Chapter 5

The person I least wanted to meet right now was at the mansion, calling for me. It was no surprise. After all, she usually visited the Count’s estate for half the days out of every week.

‘Whenever Roseanne visited, the three of us always hung out together.’

Sometimes we strolled through the garden together, and other times we simply chatted in the reception room. The meeting itself was nothing special.

‘However, I was always the last one to go downstairs. Every time I arrived, the two of them were already talking first.’

Out of all those countless days, there was never a single day where I was alone with Roseanne, nor a day where I went down first.

‘Is this natural?’

Was it because I had seen the future? Suspicion regarding Roseanne’s behavior in suddenly visiting the mansion spread through my heart like ink.

‘Could it be that she actually came to see Emile? And I’m just being dragged along as an extra.’

It was a plausible assumption. If the Countess truly intended to take me as her daughter-in-law, she would dread the situation of Roseanne and Emile being alone together most of all.

‘When I’m not around, the two of them share their love, and when it seems like they might catch the Countess’ eye, they put me up as a cover—as if the three of us were just laughing and chatting all along.’

I thought romantic feelings could bloom between the two of them. But using me to secretly carry on an affair was a different matter entirely.

That was deception.

Thinking that they might be deceiving me made the blood in my entire body run cold.

Without realizing it, I spoke in a firm tone: “I won’t be going down today.”

“Pardon?”

At my refusal, the maid opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Realizing that I had acted awkwardly because I was so worked up, I added in a slightly softened tone: “My head happens to be throbbing a bit today. I’m going to rest in my room.”

“Oh dear, are you very ill?”

“I’ll be fine after a quick rest. Please explain it well to Emile and Roseanne.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Though puzzled, the maid nodded. Turning around as I closed the door, I clenched my fists tightly.

‘Facing the two of them with a heart like this, there’s no way I could even force a smile.’

The blank, expressionless face of Emile I had just seen, and the face of Roseanne rejoicing over my death, came to mind one after the other.

‘To think the people closest to me were mocking me like that…’

As I stood leaning blankly in shock, Pepe’s voice echoed in my ears once again: 〈The future can be changed.〉

That was the only word I could lean on.

“Pepe!”

I firmly grabbed hold of Pepe, who had been pretending to be a doll, once more. The body that had been limply lying as if dead snapped its head back up.

「Yvonne!」

Right, I had Pepe. The kind dragon who had protected me ever since I was very young.

Holding Pepe in my arms, courage welled up in my dried-out heart.

‘There’s no need to think negatively. If the future can be changed…’

In fact, it meant I had gained an opportunity to set things right.

I put strength in my eyes and faced Pepe directly.

“I will never let my future unfold like what I saw earlier! Please help me!”

At my words, Pepe smiled brightly.

「That’s right! That’s our Yvonne!」

“Will I be able to do it? I can do it, right?”

「Of course! I’ll roll up my sleeves and help too.」

I nodded with a resolute expression. Though I had steeled my resolve, a problem still remained.

First of all, how do we change the future?

I explained the current situation to Pepe. Having heard the whole story, Pepe offered the solution to the problem:

「First, it would be best to check whether Roseanne and Emile are already lovers.」

“That’s right. You’re right.”

I nodded repeatedly like a well-behaved, obedient child. Patting me, Pepe muttered with a fierce expression, looking as though he were about to spit on the floor: 「To cheat with another woman while leaving behind a Yvonne this pretty and good-natured… This is why dark hearted beasts cannot be trusted.」

I don’t think that’s the kind of thing you should be saying right now, Pepe!

Though it was true I was hurt by their hypocritical front, it wasn’t an entirely incomprehensible situation. If Count and Countess Cline’s obsession with the marriage was so strong that they repeatedly brought it up even when I wasn’t around, the pressure might have led them to keep it a secret.

‘Right, it won’t be too late to think after getting a clear read on the situation.’

Besides, it was only because I kept looking at things twistedly—what if the two of them aren’t actually in that kind of relationship, and Emile proposed to me out of genuine affection?

When I saw the future earlier, my heart had collapsed as if Emile had turned his back on me right then and there.

However, there was no need to jump to conclusions so hastily. What Pepe had shown me was a future that might change.

‘It isn’t certain yet, so there’s no need to feel betrayed beforehand.’

And the opportunity to confirm it was right before my eyes. I gripped the hem of my skirt tightly.

“Let’s go take a secret look, Pepe.”

「Go look at what?」

It was an opportunity: the reception room, right now when Roseanne and Emile were facing each other alone.

“If the two of them are lovers, there’s no way they would miss the gap when I’m not around. We’re going to check right now.”

Because it was possible to sneak a peak into the reception room through the first-floor window.

「That’s a really great idea, Yvonne!」

With Pepe’s encouragement, I stepped out of my room and headed toward the garden.

Then, I tiptoed toward the wide window of the reception room. My heart thumped loudly the entire way.

‘Right. I hope it was just my misunderstanding.’

At the very least, I hoped they weren’t deceiving me.

‘Sharing love with each other while mocking me behind my back… There’s no way those two would do that.’

No, perhaps I was simply desperately hoping they wouldn’t.

「Is it here?」

“Yes, but…”

Were the windows always this high?

‘What if I poke my head out and our eyes meet?’

Because it was an unfamiliar situation, my body wouldn’t move easily. Fluttering up into the air and checking through the window before me, Pepe urgently patted my cheek:

「Y-Yvonne. It would be better to just go back.」

“Pardon? We came all the way here.”

「I’ll tell you what I saw back in the room, so let’s just go first…」

An uneasy premonition brushed cold against my chest. Gathering my courage, I poked my head up. And I saw it, crystal clear:

The scene of Roseanne and Emile kissing passionately.

“My goodness…”

Before I knew it, I flopped down onto the ground.

‘The two of them really were lovers!’

Yet Emile had proposed to me. He had even said he was happy I accepted his confession.

‘They were deceiving me…’

I buried my face in my palms.

***

I had no idea how I left that spot. Terrified that my eyes might meet Emile’s, I dragged my limp legs and desperately crawled out of the garden.

Having barely made it back to my room and flopping down onto the floor, only one thought filled my head:

‘The two of them were already deceiving me.’

Simply to follow the wishes of Count and Countess Cline.

‘If I meekly go through with the engagement to Emile like this, I will ultimately end up being mocked by those two inside a cold coffin.’

It was a life with misfortune already destined.

「Um, Yvonne…」

Seeing me so utterly miserable, Pepe spoke cautiously. But I cut Pepe off: “I’m sorry, Pepe. Could you give me a moment to sort out my thoughts?”

「…」

Before even my own thoughts were sorted, I didn’t want to carelessly open my mouth and cause Pepe pain.

‘Everything is horrific. Escaping reality won’t do any good.’

Rather, I ought to think of it as a relief that I realized this situation before actually getting married.

‘Thanks to that, I found out that Roseanne and Emile are lovers.’

It was chilling that he proposed to me while dating Roseanne, but on the other hand, I wondered if he had no choice, making my head an utter mess. If possible, a sudden impulse even rose up to just pretend I didn’t know and sweep it under the rug.

As I sat huddled with a hollow face, the very maid who had come to call me earlier opened the door to put away laundry and ran straight into me. Her mouth opened in a wide circle as she screamed: “My goodness! My Lady! Why on earth do you look like that?”

“Haha…”

I laughed feebly. It was only natural for the maid to be shocked. From crawling around the garden, my knees were covered in dirt, and the silk stockings I was wearing had holes in them.

‘I think my knees got scraped, too.’

Only now did I feel the stinging pain.

Setting the laundry down in the hallway, the maid grabbed a towel from among it and rubbed my palms clean.

“You said you were exercising earlier, but did you go running around the garden this time?”

“It just ended up that way.”

“Oh dear, what if a scar forms on your legs?”

Tell me about it. But right now, I have a much bigger problem than scraped knees or scabbed palms.