniel, who had been with other women during his travels, and the loose women who had been with him.

"I'm pregnant."

—With all my courage, I went to see him, gripping my trembling hands, and my twisted smile, which I had forced myself to make, how did it look to Daniel?—

"…I'm happy."

Despite his words, Daniel's frown made me feel even more "unforgivable." I had thought, even if the ducal family fell, I would still be with Daniel.

Why should a woman who wasn't even loved by Daniel get to marry him just because she was pregnant first and had a wealthy family? She must be a wicked, ugly woman. Gradually, my hatred for Daniel turned into hatred for the other woman.

But the first time I saw that woman…

I saw her at a garden party at the palace when Cynthia was 5 years old. She was completely different from what I had imagined, very beautiful, and, shockingly, very happy. She smiled at her daughter as if she were the happiest person in the world.

—That smile was supposed to be mine—

I felt a strong sense of "unforgivable." My blood boiled. But when I realized Daniel was looking at her with a loving gaze, my feelings turned cold and icy.

"Do you love that woman?"

I asked Daniel for the first time. I had always thought it was just a one-night stand or for her family's money, so I never thought I needed to ask.

Because, of course, it couldn't be.

"I can't possibly love her."

But Daniel's frown told me otherwise.

Was it because she was pregnant? Was it for the aid? The idea that he loved her was such a betrayal. From then on, I never stopped hating her.

When I heard she had died, I felt a deep sense of relief. But when I saw her child at the mansion, a child who looked just like her, I couldn't control my hatred.

Strangely, Daniel, who was supposed to love her, doted on my child more than hers.

—So I poured all the hatred I had built up over 10 years, and all the hatred I couldn't direct at her, onto Margaret—

I fired all the sympathetic servants. The more I hit Margaret with a ruler, the more I felt a sense of retribution for my past self.

But no matter how much I hit her, I saw Margaret smiling in my mind. I remembered her happy smile from the garden party with her mother. If Margaret smiled, I might lose Daniel again. So I desperately tried to take away her smile, hitting her over and over.

When Margaret's engagement was broken and Cynthia was chosen as the prince's fiancée, I thought I had won.

"I finally won in my life."

But the joy of victory was short-lived. Suddenly stung by a bee, I screamed in pain and realized something.

—Only my back was stung—

It was a terrifying realization. What I had done to Margaret was coming back to me. At that moment, I finally realized something very obvious.

—Being hit hurts—

But I had always hit Margaret. My eyes were so clouded with hatred that I had forgotten such a simple truth.

"Someone, help me!"

I heard Cynthia's voice, but I knew it was too late. I had never stopped hitting Margaret, no matter how much she screamed in pain, until I was satisfied.

Since that day, I have always feared that Margaret would take revenge on me. I might have been abandoned by Daniel because of that woman, but my heart, stained with hatred, had done irreparable damage.

When Cynthia broke the "Holy Crystal," Daniel said without a frown, "This is the end. Everything."

Those words were more devastating than anything Daniel had ever done.

—Even though I'm here? Even though I'm right next to you?—

Even now, I'm always next to Daniel. So, is this the end for Daniel, even with me here? Is this all I am to Daniel?

I must have been wrong about everything.

I shouldn't have hated the woman Daniel loved. I shouldn't have hated Margaret, who was only Cynthia's half-sister. I should have been angry. I should have been angry at this unfaithful man who only came to me when he was weak and then easily abandoned me. If I had forgotten my hatred before it turned into anger, perhaps I could have laughed off my own naivety someday.

But I will never be able to laugh off my past. I can forgive what others have done to me, but I cannot forgive what I have done to others.

I will have to carry the weight of what I did to Margaret for the rest of my life.

Dazed, I watched the "Holy Crystal" shine miraculously and return to its original form.

Today, I will also post "【Book Release Celebration】Margaret and Lewis' Happy Daily Life," so I hope you will read it as well.