Chapter : 63
Kinter held her breath the entire time she rode in the carriage. Afraid that her breathing might disturb the ears of those listening, she unconsciously lowered her body and kept quiet. She glanced at Evangeline from the corner of her eye.
Evangeline Rohanson did not reject the hand Kinter had offered. When Kinter asked for help, she readily agreed to step in. Of course, she did warn Kinter that she could not be a “perfect solution,” but compared to the times she had prayed her whole life without receiving a single answer, this was far better.
Why was it not perfect? Was there a problem with reviving Ryder?
Kinter tapped the tips of her slightly oversized shoes together. The shoes she was wearing belonged to the young lady’s mother, the late countess. The young lady had likely told her to wear them without much thought, but Kinter found herself caught in a strange feeling.
In the young lady’s voice as she recalled the countess, there was no emotion at all. Kinter could understand why rumors spread that the Rohanson young lady was a different person. Was that the issue? If Ryder were revived, would he behave like a doll, having forgotten all affection for Kinter, just like the young lady?
“We’ve arrived.”
“Good work, Melek.”
The coachman, whose eyes were covered while driving the carriage pulled by a horse with no legs, announced their arrival. Even though they were speaking from outside the carriage, and their words should have been swallowed by the sound of rain, the voice rang clearly as if spoken right beside them.
Escorted by the monster that served as her limbs, the Rohanson young lady stepped down from the carriage. In front of her, the creature obediently rolled over and wagged its tail—truly like a dog.
The maid accompanying them hurriedly held an umbrella over the Rohanson young lady. Shortly after, the monster extended a hand as if to escort Kinter as well. Kinter ignored the hand and stepped out of the carriage on her own.
Amused by the sight, the monster chuckled. When Kinter had been hesitating in front of the Rohanson estate, that man had suddenly appeared without warning and strangled her.
“Ah, my mistake. I nearly killed you because you were too noisy. Could you keep it a secret that I strangled you? My master told me to bring you back as you are.”
He then threatened her not to tell the Rohanson young lady, calling it a mistake. Kinter had not screamed nor made a sound—so what did he mean by “noisy”? Her heart pounded violently. Surely he wasn’t referring to the sound of her heartbeat, was he?
“It seems noisy inside.”
At the maid’s speculation, Kinter recalled the moment she first met the monster disguised as an escort. Shivering with goosebumps, she averted her gaze.
“Could something be wrong?”
At the maid’s words, Kinter tilted her head, then suddenly turned pale and rushed inside. She didn’t even have time to check whether Evangeline was following her.
There was only one thing that could cause commotion in the estate. Ryder’s death had been discovered! Normally, no one but Kinter ever looked for the child—so why today of all days? Had something felt off because Kinter wasn’t acting normally and led them to check on Ryder?
“Madam! You must go see the young master at once! Lord Dias—!”
“Madam, is it true that the young master has passed away?”
Servants who had been whispering among themselves rushed up and bombarded Kinter with questions. Kinter ignored them as if she heard nothing and clenched her teeth, quickening her pace.
She stopped in front of Ryder’s room—the brightest room in the estate under normal circumstances. But now, it had become the darkest, most wretched place.
“Why has Madam arrived so early…? Of all times.”
The servants gathered outside Ryder’s room murmured among themselves.
“Butler, nanny. What is going on?”
Kinter’s voice trembled. The nanny beside the butler avoided eye contact, unable to face Kinter. It seemed she was at least aware that she was acting against common sense.
“Madam.”
The butler called out to her in confusion.
Kinter clenched her fist tightly. Ryder’s door had been split halfway open by an axe. Through the gap, the interior of the room was visible. Beyond the broken door, a trembling maid was holding the child tightly in her arms.
“Sister-in-law, you’ve arrived early.”
The culprit was Dias. Axe in hand, he greeted Kinter with a sly grin, as if nothing were wrong. Though he had said he would arrive late at night, he had come in Kinter’s absence and was now acting as he pleased.
“Dias, what is the meaning of this?!”
“What do you mean? I merely came to check on my nephew’s condition. Any wrongdoing would be on that maid.”
With a shameless expression, Dias pointed past the broken door at the maid holding Ryder tightly.
“M-Madam…”
The maid called out desperately to Kinter. She was Weather, the maid Kinter had entrusted Ryder to. Blood trickled from her face, likely scratched by fragments of the broken door. Even while injured and likely disoriented, she had wrapped Ryder carefully in a blanket and was protecting him.
Kinter felt dizzy. Holding Ryder so close like that, Weather would have inevitably realized the child was dead. Then why was she still protecting him?
Kinter couldn’t understand. For some reason, Weather had faithfully followed Kinter’s request to the end. If she had not protected him, Ryder’s death would have been revealed much sooner.
“I just came to see my nephew’s face, but she wouldn’t let me in. Suspicious, don’t you think? So I brought an axe and broke down the door.”
“There’s nothing suspicious about it. I asked her to do that. I told her not to let anyone in because he had just barely recovered from an illness. That maid was simply following my orders. Didn’t she tell you?”
“Oh… now that you mention it, I did hear something. I just thought she was lying. My mistake.”
Dias smirked, lowering the axe. His eyes, however, were not smiling at all. He had not fully let go of the axe either.
“Now that I’m back, that should suffice. You must be tired from traveling to the marquess’s estate, so please go inside and rest.”
“Yes… I will. But… sister-in-law, isn’t it strange? All this commotion, yet my nephew is sleeping so deeply without even the slightest reaction. Doesn’t he look as though he’s dead?”
“Did I not tell you? He was ill for five days and only just fell into a deep sleep. He must be exhausted—there’s no way he could hear the noise around him.”
At Kinter’s words, Dias wiped the smile from his face and raised the axe again. Startled, Kinter squeezed her eyes shut, but she felt no pain. When she cautiously opened her eyes, Dias had rested the axe on his shoulder.
“You don’t think I’d keep swinging an axe recklessly, do you? I do have common sense.”
Kinter flushed red with humiliation at being toyed with. Dias had deliberately swung the axe to intimidate her.
“And now that sister-in-law is here, there’s no need for me to break the door. That maid will open it for you. With you present, there’s no issue with me checking on my nephew’s condition, right?”
Kinter bit her lip. She had no grounds to argue. Dias seemed already convinced that Ryder was dead. From Kinter’s perspective as well, Ryder, having been ill for days, appeared gaunt and lifeless—like a corpse. With no breathing, no movement during sleep, anyone observing for long would realize the child had already passed. And if the blanket Weather was holding were removed, there would surely be postmortem discoloration across his body.
“Ask her to open the door. Why don’t you check? Don’t you care about your son, sister-in-law? Come inside with me.”
“If the axe is the issue, I will set it down immediately.”
Dias threw the axe onto the ground. The blade spun and slid to a stop near Kinter’s feet. It had nearly caused serious injury, but Kinter did not react. Unable to provoke a response from Kinter, Dias shifted his target.
“Hey, you—your mistress is here. Why aren’t you coming out? If you don’t come out quickly, you’re fired. And if that’s not enough, I’ll call the guards. I’ll hand you over for kidnapping and imprisoning the young master of a marquess’s family, so understand that.”
Weather looked at Kinter with trembling eyes. Having laid hands on a noble’s son would not end with a mere fine. Moreover, with Ryder dead, she could even be accused of murder.
The onlookers began whispering, speculating that the young master might truly be dead. Kinter bit her lower lip. What should she do? She felt cornered on a cliff’s edge—one more step and she would fall. Or perhaps she had already fallen.
No. Kinter looked for Evangeline. If it was the young lady—the Rohanson young lady—she would provide a way out.
Where was she? Had Kinter rushed here on her own and lost her way?
Kinter looked around, and her eyes met something pure white in a corner of her vision. She gasped.
The Rohanson young lady was standing right beside her. Her presence was so clear and vivid that it was strange Kinter had not noticed her until now. It was puzzling that not only Kinter but also Dias and the butler seemed unaware of her presence.
“P-please… help me… young lady.”
Like someone detached from reality, observing the situation as a third party, Evangeline began to move only after Kinter asked for help. With each step the Rohanson young lady took, the atmosphere changed.
At the first step, people were startled by the sudden presence. At the second step, they fell silent, overwhelmed by her presence. At the third step, they were gripped by fear and held their breath under Evangeline Rohanson’s oppressive aura.
“Wh-who…?”
Dias was the only one who managed to speak, and even then, he stuttered.
The Rohanson young lady paid him no mind, looking only at Kinter. Kinter, momentarily forgetting how bleak the situation was, felt a strange surge of exhilaration—like she had been chosen as the only one by a god.
The young lady stood behind Kinter and gently embraced her. White-gloved hands brushed her shoulders, and hair tickled her neck. A cold breath brushed her ear, and a seductive whisper like the language of a serpent reached her—words only Kinter could hear. Had Kinter been ignorant of Evangeline, she might have mistaken the voice as divine.
“Madam Toten, do you wish to bring the child back to life?”
“…Yes. Yes.”
“Even if the one revived is not your son? Even if it is someone else borrowing your son’s body?”
Kinter wanted to turn around and demand what she meant, but her entire body was restrained, as if wrapped tightly by a serpent, unable to move.
As she listened, she recalled their first conversation. Yes—Evangeline had clearly said she was a substitute. It wasn’t just an excuse to avoid Kinter’s request. Then Ryder—her son… was he truly gone forever? So miserably, so painfully, so irretrievably?
“The choice is entirely yours. Either formally acknowledge the child’s death and accept parting, or pretend, at least outwardly, that he is still alive.”
What Kinter wanted was for Ryder to be revived. But as Evangeline had already declared, there was no such thing as a perfect solution.
Kinter quickly accepted reality. She did not resist—perhaps because she was simply too exhausted. Ryder’s final words echoed in her mind.
“Please let me leave some last words, in case this is my end.”
“Even if I’m gone, please protect the marquess’s family, Mother.”
Faced with choosing between accepting farewell or pretending her son was still alive, Kinter chose the latter. She loved Ryder dearly—so much that she would use his corpse to honor his final wishes. It was a selfish kind of love.
“Mother, you love me, don’t you?”
Even selfish love is still a form of love.
“Yes. That’s fine.”
In the end, Kinter gave her consent.
“Melek.”
“Yes, young lady.”
Evangeline called the blindfolded coachman. It was unclear why the coachman had accompanied them inside the estate.
The two whispered briefly, and before Kinter could even wonder, the coachman’s form began to blur. He dissolved into black smoke, drifting through the air and seeping into Ryder’s body. The scene was visible only to Kinter—everyone else was focused entirely on the Rohanson young lady.
“D-did the young master move!”
A maid in the crowd screamed. Kinter recognized that voice as belonging to one of Evangeline’s attendants.
People shifted their attention away from Evangeline and toward Ryder. Just as the maid said, the motionless child winced, as if reacting to a dream. His cheeks moved slightly, and then his eyes suddenly opened.
“Gasp!”
Someone who made eye contact with Ryder covered their mouth. Kinter was no different. She had been the one to ask Evangeline for help, the one who made the choice. Yet the moment she saw the unfamiliar presence inside her son’s body, she felt a wave of nausea.
Ryder’s hand twitched.
“T-this… what is…”
Of everyone present, the most terrified was Weather, who had been holding Ryder all this time. To her, the sensation of a lifeless corpse suddenly stirring must have felt like it was happening in her very arms.
“Oh… that is frightening.”
Hena, who had experienced something similar with Evangeline’s funeral, deeply sympathized.
