WAYSOWD 35

Chapter 35

I stopped watching the two women and turned my gaze away.

“I feel like a peeping stalker spying on someone’s dream.”

I wished this wasn’t my ability and pulled the curtains shut.

Whether those two were dating or not, it wasn’t my business. If you get involved in other people’s love stories, you just end up in the mud too.

“…Ha, seriously. I don’t even know if this is a dream or reality anymore.”

If it was a dream, maybe jumping out the window would wake me up. But what if I was actually in the parlor and just hallucinating?

It was the second floor, so I probably wouldn’t die, but I could break my arms or legs.

Even though I thought it was just a dream, I didn’t want to take such a risky gamble.

“Hmm… Should I try the door?”

I was sure the only answer was to try that old door.

I walked over without hesitation and turned the rusty doorknob. Then…

Creak, creeeak.

“Where am I now?”

I was on a dark, empty street. It looked like dawn, and the moonlight was hidden behind clouds, making it even gloomier.

Ssshh… Boom!

As I sighed, thunder crashed so loudly it hurt my ears and made me flinch.

“…The slums?”

It was strange. Opening the door to a new place was already weird. But more than that…

“Why am I wearing these clothes?”

I was wearing a tightly buttoned dress up to my neck. The dress was dull gray without any jewels, but the fabric was soft and expensive.
I also wore a hat with a black veil.

A silent maid stood not far away. I was holding a black umbrella.

“Where is this…?”

While talking to myself, I was shocked. That wasn’t my voice.

“Cheryl is a little late…”

The maid said something, but I couldn’t hear her. She had no face, so I couldn’t even guess her expression.

Where her eyes should have been was only a deep, black shadow.

Her nose was just white bone, and whenever she opened her mouth, black mist leaked out.

“Yes… I should go back. Sorry for making you stand in the rain.”

Even after seeing that, I couldn’t scream. My voice wouldn’t come out.

The only words from my mouth were apologies to the maid.

“I had something urgent, so I came out even though my husband was against it… I hope nothing happened to Cheryl.”

The faceless maid moved her mouth, making strange breathing noises. I was a little relieved that I couldn’t understand her.

“I feel bad leaving like this, but we waited a long time… I hope Cheryl knows I came.”

I gripped the umbrella tightly. I was nervous, but I tried hard to hide it with a calm smile.

I straightened my back, trying not to show my fear.

I was alone in the slums with just the maid. How long did we wait like that?

Clip-clop, clip-clop!

From far away, I heard the sound of a carriage coming. The ground shook slightly.

Creeeak, creak.

A plain black carriage stopped in front of me. The door opened, and a person in a black hood got out.

He was huge, a man by his size and walk. I took out a pouch of gold coins, planning to hand it to the coachman.

“Take us out of the village—”

Stab!

A horrible noise pierced my ear. The coachman stabbed something into my stomach.

It felt like being burned with a hot iron, more hot than painful.

The faceless maid opened her mouth and let out a wild scream.

There was no sound, but I knew it was a scream.

“Cheryl is waiting for me…”

I dropped to my knees, mumbling. My voice was weak and metallic.

Ah, I finally realized. I was dying, stabbed by the coachman I didn’t even know.

The coachman walked past me. His black hood fell back, but he had no face.

Stab! Stab, stab!

He stabbed the maid over and over. I gasped at the sight.

Black mist leaked from her mouth. No, it was a dead bug.

Black water flowed from her empty eye sockets. Both the coachman and the maid had no faces.

I just knelt there, staring at the ground. My black veil was gone.

Ah, now I could see my face. I’d woken up in the last memory of Marianne before she died.

“Bel… I’m sorry…”

I saw my reflection in a puddle. Pale cheeks, soft dark brown hair. My kind-looking chocolate eyes were twisted by fear and despair.

I grabbed my stomach but couldn’t control my body. Blood spilled from my mouth, and my hand clutching my belly was burning hot.

My consciousness faded, but I barely held on. Someone was coming closer.

Step, step.

It wasn’t the coachman. He was crouched next to me, watching me die.

With all my strength, I lifted my head. The person coming was tall.

“Uh… ah… uh…”

Was he a knight? Or a guard? Even while dying, I kept thinking.

The man approaching wore a white robe.

His footsteps were steady and big.

He took the sword from the coachman and stabbed him right away.

He took down the terrifying coachman who had stabbed me and the maid in an instant.

“Marianne was murdered. On this Wingble street.”

He spoke as if he thought I could hear. His voice was low and calm.

“She was ignored for too long. She spoke out alone with no power.”

“Who killed Marianne?”

“Your grandfather, Marquis Maximilian, made Emperor Purka uncomfortable. He openly spoke about human experiments the empire tried to hide.”

Even as I died, I listened.

“You insulted Empress May. You called her crazy in front of the maids, and you tried to stand up for Cheryl when the empress mistreated her.”

So, did Empress May kill me? I wondered while bleeding out.

“What about Duke Benjo, your husband? He didn’t love you, but he treated you well. He respected and cherished you, even forgiving your past with Empress May.”

Or was it my husband? I thought again, lowering my head.

“He supported you except for one thing… He was against your work helping the poor. He even warned you directly not to overstep.”

I whispered weakly. I couldn’t quit, no matter what anyone said. Even if everyone opposed me, I couldn’t give up.

“You kept your beliefs until the end, and the price was death. Is it unfair? Born lucky as a granddaughter of a powerful family, you tried to help the poor and lost your life… Or maybe you weren’t born lucky after all.”

The man stopped talking and slowly lifted my head.

“Marianne, your mother was a noble lady who fell in love with a man from the slums and ran away. Marquis Maximilian never found her. Maybe it’s because nobles can’t imagine looking in the slums.”

He spoke like he was reading a play.

“The marquis’s daughter ran off with lots of jewelry. Who would think she was living in the slums? Even if they were disowned, nobles would expect her to live as a commoner, not in the slums.”

His voice echoed in my ears.

“After a long time, the marquis finally realized and searched the slums. He wasn’t even angry anymore—he just wanted to know if his daughter was alive. Before dying, he wanted to see her.”

I stared into the past. These were Marianne’s memories.

Her mother, who had lived as a poor person, was terrified of nobles. She hid, fearing that Marquis Maximilian would try to kill her and her daughter to protect the family’s honor.

She believed even her husband would be brutally murdered.

“Your kind but poor father told you, before he died in an accident, to find Marquis Maximilian with your mother.”

But things didn’t work out. There was no happiness after all the hardship.

“Your mother was falsely accused and beaten to death by a noble’s servant. You were left alone, about to be sold as a prostitute at Leona Port. Then you remembered your father’s words and risked your life to meet Marquis Maximilian, bringing your mother’s keepsake.”

I cried. The hardships of young Marianne came flooding back.

“The marquis’s servants thought he would turn you away. They didn’t know if you were really his granddaughter, and even if you were, your mother had shamed the family.”

Marianne loved her mother, but also resented her.
Why did you fall in love with a man from the slums?
Why did you make me grow up as a poor girl, not a noble’s daughter?

Her beloved father died, her mother died, and even her childhood friend who used to steal bread with her died.

If she had been a noble, maybe everyone could have lived.