“But then, what’s the point of that?”

“……”

“Would doing that take away all the times that I had suffered?”

At the question calmly posed, Roen managed to open his lips.

“That’s…”

However, his response was cut short by Violet’s subsequent words.

“Young Lord, I want to be happy now.”

“I just wanted to forget about all the things that’re complicated, all the things that I hate… I just wanted to be happy.”

And I thought I’d be happy if I got an apology.

When she had received Roen’s apology, it was calmer than she had expected. And it didn’t feel nice at all. It was just this sticky unpleasant feeling that you’d get from drinking unfizzy softdrinks.

This resentment wouldn’t disappear after just a few words.

“Let me ask you the same question. Do you think you’ll be happy once you’re the duke?”

“…No.”

Talking about the matter of revenge abetting revenge was a moot endeavor. As a matter of fact, revenge was a good thing. It might even improve one’s quality of life a little.

“It’s a frightening and heavy position to carry.”

The sweetness brought by power would no doubt be addictive, however the weight of responsibility loomed not far behind.

If the villainess were to become the duke’s heir, the intensity of all the criticism against her would become even stronger.

It would end up with just this: damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If she couldn’t do well, she’d be cursed at. If she could do well, she’d still be cursed at.

Political enemies would come in droves just to bring her down. They would spread more rumors about her, they would press her down with all their power and might.

The same was true if she were to become the crown prince’s consort. Power was bound to carry such responsibilities and criticisms.

What Violet wanted was just one simple thing.

To spend the rest of her life painting without having to worry about starving.

This was the happiness she was hoping for.

Roen smiled bitterly.

The man, who now carried an insurmountable weight of responsibility all for the sake of apologizing to his younger sister, stopped asking meaningless questions.

“…I’ll move up the schedule of our departure to the capital so that we can leave before Cairn returns. Rest comfortably for now.”

“……”

Roen had been stopping by Violet’s residence regularly these days even though he had such dark circles under his eyes. After a short goodbye, he left the drawing room.

Still as ever, there was no such thing as a prolonged goodbye between the two of them.

* * *

Rumors started going around about how Violet would be going to the capital with Roen. The whispers continued spreading with no signs of stopping.

Some people said that the wicked woman would be released from her confinement, while others said that she might only have been framed.

Some people said that she must be aiming for the position of the crown prince’s consort, while others said that Violet had never been truly incarcerated in the first place.

Public opinion about Violet had certainly changed, but there were still droves of people who continued to vilify her. In that sense, her decision to leave the Everett household was a good choice.

The rumors spread little by little and eventually reached Aileen.

“…Why.”

As she muttered under her breath, the girl clutched the pillow in her hands so hard that it might soon burst.

From a cursory glance of her room, it looked as if a storm had swept through the space. It was a mess. Broken objects were strewn everywhere.

She couldn’t do anything. The image she had built up all these years had caught her by the ankle.

Her outward image of a ‘good child’ was the key point to her being able to receive all that love, but at the same time, it was the very thing that shackled her.

“Why! Why the hell!”

All her actions were controlled. Even the smallest mistake would come back to bite her in the form of criticism. The wide, wide duchy had become a cage for Aileen.

“Why, why did this happen. Nanny, Nannyyy… Where did you go? Why, why…”

Aileen was neither an angel nor a saint.

In the end, she was just a human being. In such a situation where she was suffocating, she was unable to endure.

And it only worsened further when her nanny and maids, who acted like her hands and feet, had disappeared.

As she had been loved all her life, the girl could not overcome the violent environment she now found herself in.

* * *

Moonlight rested above the lake’s surface.

Violet looked down quietly into the lake where she had once plunged into. Considering that the weather hadn’t been good that day, it was a miracle that she had survived.

The grass beneath her bare feet made her skin itch. Though she was scheduled to leave for the capital the very next day, Violet had come out for a stroll on an impulse.

In the middle of the garden, she was a sole woman who was walking barefoot, wearing only a nightgown. If anyone were to see her, it’s only natural that they would point a finger at her.

Even so, she nevertheless went on this stroll and enjoyed it as much as she pleased.

Violet would be leaving the Everett residence tomorrow.

She would be leaving her hometown, which was also her birthplace.

She did not feel regretful about this. However, she could not stop the urge to take a tour around the residence.

“……”

It would be the last time before she’d leave—to capture with her eyes the hometown that she would not be returning to.

“It’s time to say goodbye.”