“I’m fine. But your complexion is too bad.”
“You’re wandering between life and death, do you think I’ll be able to be calm?”
She was impressed. Did he really have a heart for her? She gently brushed his bobbed hair in order, trying not to look too overjoyed.
“How long have I been sleeping?”
“Three days, Edith. You just opened your eyes after three days.”
“Yes? Three days?”
Her eyes were widened open. She didn’t feel like she slept that long… In any case, the situation had to be rectified quickly.
“Killian, what the hell happened? I heard that the ship has malfunctioned.”
“We are investigating now. Examination of the yacht revealed that important screws on the steering wheel had come loose. I believe that Samuel neglected my work or was instigated by someone.”
“I don’t think so, Killian.”
“Edith…?”
He’s an extra that probably wasn’t even mentioned in the original work, but he’s already earned the name ‘Samuel’ in her world. She didn’t want such a person to die in vain at the play of the original author.
“Why did he do something that would be discovered so quickly? Even he was on the same boat. He probably took a closer look.”
Killian sighed and hugged her. Then he whispered in a voice that only she could hear.
“I also think so. This is just a warning to the unknown culprit.”
“Killian…!”
“Of course, we are not neglecting the investigation of Samuel. But there are no clues yet.”
The frustration of having to investigate a crime for which no evidence was left was evident in his voice. However, as long as the original author, who was like a god, intervenes, it would be impossible to find evidence.
“The culprit of this incident will not be caught so easily. Conversely, it also means that he was very determined and involved on the other side.”
“If someone intends… intending to kill you…?”
“I think so. Killian, are you good at swimming?”
Killian nodded his head. She knew it.
“So maybe… It must have been aimed at me.”
“But why…”
“If you discover who did it, you’ll know why.”
“…”
Killian nodded and hugged her tighter.
“For now, just focus on taking care of yourself.”
In his firm embrace, she too let out a sigh of relief for the first time.
“I’m late, but thanks for saving me.”
“I’m late too, thank you for being alive.”
She enjoyed Killian’s arms for a while longer, then raised her head.
“Don’t punish Samuel. There must be a separate culprit, but it is not fair for an innocent person to suffer.”
“I know he didn’t intentionally break things or hurt you. But that day, it was his fault for not checking the yacht once more, so he should be punished too.”
“Everyone overlooks the mistakes of nobles. But why are you so ruthless about the mistakes of commoners?”
Killian wrinkled his brow and answered with a sigh.
“Because the uneducated need a solid education.”
But she couldn’t agree with that.
“I understand that you have to correct your mistakes and realize your mistakes. But those who haven’t learned should be more forgiving. Whose sin is greater: those who make mistakes despite learning, or those who make mistakes because they haven’t learned?”
Her voice got louder for no reason because it reminded her of the master’s graduates she met when she was at the company. They were the ones who sarcastically said, “This is why bachelor degrees can’t be like this.”
“You sometimes… You don’t look like an aristocrat.”
“I just want to be human.”
Killian held her hand tightly even as he looked at her with his disapproving face.
“If you really think… All right.”
“Thank you, Killian.”
He told her to get some more rest and laid her down. She was tired again and just wanted to lie down.
“By the way, Killian.”
“Yes, please.”
“What are Lise and Cliff doing?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about Lise and Cliff?”
“I think they must have been very surprised.”
Killian was quiet. He seemed to notice that she was having strange feelings for them. She pretended not to notice his agitation and closed her eyes.
‘But I have no choice but to doubt it.’
Cliff, who invited her to go boating, and Lise, who wanted to follow her on the morning of the boating… Of course, both of them were characters who were set up as “just.”
‘Since the original is already collapsing…’
She fell back to sleep with a sigh of relief.
* * *
Thinking back on it, it was terrifying. Killian got goosebumps whenever he remembered everything that had happened from the moment Edith fell into the water.
Edith looking at the clear weather, the fresh wind, the yacht that sailed smoothly to the middle of the lake, and the fish swimming in the calm water were cute. Killian was a small part of that picture, but he felt happy. And as if it had waited until he felt happy, his stomach suddenly tilted.
“Uh…?”
At the moment when he couldn’t believe the situation and said something stupid, Edith fell into the blue lake with a sharp scream.
“Edith!”
On the yacht, which suddenly seemed to move wildly, Killian struggled to throw the rope he was holding in his hand towards Edith. However, when Edith’s head, which was bobbing up and down on the surface, became invisible, Killian took off his vest and shoes without thinking twice and jumped into the lake. His one hand was holding the rope tightly. Then, when he found Edith sinking into the abyss in the lake he jumped into, Killian felt his heart freeze. He couldn’t even remember how he had managed to swim all the way there to rescue Edith. When he came to his senses, he was shouting to the unconscious Edith to wake up and he was swimming toward the yacht.
“Ha…”
Just thinking about it made his heart beat terribly, and even his breath became short of breath. Pressing Edith’s chest, who was pale as a corpse and not breathing, Killian prayed to God over and over again to save Edith.
“No, Edith, please! Live please! Open your eyes! If you die like this, I will never forgive you!”
He didn’t even know what he was talking about, he kept yelling at Edith. Fortunately, Edith started to breathe again, and after being treated by the doctor, she opened her eyes normally, but the experience of Edith almost dying did not go away. When Edith collapsed from the poison of the peach pie, he must have thought it was just annoying, but now he was afraid that just thinking about Edith’s pale wet face would give him goosebumps. No, the peach pie incident was only feeling horrific in hindsight.
‘It must have been aimed at Edith.’
It was something he could have known even if Edith hadn’t said it. He was such a good swimmer that he could quickly swim out of the water even if he fell into it. But with Edith, it’s a different story. Because of the hem of the already heavy dress and uncomfortable shoes, weren’t women always in danger whenever a boating accident occurs? So, anyone who touched the steering wheel of the yacht would have hoped that Edith would be in danger.
But who, why the hell…?
‘Countess Rigelhoff, who took offense at Edith? Or the Count Sinclair, who hates Lise and the Rigelhoff family? Or, another force…?’
It was the Rigelhoffs’ maid who poisoned the peach pie, but it wasn’t the maid who poisoned the embroidery thread. Even the suspect has not yet been able to find out who stole the documents. All three cases pointed to Edith only to the extent that it was difficult to point to a suspect other than Edith, but that made it even more suspicious. However, a completely new person was on the verge of joining.
‘I hope Lise… No, no. It can’t be.’
It was Lise who protected Edit every time she was accused of being the culprit. Besides, Lise was also the one who, even if she stayed put, would marry Cliff and get the Duchess position. Just as Edith had no reason to hurt Lise, Lise had no reason to hurt Edith. However, the more he denied it, the more he cared about Lise’s attitude, which had subtly changed recently.
‘Why did Lise suddenly change?’
Before, Lise had obviously given him and Cliff equal affection, but a few months before he married Edith, he felt her affection for Cliff grow stronger. In fact, because of that, he even agreed to marry Edith.
‘Didn’t you have feelings for Cliff? Why on earth now…!’
Lise, who hadn’t changed even after he married Edith, had changed recently, around the time Killian started dating Edith. A seduction that was subtle enough to be frightening if you know it… And from the moment he felt it, a fearful assumption was rising in Killian’s head.
‘In addition to the peach pie incident, in the cases Edith was accused of being the culprit, there was another person who could be considered a suspect.’
That was Lise. During the document leak incident, the person who was able to touch the document and draw a table, albeit clumsily, was Lise. She was the one who could apply poison directly to the embroidery thread.
After thinking about it like that, everything Lise told him about Edith also became suspicious.
How do you feel?
