“As long as ‘only’ Basil is alive, that’s enough. Then what about me?”

“Eugene, I didn’t mean that—”

“Then what about me, who wishes for you to live?”

His voice was like a stain dropped on a stark white sheet. Eugene gritted his teeth.

“Even when I try to be considerate towards you……!”

Helena knew. Eugene loved her. Precisely, he loved ‘only’ her.

He wanted to take her away from the Owen House, cutting off the rest. He often seemed to wish she’d never see them again.

But she couldn’t cut them off. However, because Eugene also loved her foolish self, he must have sent the money until now.

If she turned her eyes away from that house and focused more on Evergail, he probably wouldn’t mind throwing any amount of money their way.

But today seemed like the wrong time.

Something struck a nerve, and Eugene’s face became terrifyingly expressionless.

He swallowed his unfinished words with a trembling breath and spoke in a voice devoid of agitation.

“Do you know what they say about you in the circles?”

“…….”

“They say you’re a parasite clinging to Evergail. I can’t understand why you, bearing the name of Evergail, have to hear such things.”

Helena’s face paled at Eugene’s harsh words.

That such words had reached his ears. Although she had heard them countless times, hearing them from Eugene’s mouth hurt the most.

Anxiety made Helena’s eyes dart around as she stuttered.

“I’m sorry. But Basil…”

“That damned Basil, Basil. Aren’t you tired of it?”

“Eugene……!”

“I’d rather you had nothing to do with that house anymore!”

Thunder and lightning struck fiercely with Eugene’s outburst. It was as if they had cut off her breath, and Helena froze for a moment.

Now she looked so pale, almost inhuman. Tears began to well up in her large eyes.

“What did you just say… How can you say that, knowing what Basil means to me…!”

“Do you even know what you mean to me? It’s harder for me to see you talked about like that by people!”

Eugene released her arms and snatched the painting from her. Helena screamed, but his roar came first.

“You are the lady of Evergail, not some woman from the streets of Haier, pointed at and ridiculed!”

Crack, rip, tear.

Helena’s eyes widened, and the tears she had been holding back finally fell.

Outside, the thunderous noise shook the earth, but the sound of that small paper tearing was unbearably loud.

“Please, stop, just stop……!”

Helena, tears scattering, clung to Eugene. Torn pieces fell to the floor, and Helena collapsed on them.

She frantically gathered the pieces. Her repetitive actions left long trails of nail marks on the soft carpet, like her heart, slashed and torn.

Eugene stood watching her for a moment before turning away.

A few steps later, he stopped at the door, turning his head to glance at her from the corner of his eye.

“Forget everything else. Just remember that, Helena.”

Thud, the door closed, and Eugene left the room.
Lightning struck several more times. Helena couldn’t tell if the relentless trembling was due to the thunder or her own crying.

After that day, Eugene and Helena did not speak to each other. It was only on the evening of the fifth day that the ice was finally broken during dinner.

Eugene spoke first.

“……The bad weather caused a shipwreck, leading to significant losses in the trade business. I was on edge, and I unfairly took it out on you. I’m sorry.”

“…….”

Helena remained silent, just quietly mashing potatoes with her fork, eyes downcast on her plate.

Eugene appeared to study her expression for a moment before filling the silence again with his voice.

“Just in case, I sent more money yesterday. But next time something like this happens, don’t try to handle it alone. Tell me, I can at least do that much.”

“……Thank you.”

Finally, Helena’s lips moved slowly. Her voice, after five days, was surprisingly calm.

Eugene resumed cutting the grilled lamb that had been stuck halfway.

“Still, it would be best to avoid Haier for a while, at least until the rumors die down. I understand how you feel, Helena, but you need to expand your position gradually so it’s less difficult later. I might be away from my post at any time.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Also, I’ll make it clear to my mother to stop prying into your background.”

“Thank you for thinking of me.”

Helena’s gaze remained fixed on the mashed potatoes. Her mechanical responses, void of any inflection, sounded almost like a broken toy.

Then, after a few minutes, she spoke again, holding her knife.

“But you know, Eugene. No matter how pitiful or parasitic it sounds, I can’t cut off that tie.”

Eugene’s cutting stopped at her low voice. He felt her piercing gaze but did not meet it.

In Owen House, there was Basil, her only blood relative.

So, to save that red-haired boy who resembled her. She couldn’t let go.

“When everything else I could hold onto was severed,”

Without giving Eugene a glance, Helena put down her fork. Her hand holding the knife tightened.

“It’s the only thing I have left.”

And today, Helena finally mocked her past selves.