episode_0079

[Episode 79] – The Unsent Letter

“To my dear friend, Catherine.”

“It’s been a long time since I wrote to you. I’m sorry I haven’t written to you for a while. As you may know, I’ve been remarried and have been going through a lot. I just finally have the time to write.”

“Were you busy too? Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for your letter? I never imagined that you wouldn’t send me a single one until now.”

“I know it’s uncomfortable for me. But please, when this letter arrives, at least send me a reply. I want to hear your story.”

*

“Mother.”

“Huh?”

“It’s cold because it’s raining. I think you’ll catch a cold if you stay by the window…”

Elise brought a blanket and gently placed it over Trisha’s shoulders. As the blanket, soaked with the heat from the fireplace, touched her shoulders, a pleasant warmth seeped into Trisha’s body.

“Are you worried about your father?”

“…That’s right, it’s raining so much.”

It was something I didn’t mean, but I had to lie in front of Elise. He was Elise’s father, so as her new mother, I couldn’t help but say that I wasn’t worried about my husband.

The sound of rain hitting the window was so loud that I thought it was someone knocking on the door. It was as if they were urging me to open the door and come in, to hurry up and open the door.

Trisha curled up into a small ball, clutching the blanket covering her shoulders in the eerie atmosphere. Then Elise hurried out of the room, saying she would make some warm tea.

Good boy.

So much so that I doubt if it’s really that man’s child.

Before remarriage, the man who had been courting her so earnestly changed as if he had changed after remarriage.

It was not that she did not know that what the man wanted was simply a title of nobility, but still, the man’s changed behavior gave Trisha quite a shock.

The man lived almost ignoring Trisha. He was out more often than not in the mansion, and even when he did come into the mansion, he would often leave right away, saying he was busy with business.

As if he didn’t like being in a mansion.

In this married life, the only people Trisha could rely on were her children. Her stepdaughter, Elise, was grateful that her stepmother treated her like her own mother.

Trisha leaned her head against the window, believing that she had made the right choice, that she could bear it because she had children, that as long as the children were happy, it wouldn’t be a problem.

As I slowly closed my eyes listening to the sound of rain hitting the window, a loud knock on the front door resonated throughout the mansion.

It wouldn’t be time for him to come back, would it? If it was him, there would have been no need to knock loudly on the mansion door in the first place. Trisha went down to the front door, clutching the blanket on her shoulder with an inexplicable sense of anxiety.

The maids gathered in the hallway were talking to someone who had knocked on the door, their faces pale. Two grown men drenched in rain saw Trisha coming down the stairs, took off their hats, nodded slightly, and asked.

“Are you Mrs. Trisha Sergio?”

“Yes, I am Trisha Sergio… but who are you?”

“We-”

Knock, knock, knock. The sound of rain hitting the window sounded like someone was knocking on the door. Knock, knock, knock. The sound of the knocking, as if urging the door to be opened, didn’t seem to be an illusion.

The two men reported the man’s death indifferently.

They said the accident was caused by the carriage slipping on a wet road.

The two said the man probably didn’t feel any pain. They probably meant he went away comfortably without feeling any pain, but Trisha could tell.

The fact that the man’s body had been so hideously transformed that the two of them thought he had died instantly without feeling any pain.

Knock, knock, knock. The sound of rain tapping on the window was heard again. This time, for some reason, I had a feeling that it might be the man knocking on the door.

As the two men said, the man returned to the mansion and knocked on the door without even realizing his own death.

Trisha had an idea.

*

“I’m not sure how to begin my story.”

“Catherine, I don’t know exactly what the rumors you’ve heard about me are, but I’m not particularly unhappy. I have my children by my side to help me.”

“When I heard that the man had an accident, it was really hard. Why is this happening to me? My first husband and my second husband left me so easily.”

“Still, I can’t fall apart, so I’m going to try to stand. All I have left are my children, and I’m the only one my poor children can trust.”

*

After the man died, Trisha couldn’t help but know how dirty his life had been. In fact, she wondered how he had managed to hide it until now.

He borrowed money in the name of the Sergio family, pretended to do business, received investment from nobles, and enjoyed luxury with the money. Isn’t it natural that he doesn’t want to come home and always wants to go out?

Trisha first sold half of her possessions.

He paid back the money to the investors who were scammed, and was able to repay some of the debt the man had, but it wasn’t enough to repay all of it.

Trisha was forced to fire all of the maids in her house for the second time.

In order to minimize the outgoing expenses, I had to tighten my belt somehow. After firing the maids, the housework naturally fell to Elise.

At first, he had no intention of asking Elise to do housework, but perhaps he sensed the mood in the house or knew the man’s secret, so Elise brought punishment upon herself.

The more she looked at Elise, the more the image of that man came to mind, so Trisha said nothing as she watched Elise bring on the housework herself.

I hated Elise so much that I wanted to kick her out of the mansion right away, but what on earth could be wrong with Elise? It was the man’s fault, not Elise’s.

Trisha always felt like she was going crazy when she looked at Elise. The anger she felt toward that man and the sadness she felt for Elise who had lost both her biological parents kept intertwining.

The only thing Trisha could do for Elise was to ignore her without saying a word. She didn’t pay attention to her, but kept her by her side and cared for her as much as she could.

Because she hated what the man had done too much to love him, and because she pitied Elise too much to hate her, Trisha just tried not to look at Elise.

*

“This time, my first daughter, Sylvia, became an adult.”

“Most children would hate to postpone their debutantes, but Sylvia is so kind that she even pats me on the back, saying it’s okay to be late. I don’t know who she takes after, but isn’t she really kind?”

“I always feel sorry for the children. I want to dress them in better dresses, and dress them up with better accessories, but I am lacking, so I can’t do anything.”

*

Trisha, who felt she couldn’t stop like this, headed out to the social scene for the first time in a long time. She attended the ball with the foolish and stupid thought that there might be someone who could help her a little.

Trisha walked around the ball with her heels still bare, but no one came to her aid. Instead, they were busy laughing and making fun of her.

“If things are not so good, how about sending your daughter as a concubine? I will look into it myself so that I can find a good match for you.”

“Didn’t you say you have a daughter who is not related by blood? Wouldn’t that be solved by sending her as a concubine? Think carefully, don’t you know which is the wiser choice?”

“You are not related by blood, and you are the daughter of a man who has left you in debt. Why are you so angry? It is one of the laws of the kingdom that if a parent cannot repay a debt, the child must repay it.”

“Don’t think too hard about it. Just think of it as a child paying off his parents’ debt and send her as a concubine. That’s for your own good. You didn’t even owe her anything, but she already sold half of her assets to pay it off. Don’t you feel wronged?”

*

“That’s why I started saving up to buy nice dresses for the kids for next year’s debutante. It’s early, but Sylvia and Elise will also be participating in the debutante to coincide with Lily’s debutante.”

“It’s going to be really pretty. I can’t help but think of the children wearing pretty dresses and dancing under the magnificent ballroom. So, Catherine.”

“I’ll send you an invitation to the children’s debutante next year. Would you be able to come?”

“I miss seeing your face for the first time in a long time.”

*

Debt collections are getting worse, and there are even threats to sell children as concubines.

As time went by, Trisha became more and more exhausted. Even if she went to her parents’ house to ask for help to borrow money, or even sold the dowry she received from her first marriage, she could not spend any more money, considering the future of her children.

“I don’t like it…now, no more…I don’t like it…”

There were many days when she cried under the blanket. Her body and mind were completely destroyed, and she was isolated without anyone to ask for help. The fear that nothing would change in the future drove Trisha crazy.

For Trisha, who had grown up as a simple noble daughter, the reality of debt and childcare was too heavy to bear. She wanted to beg Catherine for help right away, but she couldn’t.

It was he who trampled on Catherine’s feelings even though he knew about them. The fact that Catherine would not help him was proven by the letters from Catherine that never arrived.

If only I could get a letter, even if it was a story cursing me, and go back to the old days when I used to exchange letters with Catherine.

Trisha laughed in vain at her own selfish thoughts and pulled the blanket over her head. After spending several days sobbing in her room, she suddenly remembered the ‘note’ she had received from Catherine.

“When you are really having a hard time and are having a hard time, when you think of this note, open it. It might help you.”

“Note…”

Trisha jumped out of bed and took out the note she had received from Catherine from her desk drawer. As she carefully unfolded the old, crumpled paper and checked its contents, Trisha burst out laughing.

“Phew, hmm. A spell that grants the caster’s earnest wish…? Catherine gave me this kind of kid’s joke? Ahaha!”

*

「Ah! And the note you sent me. Were you trying to tease me? Even if I rejected your feelings, this kind of prank is too much. Do you know how empty it was when I opened it when I was really having a hard time like you said?」

“At least it’s not a blank piece of paper. If I had spread it out and found that there was nothing written on it, I might have really hated you. It’s just a joke, but it makes me feel a little better.”

“A magic that grants the caster’s most fervent wish, where on earth did you get this? And fairies? Catherine, are you still dreaming of believing in fairies?”

“It was fun. Fairy magic. But you wouldn’t have sent me this piece of paper without any meaning, right? It feels like… going back to childhood and letting go of your heavy heart? Is that the right answer?”

“Or is it telling me to think about what my deepest wish is? To use that as a driving force to get up? Am I interpreting it too much?”

“But my earnest wish seems to have fallen far from my innocence. I will tell only you. My earnest wish is”

*

Trisha stopped playing with her hands over the letter, lifted the quill from the paper, and looked down at the letter. The quill, which had been filled with ink and had dried completely over time, was hardening.

Trisha, who had been staring at the letter for a while, filled her quill with ink again and began writing the letter. The flowing letters stopped at one point and couldn’t move on.

“My earnest wish is”

Trisha, who had written up to that point, stopped again and put the quill into the inkwell. She felt like she couldn’t write any more, that she wouldn’t be able to tell Catherine her deepest wish.

Trisha put down her quill.

*

Contrary to what the letter said, Trisha slowly began to read the note Catherine had given her. ‘A magic spell that grants a fairy’s most fervent wish.’ Trisha continued to look at the words.

It was a joke, but what if it was true? Catherine wasn’t the type to do meaningless things. Surely, Trisha had no doubt that this note had some meaning.

‘For example, if the magic written on this note is real…’

It was a ridiculous story, but I thought it was better than doing nothing, so I started following what was written on the paper.

‘My earnest wish…’

Trisha held up the piece of paper with the magic words written on it and made a wish.

What you want and desire most right now.

May the children be happy.

I hope to see Catherine again.

And finally.

“…I hope I can escape from this hellish world.”