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Elizabeth touched her face.
For a face that had returned from the brink of death, it looked quite decent. She let out a long sigh.
She still remembered the dream she had that day.
It was a dream she had on the day she almost died.
It was a terrible fever. The healers Elizabeth's children had summoned all said she would die.
One day, two days, three days.
Within that time, Elizabeth's life would be cut short. Elizabeth touched her cheek once more.
It must have been about two months now.
The day she truly thought was her last.
"…Please save me."
"Please save me."
"Save Cerden… Save us. I don't want to die."
The face was blurry, but not so much that she couldn't recognize who it was. It was a face that had spread across the continent at the same time as her marriage.
Evelyn Spelman.
The woman who was now Cerden's wife.
She cried, begging to be saved, and clung to Elizabeth. The strength of her hand clutching her skirt was still vivid.
"I'll save you. So please save me. Please save Cerden."
She felt like she was being dragged into a sticky swamp. She couldn't shake off Evelyn's hand.
She couldn't ignore those eyes, filled with a strong desire for something.
"…Certainly."
Evelyn and Elizabeth were sinking together into that black swamp. It was clearly an unknown place, but there was no way not to know that the swamp was death. She just knew.
"You'll promise, right?"
When Elizabeth nodded, Evelyn smiled faintly and let go of her hand. That tenacious hand that pushed Elizabeth out.
She begged to be saved.
The small face that couldn't even grab Elizabeth's outstretched hand and shook her head.
Then Evelyn was dragged into the swamp all by herself. Supporting Elizabeth's feet and pushing her out.
After having that dream, Elizabeth survived. At a time when everyone had given up and was preparing for her death, she came back to life.
'The dream is related.'
According to that dream, which felt more real than reality, Evelyn should have died.
But Evelyn was still…
Elizabeth's gaze turned to the gossip magazines. Because she was concerned about Cerden, she always kept an eye and ear out for news from Lakeisha.
Gossip magazines plastered with Evelyn's photos were scattered everywhere.
Various events Evelyn had attended, photos of her standing side by side with Cerden, and sensational articles.
'She's alive.'
It was too vivid to just think of it as a vain dream. Elizabeth slowly stroked her arm, which was covered in goosebumps.
That's why she decided to go to Lakeisha as soon as she recovered.
Because of that dream that kept bothering her.
"…She asked me to save Cerden."
He was a child who had miraculously survived even though his father had driven him to the brink of death countless times. At the young age of 13, Cerden was standing on the edge of death. With a lost look on his face.
'Why are you here? Has your father finally gone mad? Is it something a parent should do, driving out a young child and filling their own belly? Let's go back. Can't I even take you back?'
'What happens after I go back? Will Great-Aunt continue to stay in Lakeisha?'
'I… I don't think that will work.'
'Then I don't want to go back. At least I've adapted here. I don't know where I'll go next.'
That skeptical voice. It was hard to believe he was a child. Of course, she had left because she didn't want to see her messed-up brother and his son.
But she never imagined that he would drive out his own child as well.
But Cerden stubbornly survived, and now he had grown into a grown young man. She had even confirmed that he had safely returned to Lakeisha.
"Hoo."
She had to go and check in person. To see that he was safe.
Perhaps this would be Elizabeth's last act in her life. To watch over that child, who was the only one to inherit Lakeisha's pride.
Elizabeth called the maids.
"Are you hurrying to pack? Tsk, there are so many things to buy. There's a lot to prepare since I'm going back after so long."
Her voice was slightly excited.
* * *
Marquis Raymond opened the door and came out again. The seclusion, during which he had closed the door for several days and refused visitors, was over.
It was a moment to make a life-or-death decision. The 고민 was fierce, and the choice was long.
"…Is your will firm, Hazel? Once you choose this time, you can never go back."
Marquis Raymond asked with a sigh. Hazel was the child who most resembled her mother among his children.
That's why she bothered him more.
Both of her marriages had fallen through. His heart ached because it seemed like his child's misfortune stemmed from him.
Hazel stared at Marquis Raymond with a haggard face.
"Yes, Father."
Hazel clenched her fist tightly.
Of course, she didn't like Augustine. But she decided to marry Augustine for the sake of the family.
And on the one hand, she wanted to show her fiancé.
That she would marry another man and be unhappy for the rest of her life and then just die. It was an irrational decision, but had she ever been rational since he left?
They had promised to be happy together for the rest of their lives, but he had left alone.
In the midst of despair and more despair, only Duke Spelman extended a hand. It didn't matter how much of a jerk Augustine was, or how disgusting he was.
She was going to show her dead ex-fiancé that she was becoming unhappy.
She wanted to teach him that it was all because of him, because he had left her to die.
But even that was ruined by Augustine.
Moreover, he had plunged Hazel's reputation, which was already at rock bottom, into hell.
She felt abandoned by the world. Just like he had abandoned her.
'Look at this, Damon. I can't be happy without you. I'm just becoming more and more unhappy!'
The aimless anger towards Augustine and the Duke Spelman family might have been stubbornness.
But there was nowhere to retreat.
"If I do something, there will be days when I forget."
"…Duke Spelman is not an easy person. He will think we betrayed him."
"I don't care. Let him think that. Duke Spelman was the one who broke off the engagement in the first place. I want to destroy Augustine. Why do I have to be unhappy alone?"
Hazel muttered self-deprecatingly. It seemed like the unhappiness of this world was always her share.
Augustine had eventually gained a new wife and left the capital.
Marquis Raymond's eyes, looking at Hazel, were filled with pity.
Hazel still hadn't escaped her fiancé's death at all. It was only natural, as he had taken up her entire life.
Marquis Raymond said with a sigh.
"Prepare to enter the palace."
Hazel nodded.
* * *
Perhaps Evelyn was the goddess of fortune who had come to him. Since meeting Evelyn, everything he wanted had been coming true.
Cerden's gaze turned to Marquis Raymond and the Marquis's daughter in turn.
"…I apologize for being late, Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
"No. I am grateful that you came. And I am grateful for the decision you have made."
His voice was much warmer than before. Marquis Raymond stared at Cerden with an uncomfortable face. Was he a man who could make such an expression?
Cerden, who had been like a cold ice block, looked human.
Besides, wasn't his voice usually emotionless and smooth?
"…No, Your Highness. I have only made the decision I had to make."
"In the future, Lady Hazel will be working with my aides. If she shows her abilities, she will receive better treatment. Of course, if she lacks ability, she may have to give up her position."
"I will work hard."
Hazel replied impassively.
Cerden smiled, creasing his eyes.
It was a smile that people said was like a viper. Regardless of how elated he was feeling these days, he had to drive the nails in properly.
To hold onto Marquis Raymond, he had to win Hazel's heart. He had the key to do so.
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