C142
"Dad! What do you mean?!"
Liena was surprised by Duke Cassius's cold attitude.
"I found out about this from Miss Angela here. The girl who was originally close to my wife, Cheryl, was Ethel, and you deceived me into adopting you."
At the moment the truth of the past was revealed, Liena only opened her eyes wide and couldn't utter a word.
"That's a lie!"
She then exploded in anger, as if having a fit of rage.
"That woman lied! Do you believe in such nonsense?"
"We also confirmed with other students who were at the orphanage at that time."
The duke responded with a somber voice.
"Most people I contacted remembered Ethel as a girl who was friendly with the lady who visited them occasionally."
"Well, all those people are lying to frame me! You know it. I was ostracized from the nursery!"
"Are you saying that Angela, the other students, and even Ethel had malicious intentions toward you and agreed with you?"
"That's right!"
"Then tell me what Cheryl told me the night before she married me."
"What?"
"If you were close to Cheryl, you would know."
"... She didn't even tell me that."
"That's strange. Ethel was able to answer well."
"What?"
"She told me a while ago. Cheryl told her about our love story."
Liena suddenly looked at me.
I smiled gently in return for those warm eyes.
"Now, tell me quickly."
"Well, what I remember..."
Despite the duke's insistence, Liena only bit her lips.
Tick-tock, tick-tock. Meanwhile, the grandfather clock hanging on the wall of the room continued to move its hands.
Finally, Duke Cassius sighed, looked at me, and opened his mouth.
"Don't worry. Bad people are punished, and good people are blessed."
It was truly exquisite.
Originally, these words were said by the duchess to encourage the duke, who feared not being able to start a family long before his marriage.
You will be blessed because you are a good person.
But at this moment, doesn't it seem like he is foreshadowing Liena's destruction?
"Yes, that's right! Leandro should have told him! That's why my sister-in-law knows!"
Liena fought with all her might, denying her imminent destruction.
"No, I heard that for the first time today too."
But Leandro, who was leaning against the wall, shook his head, and Duke Cassius agreed.
"I haven't told anyone about that day either."
That was true. That is, until Liena gets married at the end of the novel.
Duke Cassius shares his experience with Liena, who is about to marry Mikhail, and encourages her by saying that she will be fine.
I decided to use the scene that showed the strong bond between father and daughter in a different way.
Didn't I say it a moment ago? Sometimes a little lie is necessary.
Suddenly, tears fell from Liena's eyes.
"Ugh, ugh... Why is everyone doing this to me?"
Liena, who was cornered, chose to act with tears, which was her specialty.
Watching Liena shed tears, wondering if her acting skills were rusty, was truly pitiful.
"Dad, I'm Liena. Dad's only daughter."
"......"
But Duke Cassius did not yield.
Then it was the turn of the two brothers.
"Brothers, please say something! Why don't you believe what I say, you're my family, and you only believe what others say?"
"Liena."
Leheim, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"Don't you know what your sister-in-law, or Viscountess Lucibiu, knows about our mother?"
"I forgot! It was so long ago. My sister-in-law still remembers what she heard from me. We were close, and we shared everything."
That seemed to be Liena's new excuse, but it was like digging her own grave.
"You finally admitted it. Ethel was your friend."
Murmured Duke Cassius.
"Then why didn't you tell Leandro when he brought Ethel to our house?"
Liena, who was crying sadly, stiffened in shock.
"I heard she was a close friend? It's not that you didn't recognize her, so why pretend not to know her?"
"... I-I felt like Ethel didn't know me. Later, I found out she lost her memory in an accident, but I didn't want to cause confusion..."
"Looking back, your attitude back then was clearly strange. You said you were afraid of losing our affection for Ethel. Now I understand."
"Dad!"
"You were afraid of losing everything because, in the first place, it wasn't yours."
At that moment, Liena's time seemed to stop.
"... Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But I couldn't help it. I really wanted a father and a family."
Liena slowly collapsed to the floor and soon began to cry like a child.
"I knew I shouldn't have done that... I was jealous of Ethel's opportunity. The love given by three people was so warm... I didn't want to lose it."
Liena sobbed and continued speaking with difficulty.
"Can you forgive me just once? I've been your good daughter until now. I'll do better in the future. Forget the past and give me a chance."
She then crawled and clung to Duke Cassius's feet.
If I didn't know Liena well, I would have thought that this sincere repentance was genuine, but it was too obvious to my eyes.
Liena's intention was to change her strategy to gain his sympathy because she could no longer deny the truth.
Proof of this is that she only apologized to Duke Cassius and his two brothers and didn't even look at her former friend.