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chapter 62
At Linette’s words, Conrad tilted his head, not understanding.
“I don’t know what my niece is talking about. I don’t have a younger sister.”
At Conrad’s reply, Marsha flinched and bowed her head even deeper.
“Then don’t think of her as your sister. But since she’s family by blood, please at least let us inside first. This isn’t something we should discuss out here.”
Conrad’s green eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Linette. But he couldn’t leave her standing outside, so he let them in.
Following Conrad into the drawing room, Linette sat on the sofa, while Marsha just stood there beside her, head bowed, unable to sit.
“How dare you show your face here! If you had even a shred of shame, you’d have never set foot in this city again!”
Conrad, who always spoke with a smile, now had none left on his face. He didn’t even tell Marsha to sit, nor did he look at her as his sister.
“B-brother…”
“Get out of this city right now! Disappear from my sight just like you did fifteen years ago!”
His voice thundered through the room, louder than when his sister had first vanished.
“Linette, you shouldn’t accept this. After all the pain your mother caused you, how can you take her back like this? You know how you’ve lived all this time.”
Conrad’s gaze turned to Linette. Arms crossed, she shook her head with a blank expression.
“I wanted that too. It would’ve been better if she’d just stayed out of my sight. But she came looking for me—pretending to be a customer.”
“You really are out of your mind. Out of all the places, you dared to go to our Linette’s shop? After abandoning your child, you suddenly want to see her again after fifteen years? Or did you come because you need money?”
At Conrad’s sharp words, Marsha crumpled to the floor. Crawling on her knees, she clutched his legs and wept.
“Sob… Brother, I’m sorry… It was all my fault… sob…”
She cried and begged in front of her brother. But no amount of tears could erase what happened fifteen years ago.
When Marsha ran away with another man, Conrad, who had helped her marry Kenis, shut the family doors in shame. The shock of that betrayal had nearly broken him. Now, seeing his sister again, his teeth clenched hard.
He knew he should turn away, but he couldn’t. She was his sister—born of the same parents, sharing the same blood. He’d always thought that if she ever showed up again, he’d drive her out immediately. But now that she was here, he found himself unable to do it.
Maybe this was what blood ties meant, he thought, as he looked at Marsha’s frail figure beneath a worn-out cloak. His eyes burned with tears.
The child who once clung to him and cried after getting scolded by their parents had aged so terribly. She looked older than her years, her body thin as a bone—evidence of a hard life.
“How have you even lived all this time, you foolish girl…”
Conrad pulled back her hood. The once-pretty, plump face was nowhere to be seen—only a frail, battered old woman. Her hands and arms were covered in bruises.
“She gave her body, her heart, even her jewelry to the man she ran off with… only to be betrayed. When I went looking for her, she was being beaten by that wretch. The miserable house they lived in collapsed just a while ago.”
Linette explained what had happened as calmly as she could. Hearing this, Conrad took his sister’s bruised hand in his and wept silently.
“I know you didn’t want to welcome her, Uncle. I’m sorry. But I had nowhere else to take her. If I’d brought her home, Father or my brother would have found out and caused a scene.”
“Linette… I’m sorry… it’s all my fault…”
“Please, stop saying that. I didn’t bring you here to hear apologies. And I’m not planning to leave you here either.”
Watching her mother cry uncontrollably, Linette turned to Conrad.
Even though his beloved sister had returned, Conrad couldn’t feel happy. Seeing her so pitifully broken only left a heavy ache in his chest.
Linette stood up.
“I should go now.”
“L-Linette! Where are you going?”
“I’m sorry, Uncle. But I think my part is done now. Whether you decide to help your sister or turn her away—that’s up to you. I’m sorry for forcing you to make such a hard decision.”
As Linette turned to leave, Marsha grabbed her sleeve with her thin hand.
“L-Linette…”
Marsha pulled her daughter closer and whispered something into her ear. Hearing those words, Linette clenched her fists tightly, then apologized several times to Conrad before rushing out.
After walking a short distance, she spotted Sian waiting for her. When their eyes met, Sian smiled softly. Linette stopped and asked,
“You knew, didn’t you? About me.”
If he hadn’t known she was Count Fruina’s daughter, he never could have found Marsha. She’d been doubtful when he first claimed to be looking for her mother, but after seeing it for herself, she knew—he had investigated everything, even her maternal family.
“To be honest… yes, I knew. But I didn’t approach you because of the Fruina fortune.”
Sian’s sincere tone made Linette simply stare at him. She wondered if he was like the other men of this era—playing the part of a gentle, skillful man just to win her over. Even Fernando, though he’d found her bothersome, had smiled kindly in front of her.
Feeling her gaze, Sian gently took her hand and spoke earnestly.
“Please believe me. I make my own living. A man like that wouldn’t go after a woman for her family’s money.”
“Sian…”
“I fell for you a second time—not as a count’s daughter, but as Linette, the woman who walked away from that life and built her own. You looked so strong, so beautiful living on your own terms.”
With tender hands, Sian brushed her cheek and looked at her with heartfelt eyes.
Moved by his sincerity, Linette nodded.
If he had approached her for money, he would’ve pushed her to return to the Fruina estate, or tried to cozy up to Kenis to gain favor. With Edgar uninterested in family affairs, it would’ve been the perfect time.
But Sian never did any of that. He saw her not as “Lady Fruina,” but as simply Linette. That’s why he’d never once asked about her parents.
“I believe you. If I can’t trust you, then who can I trust?”
“Really? Ah, you scared me with that question—I thought my heart would stop.”
His gentle touch and warm voice lingered by her ear.
“Alright then! Since you’ve granted my wish, tell me what you want in return.”
It was give and take—he’d received so much from her that he wanted to repay it somehow.
Without hesitation, Sian replied, “Coffee. I want to drink your coffee—extra strong.”
“Huh? Just coffee?”
“‘Just’ coffee? Linette, your coffee is so good and famous! Soon, someone might send a diplomatic envoy just to taste it.”
His playful remark made Linette laugh a little. For a brief moment, she managed to set aside her worries about her mother. She reached out her hand, and Sian gently wrapped his warm palm over her scarred one.
Taking a deep breath, Linette said, “Thank you—for everything today, and last time too. I feel useless, always relying on your help.”
“It’s only natural that I help. And useless? Not at all. You’re capable—because you’re dating me.”
Linette couldn’t help but smile at his teasing. She gestured for him to come closer, and just as he leaned in—something soft brushed his lips.
It was a brief kiss, but it was the first time Linette had initiated it. For Sian, that fleeting touch felt like floating to the heavens.
“I’m going to write about this in my journal—‘Today, Linette gave me a very sweet kiss.’”
Linette immediately shook her head.
“Sian, please don’t. You’ll regret it later. What if your future wife reads it and asks, ‘Who’s this woman?’ Then what will you do?”
The future was uncertain, and their relationship wasn’t bound by any promise of marriage. That’s why she told him not to record something that might cause misunderstandings someday.
At her considerate words, Sian lowered his head like a sad puppy.
“That’ll never happen. I could never see another woman as a woman. From the start, Linette—you’ve been the only one for me.”
❅
A few days later, Edgar walked into Linette’s café, Gentle Allure. Recognizing him, Angela tactfully stepped aside.
“You’ve been showing up often lately. Want some coffee?”
“Yeah, just a latte.”
After everything Edgar had done to comfort her, Linette’s heart had softened a bit. She made him a latte with a cute dog drawn in the foam.
“You can make these too? Impressive.”
“Well, it’s nothing much.”
The little dog looked as if it were taking a bath in the cup, poking its head and paws out of the milk foam.
Edgar looked at Linette again. He felt foolish for having once told her to just stay home, never realizing how talented she was.
“This is good. Smooth and sweet.”
“Yeah, customers like it for that reason.”
Linette was taken aback—her brother rarely complimented her. She sat across from him and sipped her sepiano.
After wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, Edgar spoke.
“I heard you brought Mother to Uncle’s place.”
“Yeah. I didn’t plan to, but when I saw that awful man beating her, I couldn’t just stand by. No matter how much I resent her for abandoning us, I couldn’t ignore that.”
She hadn’t been able to take her mother to the Fruina estate, so she’d taken her to Count Florence’s home instead. Edgar nodded slowly, understanding.
“Father heard too. He went to Uncle’s place the other day. Said he wouldn’t go before she came, but I guess he couldn’t just sit at home waiting.”
“So what happened? Did Father bring her back?”
Edgar shook his head.
“Was it because she looked so shabby and pitiful that he just left her there?”
“Well… I heard from Casper that when Father saw her, he broke down crying. He didn’t say a word—just turned around and left.”
After finishing his coffee, Edgar gently ruffled Linette’s hair.
“What happens next is for Father to decide. All we can do is follow his lead.”
“Yeah.”
“Alright then, I’ll get going. Take care of the shop. And if some pesky fly starts buzzing around you, let me know. I’ll buy a new swatter.”
Even as he joked, Edgar slipped a gold coin into her pocket before leaving. As his broad, lonely back disappeared, Linette looked down at her coffee and murmured to herself,
“Today… this coffee tastes so bitter. So, so bitter…”
