Cough-
Suddenly, someone sneezes at my itching nose.
The sound that occasionally reaches my ears isn’t anything special.
Just a sneeze; isn’t that the kind of noise you’d expect to hear in daily life?
Teresa, who was listening to the sound made by her older brother, thought the same.
Though, there was a slightly uncomfortable feeling.
“Do you have some worries?”
“…No, don’t worry about it.”
“About the broken engagement? Don’t mind it. They probably won’t make an issue of it either.”
“I know that.”
– It’s a proposal for breaking the engagement. Lady Violet.
A voice I could never have imagined hearing, yet here I was, hearing it with my own ears.
Wasn’t he the one who always smiled at me?
I didn’t expect he would be hiding such a dagger. Just thinking about that moment still sends chills down my spine.
The gently smiling face was no longer there.
Only the icy cold sneer and eyes remained, piercing through me and stirring up all the feelings I had been harboring.
It could have been a completely different person.
For just a moment, I felt overwhelmed by Robert.
When did he change?
The moment I heard the name Millian the jeweler, I barely managed to hold myself together from collapsing.
That really meant he had known everything from the beginning.
But despite that, I had been holding back, and the memory of Robert’s gaze made my shoulders tremble.
So I broke off the engagement. That very day, I returned and sent back the engagement ring right away; didn’t I follow through with the process of breaking the engagement immediately after?
I thought that would be the end of it.
Even though I felt uneasy about the talk of my older brother, it was probably just boasting.
No matter how noble Taylor was, Violet was also from a prestigious noble family.
Even if it could not be compared, there was no way she would just fall prey to some poison.
There was no reason for the internal structure to collapse, and what could possibly happen by merely using a foolish man?
‘…Not really a fool.’
I sighed and corrected my thoughts. I felt like I had really taken a hit.
To think he would keep up such a foolish “act” while knowing everything… even now, it sends shivers down my spine.
The carefully laid out plan, which I thought was perfectly set, collapsed in an instant.
That mention of breaking off the engagement seemed to come after he completely interpreted my intentions.
Wasn’t it breaking the engagement that I was going to say to Robert that day?
Though I had fled, I was worried all day whether I’d be pursued while on my way home.
I was concerned that if I returned, my house would already be in shambles, yet as time went by, not even a minor issue occurred.
“Nowadays, you aren’t wearing that strange expression. You weren’t looking uneasy or anything.”
“…Something did happen. There have been quite a few things recently.”
“Well, after liking each other so much, suddenly breaking off the engagement must have been shocking.”
Cough-
Arthur, who coughed more thickly than before, opened his mouth.
That cough was annoying.
Why is he coughing when he usually doesn’t?
For a moment, Teresa narrowed her eyes and then spoke bluntly.
“Are you catching a cold? You keep coughing.”
“Hmm… It’s not that, just an itchy throat. It’s nothing serious. It happens sometimes.”
“Take some medicine later. Don’t spit unintentionally.”
“I’ll feel better after a nap.”
“I guess it’ll be better after I sleep and wake up.”
In that moment, I unknowingly bit my lips in irritation.
Hearing the crunching sound of my teeth clashing, Teresa jumped in surprise and stared blankly into the air.
There was no particular reason to be annoyed, yet I had no idea why such emotions surged unexpectedly.
The reflection of my expression in the teacup was quite chilling.
Anyone could tell I looked very angry, so Teresa sighed softly and brushed her face.
It was probably because of my ridiculous older brother’s antics.
Since I had seen it so often, I thought nothing of it, but seeing it frequently must have pushed me over the edge.
“Just shut up and take your medicine. Don’t make me worry.”
After clearing my throat for a moment, I answered, feeling a bit calmer.
After all, it was just empty words and bluster.
Didn’t it make me look foolish to let myself get swayed by such nonsense?
Pressing my forehead with a sigh, I brought the chamomile tea to my lips.
In that moment, filled with the fragrant aroma of the tea, I felt freed from all worries.
As I watched my older brother grumbling while pouring the medicine into his mouth, Teresa closed her eyes and savored the tea’s fragrance.
Isn’t it true that just drinking it calms the heart? It was just an illusion.
Though a couple of worries kept creeping back, Teresa quickly erased them from her mind.
Instead, she thought about something else.
Since I had failed to use Robert, wouldn’t it be better to consider the possibility of being caught elsewhere too?
‘How on earth did anyone find out?’
I was sure I had dealt with everything discreetly.
When purchasing something, I bought it under a completely different name, and when looking for a designer, nobody should know it was me.
As Teresa narrowed her eyes, she mentally docked points from designer Robert.
Maybe he actually knew less than he let on, and those few things just happened to come together.
Though it would have been fine to think it through slowly, in that moment, I was so shocked that I immediately confessed my guilt.
If I had shamelessly responded at that moment, perhaps the outcome would have been a bit different.
If I had instead said, “Aren’t you in the wrong too?” while getting angry, maybe even Robert would have been taken aback.
Tsk.
As Teresa clicked her tongue in frustration at her foolishness, she thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to reach out.
If I send a letter saying I’m suitably sorry, at least he might show his face.
As she wrote the letter, Teresa smirked and adjusted her grip on the pen.
If this works, what would I do then?
Thinking that Robert, who surprised me, was rather shameless, I entertained thoughts of various similar revenge plots.
Previously, I had sent a letter saying I loved him, but who would have thought he would insult me right after we met?
Whenever that sneering face came to mind, I couldn’t help but frown.
Originally, it should have been a relationship I could lead, but in a moment of weakness, things turned out this way.
Having scribbled down a letter with just the right amount of apology, Teresa stretched.
Surely, I would soon get a reply.
However, it was already late at night, and as she headed to bed, she thought, “I can send the letter in the morning.”
It wasn’t something that important, so it was fine. Even if I forget, sending it when I remember would suffice.
For Teresa, Robert was still a rather easy target.
Ahem—
Raspy, labored breaths echoed through the air.
The pale face of Arther, Teresa’s older brother, looked like he could collapse at any moment.
With vacant eyes staring into nothingness, he suddenly squeezed them shut and suppressed a cough that erupted.
It felt as if he wanted to pull the itchy lungs out with his own hands.
The cough that escaped, against his will, stirred a multitude of emotions within him.
Who would have thought that what he brushed off just days ago as a mere cold would escalate to this point?
Every slight movement triggered a coughing fit that clawed at his throat.
He wiped his mouth, a bitter taste lingering.
Even without blood staining him, it seemed like his body was already ruined to that extent.
The cold he knew wasn’t this serious.
It was just an illness that disappeared after a night’s sleep.
Therefore, he had neglected taking his medicine, but this… this didn’t seem like something that could be cured by any amount of regular medication.
Ahem—
After so much coughing, his chest felt tight.
He lay in bed aimlessly for three days, unable to muster even an appetite.
How on earth did this happen? Yet, what terrified Arthur the most was the question of whether he would actually recover from this illness.
“It must be poison.”
Teresa muttered as she paced restlessly beside him.
Cracking her innocent nails and fidgeting with her feet, she looked quite anxious.
Was something bothering her? Ever since his condition worsened, she had been bringing doctors to look for poison, hadn’t she?
Yet, Arthur himself knew best that it wasn’t poison.
Poison is created primarily to harm someone.
At least to his knowledge, there was no poison that could produce symptoms similar to this cold.
“I need to interrogate the attendants. The food I ate must be suspicious.”
“Teresa, you know that’s not possible.”
“What do you know? What do you know, brother? No matter how you look at it, it’s poison. Why would a perfectly healthy person suddenly fall ill? This is poison! Someone has sent an assassin after us. It can’t be Taylor, right? No, it must be that person. Robert is the one who sent us an assassin—!”
Gasp— The color drained from Teresa’s face as she swallowed her scream.
It all began to make sense now.
She finally realized that the words she had said to him weren’t just empty talk.
Isn’t this entire situation just too bizarre?
In summer, not even winter, a cold that began with just a cough…
Had put a person in a state resembling that of a corpse.
At first, she thought it was just a severe cold.
If it wasn’t, then the problem would surely be resolved, and it was a mistake to think that way.
This was a vile scheme concocted by Taylor’s household.
Just as Robert had warned, something had clearly been done to her brother Arthur.
“I hope to see you next time. In good health.”
A jolt like electricity surged through her mind.
Her breath halted, and the thrill that flowed from the top of her head seemed to escape through her fingertips.
Her heart cooled, and at the same time, her hazy mind made her body sway.
Unaware that her legs had given out and she collapsed, Teresa began to piece together the fragments of memory forming in her mind.
The reason her brother was sick could only be attributed to Robert.
Otherwise, there was no way Arthur would be ill.
Could a simple cold have escalated to this point? No, that couldn’t be.
Teresa initially excluded many possibilities.
Taking Robert’s words as a warning, her mind, filled with those thoughts, naturally grew hazy.
There could be no cold judgment.
If she had thought a little more slowly, she would have realized that wasn’t possible, but Teresa had already assumed that Robert was the cause of everything.
“Ned, go gather all the attendants right now and ask if anyone put something strange in the food.”
“W-well, actually, the interrogation has already been completed.”
The old man called Ned replied, bowing his head.
Naturally, he had asked all the attendants, but no one seemed suspicious enough to do such a thing.
Moreover, since they don’t recklessly use things brought in from outside, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be no poison in the food.
However, given Teresa’s fierce gaze, Ned cautiously opened his mouth.
“No one acted suspiciously. At least, I think there’s no one in this mansion who would do such a thing…”
“Then the reason my brother is lying there is really just due to a cold?”
“Didn’t we call for a doctor? Soon he’ll be treated and take his medicine to recover. I also called a priest just in case, so you should be able to relax for now.”
Hearing Ned’s words, Teresa finally felt her blurry vision returning.
Yes, there was no need to think so urgently right now.
If she acted too hastily, it could even put more pressure on the Taylor family…
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind, and Teresa narrowed her eyes.
Could it be that someone is watching this situation?
It felt as if the blood in her head finally started circulating.
With her vision clearing, Teresa finally realized that she was sprawled on the floor.
“…Okay, then I guess I’ll just have to wait for that esteemed doctor to arrive.”
“Yes, I will call for him as soon as he gets here. Please rest for a while.”
With a thud, the door closed.
And beyond it, Teresa’s body began to sag down towards the ground once more.
She didn’t want to think about getting up anymore.
Her mind was solely filled with this situation.
It might not be that the Taylor family was acting at all.
Making a judgment right now would be premature.
Calming herself a little, Teresa wiped her forehead.
If it really is just a cold, it should get better with some medicine. If that’s the case, then it would conclude simply as a coincidence.
‘Could it really be like that?’
She felt a sudden fear. What if this was an illness that even a doctor couldn’t treat?
Wouldn’t it mean that the Taylor family had plotted against her brother?
With her breaths growing shallower, Teresa gripped her chest, her hands trembling.
With a pale, drained face, Teresa gazed into the void with wavering eyes.
Nothing must happen. It should really be a severe cold that, after a few nights of rest, would completely heal.
If that didn’t happen, it would mean that all of this was a consequence of her own greed.
“It’ll be fine.”
She repeated it, trying to drown out Robert’s voice echoing in her ears.
To not forget even the faint hope that still remained.
So, Teresa kept muttering for a long while.
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