My Former Lover Didn't Die And Came Back - Chapter 3

‘Alright, let’s lay it all out. I’m telling you the truth. Everything that happened was done by my parents.’

After all, she was also the perpetrators’ family, so he must hate her… But he had the right to know the truth. After taking a deep breath, Blair let her red lips tremble.

“Cedric,”

“…Such a luxurious mansion.”

When she tried to speak, Cedric’s voice interrupted her. The large man turned around, surveying the splendid reception room.

“Before coming here, I stopped by your old house. Your parents went to the countryside, and you… got married.”

“…?”

As Cedric mentioned Blair’s ‘parents,’ she straightened her back and swallowed hard. She recalled her parents who had moved to the countryside after her marriage.

Their relationship naturally soured after they sold her lover. It couldn’t be the same as before. She was deeply disappointed by the heinous act her parents committed. But completely severing ties was impossible. Weren’t they her only family in the world?

“……Your parents, they really didn’t like me.”

“…….”

“Now I understand. Look at this magnificent mansion. Can you imagine someone like me, a beggar, fitting in here and pleasing you?”

With a downward arch of his thick eyebrows, Cedric asked mockingly in his concluding tone.

“C-Cedric…”

Blair, about to retort, stopped in her tracks. At that moment, a sinister thought crossed her mind.

‘Wait a minute.’

Blair brought her hand to her lips.

‘What if Cedric kills my parents…?’

The man before her was a man who had returned for revenge. He had slaughtered innocent servants solely because they were in her employ. If she were to reveal that everything was orchestrated by her parents, there would be no reason for him not to kill even her own parents.

Blair pondered.

‘…Perhaps it’s better if I take the blame for everything?’

Gulp. Blair’s throat moved. When she looked at him with eyes full of anxiety, he responded with a raised eyebrow.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

His voice was cold. Blair thought that his tone, which contained nothing but coldness, felt like a midwinter’s day in Eleanor. And that prompted her to make a decision.

“……”

Blair, who hesitated for a moment, took the strength out of her two knees. Rustle, the fabric draped over her body folded, making a sound.

Thud.

Blair knelt down. Her white legs touched the blood-soaked floor. Cedric watched with indifferent eyes as the head of the woman he had once fervently loved descended from view.

“……It’s all my doing. Everything was my doing.”

Raising her head, Blair met Cedric’s gaze. And she spoke sternly.

“……”

Cedric listened to Blair’s story with a cold gaze.

“……You’re right. I wanted to marry a wealthy man. I was attracted to you, but… I thought you were inadequate as a marriage partner. So,”

He suddenly clenched his fist, and veins popped out on the back of Cedric’s blood-stained hand.

“So… I sold you as a slave,”

“……You did it all alone? From start to finish, all by yourself?”

A strained sound escaped Cedric’s throat.

“……Yes, I did it alone.”

Blair hesitated for a moment before answering. Since she already knew the truth, it wasn’t difficult to add more lies.

“Do you think it makes sense? Someone like you, who knew nothing, a country girl?”

Haha, Cedric asked with a low chuckle mixed in.

“……Deciding on a course of action wasn’t difficult once I made up my mind. A good suitor had come, and I imagined you causing a scene at my wedding, which would be horrifying. You were a commoner and an orphan, so I thought nobody would come looking for you even if you disappeared. I’m truly sorry….”

She found it amazing how smoothly the words flowed from her own mouth. There were so many reasons why we couldn’t be together.

For a moment, a deathly silence filled the reception room. Cedric’s complexion slowly faded.

“……Is that true, Blair?”

His voice came out lower than before.

“It’s all true. I wanted to live in luxury…”

Each syllable Blair uttered felt like a knife twisting in her heart. Who knew she was so good at lying?

“……The person I knew wasn’t so greedy.”

Cedric spoke through clenched teeth.

“……People change, Cedric. Look around this mansion. Who do you think collected all these lavish items?”

Blair gestured with both hands, pointing around the reception room. Her business involved importing goods from exotic lands and selling them in the imperial city.

Cedric looked around. Pottery imported from the East, tapestries with exotic patterns, crafts made of elephant ivory… He scanned the opulent decorations with wounded eyes.

“Ha….”

Cedric unwittingly let out a chuckle. Blair stared at Cedric’s broad back as he surveyed the reception room.

When his head, which had been swiveling around the room, turned back towards her, and his piercing golden eyes fixed on Blair, she somehow didn’t want to breathe. Cedric wore an expression of understanding.

“……I did everything.”

Blair forced her lips open to speak.

“……”

“I’m truly sorry. I committed a grave sin. I’ll do anything if it can ease your anger.”

Blair pleaded, pressing her palms together as if in prayer.

“……Haah,”

As Cedric exhaled, touching his forehead, his black bangs floated slightly in the air and then settled back down.

“I’m really sorry… I can do anything. But even if I try to appease your anger… I know it won’t be enough… So please, from now on, let others—”

Crash. Thud!

In an instant, a sharp sound echoed through the mansion. Blair witnessed the recent tragedy with widened eyes. Cedric was holding a bloodstained sword, which was embedded in the back of a maid who was at Blair’s feet. As Cedric twisted the sword, a short gasp escaped from the maid.

“Ah….”

Blair whimpered, terrified. The body Cedric had stabbed trembled briefly before ceasing all movement. She was a maid working in the kitchen. She was still alive, barely clinging to life.

“Aah, she was still moving.”

Cedric said as he withdrew the sword. His voice sounded eerie as he added, ‘I guess she’s quite resilient to still be alive.’

“Why, did you think I shouldn’t have killed her? Did you need an audience?”

“……”

Blair silently watched as Cedric wiped the sword with his cloak and sheathed it at his waist. She felt the weight of the three years that had passed between them.

He was frightening. This man was not the same man I loved three years ago. I don’t know him. I have never encountered or liked such a terrifying man. The warmth from before was nowhere to be found in the man before me, even after rubbing my eyes. The maid was already dying. Was there a need to end her life so cruelly?

The current Cedric was filled with vengeance and malice. What was even more terrifying was that it was her own parents who made him this way.

“……”

Blair tried to steady her voice as she spoke.

“……Cedric, I have no words for you. But…”

“But?”

“I was the one who was wrong. These people are innocent. What reason did you have to kill even my servants?”

“So you would suffer more.”

“But….”

Words failed her. Cedric’s golden eyes gleamed vividly in the darkness. The amber-tinted bright yellow eyes resembled those of a beast.

“I won’t easily kill you.”

“……”

“You must experience the hell I’ve been through.”

Cedric spoke each word forcefully without averting his gaze from Blair. He could feel his sincerity deep within her skin, causing her heart to involuntarily tremble.

“During my wanderings on the battlefield, I was always curious. Who put me in this mud.”

“……”

“If I find out… I won’t let them go unpunished, and I was determined to endure everything.”

“……”

Cold sweat ran down Blair’s spine.

“I promised to return the same fear and despair I felt. I vowed to survive and seek revenge.”

“……”

“I stood by that vow.”

“……”

Fear and intimidation. Those emotions completely dominated her now.

Cedric was a large man. He stood close to 6.3 feet tall. He had always been tall in the past, but now, returning as a victorious soldier from the battlefield, the feeling was distinctly different. Even though his body was completely clothed, his muscular physique was evident. His thighs were as wide as Blair’s face, and the chest of his military uniform seemed ready to burst. His low-toned voice made him even more terrifying.

‘Is he going to kill me soon…?’

In fact, when Cedric mentioned her parents, Blair involuntarily blurted out a lie. It literally popped out of her mouth unexpectedly. It wasn’t that she was respecting all the choices her parents had made. What they had done to Cedric was undoubtedly unforgivable. Yet, without realizing it, she found herself kneeling and pleading.

It was an action she took without any calculation, but upon reflection, she might have subconsciously hoped for some mercy, even for herself, as his former lover. But seeing Cedric showing his hatred of her right before her eyes made her painfully realize that she might have made a wrong judgment.

Thud.

Both their gazes turned to the sound of fabric falling to the floor. The knot on Blair’s gown, which had been struggling to stay in place, had come undone. The man’s gaze slowly traveled up from the fallen ribbon on the floor.

“……”

The silk robe, previously held by a ribbon, now lay open, exposing her body. The man’s eyes skimmed between her legs once and over her chest bone.

“……You’re not even wearing undergarments.”

“……”

Blair’s eyes widened in shock.

“Do you always wait for your husband like this?”

“……!”

Blair’s face flushed. She tried desperately to adjust her robe, but his hands were quicker in grabbing both her forearms.