“You don’t care?”
Charlotte nodded calmly and ate the pie.
The savory sauce with long-simmered vegetables, tangy mustard, and parsley was delicious.
The pie crust, which often fails, was perfectly crisp.
“Why don’t you care?”
While she was inwardly praising the pie she had made herself, Matiel repeated the same words as if he couldn’t understand at all.
“Are you asking sincerely?”
Charlotte said as she poked the sugar jelly with her fork.
“Let me ask you this instead, if you killed your elder brother, is there any reason I should care about that fact?”
Matiel was stunned as if he had been slapped.
The most disconcerting thing was that he couldn’t immediately refute her words.
Charlotte wasn’t wrong.
Matiel belatedly realized that he wasn’t even sure what answer he had been expecting from her.
Well, isn’t that right? Even if Charlotte believed such rumors to be true, even if she condemned Matiel as an unfilial murderer, what could she do about it?
What was he thinking when he asked such a question? Did he think she would jump off the moving train in a desperate escape?
Nevertheless, Matiel couldn’t move or say anything else for a long time, holding his teacup.
It would be strange to laugh now and say ‘I was joking’.
Charlotte said,
“If that incredible rumor is true, you’ll go to hell. I don’t believe in God, but I believe in the devil. We can’t know if God exists or not, but the devil certainly does. In some sense or another.”
“For example?”
Matiel asked. This time his tone had no pretense.
There was only a faint excitement, as if attending an interesting academic conference.
“For example.”
Charlotte echoed his words, lightly tapping the edge of her plate as she rested her chin on her hand.
“If you really killed your own flesh and blood out of greed, even if not now, someday you’ll come to deeply regret it. And until the very day you draw your last breath, you’ll ruminate on your terrible evil deed every moment. You might become an addict to forget the pain, or you might even attempt to take your own life. Think of all that suffering, all that anguish and fear. That would be the punishment of hell, and the merciless lash of the devil.”
Eventually, Matiel smiled faintly and slightly lowered his chin.
“That’s plausible. But what if I’m the type of person who doesn’t feel any guilt? Then wouldn’t the hell and devil you speak of cease to exist?”
“Not at all. Quite the opposite.”
“Why?”
“Because in the unlikely event that it’s true, you would be the devil yourself. Even if your blood dries up and your breath fades, even if your flesh and bones rot and crumble, no one in the world would pity your situation. You’d deserve such treatment.”
Having finished speaking, Charlotte took several sips of tea as if her throat was parched.
“But either way, it has nothing to do with me, right?”
Matiel replied.
“Yes, that’s right. It has nothing to do with you. You’re free to believe it or not. I won’t lie or make excuses either.”
“Excellent idea.”
Charlotte raised her teacup as if proposing a toast.
At her natural action, Matiel couldn’t help but chuckle once again.
* * *
The meal was just the right amount for the two of them to have lunch.
The basket full of empty plates instead of food was passed to the servant’s hands.
When it returned, the plates would be clean, without a drop of oil.
Perhaps because she was full, or because the sunlight coming through the window was too warm, Charlotte fell asleep with her head leaning against the window frame.
The clattering sound of the wheels, the hissing of steam, and the slight trembling of the tracks grabbed her ankles and pulled her deeper, even deeper into the embrace of sleep.
She was dreaming.
She was vaguely aware that she was in a dream, yet unable to escape from it.
There was a thunderous sound loud enough to shake the small shop.
As the glass door flashed white, Charlotte heard the silver bell above the door ring.
A long, bumpy, and very tired shadow fell across the cold floor.
A medicinal brew for her sick mother was boiling in the pot.
When lightning flashed again, Charlotte realized that the person who had entered the shop was Taemi, covered in blood.
As she thought that he would soon die… she thought about the medicine that might soon overflow from the pot.
She didn’t know why.
Seeing Taemi, who could barely stand, let alone walk on all fours, Charlotte was having strange thoughts instead of worrying about him.
Knowing that Taemi was severely injured, that he was almost at death’s door, her mind was filled only with the thought that she should quickly remove the firewood before the medicine overflowed.
Don’t say that. Charlotte thought. Her eyes moved busily against her will.
She didn’t want to see Taemi covered in blood, his legs grotesquely twisted, and something wrapped in cloth that had almost become one with his body.
Stop it, get out. Get out of here!
Taemi, who had uttered these words mixed with a groan, collapsed on the floor with a thud.
A familiar sleeve was visible through the cloth that seemed impossible to separate from his body.
Whenever Charlotte’s father left for the ‘Land of Overwork’, he always sewed an amulet made by his wife’s own embroidery into his sleeve.
The thread was yellow when mother embroidered it.
But why doesn’t it look yellow now? Whose hand is that dark one protruding from the sleeve? What is that?
Taemi gasped for breath.
Charlotte turned her gaze to him but couldn’t move a finger.
The sound of the medicine finally boiling over was heard.
Steam rose, giving off a bitter smell as it spilled out of the pot and fell onto the firewood and embers.
That won’t do. Charlotte thought.
Ash must have flown into the pot. I need to make mom’s medicine again.
She tried to tell Taemi to ‘wait’.
Let’s talk again after I boil the medicine again. I don’t understand what you’re saying at all.
However, the words that came out of her parted lips were completely different from what Charlotte had thought.
This isn’t right, look. Taemi is shocked.
He’s just staring blankly, covered in blood and unrecognizable… The medicine has all overflowed. The fire has gone out now. It’s too dark. Too…
Taemi stands up… Taemi stood up.
He gazed at Charlotte with bewildered and sad eyes for a long time, then limped out of the shop, dragging his blood-soaked leg.
Charlotte stood still, listening to the sound of him slipping on the rain-wet steps.
While lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, while Taemi wailed as if he might cough up his heart below, she stood still… without moving a muscle.
No, mom.
Nothing happened.
No one came back.
Suddenly, tears mixed with blood flowed from Charlotte’s rigidly fixed eyes.
* * *
“Wake up!”
Charlotte suddenly woke up to a voice ringing in her ears.
She lifted her head so quickly that her vision spun and she felt dizzy, but in her blurry sight, she could see Matiel’s face everywhere.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
Charlotte blinked quietly with her lips parted. Then Matiel’s palm soon touched her forehead.
“You have a fever. Are you alright?”
I don’t have a fever. Charlotte thought hazily as she slowly pushed Matiel’s hand away.
“I’m fine.”
Matiel withdrew his hand without much resistance, but he didn’t immediately return to his seat.
Only when her cheek lightly bumped against his shoulder due to the train’s jolting did Charlotte realize that Matiel was sitting right next to her.
“Here.”
He held out something. As she lowered her gaze, another wave of dizziness washed over Charlotte.
She tried to focus her vision while taking a slow breath. A clean handkerchief came into view.
“What’s this?”
“To wipe your face.”
“My face?”
Only when she touched her face did she realize she had cried so hard that her cheeks were a mess.
Her forehead was sticky with cold sweat, and she felt a dull pain every time she blinked.
Matiel held out the handkerchief again, but Charlotte just stared at it blankly before speaking haltingly.
“I dreamed of my father.”
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
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