Chapter 3

I had only just recovered from my illness.

Then Rosalind came rushing back to the manor in a panic, saying I had offended the Regent.

She was trembling all over.

"Sister, how could you seduce the Regent? Do you want the entire House of Coleman to be buried with you?"

When she finished, she leaned close to my ear and whispered.

"Fool. You didn't really think I'd spend such a fortune just to ruin your reputation, did you? I want your life."

"With your history of lying, everyone in the Capital will believe you really are capable of clinging to power and seducing the Regent. No one will suspect that I framed you. You'll be dead soon."

My father flew into a rage and hurled his teacup at me.

"The Regent loathes plain, homely women above all. Looking as you do, you still dare to dream of clinging to the powerful."

"How could my house ever have such a shameless daughter as you?"

Teresa spoke up at once.

"My lord, since things have come to this, all we can do is let the eldest young lady go to the Regent's Manor herself to beg forgiveness. Perhaps that will spare the rest of the household from being dragged down with her."

The Regent was brutal beyond measure.

He loathed women who tried to climb by clinging to power. Not long ago, the legitimate daughter of the Minister's household had been executed for high treason simply for accidentally bumping into the Regent's carriage.

At those words my father's eyes lit up; clearly Teresa's suggestion pleased him greatly.

Teresa wore a smug smile.

Rosalind could barely contain her delight.

"Sister, you brought this folly on yourself. There's nothing to be done about it."

"Don't worry. Once you're dead, we'll all pay our respects to you."

The moment she said that, my father ordered the family rod brought out.

He beat me until I was gravely injured, then locked me in the ancestral hall.

He meant to escort me to the Regent's Manor himself the next day.

Rosalind came to the ancestral hall to see me again.

She sat across from me, eating sweets at her leisure, smiling.

"Sister, you should have died long ago. Who told you to stand in my way and my mother's way?"

"There's a law in this land that even if an official loses his wife, he cannot elevate a concubine to legitimate wife so long as the wife has living children. So my mother is truly the mistress of this house, yet for all these years she's only been called a concubine, not even qualified to attend the noble ladies' banquets."

"And because I'm an illegitimate daughter, the noble young ladies of the Capital shun me, and even my marriage is affected by it."

"For the sake of his name, afraid it would harm his future and the prestige of the house, Father has always refused to let you die of illness. So there was no other way—my mother and I had to finish you off ourselves."

She looked at me, her eyes full of jealousy, resentment, bitterness, and glee.

"Once you're dead, my mother will be the legitimate wife, and I'll be the legitimate daughter and heiress."

"Then your mother's dowry will all be ours, and I'll carry everything she left you into my own marriage."

"Oh, right—I forgot to tell you. Do you know how your mother died? She had bad luck; she happened to be carrying a boy, so my mother made sure she died in childbirth. Two lives, gone at once. You were supposed to have a younger brother, you know. But soon the three of you will be reunited."

She threw a sweet in my face.

"That's a treat I'm granting you. After tomorrow, you'll never taste it again."

"And your mother's memorial tablet—I'll find a chance to burn that too. Sitting here, it's just an eyesore."

I stared hard at the sweet on the floor, unable to keep my fingers from clenching.

But I kept telling myself to endure it, just a little longer.

She picked the sweet up off the floor.

And forced it hard into my mouth.

"How dare you not appreciate what's good for you. You're going to eat it."

She made me swallow the sweet before she let go of me and rose to leave.

"Sister, tomorrow is the day you die."

"I've waited so long for this day."

The door closed.

I knelt where I was, my fingertips ice cold.

Outside, dawn would break soon.

But I was not afraid.

I looked at my mother's memorial tablet.

Mother, tomorrow is the day I escape this sea of suffering.

My good days are coming soon.