"Miss, please—eat just a little of this, won't you?"
A dark room, curtains blocking the sunlight.
Veronica braced herself and held out a bowl of soup.
The cooled beef and potato soup—deliberately not hot—was Lady Ethella's favorite dish.
But the young lady only shook her head and didn't take the bowl.
Her face, shadowed by long hair, looked paler today.
"Miss... why are you doing this?"
Veronica was on the verge of tears.
The girl who'd always smiled like sunshine had lost her glow and had already skipped several meals.
Considering she hasn't been able to eat properly since the day the First Princess left...
Veronica swallowed back tears.
"Veronica... I have to go to my sister."
In the end, Veronica burst into tears at the faint voice that seemed to be fading away.
"I told you—you mustn't say that! Because of those words, the Duke ordered you confined, Miss!"
"Sister!"
A few days ago, the Duke had been furious when Ethella said she would go to her sister.
Perhaps unable to control his anger, he'd been harsh to Ethella for the first time.
"What business could you possibly have with her?"
"I have something to say to my sister, Father. I truly have something to tell her."
"Absolutely not. Before you change your mind, Ethella—you must understand that you cannot take a single step outside this room!"
Even though he was rumored to be as cold as ice, the Duke had always been a gentle father to Ethella.
Despite facing her father's fiery rage for the first time, Ethella had never changed her mind.
The final punishment had been confinement.
Veronica had been ordered to watch over Ethella during her probation.
She couldn't help feeling upset in this situation.
Without realizing it, Veronica repeated her words—half complaint, half tearful accusation:
"This is all because of the First Princess! If only she weren't the Crown Princess—"
"No. This is because of me, Veronica."
"...What?"
It was a firm voice Veronica hadn't heard in a long time.
She stopped crying without realizing it and looked at Ethella.
Ethella pulled something from under her pillow.
It was the pink diamond necklace she clutched tightly every time she fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Even when I was young, I used to stay in my room with Brother Jade like this... and play with my sister."
Her second brother, Jade—five years older—had complained whenever she got clingy.
But the two had never given up sneaking off to visit Olivia.
One day it was bread. Another day, soup in a small bowl. One day, crayons and paper.
"But one day... Brother Jade stopped going to see my sister."
Jade, who'd loved playing with Olivia so much, had suddenly changed his attitude.
It happened when he was just ten years old.
There was longing in Ethella's gaze as she spoke of the old days.
Her purple amethyst eyes, which had been cloudy, gradually became clearer.
So Veronica kept quiet, even about this absurd story.
She had a feeling what the outcome would be—but she had no intention of stopping the bright young lady for the first time in so long.
"So what was I supposed to do? I had to go alone."
Ethella wrinkled her nose mischievously.
The reason Ethella—a heavy sleeper—had beaten her usual bedtime was so she could sneak out and play with her older sister.
"My sister's room was in the attic on the fourth floor of the mansion, right? Veronica, you know. The fourth floor."
"The one they said was haunted?"
"Yes, that one."
Ethella chuckled at Veronica's answer.
She didn't know who'd started the rumor—but it had been effective on young Ethella.
When she went with Jade, it hadn't bothered her—but going alone to the fourth floor was different.
The atmosphere on the fourth floor had been so eerie it sent shivers down her spine.
Stairs that seemed to creak with strange, otherworldly sounds.
It felt as if a hazy ghost might truly appear before her eyes.
Five-year-old Ethella had repeatedly climbed the stairs to visit her older sister.
Of course, the result had been failure every time.
"Then one day, I was standing on the stairs... and I heard creaking noises coming from above. I just closed my eyes and cried, thinking a ghost was coming down to eat me."
The reason Ethella remembered that day so clearly—when she couldn't even make a sound and only cried—was because of what happened next.
"Then... my sister appeared."
Ethella muttered dreamily.
"'Ethella?'"
Olivia, appearing with only a single candle in hand, had looked like a hero.
A hero who'd emerged proudly from the fourth floor—the place that seemed haunted by ghosts.
Was it because she'd felt relieved? Or maybe because she'd seen her sister's face after so long?
Young Ethella had burst into tears.
Through her blurry vision, she could clearly see that her older sister was at a loss.
"But even though I was crying... she wouldn't hug me or comfort me."
"..."
"I don't know how sad I was. So I cried louder on purpose."
"'Ethella, don't cry.'"
In the end, Ethella had won.
Her older sister, who'd been hesitating, had finally hugged her.
She'd wiped away Ethella's tears and even invited her to her room.
Smaller than my room, but comfortable...
That place had been her sister's room.
After that night, an unspoken secret had formed between Ethella and Olivia.
Late at night, Olivia would sneak down the stairs without anyone noticing—and Ethella would rub her sleepy eyes and wait for her older sister to come.
Ethella smiled faintly, as if remembering those times.
Then, when she made eye contact with Veronica, she smiled a secret smile—the kind reserved for people sharing confidences.
And she slowly confessed her secret.
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