Episode 130
Despite it being midsummer, a chill that seemed to numb her fingertips crept up slowly from her toes. Sasha followed the old woman with the expressionless face into her room, and now she even felt a stabbing pain in her stomach, as if being pricked from the inside.
“Sit.”
Caroline gestured with her chin, and Sasha did as suggested, approaching the coffee table and sitting in the chair placed before it. Without even sparing Sasha a glance, Caroline passed the table, crossed the room, and walked to the window. Narrowing her wrinkled eyes, she quickly scanned outside, then soon pulled the curtains shut with a hint of irritation.
Then she walked back over and sat across from Sasha.
“As it happens, I was going to send a letter to the Count first…….”
“No, you ought to speak with me first. Isn’t that why you’ve come here?”
Her stomach twinged again. Unconsciously, Sasha wrapped her gloved right hand around her side as if clutching it. Caroline shot a glance at that sight and snorted.
“For someone who plotted a fraud, you haven’t got much nerve.”
Caroline sighed and pressed hard on her temples. Should she say she felt rather relieved? In the midst of this, Caroline realized that she had grown quite fond of that child—a sentiment she could never have imagined having in the past.
Chewing over the regret brought about by that realization, Caroline opened her mouth.
“I read that lengthy speech you gave to the people. It was full of sentimental words designed to provoke sympathy. You used your head well. But that is not what I want from you and your husband now.”
“……I would not dare come before you, Madam, and seek forgiveness by putting on a pitiful act.”
Still clutching one side of her stomach, Sasha retorted as if truly wronged. Caroline stared intently at Sasha’s face, which had turned pale, unlike the last time she had seen her.
“So, what should I call you now?”
“……Whatever you wish. As you please.”
“Then, Sasha.”
Caroline’s hand, which had drawn closer at some point, gripped one of Sasha’s shoulders firmly.
“Relax.”
“……”
“Dripping with cold sweat like that. How can you have a proper conversation looking like that?”
At Caroline’s remark, Sasha belatedly realized the obvious fact that she was tremendously tense. Had she been like this when revealing the truth to Isaac? Of course, she had felt breathless then too, but the nature of it had been different. What about during the charity auction? Even then, surrounded by eyes that looked upon her unkindly, she had been nervous, but again, it had been different from now.
She took a handkerchief from her person to wipe her forehead, but Caroline gently seized her wrist to stop her. Caroline picked up Sasha’s handkerchief, which had black ash smudged on a corner, flicked it away, then drew out her own fresh handkerchief and pressed it into Sasha’s hand.
The coffee table was small, so the chairs facing each other were close together. Sasha caught the scent of perfume from Caroline, who was leaning toward her, and something like the smell of flowers. At the same time, she caught a scent of skin that felt terribly similar and strangely familiar.
The unique body odor of the elderly.
“Have you calmed down a little?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me. About your marriage to my grandson. I never imagined it—could it be that the two of you plotted this together?”
For a moment, she had felt a nostalgia that was not quite nostalgia for Lady Rosaline, but Sasha quickly collected herself and nodded, affirming that it was true.
Caroline let out a breath as if dumbfounded.
“……Fine. My grandson obtains a title and inheritance through the marriage, but what benefit did you gain from it?”
“……It was much the same for me. It was the inheritance my godmother left. A conditional inheritance Lady Rosaline left to me, an impostor. She said she would give me a fortune if I married a man from a respectable household and maintained the marriage for one year.”
Sasha spoke clearly and calmly, much more composed than before. Her demeanor was truly no different from someone politely placing bombs one by one with a composed face.
“……That woman did such a thing.”
The more she heard, the more absurd it became; Caroline muttered, swallowing a hollow laugh.
“Yes. No wonder it seemed strange. He seemed like a decent enough lad to me, but he had been rejected time and again. So when a young lady from a good family suddenly fell for him at first sight, claiming it was a love born of ill-fated ties and whatnot, I wondered what on earth was going on. I half-believed that pretty tale.”
“……”
“Because at the very least, my grandson seemed to truly fancy you. He would say it was a bother, a bother, but I could see he cared for you quite a bit.”
Sasha listened to Caroline’s words in silence, each one stabbing into her like a dagger.
“A fraudulent marriage you plotted together. Very well. Then how much did my grandson know? Did he say it was fine even knowing your true identity?”
“……No. He didn’t know.”
Hearing Sasha’s honest answer, Caroline gave no reaction for a moment.
Sasha looked down at the floor, bracing herself for the next dagger as if she had expected this as well.
“Then when did he find out?”
“……When the extra edition was published.”
“……So you never revealed it to the end. That was the day my grandson had an audience with His Majesty.”
Her mouth felt full of sand, her throat as if densely packed with glass shards scraping against one another.
“Yes.”
Caroline looked down at her with a face at a loss for words at Sasha’s repeated affirmations. Then she parted her lips and muttered, “……You insolent girl.”
Clumsy plays for sympathy did not work on this opponent. Sasha had never intended to use such methods on Caroline either. Just as she had with Isaac, Sasha wanted to give Caroline only her sincerity. Even now.
……Yes. Even now.
The sound of slippers dragging against the floor was heard. Just as Caroline rose with a somewhat agitated expression and took a step, a knock came from that direction.
When the old woman permitted entry with a seething voice, the door soon opened and the maid Lana entered, pulling a small tray. Even in the frigid, frozen atmosphere, Lana calmly set down a teapot, two teacups, and a plate of sugar cookies on the table.
With the rumble of the tray’s wheels rolling away, the door closed again, leaving only Caroline and Sasha. Caroline gazed into the distance for a moment as if organizing her thoughts, then turned to Sasha with a face much calmer than before.
“So, what was my grandson’s reaction? If he had flown into a rage and demanded the marriage be annulled, he would have contacted me immediately. Therefore……”
Without a word, Sasha looked at Caroline with reddened eyes.
That alone was answer enough.
“……That pathetic fool.”
This time, a voice that seemed to be suppressing anger for a different reason flowed from the old woman’s lips.
“Since it was a fraudulent marriage from the start, all he had to do was cast you aside. It seems he was more sincere about you than I thought. And you……”
“I am the same.”
Sasha cut in with a trembling voice, interrupting Caroline.
“……I was the same. I dared…… I dared to become sincere with him…… I apologized from the bottom of my heart, asking for his forgiveness. And so……”
“And so.”
“……It was indeed a fraudulent marriage that deceived everyone from the start, as you say, but even now, I wish to do right by him with all my heart. I know how insolent and shameless it must sound…… that I have come to say such things to you.”
Shameless as it was, even now, Sasha had no intention of letting Isaac go, even if Caroline objected. Unless he let go of her hand first, she would never let go of him.
That shameless resolve and grim determination were read plainly by Caroline. Just as Sasha herself had said, it was an endlessly shameless display, and Caroline found herself admiring Sasha from a different angle for it.
“……You are no longer a child. You know that your marriage does not end simply because the two of you are fond of each other.”
“……”
“Simply by being entangled with a fraudster like you, our family is bound to suffer great humiliation. Everyone will pity my grandson, and laugh at him. That child, who already hates being the subject of gossip……”
Words laced with anger spilled out like daggers.
Caroline spat out words rapidly, then stopped. She looked down at Sasha with a face trying to quell her anger.
“I will clean up the mess, as much trouble as I have caused.”
Still with reddened eyes, Sasha spoke with her expression alone composed.
Seeing that, Caroline was dumbfounded.
A green young thing who had experienced nothing, trembling so violently that she could barely stand before her.
……A mere child.
“……Even if you created a wave of sympathy for the moment, that is not all. What of the Ducal family’s reaction? You must have kept it secret from them as well. They will challenge you with charges of identity fraud.”
“……I have what my godmother left me, including her will. If they truly try to drag me to court, I will taint the Lady Rosaline they so revered with charges of identity fraud as well.”
At least the words flowing from her mouth were resolute. Yet to Caroline, she still looked like nothing more than a green young thing.
She was younger than her grandson, Isaac. A girl who had barely turned twenty.
Having spent her whole life locked away playing the part of an impostor, she was a more immature existence than her grandson, who had at least been pushed around by people here and there.
Yet this girl had dared to continue her shameless deceit of everyone, fallen in love with her grandson in the midst of it, and ultimately received his forgiveness to come begging for hers.
Foolishly daring, yet unable to hide her trembling figure—she was clumsy.
Yes. Now, she finally looked her age.
She looked exactly her age.
“……There is a lawyer who took charge of everything from the will to managing the Lady’s remaining inheritance and even the foundation. I had intended to seek his help, but……”
Sasha spoke honestly. The shock she had felt upon seeing the building burned black still lingered within her.
She had been so helpless. If she had had parents, she would have run to one of them. But she had no parents to whom she could pour out her helplessness. No one like parents.
She had unconsciously pictured Caroline’s face, but instead of revealing even that feeling, she closed her mouth. Then she looked down at the floor again.
“……So, what is the real reason you came to me?”
Caroline asked, looking down at a face that seemed to be pouring out all its strength.
Sasha answered as if she had been waiting.
“……I need a lawyer to fight the court battle on my behalf. A trustworthy lawyer…… I came to ask if you know of one. If perhaps…… you could introduce me to one.”