Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: The Seeds of Jealousy
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Ella flinched, her shoulders hunching. She knew exactly what she had done wrong.
But…
Did she really deserve to be condemned like this?
Ella felt wronged. He could only say such things because he had never been in her shoes.
She had been abandoned simply because she was of mixed blood, born of another clan.
Could he even begin to understand how desperately she longed to return home?
Ella bit her lip, hard.
"...I never dreamed Lady Estella would end up like that. That wasn't what I intended...!"
"Watch your tongue."
"Hkk!"
Ella gasped, her breath catching in her throat. She heaved for air.
Bound by pheromone-suppressing stones, she shouldn't have been able to feel anything, yet she knew Kaide's pheromones were constricting her throat.
Kaide sat serenely, but he was seething with rage.
His red eyes were cold and sunken.
Ella instantly understood what had enraged him.
Kaide didn't want Estella's name to pass her lips.
*Thump.*
The pressure on her throat released, and Ella's body crumpled to the ground.
As she struggled to catch her breath, Kaide spoke in a low voice.
"I still have much to hear from that mouth of yours."
"Haa... Heuk..."
Ella felt a surge of injustice. It wasn't that she felt no guilt. She had even regretted her past actions.
But Estella's death was not her fault.
"Th-the madam's death... it wasn't my fault. It was..."
"An accident that occurred while Estella was giving birth to the heirs, you mean?"
"...Yes."
It was true she had intended to swap the heirs, but she truly felt wronged about Estella's death.
At the time, Estella had exhausted a great deal of her pheromones giving birth to two heirs.
Even the most skilled physician would have been helpless.
But Kaide, it seemed, did not think so.
Ella grew frantic.
A wave of fear washed over her—the fear that she might not leave this place alive.
"I-it's true, the madam passed away after giving birth to the young masters. ...I-if she hadn't, how could I have possibly placed the egg in the basket?"
And so, Ella began spouting whatever excuse came to mind.
Durias couldn't harm her without permission, but Kaide was another matter.
If he changed his mind, it would all be over in an instant.
As Ella offered her plausible excuse, Kaide showed a flicker of interest.
"Indeed. If Estella had been alive, you wouldn't have been able to pull such a stunt."
"That's right. If the madam had been alive, how could I have possibly dared to lay a hand on the basket...!"
Before she could finish, she was slammed into the wall by Kaide's pheromones. Ella coughed violently.
"*Cough! Cough!*"
Ella's eyes flew wide with shock. She stared at Kaide, her expression one of utter bewilderment.
"The physician told me."
"...W-what are you..."
"That just before she drew her last breath, she released her remaining pheromones outward."
"Th-that... that was... That was the madam..."
"Worried you would switch the eggs, she summoned the clan members."
"...!"
Listening to Kaide's words in a daze, Ella's eyes trembled violently.
Kaide, sitting just outside the cell, betrayed no emotion.
The fact that he remained so rational was, in itself, terrifying.
Ella was reeling from the shock.
Did this mean he knew everything all along and was just pretending not to?
A chill ran down her spine.
"You managed to mix the eggs, but you didn't have time to make the switch."
"..."
"And since there were three eggs in the basket, no one questioned her death."
The hidden truth was revealed, piece by piece, from Kaide's lips.
The color drained from Ella's face.
"That's not true! The madam definitely... she definitely passed away after laying the eggs!"
"Let me give you a warning," Kaide said, cutting through Ella's shriek.
"If you don't want to be fed to the snakes alive, it would be in your best interest to tell the truth."
*Thump.* Her heart plummeted. Her vision went black. All hope was lost.
Ella broke down, letting out choked sobs.
"Wh-what did I do that was so wrong! What did I do to deserve this!"
She buried her face against the floor, curling into a ball as she began to wail. The sight of the cowering beast made Kaide's expression twist in disgust.
"I haven't done anything wrong... Why!"
The veins in her neck bulged as she thrashed, her eyes wide with defiance.
She had done nothing wrong. It was unfair. So, so unfair.
It was her circumstances that had forced her to harbor such dark thoughts. Why was she, the victim, being blamed for this?
Ella's mind drifted back to that day.
"Ella."
"Yes, my lady!"
"I want you to be with me when I have the children."
She had said this not long after conceiving the children.
"...Pardon? Me? But I'm not even a member of the family. The Gaju won't permit it."
"If he says I can't, I'll just leave the estate and have them elsewhere."
"What?!"
"I'm most at ease when I'm with you. You'll do it for me, won't you?"
That was Estella's request.
How had she felt then? She couldn't remember clearly now, but she thought she'd been happy.
Not long after, a member of her clan had come to see her.
"The Gaju has given you a chance."
It was a chance to return home.
Ella agonized over the decision.
And then...
"The physician says there are two."
"Two?"
"Yes. I can't wait to meet them. My children."
Estella beamed, her face a picture of happiness. Watching her, Ella felt so dazzled she had to catch her breath.
*Is that what it feels like to have the whole world?*
With her delivery date approaching, Estella's movements had become cumbersome. She lay in bed, stroking her belly.
"I just hope they're born healthy. If they are, I'll give them anything and everything. You're eager to meet them too, aren't you, Ella?"
"...Yes, my lady."
Wiping the window, Ella heard none of it.
Only a single thought echoed in her mind.
Two heirs.
Estella was pregnant with two children.
That single fact was enough to sway Ella's heart in an instant.
And before she knew it, she began to rationalize.
*The family only needs one heir. So if one of them were to disappear...*
"I wonder if it's even okay to be this happy."
Estella said, her eyes crinkling into a gentle smile.
Ella clutched the damp cloth in her hand.
*Happy?*
*When I'm so miserable, even at this very moment?*
In that moment, the vile envy and jealousy she had suppressed for so long came rushing in like a tidal wave.
Estella had been born into a good family, cherished from the moment she drew breath.
She was loved by all, her days filled with happiness.
Ella, who had been taken in by her and was forced to live like a handmaiden, felt a crushing sense of inferiority.
Estella lived in a world completely different from her own.
Though they breathed the same air in the same space, a rigid line was drawn between them, a chasm that separated their worlds.
*Why?*
*Why was she loved while I was abandoned?*
*Why did I have to be so miserable?*
*All I want is to return to the land of my birth, but is even that too much to ask?*
*It's not fair.*
"You're the child Lady Estella took in?"
"Yes, I am. May I help you?"
"You should live with a grateful heart. Who else in this day and age would take in and raise the child of another clan?"
Her pride stung.
It seemed the rumor had spread throughout the entire estate—that she was an abandoned child, rescued from the streets.
*I could do the same.*
*If I were in Estella's position, I could easily take in any abandoned Su-in.*
*It doesn't make Estella kind or special.*
"You. Your name is Ella now?"
"Yes, Head Butler. You may call me Ella from now on."
"Are you aware that the name you were given is the young lady's pet name?"
"...Pardon?"
"Then be careful not to bring shame upon it. Lady Estella is to become the mistress of the Astrofel family."
"...Yes, I'll be careful."
"Even if the young lady treats you casually, you must know your place."
*...What was so different between her and Estella that she had to endure such words?*
*Was it just her family background?*
Estella's family was said to have been instrumental in helping the Astrofel family establish itself in its early days.
Was that simple fact enough to warrant such different treatment? Ella's insides twisted with resentment.
*But she couldn't let it show. She would be thrown out. She couldn't let Estella sense what she was truly feeling.*
And so, Ella suppressed it, again and again. Gripping the damp cloth, she forced a bright smile, just as she always did.
But she had reached her limit.