The End of This Marriage Was Death - ✿ dusk blossoms ✿

Chapter 21

Ever since I decided to die, I found myself constantly thinking about the day I would finally go through with it.

Almost out of habit, I’d catch myself staring at the calendar on my desk, wondering which day would be best.

‘It absolutely has to be a day when Edward is staying at Winderton Manor.’

If I died while he was away, the Emperor might use it as an excuse to nitpick Edward for failing to take proper care of me.

There was some part of me that wanted to minimize the trouble it would cause him. But that wasn’t the only reason.

‘I wonder how Edward would react if he saw it.’

I couldn’t help but be curious.

“My lady, what are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Hm? Just happy thoughts…”

Lately, Betty had started asking about my habit of staring at the calendar, but I never told her the truth. At the very least, I didn’t want Betty to know.

‘If I die, you’ll probably be sad, won’t you, Betty?

Maybe you’ll be the only person in this world who would truly mourn me.’

Thinking that, I didn’t just feel sorry for Betty—it made me realize how foolish I’d been to spend twenty years of my life like this.

Even the most clueless person wouldn’t have lived this way.

“If you’re thinking happy thoughts, my lady, that makes me happy too!”

“Does it? Then I’ll have to be sure to think happy thoughts every day.”

“Yes, my lady. Please, from now on, only fill your days with happy thoughts!”

“All right, Betty. I promise.”

I knew all too well that Betty and I were talking about very different kinds of “happy thoughts.”

But for her sake—and for my own—until the very end, I decided I’d keep pretending to fill each day with only happy thoughts.

***

“No matter what Mother made her do, still…”

Edward set the papers he was holding down on his desk and let out a sigh, muttering to himself.

Right now, Edward’s mind was completely occupied by thoughts of Lirie.

He’d never been like this before.

But ever since the day he’d seen her in the garden, memories of her kept resurfacing.

‘She was nothing like what I thought I knew.’

That day, his mother had asked him to go for a walk, and they’d run into Lirie.

She was wearing a simple dress, drenched in sweat—nothing about her looked like a noblewoman.

‘A Scarlett, doing work like that after such a sheltered life…?’

Even the hem of her dress was stained with dirt, a shabby sight for someone meant to be the lady of Winderton Manor.

But what caught Edward’s eye most was Lirie’s foot.

‘Bandages? Is it still not healed?’

He could see a faint bloodstain seeping through the bandage above her shoe.

With a suspicious frown, he looked over the ruined garden again, and realized at once who was responsible for it all—his mother.

‘If you’re going to do something like this, at least try to make it less obvious, Mother.’

Edward had grown up admiring his mother, the greatest lady of the Winderton family, respected by all as the perfect noblewoman.

But he knew she was capable of more cruelty than anyone else.

At first, he’d intended to let this pass quietly.

His mother must have been under a lot of stress because of Lirie, and because of the emperor and the Scarletts who had dragged the Winderton family through so much trouble.

Compared to all that, his mother’s little revenge seemed almost childish.

But he couldn’t ignore Lirie’s injured foot.

Even so, that didn’t mean he wanted to take her side.

“Edward! How could you just let her go like that?”

His mother’s sharp rebuke only made him sigh quietly.

He was already exhausted—catering to her moods was just too much.

“Hah… Mother, do you really think I don’t know?”

“What?”

Edward’s gaze landed on his mother, who now looked shaken, as if her secret had been found out.

“I know you did all of that on purpose to torment her.”

“If you knew, you should have taken your mother’s side all the more!”

Of course. Even with her secret exposed, she was still this shameless.

‘You really are the greatest lady, Mother,’

Edward thought, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

“There’s nothing amusing about what you did, Mother.”

“Edward.”

His words wavered the composure of the woman who had always been on his side.

“As the respected mistress of Winderton Manor, you could have handled it with a little more dignity.”

“Are you calling me vulgar right now?”

Lady Eteil heard the meaning of his words clearly, and color rushed to her face in humiliation.

“If that’s how it sounded, then so be it.”

Edward didn’t bother to correct her.

What she’d done this time wasn’t worthy of a noble.

If he’d been in her place, he never would have handled things this way.

“Surely… you’re not bothered by Scarlett, are you?”

Lady Eteil was starting to feel uneasy.

It was strange for Edward, who scorned the Scarlett bloodline so deeply, to show any concern at all.

“Do I seem like that kind of person to you?”

Edward frowned at her words. It was ridiculous.

“Good. That’s how it should be. You always have Sasha by your side, after all.”

“This has nothing to do with her.”

He knew his mother wanted to bring Sasha in as the new mistress of Winderton, but now was not the time.

‘If this keeps up, and Lirie—that woman—really does end up dying…’

If his wife had taken her own life, and then there were rumors of a scandal with another young noblewoman?

The viper-like Duke of Scarlett and the Emperor would shift all the blame onto him and the Winderton family.

Without a doubt, the Emperor would send investigators to uncover the cause of Lirie’s suicide.

Then it would only be a matter of time before his mother’s actions were brought to light.

‘I can’t let that happen.’

The House of Winderton always had to be perfect.

That was the reason Edward existed in the first place.

“You’re planning to make Sasha the mistress, aren’t you?”

His mother, still oblivious, clung to hopes that would never come.

“If it benefits the family, I suppose I will.”

When Edward didn’t give a direct answer, Lady Eteil bit her lips anxiously.

“Sasha is the only suitable lady for the Winderton family. She’s the only one I ever saw as truly fitting.”

“Because she caters to your every whim?”

At his pointed remark, Lady Eteil had nothing to say.

‘Of course she’s quiet—because it’s true.’

Sasha’s status might be lower, but she was clever and never once crossed his mother.

That was why she favored Sasha.

“What does that matter, Edward? You need to keep that vulgar Scarlett blood out of Winderton. Don’t you agree?”

Edward agreed with her.

“I’m well aware of that, Mother. But as for that woman, I’ll handle her myself.”

He was the master of Winderton.

No matter who his mother was, she had no right to expect more than that.

“Edward!”

His mother’s voice grew shrill as he drew the line so firmly.

“I’ll take care of everything. I have no intention of producing an heir with that woman. Just wait a little longer—when the Emperor can no longer refuse, I’ll demand a divorce.”

With that, Edward left her room without looking back.

The moment he stepped out, he started toward his study—but what caught his eye was Lirie’s tightly closed bedroom door.

Almost against his will, Edward found himself going inside.

There, seated serenely on the bed, was Lirie.

Moonlight streaming through the window glinted off her pale blue hair.

A sacred air, so unfitting for her, lingered in the room.

Even Edward was swept up for a moment, unable to say anything.

‘Ah…’

He only came to his senses when her eyes met his.

“Is your foot all right?”

He couldn’t help but ask after seeing her injury.

The words sounded so foreign coming from him, it startled even Edward.