Chapter 24

There are days that are too ambiguous to be called bad luck and too uncertain to be called good luck. Aneta counted the days on her fingers.

It had been several days of similar occurrences.

Whenever she dropped something, the broken item was replaced with a new one within a day.

When she accidentally spilled ink on a document, none of the important papers were damaged.

As these strange days continued, Chris’s move took place.

Vernon was initially at a loss, feeling like a bolt out of the blue, but soon regained his composure and helped with the move.

Ignoring Aneta’s advice, he quietly watched over Chris from behind.

Chris’s new home was in a somewhat quiet area. However, since it was a patrol area for the guard, and Chris seemed to like it, Vernon had no choice but to set his worries aside.

If one thing bothered her, it was Erez’s unusual silence. Originally, it should have been Erez, not Aneta, who felt closer to Chris and thus should have been watching over her.

Aneta, who had been pondering what to do if Chris and Erez grew close, reached for her teacup.

Although she firmly held the handle, her fingertips slipped over it as if it were greased. As the cup plummeted, Aneta instinctively caught it mid-air. But even as she felt relief at the cup being intact, her hand was drenched with lukewarm liquid.

Looking at her dripping hand and the mess on the floor, Aneta had a hunch.

Today will be another strange day.

Especially today, it didn’t feel quite right. She frowned slightly, and the maid, who had just stepped inside, ran up to her with surprised eyes.

“Oh my, My Lady!, are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry, but could you clean up the floor?”

“I’ll clean it up right away.”

Before finding something to wipe the floor, the maid informed Isabel about the incident. Isabel quickly came to Aneta with a cold, damp towel.

Isabel had been increasingly worried lately due to Aneta’s uncharacteristic mistakes.

“My Lady,is there something troubling you?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Isabel.”

Aneta spoke in a calm manner as she wiped her wet hands with the towel she received.

For some reason, the faint crimson stain spreading on the white towel caught her gaze.

Amidst the vague tension that something was about to happen, Aneta finished preparing for her day.

Standing in front of the carriage, she glanced briefly at Isabel standing beside her. The worried expression still lingered on the face of her dear maid.

Just as Aneta was about to speak to reassure Isabel

“My Lady!”

Someone appeared on horseback, halting urgently in front of the mansion. Naturally, all the servants who had come out to see off their master turned their attention to the scene.

“Something terrible has happened!”

A familiar face leaped off the horse and approached, forgetting to show proper respect in his haste. Aneta changed what she was about to say to Isabel.

“It seems that whatever it is, it has just happened.”

It was Baron. He was the son of another butler who guarded the estate and someone Aneta had assigned to her father, Derek. As soon as he stood before Aneta, he shouted, forgetting formalities.

“My Lady, your father, the late Lord, has passed away this dawn!”

As Baron’s announcement of Derek’s death spread confusion among the servants, Isabel hurriedly quieted their commotion. Aneta, who had been standing silently, spoke up.

“We must go to the estate.”

At her words, the coachman quickly turned the carriage. The destination of the carriage, which halted again in front of her, was now the estate where the Adenauer family castle was located, not the imperial palace.

“Isabel, please send a message to the palace on my behalf. …And tell Viscount Kainer that there’s no need for him to come.”

Although, except for Vernon, they probably wouldn’t come anyway. Aneta swallowed her unspoken words and boarded the carriage with a blank expression.

Once they were some distance from the capital, she dismissed most of the guards and questioned Baron, who remained alone.

“Baron, report to me what happened.”

Riding alongside the carriage, he reported what he had seen.

“Just before dawn, he was leaving a brothel after drinking and was hit by a carriage.”

There are no brothels within the Adenauer estate. Naturally, Aneta thought of the adjacent estate. He must have been there, drinking and playing as usual, when the accident happened.

“Understood.”

Aneta drew the curtain after hearing that he had died instantly without any chance to intervene.

As she leaned back and closed her eyes, the face she had forced herself to forget surfaced like an afterimage.

The man who had lived lavishly, spending money wastefully, and tormenting her until the end, was gone.

It was an empty death.

But perhaps God wanted to remove him from the land by any means necessary.

***

The funeral, under Aneta’s lead, was conducted very simply.

Aneta had the estate’s butler, Mort, send letters politely declining all condolences.

No one disagreed with Aneta’s point that there was no need to gather people for such a death.

Publicly, they used the excuse that the family wanted a quiet ceremony, but probably no one was unaware of the truth.

Only Aneta was there to keep vigil. And everyone knew she wouldn’t genuinely mourn her father’s death.

There was no delay caused by someone denying the death or clinging to the coffin in grief.

Aneta looked at the closed black coffin. Mort had advised her that it was not something she should see, so she only confirmed the face.

She couldn’t believe it even after seeing it with her own eyes. The man who had never been easy to deal with was now in such a place.

During the formal proceedings, Aneta was alone. She couldn’t tell if Derek’s death had occurred in the original story, as the narrative had always focused on Erez and Carlos.

If such an event had taken place, she likely would not have kept anyone close, just like the current Aneta.

Even when the household servants approached to carry the coffin, Aneta stood motionless. She neither shed tears nor smiled with joy.

The coffin was buried next to her mother, Elena. She wished she could bury it outside the estate, in a place where no one would ever find it. However, her desire was thwarted by the family’s rules.

Aneta stared endlessly at her mother’s grave, not even glancing at her father’s final resting place.

As the dark clouds filled the sky and seemed to cling to her, Aneta stood there, gradually drying out in the damp air, turning ashen.

Her feet felt frozen, unable to move. The emotions, lost and dispersed into the air, pressed down on her entire body, relentlessly suffocating her.

These scattered emotions soon began to fall as if turning into rain, pouring down on her head.

As the raindrops grew heavier, Mort hurriedly brought an umbrella and stood behind her.

Aneta watched the rain falling under the umbrella. The relentless downpour formed puddles as it seeped into the ground.

Her breath sank deep into those puddles. Anger, hatred, resentment—all of it was contained within.

Then, what is left for me now? Aneta’s eyes searched the empty space for something to fill the sudden void.

“Aneta.”

Her aimless gaze stopped. She turned towards the familiar voice. The one person who should not be here was standing behind her.

His very presence gripped her empty gaze.

“Carlos.”

The umbrella Mort had been holding was now in Carlos’s hand.

Carlos, catching his breath, extended his rain-soaked hand towards her.

It came through the dark, touching her pale cheek gently. The cold fingertips brought her back to reality.

“You… your body…”

He was drenched from head to toe and hesitated to step under the umbrella for fear of getting her wet.

Aneta, wide-eyed, tried to push his arm to tilt the umbrella, but he didn’t budge.

“Stay still, Aneta. You’ll get wet too.”

“How did you get here? Why are you soaked?”

“I used my abilities to come here.”

“You’re crazy.”

Aneta, startled by his words of flying through the rain, approached him. However, he took a step back to match her movement.

Raindrops splashed noisily, wetting their feet.

“You’ll get wet.”

“Is that really the issue right now?”

Aneta grabbed his arm holding the umbrella, preventing him from moving away.

“I was definitely holding back. Since you came to me first, don’t blame me for getting wet.”

Carlos took the initiative and stepped closer to her. With just one step, he was close enough for their breaths to mingle. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

His wet clothes touched her skin, which had lost its warmth. Raindrops from his hair trickled down her cheek.

“This is why I held back.”

Carlos tried to wipe the rain from her soaked cheek, but his equally drenched hands made it futile.

His clothes were soaked, so the handkerchief in his pocket was in the same condition.

“Why did you come here?”

“I felt I needed to be here.”

As soon as Derek Adenauer’s death was reported to the palace, Carlos had bowed to Russell.

He had pleaded to be allowed to go to her.

Fortunately, Russell hadn’t ignored his request, and Carlos had flown here without a moment’s rest.

“He’s not worth it, that man.”

“I didn’t come here because of your father.”

Aneta lifted her head at his resolute voice, as if such a thing were impossible.

“I came because I was worried about you.”

To come and mourn the death of the one who left an indelible scar on the woman he loved? No matter that it was her father, such a thing was unthinkable to him.

The only reason Carlos came here was for Aneta.

His expectations were not wrong. She was standing there alone. Watching her dismiss Mort with a glance, Carlos saw that Aneta seemed ready to fade away into the ashen landscape.

That’s why he called her name.

“…Thank you.”

Aneta couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze. Instead, she whispered as she leaned into his broad chest.

“Let’s go inside.”

He gently guided her by the shoulders.

“If we stay like this, you’ll catch a cold.”

Aneta was about to follow him but then paused.

“Wait a moment.”

She glanced back to see the servants struggling with the soaked ground, unable to pile up the wet earth. She directed her gaze to Mort, who stood nearby, and gave instructions.

“Mort. Tell them to resume once the rain stops.”

After hearing his acknowledgment, she pulled Carlos’s arm. The remnants of her emotions boiled inside, but she didn’t look back.

Once inside the castle, she took the towel offered to her and led Carlos to the guest room.

“You can wash up here. I’ll bring you a change of clothes shortly. Dinner should be ready, so you can eat afterward.”

“And you?”

“I’m going to wash up and go straight to bed. I’m a bit tired.”

Feeling uncomfortable in her wet clothes, she examined her damp dress and turned to leave, but a large hand caught her arm.

Once again, she found herself in his embrace. As he gently stroked her hair, Carlos spoke to persuade her.

“I came because I knew you’d be like this. It’s hard, but eat a little, even just a bit, Aneta.”

“….”

“Please.”

“…Alright, but go and wash up quickly.”