Chapter 97
“If you have anything to ask, ask. I will answer everything honestly.”
"Really? Really?"
“I promise you on my honor and my life. If those things are so worthless that you don’t believe them…”
While Edel hesitated to think about what she should sacrifice the most, Laszlo waved his hand as if everything was unimportant.
“Since you’re saying that, I’ll ask a question. I hope you’ll answer honestly as you promised.”
"Ask."
"In the Canyon family, what is your place?"
Edel paused at the first question. There were many directions the answer could take.
“On the surface, I was the eldest of two boys and two girls, and my job was that I was the daughter for whom much effort was devoted to marrying into one of the four great families… but apparently this is not something the Count does not know.”
“Yes. I heard that before. I knew that Count Canyon had taught you strictly to marry into one of the Four Great Families. Your reputation as a perfect bride was famous everywhere.”
Edel felt embarrassed to hear the details of her past from Laszlo's lips, so she turned her gaze away.
But Laszlo's gaze towards Idil became more determined.
“But there’s something…it seems that the relationship between you and your father isn’t what it appears to be in public.”
"What? Do you mean exactly what you're asking about...?"
“Did the ‘strict’ education I received include hitting and abuse?”
His sharp question came as a surprise, like a sudden blow. Idil opened her eyes in astonishment. As if Laszlo had anticipated her confusion, he added.
"Didn't you agree to answer honestly?"
He was right. She should get closer to the truth and prove her innocence to Laszlo, who doubted her.
Edel nodded slowly.
“The beatings were directed more at my younger sister, but it was fair to say that the way we were taught was close to abusive. …I didn’t realize it at the time.”
Laszlo felt intensely that his grip was tightening without him realizing it.
Those scenes he saw through a small hole were still vivid in his mind's eye.
That despicable man, Dustin, was beating that helpless woman, but only in places where she couldn't see. Laszlo had seen Edel unable to even scream.
That was a picture of long-standing abuse.
In those moments of rage, Dustin knew exactly where to strike, and he was certain that Edel wouldn't scream. If he hadn't done it so many times before, he wouldn't have dared to commit such a brazen act in a place like that.
“I don’t believe a single word Dustin Canyon said. However, the reason I met you… let me be honest, I wanted to see if you would betray me.”
When Laszlo said this, Edel tried to shake her head in refusal, but that was not what Laszlo had asked of her.
“But instead, I discovered something I never expected. I discovered that you are someone who has no one in this world to depend on.”
Edel was more confused by the fact that Laszlo knew about her conversation with Dustin, than by the way he said it angrily as if it were a given.
“The truth is… that’s right…”
“Oh, really? I foolishly thought I was your ‘place’ that you depended on. So I was surprised.”
Laszlo laughed sarcastically and reached out to slowly pass his hand over Idel's arm.
“In my house, among my family, you were being beaten and you never screamed. Even though you knew I was in the next room.”
Only then did Edel realize that Laszlo had been watching her as she spoke with Dustin.
“As a count…”
“I began to see things clearly. How unreliable I had been acting towards you. Suddenly I understood. Me, Dustin Canyon, the Duke of Lancaster, we were all just ordinary human beings to you.”
Idyll shook her head quickly.
“No, no! Not like that!”
“If that wasn’t the case, you should have screamed. You should have believed that I would immediately run to protect you from that man!”
Laszlo was angry.
He couldn't put his anger into words right now. However, he knew there was a legitimate reason behind it. He wasn't the type of person to explode so easily.
Idell also seemed to have nothing to say. Her lips were trembling anxiously, and she was repeating indistinct words.
Laszlo sighed deeply and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten so angry, it's not your fault."
“I… I trust you deeply, Count. I am always grateful for everything you have given me. I have nothing against you, and my life here is happy. I just wish you knew this about me.”
Laszlo shook his head weakly, and it seemed that he did not fully believe what she said.
“I lost my temper and took it out on someone who didn’t deserve it. Don’t worry about me, today you need to rest. I’ll send you the medicine via Margaret, so use it properly.”
Idil sighed after she was about to say something else, then bowed slightly to him.
After Edel left the office, Laszlo fell into deep sorrow.
“If you think about it, from the beginning, Edel was simply a victim of Dustin Canyon’s ambitions. I didn’t realize that because of my bias.”
When he saw Edel marrying the Duke of Lancaster, he thought to himself: 'That woman, too, exchanged her beauty and body for power.'
“If she hated it, she would have run away.”
Noblewomen, who had no choice but to live as wives or daughters of others, didn't have many options from the start. This was a given for the nobility, but he couldn't understand it because he hadn't been raised there.
Even Idell was smiling happily when she talked about her marriage at that time.
"How could she laugh like that? How many nights did she spend crying?"
Her quiet cries returned to his ears.
“I have done everything you asked of me after I was sold to the Duke of Lancaster. That is enough, isn’t it?”
“Do you remember when I first knelt before you and begged you? I asked you to leave me in peace, I went hungry and cried for several days in order for you to change your mind!”
Why is it only now that all the puzzles have found their right place?
Dustin Canyon's greedy ambitions, their unnatural marriage due to the age difference, a lonely, abandoned duchess in the manor, the swift break-up with Edel a year after that incident, Edel who was locked away here as if she were a prisoner, Edel who said her life was now happy…
“She lived such a life, so she said her life is happy now. That wasn’t a lie.”
The captured Edel said she was happy despite doing hard work she had never done before, and he had been given the opportunity to believe in her completely on several occasions.
However, he could not fully open his heart to her, although he felt pity for her, sometimes admired her, and sometimes thanked her.
Perhaps it was those simple suspicions that the traitors who were with Dustin might try to use Edale to discover his weaknesses that made Edale become "someone who has no one to rely on in this world".
He remembered a conversation he had with her once. It was probably when he made her his servant.
“People who have nothing left can sometimes be the most trustworthy. If I am the only place they can rely on.”
"Do you mean you'll be the only place I can rely on, Sidb?"
At that time, he couldn't answer yes. He just laughed and jokingly told her if she didn't like it.
"Oh, how foolish I was."
How much pain did Edel suffer because of my irresponsible words, word by word.
Laszlo sighed deeply.
At that moment, someone knocked on his office door. At first, he thought it was Idil who had returned, but it seemed she didn't need to talk to him anymore.
"Come in."
He answered in a weak voice, and suddenly, Linnea opened the door and looked at her brother through the gap in the door.
“Brother, are you okay?”
"Are you okay? What do you mean?"
Laszlo answered as if it were normal, and when Linnea saw that, she felt reassured and went into the office.
"No, I heard you said something loudly to Idil... Is everything alright?"
"Did you put someone to watch me?"
"You're the one who usually does those things."
Linnea said this with a slanted tongue, then sat down in the seat opposite him. Although she was receiving instructions, she still displayed rebellious behavior.
“There was nothing dangerous.”
“So, it’s not difficult for you to tell me what happened. What made you yell at Idell and pull at her? I’m very curious now.”
Linnea would not have given up so easily if she had started questioning. Laszlo regretted not being able to remain calm, but it was too late.
It was embarrassing for him to talk about Idil's personal life, but Linnea misunderstood her just as much as he did.
"Well, it seems you need to know something about that."
Laszlo sighed again, and told Linnea how Edel had suffered from mistreatment by her father, and perhaps even all her family, and how her marriage to the Duke of Lancaster had been completely against her will.
"You overheard their conversation by eavesdropping, didn't you?"
“It would have been better to make sure of everything to remove any doubts. I didn’t expect to see that scene.”
"What scene are you talking about?"