Episode 22

Ezekiel’s eyes wavered as he belatedly discovered us running towards him.

His angry eyes were filled with the murderous intent of a beast.

I flinched involuntarily as I faced the hatred in his eyes. Sensing it, Ezekiel quickly looked away.

The man in question took advantage of Ezekiel’s hesitation to grab his trouser leg.

“Little brother! Why are you doing this to me?”

Ezekiel’s eyes grew fierce again. Ollie also quickly glanced at me.

‘You’re my little brother?’

Ezekiel grabbed him by the collar and growled.

“You’re talking nonsense. Who is your brother?”

“I, I am your older brother-!”

“Don’t do anything stupid and get out.”

Ezekiel, his usual rage escaping, stared at the man as if he were a savage. Driven back by the piercing gaze and the sharp force of the longsword, the man quickly stood up and ran in the opposite direction.

If they run away, it’s over, but what about us?

Ollie and Anna looked at each other with a helpless expression. Ezekiel looked at them with a look of despair.

His gaze finally reached me.

I looked straight at him and spoke with courage.

“Let’s talk.”

***

“It’s always been like this.”

“Are you pointing a sword at a person?”

“no.”

This time, his expression was clear. He was frustrated that I looked so strange.

“Honestly, I wanted to keep it a secret from you until the end.”

Ezekiel paused for a moment and then confessed.

“My brother disappeared when I was fifteen. He was the true successor to Vetra.”

“…….”

“Years have passed, but my brother has not appeared, and in the meantime I have inherited the dukedom.”

“Didn’t you say that guy was your older brother?”

“Scammers like that have been around for a long time. They come several times a year, claiming to be the true heir. But the moment they touch the Vetra family’s sacred relics, they’re revealed to be fakes.”

Until recently, I had a headache trying to get rid of those authors without telling them.

Come to think of it, while I was learning about Ezekiel, I occasionally heard stories about his older brother.

Gabriel Betra.

An unfortunate successor who went on a journey to broaden his horizons and went missing.

“Night, day, and mealtime, he comes and claims to be my older brother. He either acts friendly or arrogant, trying to reclaim my position.”

Suddenly, the puzzle of what the maids had said came together.

The real meaning of the words “tongue of decline” or something.

‘It wasn’t my tongue, it was my brother. I just left it at that.’

The time I spent alone, making all sorts of vague guesses without even knowing it, felt like a distant memory.

“Why didn’t you tell me and just suffered alone?”

“As I said before, I didn’t want to show you the dirty side of the world.”

“No, but still!”

“Besides, there was a con artist who tried to approach you after your marriage. He thought he could take you hostage if I kicked them out.”

“……!”

Ezekiel rested his chin crookedly and lowered his eyelashes. A shadow fell over his face.

“I didn’t want to get you involved in anything. It’s better to take care of it myself and not know about anything that could cause a fuss.”

I clicked my tongue lightly.

“Thank you for your consideration. It’s just that I almost misunderstood things because I didn’t know about it.”

“that…….”

“Wouldn’t you be frustrated if I, your contracting partner, were hiding important personal information from you?”

“……okay.”

See, it’s so frustrating.

“I told you honestly about my family, so you should do the same for me.”

His pupils shook.

“It’s the people who are harassing you who should be ashamed, not you.”

He kept his lips tightly shut and admitted lightly.

Still, I feel good that he’s accepting it so readily. It feels like progress is being made in our relationship, and I find myself smiling without realizing it.

‘No. What’s so pretty about someone who declares to the neighborhood that they love the original female protagonist and abandon me?’

Come to your senses, come to your senses.

If I open my heart to someone else, I’ll only get hurt.

Anyway, his face, which had been like a black panther, relaxed like a cat.

“Viola. Objectively speaking, you are a very intelligent person.”

“Hmm? Thank you.”

It was a sudden compliment.

Just then, a gentle breeze came in from outside the window and rustled the curtains.

My heart ached for some reason. I waited for Ezekiel’s next words, focusing on his strong lips.

“Because you are such a great person…….”

Yeah, yeah. So?

“……I feel embarrassed.”

“?”

“It’s painful. It’s painful because you’re so good.”

Not knowing what to say, I reacted belatedly, like someone who had a momentary breakdown.

“Me, are you saying that I am too exposed and that it is burdensome?”

Gloomy. He tilted his head when he saw my expression.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then what is it…?”

“You’re so good that it bothers me.”

“That’s it……!”

“Is it so strange that my heart aches every time I see you looking so good?”

I emphasized it three times!

Thud. I was already sitting on the sofa, but I sank down even more violently.

“of course…….”

“Why are you crying? Are you crying?”

“No! I’m not crying!”

“I don’t think it’s that I’m not crying.”

“No! I’m not crying.”

“Should I give you a handkerchief?”

I abruptly got up from my seat and slowly backed away from him, who was anxiously checking if I was crying.

“I’ll take care of cleaning it myself.”

As expected, the parallel lines with this man were just right.

As he left the reception room, he turned back, poked his head out, and added:

Sarcastically.

“I’m sorry for being so good!”

He spoke fresh and turned around.

***

Meanwhile, Viola stormed out, leaving Ezekiel alone and bewildered. This wasn’t right.

I said this because I felt embarrassed and miserable about myself for blindly doubting and pushing away someone so capable.

I had no idea why she suddenly started crying and left.

He looked at the cooling sofa with a bewildered gaze.

Perhaps because it was the place where the viola had been and then disappeared, it felt particularly empty.

‘What was the problem?’

***

Although my last conversation with Ezekiel ended in an embarrassing way, the story he told was quite important.

I mulled over the incidents of impersonation of his brother, Gabriel, that Ezekiel had told me about.

When a celebrity or a powerful person goes missing as a child, people with similar appearances often appear and claim to be that person.

I never thought Ezekiel Betra would be suffering from that too.

‘Listening to what you’re saying, it seems like this isn’t the first or second time this has happened.’

내심 안타까워하는 동안 올리가 내게 평소처럼 브리핑을 하러 왔다.

“발렌티나 양이 편지를 보냈습니다. 쇼윈도 사업의 진행 상황을 보고하려는 목적 같고요.”

“고마워요. 두고 가요.”

내 방에 들어온 그는 책장 쪽을 흘긋 봤다.

“실례가 되지 않는다면 질문 하나만 해도 되겠습니까.”

“하세요.”

“최근에 가져오셨던 책이 있었던 걸로 기억하는데…….”

아. 그 19금 소설 말이구나.

왠지 민망해져서 대화를 피했다.

“그, 그거요?”

“그 책은 어디 있습니까?”

“글쎄요. 아마 저기 어딘가에 있지 않겠어요?”

“그 법전을…… 제가 살짝 봤는데요.”

으악! 민망함에 얼굴이 붉어졌다.

“주로 이혼법에 대한 거였습니다.”

“음? 어, 맞아요! 법 관련이에요!”

다행이다. 제대로 안 봐서 그냥 법전인 줄 알았나 봐!

위기를 잘 넘겨 보자.

“정말이었습니까? 어쩐지 첫 장부터 이혼법 1조 2항이 튀어나오더라고요.”

“하하. 요즘 법률에 관심이 생겨서요. 하하하.”

올리가 혼잣말처럼 중얼거렸다.

“……남은 1년이 오죽 답답하셨으면 벌써…….”

“뭐라고요? 잘 못 들었어요.”

“아니. 아닙니다.”

약간 창백해진 올리의 뒤편. 방에 달려온 안나가 문가에서 조용히 내게 눈짓했다.

“두 분이 편히 말씀 나누십시오. 저는 물러나겠습니다.”

착한 올리 씨는 눈치 좋게 밖으로 나갔다. 뒤이어 들어온 안나가 내게 귀띔했다.

“마님. 일전에 부탁하신 대로 몰래 알려드리러 왔어요. ‘그 사람’이 드디어 곤란한 일에 처했어요.”

심장이 두근거렸다.

마침내. 내가 걸어뒀던 또 다른 그물에서 입질이 왔구나!

나는 간사한 미소를 지었다.