“What kind of joke is that?”

Unable to believe the absurdity, Claire, with a sense of apology, burst into laughter, shaking her head vigorously.

Hershis stared at her, waiting for skepticism to rise in her heart.

It didn’t take much time for that to happen.

“No way…”

Claire spoke with a slightly diminished laughter in her voice. Then she scrutinized her counterpart carefully.

‘No, it can’t be. The guy I remember and this one look nothing alike.’

However… it felt strangely uneasy.

The serious expression without a hint of laughter didn’t seem like a lie.

Moreover, knowing about me even though Liz didn’t say anything could mean that, perhaps…

“No, it can’t be. I can’t believe it!”

Claire said, trying to bring the lever that was tilting towards the absurd assumption that the Emperor and the house servant were the same person back to a more reasonable position.

“What Your Majesty mentioned is something that can be discovered through buying a house servant or investigating through a friendly lady. If Your Majesty wants me to believe that you are Cain, please provide more convincing evidence. Otherwise, I can only think that Liz has been revealing our household affairs to Your Majesty.”

It was a tone of certainty that there would be no evidence. Hershis smoothly smiled and mercilessly shattered her confidence.

“Liz had smallpox when she was ten, leaving a scar on her face. It happened about a year ago. The lady didn’t look at Liz’s face for a whole year. One day, she got drunk and said something like this.”

‘You’d better off dead.’

“Liz heard everything, my lady. It was the lady’s birthday that day, and Liz was on her way to the lady’s room with a gift.”

“…”

“Let me tell you one more thing. You’ll be sure if I say this.”

Hershis said calmly.

“When Liz was twelve, she accidentally broke the rose-patterned teacup the lady cherished. When the lady got angry, she shouted to fix the teacup and put it back as it was, making a fuss. Liz spent the night repairing her piece. Despite burning her hands on hot wax and getting cut by her sharp knife, she didn’t give up. She presented the restored teacup to the lady with a proud feeling the next day. Do you remember how the lady reacted?”

Claire tried hard to recall, even in her dazed state.

‘What did I do?’

She simply couldn’t remember. The only memory that came up was Liz breaking the teacup.

“She threw it into the fireplace. Once a cup is broken, no matter how you put it back together, it can never become a new one. Just like a woman’s body. You have to take good care of it. She said something like that while making a fuss.”

“…”

“Do you believe now? Or do you still find it insufficient?”

With no answer, Hershis clicked his tongue as if regretful.
“Then let me tell you more. I know a lot of other things. Of course, I was Cain, Cain was Liz’s shadow, and you weren’t someone who cared about shadows.”

“Enough… It’s enough.”

Claire muttered to herself as if talking to herself.

But she still hadn’t fully grasped reality. She still couldn’t accept the fact that the Emperor was Cain. Still… still… she didn’t want to hear more.

Yeah. She wasn’t a good mother. No matter how much she tried to deny it, deep down, it seemed she knew that fact. But why?

‘What is a good mother anyway? Taking care of a child meticulously, considering their emotions, giving kisses on the cheek, is that it? Are there such mothers among noble ladies?’

Taking care of meticulously is the nanny’s job, emotions should be managed by oneself. Giving kisses on the cheek is usually the father’s job. She didn’t need to do even the father’s job.

‘I usually did it.’

A regular mother sometimes prioritizes herself over her child, gets angry and fails to control her temper, that was all normal. Mothers are humans too.

But…

“It seems like it’s still not enough…”

As Hershis opened his mouth, Claire plugged her ears.

“Stop! Stop it!”

She didn’t want to confirm the fact that she wasn’t an ordinary mother. She didn’t want to realize that everything that had fallen apart was her own doing. Denying her entire past life.

“Yeah, maybe I did as Your Majesty said. But is that really just because I’m selfish? No. The child acted cute. Did I treat her so harshly?”

Claire poured out her words with her ears plugged.

“Yeah, Lilia. Haven’t you seen Lilia? How well she treated me! That’s how I am. If you treat me well, I’m a person who gives everything, including the kitchen sink!”

“But you didn’t give it to her.”

Hershis’s calm voice penetrated the lady’s ears. It was a voice that neutralized the act of blocking her ears.

“That daughter was eventually abandoned. And Liz, who could have become a troublemaker just like herself, was saved by Liz. What you did was nothing.”

“…”

“To impress my uncle, you tried to kill the life that your daughter was holding. Nothing more.”

The lady spread her hands and collapsed on the floor.