A shady feeling of uneasiness ran down my back. I pushed my white powdery fingers straight into my mouth. The sound like chewing stones echoed in my head.
What Magorit sprinkled on the pudding wasn’t sugar. Sand…! It was white sand.
Only then did the surrounding area catch my eye. The strangely worn bed was made from hardwood, a thick blanket, and a simple dress with no decorations.
I stupidly realized now why Merilly’s complexion looked pale as soon as she received the pudding. The harmonious family I saw, the family that looked perfect, was all fake. A meticulously crafted fake. It was only a play performed in front of Kriella and Endimion.
How…! My fingernails on the floor scratched the marble. I gritted my teeth tightly. Even though I knew Merilly would think I was strange, tears poured down out of me.
No matter how much she despised me, how could she do this to a child? No, Merilly hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place. What did I do so wrong… What’s wrong with my child…!
The only thing I did wrong was about Endimion. I didn’t know that he was Marquis Hamilton or that he had married a woman. The victim was me.
If you were going to do it this way… If you hated my child like this…
My lips trembled. As my heart throbbed so much, my whole body was shaking.
It’d be better to let us run away and survive…!
I couldn’t breathe well. If I knew this would happen, I would have let him go. I didn’t need a crazy husband or anything. I also had no desire to become a concubine of a nobleman.
For me, my precious daughter was enough. I would have lived quietly, never seen by anyone. But they pushed me, who was begging, into the river, and fed my child this kind of food. What’s the use of status and nobility…!
The direction of my anger soon turned toward myself. Putting Merilly in place like this, I hated myself to the point I wanted to kill myself for pretending to be elegant and taking classes to become a noble. My daughter forced herself to eat something like sanded pudding…!
Mana began to leak out little by little around my body. I clenched my fists, struggling to suppress my anger. Then I scratched the floor so hard and covered my tear-stained face with my reddened hands.
“…Mel. Crying…?” Merilly approached me with a sad smile.
“It’s alright. This. It’s just… good medicine. My mother said that it looked like sand, but it was not sand. It’s a powder of crushed holy stones…” From the child’s small lips came an excuse for Magorit’s misdeeds.
At the sight, I couldn’t hold back my tears any longer. Tears dripped from my reddened eyes.
Merilly seemed surprised but spoke with dignity. “…This is the first time someone has cried for me. Thank you, but I’m really fine…”
I turned my head slightly and wiped away my tears. I desperately wanted to embrace that child tightly in my arms and cry uncontrollably, releasing all the sorrow.
“Why are you being treated like this… How could you… eat something like this…?”
“I’m okay. Really.”
However, Merilly’s expression was too determined for what had happened. That appearance seemed to tear my heart into several pieces.
“No,” I shook my head resolutely.
“…Yes?”
“You shouldn’t be okay with this.”
I put my hands on my daughter’s shoulders, forgetting I had come here as a maid. “A seven-year-old child doesn’t have to endure anything. Of course, you’re at an age where you can complain that you don’t want to eat things you don’t want to eat, let alone this kind of food…!”
“…Mel.”
“Run away with me, Lady.”
I, who had been pressing my lips to hold back my sobs, soon changed my attitude as if I was about to tell her the truth. “No, Merilly.”
Her emerald eyes shook as if embarrassed.
“I… I…” My voice didn’t come out well, as if my throat had been blocked.
I’m your mother. I’m your real mother, Merilly. Those words just circled in my mouth. A tear trickled down my fair cheeks as I was just about to say more.
“…Thank you for saying so. But I can’t run away.”
At Merilly’s response, I was speechless again.
“Because she’s my mother.”
“…Yes?”
“This is my home, so how can I leave? Grandmother, mother, father, and even my younger sister. They are all my family.”
Merilly smiled as she cleaned up the pieces of the broken bowl.
“Even after being treated like this… Lady still chose to stay here…?”
“Yes. I don’t think you know because it’s your first time… It’s because my health is not good. My mother wants to raise me strong… That’s it. Please don’t misunderstand my mother.”
My mouth opened involuntarily. I had to tell her that I was her real mother. I should say so to get my child out of this crazy place right now. However, I couldn’t say anything.
Merilly now believed that Magorit was her real mother. I might hurt this child’s heart if I told her the truth. Without being able to do this or that, my dried lips slowly curled.
“…Misunderstand…”
Soon my face hardened coldly.
“Mel?”
“Give it to me. Lady will hurt your hand.”
I moved all the things Meri had been cleaning up into the palm of my hand. The sharp broken pieces scratched the top of my palm, but the scratch didn’t hurt more than my heart.
“Y-your wound…”
“Lady.”
“…Yes?”
You said alright, but how can I not be alright? I smiled as I looked at Merilly.
Merilly still had her eyes on my palm as if she was concerned. “But…”
“Thank you for growing up so pretty and kind.” I suppressed my urge to stroke this child’s head and raised my mouth.
She didn’t have to worry about the wound on the maid’s palm. Despite her status, Merilly’s eyes were full of worries and concerns. Such a kind and pretty child…
“What do you mean…?”
“And I’m sorry.”
Merilly blinked her big eyes.
From now on…
I bit my lips hard enough to the point of bleeding and flashed my eyes.
I’m going to kill Magorit.
Then I went out the door immediately. An angry step headed to the first floor where Magorit would be. I burst open the door to her room, where she was right there.
“…Mel?”
Magorit was still enjoying her refreshments as if nothing had happened. I walked over to her and threw the shards of the bowl that was still in my hand.
“Kyaak!”
“Is your tea time over?”
“What are you doing!”
Thanks to the strength I got from training swordsmanship, the shards grazed Magorit’s cheeks like knives. Blood trickled down from the wound on her cheek.
My gaze quickly turned. It wasn’t long before I could see the flower pots decorating the window of the room. Letting out a heavy breath, I tossed the pot like a madman. Then I picked up a handful of soil and sprinkled it over the madeleine Magorit was eating.
“Are you crazy…!”
“You should try it too.”
“…What?”
“You should try it too…!”
My hand holding the madeleine headed to her mouth. I shoved the madeleine into Magorit’s mouth.
“Argh, you crazy bitch…!”
Her body twisted in pain, but my anger still lingered.
“Die, Magorit…!”
Dark blue mana began to slowly rise around my body.
“Hi-hiik…!”
A hand containing cold mana seized Magorit’s thin neck. Then slowly, it began to tighten. Magorit struggled in excruciating pain as the intent to kill was added to my mana.
“Die, die more painfully than anyone else…!”
Tears dripped from my eyes. My reasoning had long since been cut off. Bring my kid in a formal way? Planning revenge? That was an arrogant and stupid way. A fool who pretended to be smart. That was me.
I said my daughter’s happiness came first, but I didn’t even look after her properly. I didn’t even deserve to be a mother. It was only natural for me not to be called a mother. How could I be called a mother when I didn’t even know my daughter’s suffering?
It doesn’t matter if I’m becoming crazy. A villainess, even a murderer, it’s okay to be called like that.
I muttered bitterly with more strength in my hands. “You who are worse than garbage…!”
If only I could crumple garbage like you with my hands. Darkness began to shine over my blue mana. I’ll be anything like a crazy villainess…!
Soon the whites began to show in Magorit’s eyes. And the moment I finally try to cut off her breath completely,
“No! Don’t do that!” shouted Merilly, who had followed me before I knew it.
“No, don’t kill her…!”
The child came quickly and tapped me on the back with her small fist.
“My mother…!”
At her mournful cry, the power in my hands fell out momentarily.
“Cough, cough…!”
Releasing her neck, Magorit choked up. My body staggered weakly as I looked at Merilly.
“Mother…!”
The child who was calling for ‘Mother’ ran past me. Merilly looked anxiously at Magorit, who was coughing up in pain.
The light disappeared in my eyes. “Aargh!” I grabbed my hair and screamed. At the same time, the mana around my body exploded, breaking the windows in the room into pieces.
“Kyaak!”
But when Magorit and Merilly raised their heads screaming, I was no longer there.
