“Then why did she take the poison…! Doesn’t she know it’s dangerous?”
It felt like his stomach was being torn apart. He couldn’t understand why she did this when she was going to be in so much pain. However, Edith said she was not the culprit until the end and even shed tears.
“I am not!”
Oddly enough, he felt as though he was hearing only her pleas that it wasn’t her.
‘Isn’t it really not true when you see that even in the state of evidence, you claim that it is not like that? But then, who the hell would do this!’
While surrounded by such suspicion, Edith covered herself with a blanket as if trying to hide her tears and said in a weary voice.
“If you don’t have anything to say… Go back.”
Killian realized then. Edith didn’t look at him. She didn’t expect anything from him.
I always was like that.
Killian was kind of upset about that.
‘I’d rather you tell me everything and hang on! Don’t you know that I’m the only one who can help you in this house? Or is it because I’m not trustworthy?’
He wasn’t sure if this was anger or something else. He didn’t know whether this feeling was for Edith or for himself. He tried to say something more, but couldn’t think of what to say. In the end, he had no choice but to come back with his molars clenched. With only indefinable feelings for Edith…
* * *
It was Lise who saved her.
“Edit couldn’t have done that.”
“But it’s got the same poison that she ate!”
“Edith said she didn’t know about it. If Edith really wanted to frame me as the culprit, why would she pretend as soon as she woke up?”
“So she thought she would look innocent.”
“In the first place, Edith, who is the real daughter of the Count and has already become Killian’s wife, did she want to harm me because she was missing something? It makes no sense.”
It seemed like that kind of argument had come and gone, but the people in this family, who couldn’t openly say ‘Because Killian loves you!’, couldn’t break Rize’s opinion. In addition, Lise drove a wedge into their conscience with words that pierced their conscience.
“Edith is not feeling well right now, but it is so cruel to push her for something we are not sure about! Edith is just a young lady the same age as me!”
In the end, the people of the duchy decided to take a step back. They believed that Edith was the culprit, but out of respect for Lise’s opinion, they decided not to punish or hold her guilty. In fact, what she was most curious about when receiving this information from Sophia was Killian’s reaction, but she couldn’t ask Sofia about it. Anyway, after getting out of the crisis thanks to Lise, she felt sorry for doubting Lise.
‘No matter how much it is, she almost got accused of poisoning because of me, but it’s a great mercy. After all, she’s the main character.’
In fact, in the original work, it went like this, and it was concluded that Edith was the culprit, and Edith, who was actually the culprit, barely escaped being kicked out after she apologized to Lise. She didn’t poison herself, but this situation caused by Sofia made her look like the culprit. However, Lise embraced her for not even apologizing, and thanks to that, she was able to return to her daily life without much questioning.
‘Okay. It might be because of my jealousy that Lise looked suspicious all this time.’
She tried not to pay attention to Lise, but as she was constantly being compared and discriminated against, it seemed that she hated Lise without even realizing it. She could understand now that Lise seemed to be accusing her of being the culprit of the leaked documents. From her point of view, Edith was suspicious enough.
‘How can a heroine in this world harm a mere villain like me? I was overly self-conscious about her.’
She felt grateful to Lise for making this event unprecedented. If it wasn’t for Lise, she might have had to stay locked up in this room for another few months. It would have been enough to last for a few months, but the problem was that there was not much time left before her throat was cut away.
And Sophia was there too.
‘I should get along well with Lise.’
Having made that resolution, she cautiously asked Killian, who stopped by a few days later to check on her condition.
“Lise… What does she like?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Anyway, since she talked for me when I was being framed, I thought I should give her something.”
Killian’s gaze at her shook for some reason. Come to think of it, it was a bit surprising that Killian came to visit her. It’s good, but she was a little worried about him doing something he was not used to.
“If that’s the case, well… I will probably sleep.”
“Are you sleepy?”
“Yes. She likes reading and embroidering, but if I’m going to give a gift, I think an embroidering set would be better. There are many things to present.”
“Ah, I guess.”
After answering, she was stunned inside. It wasn’t because she really had any special intentions that she had to repay Rize. However, even that was influenced by the flow of the original work. In the original work, Edith gave Lize an embroidery needle set as a gift as an ‘apology’. Of course, because she was heavily poisoned.
‘So, what happened?’
The original Edith wasn’t too stupid, so it wasn’t fatal poison. After applying the poison that poisons her little by little, she secured an alibi while watching Lise gradually weaken.
‘But in the end, the poisoned embroidery needle was discovered by Cliff, who thoroughly investigated everything Lise encountered.’
Her stomach was drying up, but Killian went out saying that he would call a handicraft dealer right away. And after a while, the handicraft merchant called by Killian laid out all sorts of things and suggested this and that.
“How about this? This is a high quality embroidery needle set. I’ve sold dozens of sets of these, and those who have used them are so excellent that I recommend these needles to others.”
Why did she pick up a needle in the first place!
“No needles!”
“Yes?”
“Oh, no, that… it’s too small! Still, it’s a gift, but it should look like something. I-what is that?”
She quickly turned the merchant’s gaze to the other side.
“Ah! This is good too! This is an embroidery thread set imported from Suitan Kingdom. It is made from the finest cashmere wool. You have good eyesight.”
“I’ll go with that!”
It was quite expensive because there were so many different colors and a lot of thread, but she bought it and wrapped it herself without thinking it was a waste at all.
‘This will do nothing. There’s no way she’ll get stabbed by a thread.’
She didn’t know what she would do if she left it to Sophia, so she went straight to Lise after buying and wrapping the yarn.
“Edith! Is your body okay now? You still have a bad complexion…”
“It doesn’t hurt much anymore. Rather… I heard that Lise worked hard for me. Thank you very much.”
“It’s only natural! Edith is just a victim too.”
Seeing her worrying about her body first, she sincerely wished that she could be friendly with her in her heart.
“This… It’s nothing special, but it’s my little sincerity.”
“You don’t have to worry about this…!”
Rize seemed taken aback after receiving her gift.
“Thanks to you, she didn’t go through hardships, so that’s a natural gift. Just accept it, Lise.”
Killian, who was sitting in Lise’s room, gave a hateful answer. Did he come in advance and wait because he was afraid that she might say something harsh to Lise?
“Killian, I’ve known since before that you and Lise are on good terms, but it’s rude to sit in the lady’s room.”
“Sit down and…?”
“I’m sorry, Lise. My husband was a bit… rude, because he doesn’t know how to get in and out.”
He didn’t know too much about how to get in and out of Lise’s heart.
At those words, Lise burst out laughing, and Killian laughed as if it were absurd. But the atmosphere wasn’t bad. To the point where one could mistake it and think they could make a good relationship like this.
* * *
However, things did not go the way she had hoped. It seems like it’s always been that way, though. The goddamn “flow of the original work” burst into the incident as if it was anxious to drive her into a villain again. It was evening, a few days after the gift of embroidery thread to Lise. Suddenly, her door burst open, and Killian, who was contemplative, jumped in.
“Edith Ludwig! What the hell have you done!”
She was grateful for his sudden appearance, as she was about to get hit by Sofia, but she couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
“Killian? What the hell is going on? What’s wrong?”
Killian paused when he saw her asking the question.
“Edith. You’re going to say your innocent this time, right?”
“Yes? What? You have to explain everything to me so I can answer!”
He said, holding her shoulders roughly.
“Lise has fallen!”
“Yes? Wait, Lise? Why?”
“She got poisoned while embroidering with the embroidery thread you gave her as a gift.”
“What…?”
This time, she was also very surprised because it couldn’t be.
“Nonsense! What do you mean? I bought the thread from a handicraft merchant, wrapped it up on the spot, and carried it myself. In the meantime, no one has touched it!”
“So you didn’t ask? What the hell have you been doing?”
Her head was dizzy. Did that mean that the flow of the original work changed the normal thread into a poisoned thread even if she didn’t do anything?
How do you feel?
