Chapter 100

That remark made my fingers tremble.

“Are you….lastly going to inform me?”

“Yeah. I’ve had these ideas just lately. Individuals find yourself dying, so if sooner or later I can’t be by Rere’s aspect….what is going to occur then? I’ve been excited about it.”

“Why would you say that?”

He gently swirled the purple wine in his clear glass, and commenced to gulp down the wine in a single sitting.

“It all of a sudden crossed my thoughts. So I thought of telling you as nicely. As a result of I do know for positive how a lot you like Rere.”

“…In case you haven’t instructed anybody till now, doesn’t that imply it’s a secret? However didn’t I make it clear that I hated you….?”

“I do know that you simply hate me. However I additionally know that you simply love Rere greater than something on the planet. I do know you’ll by no means do something to harm Rere.” His eyes appeared unhappy for some cause.

I might see Luca within the Duke. Now it was clear to me that Luca was the Duke. Nonetheless, I didn’t know why they have been divided or why they appeared so heartbroken.

“Did I, maybe, misinterpret your emotions for Rere?”

“No. I believe you’ve figured me out completely.”

“That’s a aid. If one thing have been to occur to me, not less than there’s somebody who will deal with Rere.”

“…How will you be this pessimistic as a father? Do you have got a persistent sickness or one thing?”

“No.”

“Then come up with your self. The kid trusts you. Don’t take into consideration passing the duty to others and get again in your toes.”

My chest was heavy for some cause. Why was the Duke, who all the time appeared robust, wanting so fragile?

“….Sadly, I’m not sick or something. It’s simply one thing that crossed my thoughts.”

“…It’s so not like you.”

“There’s nothing I can do even when I appear to be that in your eyes. That’s why I made a decision to inform you. My story….Rere’s story….will you hearken to me?”

I nodded in silence. However he was silent for fairly some time even after asking.

“I’m nonetheless unsure if it’s alright to speak about this.”

“Don’t do it in the event you don’t wish to.”

Since I knew the way you felt. Your emotions have been fully totally different from earlier than.

“No, I’ll do it for positive. A very long time in the past…..I failed to guard my sister.”

“Your sister?”

“Yeah, my youthful sister.”

“….Was she the one who all the time waited for you?”

He nodded weakly as an alternative of answering. I bought goosebumps listening to his phrases match with Luca’s.

‘So I used to be proper.’

“She was a really weak little one. So all she did on a regular basis was await me.”

“Ah…”

“Lalice Petri. It was my sister’s title. Each my dad and mom died after I was 15. So I grew to become Duke at 15, and my 5 12 months previous sister misplaced her dad and mom with out even figuring out what dying was.”

He slowly continued, “Then her well being worsened. The kid, who had been weak since very younger, even had a tough time leaving her room. So I wished to guard her by maintaining her in the home.”

“So that you made one thing for her….”

“Yeah, it’s the rose backyard. It’s the one place the place she was allowed to exit. Her well being improved so much when she turned 20. Nonetheless, I used to be anxious at the moment.”

He paused at every phrase to empty his wine glass. Earlier than I knew it, he completed a complete bottle of wine.

“I gave her the whole lot she wished. I gave her all of the books on the planet when she wished to learn books, and I introduced her totally different colours of paint when she wished to attract. I stuffed my yard with uncommon flowers when she wished to see flowers. Even so….Lalice wished to get out. She wished to see the world that she solely noticed in books.”

The Duke appeared out of the window dejectedly.

“She wished to fulfill folks. It was on me to resolve. So I selected to do this as a result of I considered how stifling it will need to have been for Lalice, who had been confined within the fort ever since our dad and mom have been nonetheless alive.”

“What did you resolve…?”

“Simply in time, the palace was holding a celebration. Since her well being improved so much, I assumed it’d relieve her frustration of being confined at residence. It was….the worst mistake of my life. Lalice went by means of one thing she shouldn’t have.”

My anxiousness grew deeper the extra he talked about his sister when it was speculated to be Rere’s story.

“What she shouldn’t have gone by means of……don’t inform me…?”

“She was gone. I all the time made positive to maintain her by my aspect, however whereas I used to be speaking to others for a second….she disappeared.”

“Ah….”

“It had solely been three- no, 5 minutes that I turned my head away. However Lalice was already gone, and I couldn’t discover her wherever. It was solely the following day that I discovered Lalice once more.”

After a quick pause, he continued, “She appeared terribly haggard, her stunning gown was torn right here and there, she had even climbed up the montain barefooted and returned to the fort on her personal.”

His fingers have been visibly shaking as he recalled the recollections.

“Lalice didn’t depart her room for six months straight. She cried and laughed uncontrollably, performing like she was out of her thoughts. She didn’t even eat correctly…It wasn’t till six months later that Lalice left her chamber. That day, she stated she blacked out after consuming one thing {that a} stranger gave her. She clearly remembered seeing somebody, however she didn’t bear in mind the individuals who made her fall unconscious.”

“……”

“Ultimately, she stated….she went by means of one thing horrible that day, and when she noticed her more and more swollen stomach, she realized that her reminiscence that day wasn’t a dream in any respect, and that she was bearing a baby….”

His phrases despatched shivers down my backbone. I bought an thought of what his sister skilled. My coronary heart beat like loopy even when it had nothing to do with me.

“No method….don’t inform me…it’s not what I believe it’s, proper?”

“Lalice was violated by a person she didn’t know that day.”

“…Haa..”

“I attempted to seek out the man who violated my sister, however I didn’t do it correctly. At the moment, I attempted to trace him down quietly with the intention to defend my sister’s future and dignity. I might’ve caught that bastard had I made a giant fuss again then.”

A tear fell off his face because the Duke dropped his head.

“Regardless that she endured that horrible expertise, my sister sincerely cherished her little one. She even made a doll and gave it the title of the kid that was but to be born. She patted her abdomen on a regular basis and cherished the kid abundantly. She stated she was sorry for not taking good care of the kid throughout the early phases of her being pregnant. She all the time appeared ahead to the day she would meet her little one.”

“So the kid was born…..no, what occurred to your sister then…?”

“She handed away….after giving start.”

My legs have been shaking so exhausting. I lastly knew what it was wish to have your imaginative and prescient flip black. I hurriedly leaned on the chair after I felt like I used to be about to break down.

“However I’m glad the kid was born safely.”

“…Then…the kid is….”

“Rebecca. The kid that my sister cherished a lot is known as Rebecca.”

“…Ha…”

What else might I say on this scenario?

“That’s why I couldn’t settle for Rere. Simply….I don’t even wish to see her. Each time I see her, I consider my sister. I don’t even know which bastard violated my sister…and I maintain considering of my pitiful sister who died with out ever holding her personal little one.”

My lips have been trembling. I used to be tremendously shocked, and I couldn’t converse a single phrase.

“That’s why I hated her. I left her alone with out even registering her start. I left her unattended with just one nanny taking good care of her. For a 12 months….I left her alone.”

“…..”

“However after I noticed the kid who resembled my sister so much, I used to be reminded of my sister’s last phrases earlier than she handed away. She requested me to take excellent care of Rere. I solely realized that I ought to’ve hated the person who made my sister undergo, not the kid.”

Now I understood why he was so neglectful and irresponsible. Rere wasn’t his personal little one. From the start, she was the kid of the person who took away his beloved sister.

“It was all my fault. I used to be conscious of that, however I didn’t wish to admit it. I used to be busy blaming others, and I didn’t suppose it was my fault that Lalice and Rere turned out this manner. Anyway, Leona, that’s what I spotted after watching you for some time.”

“…Watching me?”

“Sure. You confirmed me what it’s like to like the kid. I felt that I ought to suppose and transfer alone, fairly than in search of countless excuses. If it weren’t for you, I’d stay the identical method I used to. Possibly I’ll ship Rere to the Crown Prince.”

Maybe what I stated truly bought by means of to him and helped him to hold on.

“I’m actually a idiot. I’m positive that may occur in the event you didn’t intervene this a lot. It’s essential to have a tough time attempting to snap me out of it and lose your treasured time with Rere. So, thanks.”

“…Why are you thanking me?”

“Sure. With out you, I’d have continued residing that method. Blaming Rere and blaming the world for the whole lot.”

He appeared so lonely, and that made my coronary heart sink closely.

“It’s the primary time I’ve instructed somebody about Lalice. It jogs my memory of one thing. Lalice was as pale as dying when she gave start to Rere and but by no means appeared so glad in her total life.”

“Was she glad?”

“Yeah. She appeared the happiest of all of the faces I had seen of her in my total life.”

“That’s good to listen to.” I stated with a relieved expression.

“Talking of which….how previous is Rere?”

For a second, I used to be reminded of the Excessive Priest’s phrases. Rere’s motor abilities developed sooner than her friends, and he or she was taller.

“She’s often known as a 5 12 months previous, however she’s truly 6. I registered her start a 12 months after the actual fact.”

It was that.

The query I had had for a very long time was lastly solved.