NOVEL NEXT 3
Chapter 3
Even if it brings disgrace to the household, how can someone engage in a relationship with their brother-in-law? If I had known I was suddenly transmigrated into a serialized novel, I wouldn’t have become a villainess and died. Why do I have to regain all my memories only after being executed and reincarnated.
“Well, that’s… I mean…”
“You’re not trying to defend the woman who played around with a brother-in-law, are you? After all, Father always favored my sister, so just let me go out.”
“That’s not it; it’s just that. Your sister is very fragile.”
“Father, a fragile person wouldn’t engage in such a messy relationship.”
Every time she tried to explain, she would receive answers like “your sister is fragile” or “your sister is in pain.” Thanks to that, even when they argued, Lynet had to use tactics to win. Kenneth had always sided with the seemingly delicate Esther.
“Father, I’m the most traumatized person in this room right now, and I’m the one who asked to talk about it. Why do you keep putting it off? Just say it nicely. You like mom-like sister the best!”
“Hey! You keep crawling to Father… Ly-Lynet? Hey!”
Suddenly, everything shook. The two figures in front of her became blurry and then completely disappeared. Grabbing her head, she collapsed. Lynet was quickly caught and held by Edgar.
“Get the doctor to Lynet’s room at once!”
“The doctor is examining Miss Esther at the moment.”
“She’s healthy and just fainted. Lynet is the one who’s unconscious and keeps fainting. Quickly, bring the chief physician!”
Seeing Lynet limp in his arms, the butler immediately sent someone to Esther’s room.
Edgar rushed to Lynet’s room and laid her down. Katrine, who had been waiting quietly, became contemplative and held her hand.
“Hmm, what is the chief physician doing?”
When the doctor didn’t come quickly enough, Edgar frowned and went up to Esther’s room, where the doctor was attending to her very carefully.
“I surely sent someone to come to Lynet’s room,” he said, “and you did not hear!”
“Miss Esther is not awake,” the doctor replied, “and she has not. I’m so sorry. I will go to Lady Lynet’s at once.”
As Edgar came up himself, the physician had to leave Esther’s side; he was tied to her, who often fell down as if she were suffering from some unexplained and incurable disease.
Seeing Edgar’s fiery temper, the doctor didn’t even wait for Esther to wake up before he grabbed his bag.
As the doctor hurried out, Edgar heaved a deep sigh.
“Y-Young Master! How could you send the chief physician treating our Miss to Miss Lynet? Can’t you see that our Miss has fainted?”
Alice, Esther’s maid, tearfully expressed her grievances.
Edgar furrowed his brow at Alice’s words.
“Lynet also fainted in between.”
“But Miss Lynet is strong…”
“A strong person doesn’t end up in a coma for days! She just woke up and fainted again from the shock.”
Edgar let out a deep breath, disgusted that the maid had vomited on his words.
This household revolved around the frail Esther, and even her maid acted as if she were the head of the household.
“Hey! Get up.”
Edgar didn’t hesitate to thump Esther’s bed. He knew even before that Esther often blamed Lynet for things she didn’t do. So he could guess that Esther wasn’t really unconscious.
“Hey! I said get up. I know you’re pretending to faint on purpose.”
Esther opened her eyes at Edgar’s uproar.
“You’re also living quite a difficult life.”
“…”
“You’re going to have to pave your own path from now on. You’re probably the only one who’s ever gotten caught doing that with your sister’s fiancé.”
“Oh brother… I-I couldn’t help it. F-Fernando was threatening me, I-I.”
Esther sobbed while burying her face in the blanket.
Edgar, his face crumpled up, washed his face dry. After a few minutes, he stood up and walked over to Esther, who was still burying her face, and quickly lifted her face.
“You’re not crying, are you?”
“…….”
“I suddenly feel sorry for Lynet, who has seen this before. She’s being punished for something she didn’t do.”
Edgar, with his dry, emerald green eyes, frowned at Esther’s moist ones.
When Esther falsely accused Lynet of things she didn’t do, he pretended not to notice. He couldn’t openly take anyone’s side in front of his sisters.
Instead, Edgar would call Esther later and quietly scold her. But perhaps he had been too lenient, as Esther ended up doing things she shouldn’t have.
“You could live off acting even if you leave here, you know?”
“My brother, no matter how badly I’ve behaved, I’m your sister.”
“See how quickly you blame Fernando when it puts you at a disadvantage. Esther, I told you not to blame others for what you did, don’t you remember?”
Turning his back to Esther, Edgar quickly left for Lynet’s room.
Lynet once pretended to be sick and got scolded by Kenneth. Since then, even if she was really sick, she has never shown any signs of illness. Seeing her unable to wake up, Edgar couldn’t help but worry.
“Why isn’t she waking up?”
“It seems she fainted due to severe shock.”
After the doctor explained and left the sedative behind, Edgar leaned against the wall and looked at Lynet.
“It was a very bad shock, Father, and I’ll tell you, if my fiancée had done that to my brother, I’d have cut her throat.”
Kenneth, who didn’t need to be told, walked over to Lynet. She had always been a strong girl. She rarely cried.
Esther, on the other hand, would cry uncontrollably at the slightest hint of a word. So when the sisters would fight, Kenneth would scold Lynet, even if Esther was in the wrong.
“I went to Esther’s room and found out she was pretending to be unconscious. She was crying, blaming everything on Fernando, but when she lifted her head, she wasn’t even crying.”
“…”
“Father, you’ve been too biased. Well, I can’t really say I’m not. I’ve just been a bystander.”
“Esther cries often, while Lynet doesn’t cry, so I unconsciously…”
Kenneth felt unsure about what to do when Esther shed tears resembling her mother’s.
“May I speak, sir?”
Katrine, who had silently watched over Lynet all this time, spoke with her head bowed.
“Go ahead.”
“Lady Lynet didn’t cry because she couldn’t, not because she didn’t want to. Long ago, when she missed Madam and kept crying, what did you do?”
“That…”
“You hit her until her calves bled, telling her not to cry! Since Countess. Freyna passed away when she was eight, even if she wanted to cry, she couldn’t. She was afraid of getting hit again if she cried.”
At that moment, Kenneth felt like he had become trash in Lynet’s eyes. Only memories of what he had done to Lynet—things he shouldn’t have done—flooded his mind.
Kenneth bit his lip as he wrapped his face. As the head of the family, he had to resolve disputes quickly. So he had been harsher towards Lynet, thinking she could handle it.
“I might be recyclable, but Father, you seem irredeemable.”
Kenneth didn’t respond to Edgar’s blunt words; he simply walked over to the stunned Lynet and caressed her face. Kenneth couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d touched her face, and he let out an audible gasp.
“I’m sorry, Lynet…”
Lynet, who had grown up receiving abundant love from the family as the youngest daughter, still seemed lacking. However, she had gradually become distant and obsessed with Fernando.
Edgar’s words about Esther taking Fernando as well might have been to quickly get out of this household. However, considering that Esther took even that away from her, her feelings must be quite bitter.
Turning around to apologize to Lynet and following Kenneth, Edgar turned back to see the physician waiting in the corridor.
“Esther is very well,” he said, “and I want you to watch her from now on.”
At the words of the next Earl, the physician bowed, his face a picture of military honor.
***
When she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar ceiling. Letting out a tired yawn, Lynet sat up, startling Katrine, who had been dozing off next to her.
“Miss! You’re awake. I thought you were still unconscious.”
“By the way, how long have I been out?”
“About five hours, ma’am.”
It seemed like she woke up sooner than expected.
“I’ll rest a bit more.”
“Of course. Take your time and rest well, Miss.”
Unable to do anything about it, Katrine reached over to Lynet, who had closed her eyes again, and rubbed her stomach. When she was younger, she’d done this to her, and she’d fallen asleep after a whimper.
“Oh, how could someone do such a despicable thing wearing a human mask?”
She’d rather not know, but the news she heard when she stepped outside nearly made her head explode. Lynet had been so excited about marrying the love of her life, only to have that marriage break up. Because of her fiancé and her sister.
“If she were born human, she wouldn’t do such a thing!”
“Nanny, Katrin, don’t cry. You should be glad you got rid of him early.”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m not crying.”
Lynet’s voice lacked any sense of strength, and Katrin had to laugh, hiding her tears.
***
When Lynet woke up in the morning, she immediately washed her face and changed clothes. Seeing everyone looking at her with pity, Lynet furrowed her brow.
“Miss! How about this outfit for today?”
“These accessories look great with it.”
The usually indifferent servants suddenly became exceptionally kind.
As they walked to the dining room, Lynet frowned at the sight of Esther’s maid, Alice, before her. If Alice was here, that meant Esther was here.
“Miss, please come in.”
Once inside the dining room, Lynet smirked at the appearance of the last person she wanted to see this morning.
“Welcome. How are you feeling?”
“I’m beginning to feel sorry for myself, father, because I don’t think I’m going to die.
“Lynet! I didn’t mean to start a fight right now.”
At Kenneth’s words, Lynet snorted and chose to sit next to Edgar instead of Esther. Then, she smirked at Esther and said,
“Everyone else is dying here, yet some people seem whiter than me from all the anger on their faces. Sister, your makeup is showing.”
Even under Lynet’s attack, Esther remained elegant and continued to dine gracefully.
“Stop the nonsense and eat your meal.”
“I’ll eat even if you don’t say so, because if I collapse here, I’m the only one who loses.”
As they ate in silence, Edgar placed a piece of meat on Lynet’s plate. Instead of taking it, Renate pretended not to notice and put it back on Edgar’s plate.
“Do as you usually do. They say people die early if they do things they don’t usually do. If my brother dies, this house will be inherited by that woman. So, pull yourself together and live properly.”
She grumbled as usual.
Edgar didn’t say anything when he heard that. He merely pushed his drink toward Lynet out of sight as they ate.
“We’ve decided to send Esther to the country villa for a while.”
At that statement, Esther lowered her head, but Lynet stood up abruptly.
“Father! Are you kidding me? You kick out a woman who got involved with my fiancé and sister, causing a scandal, and tell her to relax at the villa?”
“Dum spiro spero”