Chapter 59: My Wendy

She remembered vaguely.

‘Edelweiss. Try walking all the way here. You can do it. Stand up. That’s it.’

The anxious gaze that had watched over her when she took her first steps, and the face that smiled as if it held the whole world when she finally stumbled into their arms.

‘Edelweiss. You misspelled it. That’s not your name, this is. If you write it like that, your name becomes Wendy. I get it, you’re stubborn. Fine, I’ll call you that from now on.’

The voice that corrected the spelling of her name with a helpless but amused smile.

‘Edelweiss. If it gets too hard, come to me. Don’t keep struggling there alone.’

The warmth of the embrace from the day they returned after her mother’s funeral.

‘I’ll always be right here…’

Once the first words escaped her, the rest came more easily.

After releasing the breath that had been caught, Edelweiss began to pour out the words that had long been stored inside.

“You said… you’d wait, so I could come anytime.”

Each word released the pent-up emotions, making her voice tremble and her eyes grow red with tears.

“You taught me how to walk, how to write my name, that there’s always a place I can return to…”

The Marchioness of Blossomweaver widened her eyes, then narrowed them slightly.

As if she hadn’t expected Edelweiss to remember all of that.

“You… remember it all…?”

“I was young, so I don’t remember everything clearly… but the clothes I wore, the things I used, they always… smelled like you. That’s how I knew. You must’ve held me so many times.”

“…Actually… the reason I wrote ‘Edelweiss’ wrong was because everyone else called me that… I wanted a name only you would call me. So I wrote it wrong on purpose—so you’d call me Wendy.”

Because she filled the void of the love she never received from her parents, Edelweiss had pretended not to understand what the Marchioness taught her, or intentionally got things wrong.

The more mistakes she made, the more time the Marchioness spent by her side.

She would even leave homework unfinished on purpose.

She liked even the scolding.

She wanted attention—so much that she’d make trouble on purpose.

Even the way the Marchioness would shake her head and say, “You little rascal…”—she loved that too.

The Marchioness looked surprised, then let out a weak breath.

“Wendy… Wendy… my Wendy.”

As if she wanted to say it many times, even now.

The gentle voice that kept repeating “Wendy” made Edelweiss choke with emotion.

“My dear… how can I leave you when you’re still so young and small? Why do you still seem so little to me? You’ve grown so much, but why do you still feel like a child?”

A violent fit of coughing followed the tender question.

“Aunt…”

Wiping the blood from her lips, she let out a faint breath and opened her trembling lips.

“To me… you’ll always be my first child. Understand? Remember that. Even if not to Mateo, to me, you’ve always been first. My priority was always you.”

The Marchioness knew of Edelweiss’s deep longing. That’s likely why she said it.

Even so…

The word priority. The word first.

Those words settled deeply in Edelweiss’s heart.

“…Cesare.”

The Marchioness’s gaze, which had been on Edelweiss, now shifted.

The Marquess of Blossomweaver, who had been crying silently, looked up as if he had been listening—almost as if to say, “Go on, say it.”

“Take care… of our daughter. Watch over her, protect her in my place. There’s no one else I can entrust her to.”

“Violet. Don’t worry. I will protect her. No matter what, I will.”

“For Blossomweaver’s sake… the second son of the Count of Oberlin is a suitable match for a husband…”

“…You know… when I said I wouldn’t love you even if we were married, that you shouldn’t expect anything from me…”

“…”

“That was a lie. I pushed you away because I thought I’d be hurt if I let you into my heart. I was afraid of losing you. So I…”

She seemed too worn to even remember what she had meant to say.

“So, Cesare… what I really wanted to say…”

“…”

“I… I actually love you.”

Her voice lingered in the air.

“I wanted to say I love you. I was afraid you didn’t know. That if I didn’t say it, you’d think I never love you…”

He reached out and gently closed her eyelids.

As if telling her: You don’t need to struggle anymore. You can rest now.

“You don’t need to say it. I already know. That’s enough.”

“…Yes.”

“Violet. You worked so hard. You endured so much. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better husband.”

As if she’d been waiting for him to close her eyes—

Thud—

The Marchioness’s hand fell limp.

Forever.

Edelweiss held her hand.

The warmth drained slowly, leaving only cold behind.

Breathless silence filled the room.

As if all sound and warmth had vanished with her.

A faint light from the window embraced the Marchioness.

Edelweiss bowed her head, frozen in place.

The coldness in her hand felt unfamiliar. It left her body stiff.

It became a cruel mark of death, tightening around her chest.

That voice she’d heard countless times, the gaze she met every day—

A stern, yet tender face full of affection.

Now, she could neither hear nor see any of it again.

On the bedside table lay the pocket watch the Marchioness of Blossomweaver had cherished.

The hands had stopped at the hour, never moving again—

As if to tell her that the marchioness’s time had ended, that it would no longer flow.

Edelweiss’s throat swelled with a burning heat, as if she had swallowed something.

Tears she had tried to hold back clung to her eyes, but eventually slipped and fell.

It was a death earlier than she remembered. Something felt wrong.

‘Isabella was pushed into the lake by Count Sandor, so that couldn’t be helped.

But why did Aunt have to die early too…?’

She considered checking all the Marchioness’s belongings and food for poison, out of suspicion.

But the Marquess of Blossomweaver stopped her.

With trembling fingers, he held her back—yet his eyes remained fixed on his wife’s lifeless body, glistening with unshed tears.

“Edel… Let Violet rest in peace.”

Should she tell him now?

That she was reliving the past?

That Violet had originally died in spring?

That something felt off about her dying now?

“She didn’t want to appear weak in front of you, so she forced herself to eat every meal.

But once you left the room, she threw it all up.

The will and even her coffin were already prepared.”

“….”

“Violet has been dying for over a year.

Even your blue roses couldn’t help her—you know that.”

“….”

“She waited for you, Edel.

Now that you’re here, she could finally let go in peace.

So understand this—Violet was able to rest because of you.”

Was it because of me… that her death came sooner?

She endured it all… just to wait for me…

The guilt was unbearable.

Edelweiss shut her eyes tightly.

Regret and self-reproach crashed over her.

That the reason she had held on all this time…

That truth alone was so painful, she hated herself for only realizing it now.

How long did she wait for me in my previous life…?

“Edel. When the will is opened, the collateral family will definitely contest the inheritance.

You have to protect what Violet left behind.”

Edelweiss clung to his words, struggling to hold onto her crumbling mind.

She held the lifeless hand of the Marchioness of Blossomweaver.

Even when she lifted it repeatedly, it only fell limply.

There was no denying it now.

The Marchioness was dead.

In her previous life, the collateral family had claimed all the inheritance.

The title had been returned to the imperial family, and Blossomweaver had vanished into history.

But this time, no matter what happens—

She would protect it.