Chapter 17

“I’m engaged to such a wonderful man, so I need to carry myself with more confidence. I’ll follow your example and start expressing my affection for him more openly.”

“D-Don’t mess with me! You know how I feel, and you still dare to say something like that…!”

“Of course I know. You’ve been taking the place of your pathetic older sister, haven’t you?”

That’s right. You were nothing more than a substitute. No, to that man, you were merely a pawn, and you were a pitiful woman who mistook that for love. If you were going to ruin your skin with heavy makeup every day, you might as well learn a skill in the arts or something.

“That’s enough! What do you find so amusing about getting carried away and humiliating your own sister?! You suddenly barged in on our family time, and now you’ve ruined my appetite!”

Sarah slammed her fork down with a loud clatter. She was a terrible mother who showed little affection for her own daughter, Ophelia, without even having any real reason to do so. Then again, a true-blooded aristocrat who’d grown up spoiled wasn’t going to change her nature simply because she’d given birth to a child. If I, Alexandra, had ever had a child, I probably wouldn’t have been much different from Sarah.

Until I met Ophelia, I’d thought of love as something like tableware.

An accessory meant to adorn me. A convenient excuse for satisfying my desires. Something that could be smashed without mercy the moment I grew tired of it. A mere supporting character that could never be eaten.

Now, however, that love ran straight through me, from the crown of my head to the very center of my body. It was the warm love Ophelia had given me. It wasn’t some pretty ornament, but something misshapen and caked in mud. By showering me with affection, she had tried to fill the loneliness within herself.

Strangely enough, that love had fit perfectly into Alexandra’s heart—the heart of someone who had been spat on and mocked just before her death—and we had filled the emptiness in each other.

—In other words, we had loved each other just as much.

“Just as Mother loves Helena, I have someone I love with all my heart. Now that I’ve decided to find happiness with that person, I have no desire to be dragged into unnecessary conflicts.”

“W-What did you say…?”

“I’ve never held a grudge against anyone to begin with. I’m grateful for the appearance I inherited from you, Mother, and I intend to refine it even further from now on. It would be a waste of such a precious gift, after all, and that would be disrespectful to you.”

Those were words I could never say to Helena, who had inherited our father’s looks instead. I would bring out Ophelia’s beauty from within and make sure no one ever called her plain again.

Her golden hair matched Alexandra’s, and her clear hazel eyes shimmered gold depending on how the light struck them. Once again, I couldn’t help thinking that we must have been bound together by fate, and the corners of my mouth curled upward.