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Chapter : 21
When Anna came back to the mansion that afternoon, Lucy was in a panic. She only calmed down after checking with her own eyes that Anna was hurt only on her hand and forehead.
After Anna had washed and received treatment, she was drinking tea when Lucy spoke out firmly.
“You have to tell Marquis Marcus.”
“Lucy!”
Anna almost spilled her tea in surprise and glared at her maid. But Lucy didn’t back down. She even put her hands on her hips and spoke even more boldly.
“What’s the point of pride when it’s about your life?”
Anna couldn’t argue, because Lucy was right. Also, she noticed Lucy’s hands were shaking, even as she tried to look strong.
“I’m fine, Lucy.”
In the end, all Anna could say were words to calm her. Lucy stuck out her lips, holding back tears.
“I was so shocked when I heard… And to think that Baron Vestin saved you! I take back all the times I called him a greedy pink pig behind his back!”
Anna couldn’t help but laugh, even in such a serious situation, because the nickname really fit the baron.
Lucy raised one eyebrow and spoke strictly.
“Anyway, I still think you need to tell him.”
Anna wiped away her smile and mumbled uncertainly.
On the way back to the mansion, she had stopped at a village and read the newspaper. At first, she had wanted to tell Raiden what happened, so she checked on the news about him.
‘Duke Lopex, the finance minister, is in direct conflict with Marquis Marcus…’
Her hand squeezed the newspaper tightly.
After reading the article carefully with trembling eyes, Anna put it down weakly.
‘Duke Lopex is like the emperor’s right-hand man. What he thinks is basically what the emperor thinks.’
Henry had said the emperor supported Marquis Marcus’s plans to open trade with the desert nation, but the article said something different. Anna realized that things might not be easy for Raiden—he could be in a difficult position.
‘At times like this, it’s better to think carefully.’
Anna decided not to tell Raiden about what happened to her, at least for now.
‘I can’t add my burdens to his.’
So, she calmly replied to Lucy’s demand.
“Even if I tell him, not right now.”
“Why not?”
“Lucy, your master has her reasons. Please just trust me.”
When Anna raised her voice a little, Lucy bit her lips and drooped her shoulders.
“I was too forward, wasn’t I? I’m sorry, miss.”
“I appreciate your worry. But let me handle it my way.”
“Okay. Thank you for not scolding me.”
“I know you’re only worried about me. And don’t worry—this won’t just be ignored.”
Lucy blinked her big eyes and bit her lips, looking like she wanted to ask more questions. But Anna pretended not to notice. Lucy looked frustrated, but left the room quietly.
“You must be tired. If you need anything, just ring the bell. I’ll leave now.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
When the door closed and Anna was alone, she put her cold tea cup on the table by the bed and lay down. It wasn’t really time to sleep, but she felt her body relax.
Anna stared at the painting on the ceiling. It made her think of the past. When she turned seven, her stepfather John had the room remodeled for her birthday. He hired a famous painter, and the cute baby angels on the ceiling were his work.
‘When the painter was painting… Father kept interfering, saying only the prettiest things should be shown to his precious daughter…’
Her mother used to laugh about how the painter refused to work for them again after that. Anna remembered her father watching her with pride.
Suddenly, something painful rose up inside Anna.
‘That same person… is now trying to kill me for money.’
Tears filled her eyes. Anna sat up and grabbed her chest.
She remembered a time from childhood, when her father had protected her from a fire, getting hurt himself. The terrible scars remained on his back.
He had once been so loving—so different from now.
‘I knew he wasn’t the same as before.’
Even after gambling away everything, even after trying to marry her off to an old noble, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. Now, she couldn’t deny reality anymore.
“How can a person change so much?”
Gambling had ruined her father, turning him from a gentle man into someone who could slap the daughter he once protected.
He used to cry when Anna cried. Now he’d sell her tears if he could. It was like he’d turned into a devil.
‘The father I loved, who loved me, is already gone. Now he’s just a stranger.’
Anna thought again of the shoes—the ones she had given him for his birthday, the ones the attacker was wearing.
She laughed bitterly.
She had picked out every detail, yet he wore them to kidnap her.
It proved nothing from their happy days meant anything to him now.
“It’s over…”
She had believed they were the only family left in the world. Now she was alone.
“Now I have no one…”
That was the scariest thing. Who could ever love her now, after even her family failed her? She thought of Raiden, but even thinking of him tasted bitter.
‘Raiden… even though he’s come back, he already left me once.’
Five years is a long time. She kept her promise to wait for him, and he did too, but just keeping a promise doesn’t fix everything.
Even though he was her savior, Anna sometimes felt cold inside when she smiled because of him.
She was still afraid he might leave her again. Waiting for him before was so painful, she couldn’t help but worry.
‘It might take even longer than five years to trust him again.’
‘Even my father left me… so why wouldn’t Raiden?’
She knew the comparison was unfair, but she was too heartbroken to care.
Anna lay down on her side and stared into space, shivering under her blankets. Even with the fire burning, she felt cold.
She wasted time in her empty state until someone knocked on the door.
“Miss, may I come in?”
It was Lucy. Anna checked the clock on the mantel—it was almost dinner.
“Come in.”
She quickly sat up and wiped her face. She didn’t want Lucy to worry again. She was grateful the lamp was dim and managed a smile.
Lucy hurried in, looking excited. She straightened Anna’s messy bed and began speaking.
“Miss, I just got back from running an errand, and something strange happened.”
“What is it?”
Anna got off the bed and sat at the table. Lucy started fixing Anna’s messy hair.
“You remember that creepy man we saw before? I can’t remember his name, but he’s the marquis’s assistant—you know, the one who looks like you want to punch him…”
“Oh, you mean Mr. Menson.”
Anna tried not to laugh. Lucy was right—he did look like someone you wanted to hit. It was Menson’s own fault.
“I ran into him on the street. He looked at me like he’d seen a ghost and ran away!”
