21

Elsia looked at Richel with trembling eyes. Richel gave her a gentle smile and spoke.

“Be honest with your heart. Don’t suffer over the past you can’t remember; think about your future. Everything we did was for your future. I didn’t want you to marry Mars. Adrian felt the same. Trust me and Adrian, okay?”

Richel spoke to Elsia with pleading eyes.

“Weren’t you happy spending time with Adrian? Wasn’t your heart sincere then?”

Sensing Elsia’s hesitation, Richel tried to persuade her emotionally, mentioning her true feelings.

“….”

Honestly, Richel was right. Elsia had been happy. But because she was happy, she couldn’t accept the current situation.

The sweet days felt like a fleeting dream. She didn’t want to be disappointed again after hoping.

“Trust me, and trust your heart. If you’re honest, a happy future will unfold for you. I promise! Have I ever done anything to harm you? I’ve always been on your side.”

Richel’s words sounded plausible, and the more Elsia listened, the more confused she became.

It felt like Richel was acting for her sake, but there were suspicious parts that needed explanation.

Like the story about the necklace, or why she arranged for Elsia to meet Adrian at the club instead of introducing them directly.

Elsia clutched her chest in frustration. She wanted to believe Richel, but her mind wouldn’t accept it.

She thought talking with Richel would relieve her frustration, but it only made her feel more suffocated.

She wished someone would hit her heart with a hammer.

‘If only I hadn’t been so curious from the start, I wouldn’t have gone through any of this. If I’d just lived as my father said, I wouldn’t be suffering now. Why couldn’t I be satisfied with limited freedom and went out for secret liberty…’

Elsia regretted her past actions.

‘But it was fun. I was happy. I don’t regret meeting him.’

Yet at the same time, her heart shouted these things. Two feelings inside her clashed and tangled.

Suddenly, Elsia’s whole body weakened, and her shoulders drooped. Her head felt like it would split.

A ringing sound filled her mind, and she couldn’t control her body.

Her legs lost strength, and the world seemed to spin.

“Elsia!”

From far away, Richel’s voice called her.

Elsia saw Richel’s worried face as the last thing before she lost consciousness.

*

“Are you awake?”

When Elsia opened her eyes, she was in her room. Marie rushed to her with a bright smile.

Elsia gestured that she was fine and looked at where Marie had been sitting. The spot was soaked with tears.

“How long was I out?”

“A day. It’s such a relief you woke up safely. When Miss Richel brought you unconscious, I was so shocked.”

Richel must have brought Elsia to Portman after she fainted in front of her.

“Ri…chel?”

Not seeing Richel, Elsia asked.

“Miss Richel waited until you woke up, but just went home.”

Seeing Marie still crying even after Elsia woke up, she realized how serious her condition was.

Elsia gently stroked Marie’s head.

“It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“But… but…”

Marie’s behavior seemed odd, so Elsia took out a mirror to check her face.

Her face was pale, and she was covered in cold sweat. Anyone could tell she looked like a patient.

But she couldn’t just lie there. Elsia wanted to talk again with the two people who deceived her.

When she tried to get up, her head spun and she couldn’t support her heavy body, collapsing again.

“Miss Elsia!”

Marie hurriedly helped her back onto the bed.

For several days, Elsia couldn’t leave her room. She had fallen ill again.

Because of Elsia, Portman was in a state of emergency.

“What made you so sick? Is it true you collapsed because of that guy?”

Earl Portman looked at Elsia with a face full of concern. It was true that it was because of the person her father mentioned, and also because of Richel.

But Elsia denied it to her father for now.

“No, I think I just overdid things lately. I was happy not to have nightmares and got too excited…”

When the answer he didn’t want came out, the Earl said nothing.

He probably knew but pretended not to. He just looked at Elsia with worried eyes.

Elsia resolved never to make her father wear such a sad expression again.

His sorrowful gaze made her heart ache even more.

She wanted to get up and show him she was healthy, but since she couldn’t, she felt even more sorry.

After her father left, Elsia tried to sleep for a while, but a lively voice woke her up.

“Sister!”

Elliot had come to see her, carrying a splendid bouquet of roses—Elsia’s favorite flower.

“Don’t be sick.”

Elliot cried as if he were the one who was ill. Seeing her young brother cry made Elsia feel guilty.

How could she make even a little child worry?

For her brother’s sake, she thought she must try harder.

Elsia smiled gently and sat up, then opened the drawer.

Inside was Adrian’s handkerchief, which she hadn’t yet returned.

She couldn’t give it back immediately because it was soaked with her tears, so she wanted to wash it clean first, but hadn’t managed to return it yet.

She thought tearing this handkerchief would relieve her upset feelings and give her strength.

She resolved to finish all her emotional preparations and return to normal. She twisted the handkerchief with all her might.

But when it wouldn’t tear, Elsia’s face wrinkled with frustration. Elliot, watching her curiously, spoke.

“Huh? I know that emblem.”

Elliot spoke with surprise and pride.

“How do you know this emblem?”

Elsia tilted her head and asked.

“The older brother who wears that emblem used to come to our house often. Dad chased him away, but he was always kind to me.”

Elsia was surprised by Elliot’s words. 

He came often? That didn’t make sense.

She’d heard her father drove Adrian away so he couldn’t come near her.

“He came to Portman often? Since when?”

“Um… one, two… hmm.”

Elliot counted on his fingers, then folded four.

“Hmm… four, so… about four years?”

Elsia had no idea Adrian had been coming to Portman for so long.

She had never met Adrian even once.

That meant her father had been driving him away for four years.

Why had her father chased Adrian away?

No matter how she thought about it, Adrian didn’t seem like someone who would harm her. Richel said so, too, so it must be true.

“Ah… ahh.”

Elsia’s head throbbed at that moment. She felt a headache, and a scene flashed through her mind.

Though not quite Adrian’s likeness, a silver-haired, blue-eyed boy smiled brightly and handed her flowers—more than once.

Was the door to her sealed memories opening?

Clutching her head in pain, Elsia wondered.

Elliot had never given her flowers.

“Did you prepare these roses for me?”

“No. The older brother gave them to me secretly and told me to give them to you. He said you liked them best.”

Elsia’s eyes filled with tears at Elliot’s words.

From the moment she reunited with Adrian, everything had been a planned lie, but one thing was definitely true.

Just as Richel emphasized, Adrian had liked her for a long time.

Elsia calmed herself. Looking back, things felt a little different.

She had been so angry at being deceived that she confronted them, but she shouldn’t have.

‘I should have spoken calmly…’

As Richel emphasized, she wouldn’t have betrayed Elsia.

Her closest friend Richel said everything was for Elsia’s sake.

Now Elsia wanted to believe Richel’s words, and her anger toward Richel and Adrian began to fade.

Again, with sudden pain, another scene flashed through her mind.

Someone lifted her clothes. With a surge of annoyance, a voice sounded.

—Disgusting. How could you have something like that on your body?

Apparently, someone had said something cruel to her in the past.

With throbbing pain, her chest tightened. But Elsia didn’t want to show it in front of her brother.

“I want to rest alone.”

Elsia signaled Elliot to leave, and he kissed her cheek and left the room.

As soon as Elliot left, Elsia began to feel short of breath.

Her stomach churned, cold sweat broke out, and a sharp pain pierced her head.

Elsia clutched her aching head and managed to lie down on the bed.

She thought lying down would help, but the pain only worsened.

The splitting headache continued until she lost consciousness.