I Don’t Need Them Anymore — Abandoning the Family That Never Loved Me, I Find Happiness in a Neighboring Kingdom - Chapter 19

Realizing this wasn’t a conversation to have standing in the hallway, we decided to talk in the drawing room.

A fireplace dominated the far wall, and nearby were two sofas in the red and black checkered pattern Her Majesty the Queen favored. We sat side-by-side on one of them.

After the maid who had brought our tea left, Lady Edith began speaking immediately.

“Just to confirm, the first letter he sent after betraying you contained words meant to push you away, correct?”

“…Yes. The contents were so shocking I only skimmed it, but that’s right.”

“I think that was a setup.”

“A setup?”

I had no idea what she meant. I looked at Lady Edith, seeking an answer.

“That’s what I believe. You received the second letter from him via Princess Ramula, correct?”

“Yes.”

I nodded, and though it wasn’t directly related to the ‘setup,’ I realized something. “Could it be… was Loin trying to make it look like my sister gave me poison?”

When I asked in surprise, Lady Edith nodded.

“I think so. If you had drunk something you received from Princess Ramula and collapsed, you would have suspected her, since she handed you the envelope.”

Now that she mentioned it, the letter had instructed me to discard it. I had thought it meant that something containing words that could drive a person to their death shouldn’t be left lying around, but that wasn’t the only reason.

“But would I really drink something so suspicious?”

“That’s why I said it was a setup. He intended to corner you with the first letter and force a decision with the second.”

She was right. At that time, I had been mentally cornered. With the added anxiety of not knowing if Lady Edith would accept me, I had started to feel that choosing death might be acceptable.

Loin knew my personality, so he tried to corner me like that.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”

Perhaps because I had looked down, Lady Edith’s gentle voice and words, spoken with concern, seeped deeply into my heart.

Everything that had happened up to now raced through my mind.

I hadn’t intended to cry, but tears began to overflow once more.

I really am a crybaby.

How many times would I have to cry before I could sort out my feelings about those painful days and finally look forward?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

I hurriedly wiped my tears and smiled at the flustered Lady Edith.

“Lady Edith, you’ve done nothing wrong. Your words truly make me happy.”

Loin had told me he would protect me. Being urged to die by someone like that had wounded me more deeply than I had realized.

“In that case, it’s fine. I’ll try to be more attentive to changes in you, but from now on, if something painful happens, I want you to consult with me instead of bearing it alone.”

“Thank you. At that time, I really thought it might be okay to die. Even then, there were people who cared about me…”

Looking back now, I regret that I was about to do something foolish.

“You don’t need to apologize. When you’re mentally worn down, you can’t make the same judgments you could in a normal state of mind.”

“…Have you ever had a time like that, Lady Edith?”

“I haven’t, but a friend of mine has.”

Lady Edith answered with downcast eyes.

It was only my second day meeting him. Yet, he had told me things that were difficult to share with others. Because of that, I sensed he had suffered some kind of wound to his heart that hadn’t yet healed.

It was only a guess, but perhaps the reason he had told me to live was—.

It wouldn’t be right for me, who didn’t know the details, to say anything.

So, I returned to the previous topic.

“Was Loin trying to make it look like my sister had poisoned me?”

“I think that’s likely. It might have been his form of revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“Not that I’m excusing what he did, but I think he truly did love you.”

Loin loved me? Impossible!

“I absolutely don’t think so.”

“I see. Yeah, you’re right. If he did love you, he should have known doing that would make you sad.”

“Do you think it’s possible for someone who loves me to have a relationship with my sister?”

“Some men say their lower half is a separate entity. He might have thought you would understand that.”

“…Now that you mention it, that might be the case.”

He had noticed that I loved Loin. So, he probably never imagined I would leave him.

If the lower half is a separate entity, then if my sister came onto Lady Edith, would he also…?

When I stared at him silently, he flusteredly shook his head.

“I wouldn’t do such a thing! I wouldn’t do anything to make Dahlia sad!”

“Loin said the same thing. I was worried that even Lady Edith might succumb to my sister’s seduction.”

I realized I had said something rude and hurriedly apologized.

“I’m so sorry!”

“After the experiences you’ve had, it can’t be helped that you’d think that.”

Lady Edith gently touched my left cheek and continued.

“I’m not foolish enough to fall for a woman who spoke ill of you. Besides, someone who only remembers things convenient for herself isn’t fit to be Queen, right?”

“O… oh… ri…”

That was it!

Lady Edith is the Crown Prince. That means the person who becomes his wife would be the Crown Princess. And when Lady Edith ascends the throne, she’d be the Queen!

How could I forget something so important? I really am an idiot. I can’t say anything about my sister!

“You haven’t had the leisure to think about such things until now. On the contrary, it means you now have enough peace of mind to consider it.”

“…Thank you.”

Just as our conversation lulled, we received word that the carrier pigeon had returned. The small white paper wasn’t signed, but it was in my brother’s handwriting: ‘Father and Sister have pinned it on Mother. That man – my partner and I will check tomorrow.’

It was probably phrased that way in case someone else read it, but I found it hard to understand, even though I should have grasped the meaning.

“What does this mean?”

“It seems your father and sister are trying to blame everything on your mother. ‘I’ is likely Prince Rix, ‘she’ is Nana, and ‘that man’ probably refers to your former fiancé.”

“My sister would sacrifice our mother…?”

I could understand Father wanting to protect his own position, so pinning the blame on Mother made sense. But for my sister to betray her like this!

“Dahlia, is there anything you want me to ask your former fiancé? I have some questions I want to ask, so I’ll have Prince Rix inquire for me.”

“Ah, um, there is something I’d like to ask you to request of my brother.”

“What is it?”

When I told her the content, Lady Edith asked with a worried expression, “That’s simple enough, but why?”

“If there’s a chance he meets him face-to-face, I want him to convey that I have no need for him anymore.”

“Understood.”

Lady Edith nodded and then had a maid bring paper and a pen.