Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: The Precipice
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A suicide note, written in advance as if she’d already resolved to die at any moment....
In my previous life, I suddenly remembered Evelyn, who had vanished around this exact time.
‘No way... did she kill herself in my last life?’
That seemed the most likely explanation.
She must have left behind a note boldly naming Nora Pelkan, hoping it would expose Nora’s misdeeds after her death....
‘But the Pelkan Baron Family? They would’ve swept it under the rug completely, no rumors leaking out.’
Even I, who had seen Nora Pelkan’s face often whether I liked it or not, had no idea if Evelyn had sunk into the earth or risen to the heavens.
‘The fact that Evelyn’s whole family suddenly fled into exile is suspicious too.’
I didn’t know the fine details, but one thing was clear: Evelyn hadn’t chosen to serve as Nora Pelkan’s maid out of fondness.
For a young girl to carry a suicide note around, despairing over her situation....
“Ah, this is driving me crazy. I shouldn’t have let her go.”
I’d meant to discreetly investigate Evelyn’s background, but I’d messed up.
I’d sent away a ticking time bomb of a girl who was ready to die at any moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your Highness, it’s urgent. I need to see Evelyn again.”
Lark frowned as I shot to my feet.
“You just fainted and barely woke up. Tell me what’s going on. I’ll look into it.”
“I think she plans to kill herself.”
“What?”
I waved Evelyn’s suicide note in front of Lark’s face.
“What....”
“I overheard something strange before she got locked in the closet. She said if she didn’t obey Nora Pelkan, her family would starve.”
I hurriedly threw on an outer coat and kept talking.
“Is the Torsso Baron Family in such bad shape?”
“Sorry I can’t help, but with so many families in the capital, I don’t know every detail. I only met that girl Evelyn today.”
“Oh, right.”
“But I can find out right away.”
“Thank you. First, though, we need to find Evelyn. She could act on impulse any time. Especially after everything she went through today.... Ah!”
As I rushed for the door, I stumbled, but Lark, who had come up close, caught me.
“Thank you.”
“It won’t be hard to find her. She hasn’t gotten far; we can catch up quickly.”
“She came with the twins in our family carriage....”
“That doesn’t matter. Randian.”
Lark quietly called his spirit’s name. I couldn’t see it, but he’d summoned it.
“As long as her feet are on the ground, finding her is easy.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
“Let’s go.”
Sensing my urgency, Lark didn’t ask more and led the way.
* * *
Clatter, jolt.
The carriage slowly climbed a gently graded snowy mountain path.
Evelyn stared blankly at the scenery of Lubon passing by the window.
Peaceful rooftops blanketed in white snow, contrasted by the steep mountainside where one misstep could send you plummeting.
‘Dying here wouldn’t be so bad.’
As the thought crossed her mind, the twins’ chattering voices reached her ears.
“What was the pig thinking, slinking off so quietly?”
“Obvious. Couldn’t yap in front of Crown Prince, so she played nice.”
“Wow. If that’s true, she’s a full fox now.”
“Annoying. No, how’d she get so chummy with His Highness?”
Lillia huffed indignantly, gnawing at her nails.
An angelically pretty face twisting into such a venomous expression. Evelyn thought.
“What’re you staring at!”
Lillia, catching her gaze, shrieked at Evelyn.
“You useless bitch. Do you know how worried I was because of you?”
“....”
“You weren’t stalling in front of His Highness just to make us look bad, right? We almost got caught!”
“....No. I was just... so, so scared... words wouldn’t come out.”
Riki, sitting beside her, turned to Evelyn with disbelief.
“Are you kidding? Scared of what? You said you’d play dumb if the investigators came.”
“....”
“God, you’re frustrating. Are you mute? Answer me! How does Nora keep a dimwit like you around?”
“Leave her. Like father, like daughter. Father’s a cripple, daughter’s mute.”
Evelyn clenched her fists at Lillia’s sneering words.
Her father, Baron Torsso, had been a member of the Emperor’s direct knight order and lost his leg in a war ten years ago.
Strangers spoke carelessly, but Evelyn had always been proud of her father, who’d sacrificed for the nation.
“What? Why the glare? Got a problem?”
“....”
Evelyn’s chest tightened, but she couldn’t retort and lowered her eyes. The twins snickered at her reaction.
‘Ugh, I hate them so much.’
Her father had earned his barony as an honorable imperial knight, but life after retirement was bleak.
The one who’d hired her job-hunting father was Count Pelkan, the trade magnate.
Rude and ill-mannered, but the only one to give work to a one-legged man.
“Do your parents know you’re waiting on that nasty bitch’s whims like a maid? Think how heartbroken they’d be?”
It wasn’t something she wanted....
For Evelyn to become Nora Pelkan’s plaything, lesser than a maid, was perhaps inevitable.
‘I wish time would stop.’
Or better yet, if the carriage just crashed on the way.
She’d have to return to Nora in the capital anyway, and Nora might beat her cheeks swollen upon hearing about today’s events in Lubon.
“Hey, kids.”
Staring vacantly out the window, Evelyn suddenly felt a strong impulse and spoke up.
“Could you let me off here? I feel sick and need some air.”
The twins made faces at the random request but soon lost interest and stopped the carriage.
They didn’t even ask how she’d get back, not sparing a glance.
Left like trash on the mountain path as dusk began to fall.
Gazing at Lubon’s snowy evening scene, Evelyn suddenly thought of Rubette.
“Tell me later. Whatever your situation is.”
Going into the closet willingly, lying after regaining consciousness....
Rubette must have guessed her plight and pitied her.
Even Rubette’s situation wasn’t great, bullied by the twins....
“Sorry.”
The memory of the locked closet made Evelyn’s chest ache.
‘Should I write that I’m sorry for locking her in?’
Evelyn patted her dress bodice and sleeves for the suicide note she always carried.
“Oh no.”
But it was gone, lost somewhere. And Nora Pelkan’s name had been written boldly on it.
“....”
Panic was fleeting. Nothing mattered anymore.
Crunch.
A footprint formed as she stepped into the snow.
Lubon Mountain, with its villas, had steep slopes graded gently for roads, with sturdy railings along the cliffs.
The railings were solid and tight, but if she tried, she could slip underneath and fall.
“Hehe, nice view.”
Bending low, Evelyn slipped under the railing and murmured at the vista below.
“Daddy....”
Calling out “Daddy” made tears well up.
“Sorry, I’m sorry.”
If she was going to die like this, she should’ve spat at those mean kids who insulted her dad.
Yeah, she should have.
With brief regret, Evelyn’s tightly shut eyes opened. Her vacant pupils held no light.
* * *
“How can kids be this vicious?”
In the carriage pursuing Evelyn, Lark clicked his tongue after hearing the story.
“I was so pure and kind at that age....”
Hard to believe a mere fifteen-year-old could be bullied into suicide.
Lark was angry yet incredulous.
“Kids these days are scary.”
“Yeah, now I get it. Locking you in a closet as a ‘joke’ says it all.”
I smiled but licked my dry lips. The snow slowed the carriage, making me anxious.
“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”
“I hope so....”
“Ah! Stop here!”
Suddenly, Lark halted the carriage mid-mountain path. Randian had located her.
‘No, Evelyn’s here?’
Peering out in shock, sure enough.
Beyond the cliffside railing, Evelyn balanced precariously, her back to us.
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
“Oh my god....”
“Duchess, careful!”
Lark tried to stop me as I flung open the door, but there was no time.
Steadying my near-slip on the snow, I stood firm and swallowed hard with tension.
Evelyn’s silhouette was precarious.
One step. Just one step forward, and her small body would plummet into the abyss.
Shaking legs barely moving, I closed the distance to Evelyn.
Then, cautiously, I called her name.
“E-Evelyn....”
She flinched, her back shuddering once, then slowly turned to me.