episode_0076

[Episode 76] – Once upon a time, in a certain world (3)

“The wind is cold. Young lady.”

“Young lady… Are you talking about me?”

“Who else would be there besides you?”

When she turned her head toward where the voice had come from, there was a woman standing there. Catherine swallowed dry saliva without realizing it as she looked at the woman.

The woman’s black hair sparkled like a sliver of the starry night sky, and her face, illuminated by the moonlight, was as white and beautiful as a pearl.

Catherine could only stare blankly at the woman’s gaze as she looked down at her with eyes that seemed to be filled with sorrow, or perhaps pity.

The woman smiled and put the fox skin scarf she was wearing around her neck around Catherine’s neck.

It was just a small scarf made of fox skin, but was it because a woman was wearing it? Catherine felt the warmth of a person for the first time in a long time and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Huh…Thank you. It’s a fox fur scarf…The design is a bit childish for a lady to wear.”

“That’s right. It was originally my eldest daughter’s, but she threw it at me because it was hot.”

Catherine looked at the woman with slight surprise.

The woman chuckling next to him looked like she wasn’t much older than 20. The word ‘eldest daughter’ that came out of her mouth told me that she had at least two children.

The woman hesitated for a moment, then took a step closer and asked Catherine.

“So… why are you looking like you’re about to cry? Did someone bother your wife?”

Catherine burst into laughter at the woman’s words. The woman’s worried tone and appearance reminded her of her mother, who lived alone in the village.

Isn’t it funny? I thought I never wanted to go back, I never wanted to see my mother again, but when I felt sad and miserable, the first thing that came to mind was my mother’s face.

“……It’s nothing. I just… feel lonely.”

Catherine drank the champagne she was holding in one gulp and put her glass down on the terrace railing. The woman who was watching this momentarily went out toward the ballroom, picked up two champagne glasses, and handed them to Catherine.

“Then… should we chat with other lonely people?”

“…? Are you lonely people..?”

“Yes. I’ve been feeling very lonely lately.”

Catherine took the glass of champagne the woman handed her and glanced at her. The woman’s smile looked as if she would burst into laughter, but also as if she would burst into tears.

The corners of her eyes were curved and she was smiling, but she couldn’t hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Catherine, looking at the sobbing woman, felt a sense of empathy and sympathy for her.

She was lonely, and he was lonely too.

Catherine asked, holding out a glass of champagne to her.

“…I’m Catherine Salisbury. And you?”

“My name is Trisha Sergio.”

“Yes,” Trisha replied, lightly clinking her glass with the champagne flute Catherine offered. Trisha, who had been granted permission, smiled brightly and moved closer to Catherine, their shoulders touching.

Melting the cool autumn breeze with each other’s warmth, the two continued their conversation on the terrace, drinking until the ball music stopped.

After the ball that day, Catherine and Trisha continued to communicate. They wrote to each other to check up on each other and made plans to attend the next ball to meet.

As their encounters at the ball continued, Trisha and Catherine became closer. At one point, they even had the courage to sneak out of the ballroom and wander the streets alone at night.

They had secret meetings alone in the garden outside the ballroom, and they even bribed a coachman to take them into town in a carriage and drink at a bar. It wasn’t something a noble would do, but they still had fun.

Slowly, as time passed, Catherine and Trisha began to lick each other’s wounds little by little. Catherine looked at Trisha and thought that the only one who could comfort her was Trisha.

The maids and butlers of the count’s household still ignore her. The count, who is obsessed with her, holding on to a thin lifeline without dying. In such a suffocating count’s household, Trisha was Catherine’s only breath of fresh air.

The letters exchanged between the Countess and Trisha, and the Trisha they could only meet once a month at a ball, were the only things that could give Catherine freedom.

How could one not love such a being?

Is that why?

Catherine wished so.

‘If only Trisha could have come in as the Count’s concubine, if only she could have been by my side always, instead of exchanging such desperate letters, and not having such desperate secret meetings at balls……’

Love became obsession, obsession became addiction, and addiction brought about an irresistible urge in Catherine.

Catherine had no doubts about this feeling.

Because love is an emotion that cannot coexist without obsession and anxiety anyway.

Catherine wanted Trisha.

I wanted it so much, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

At the moment when she was wondering what to do, Catherine happened to know Trisha’s sorrow because she had been listening to her worries. The pain caused by her husband’s death, and the future of her children, were all problems that she could solve.

If Trisha’s suffering was caused by ‘money’, Catherine believed that she could solve it. After all, isn’t magic money? With money, you can help the person you love.

Catherine had been holding onto all the assets she had accumulated while serving as a courtier, as well as the Count’s assets. With a bitter smile, Catherine began to write a letter to Trisha.

[Next time we meet, there’s something I really want to tell you.]

After writing a letter promising to meet at the next ball, Catherine summoned all the butlers and maids to the Count’s house for the first time since she married into it.

In order to call Trisha to the Countess’s house, she had to act as Catherine Salisbury, the mistress of the Countess of Salisbury, and not as Catherine the Courtier, who had been ignored by her servants up until now.

Catherine entered the room where the servants were gathered with a firm resolve. The servants’ gazes, mixed with various emotions, were fixed on Catherine.

A look of envy and jealousy, as if he couldn’t stand seeing a prostitute claiming to be the mistress just because she married a count.

A look of fear and horror mixed in her eyes, as if she remembered being beaten just for following Catherine’s orders.

Between those eyes, Catherine stood in front of the servants. She wanted to run away from them right away, and stop this right away, but she couldn’t.

If the Count heard that she had done something like this, it would be a big deal. The Count was very obsessed. Although she was afraid of the Count’s scolding, Catherine opened her mouth without stopping.

“I have gathered you together-”

because.

“To let you know who your master will be from now on.”

It’s all for Trisha.

For Trisha’s sake.

She wasn’t afraid.

*

On the day of the promised ball, Catherine called Trisha to a deep part of the garden where no one went. In the middle of the garden, where only moonlight was shining, Catherine and Trisha sat on chairs and looked at the flowers.

The garden was very beautiful under the moonlight. The colorful flowers sparkled in the moonlight, and the pleasant summer breeze rustled the grass, making a pleasant sound.

“Trisha, how have you been?”

“As usual. I’m so busy raising the kids on my own. If I didn’t get some fresh air with you… I might collapse from exhaustion?”

Hoho, Trisha laughed and tucked her hair, which was messy due to the wind, behind her ears. Catherine swallowed hard as she watched her. Just having the woman she loved next to her made her heart flutter and she felt like she was going to die.

“T, Trisha. If you’re having a hard time…”

Catherine held Trisha’s hand with a trembling voice and met her eyes. The cool night breeze brushed Catherine’s face, but it wasn’t enough to cool her heated face.

“Can I… help you?”

“…Huh?”

“Trisha… I… want to help you. Like you helped me…”

Catherine’s voice began to tremble even more. She didn’t even have the courage to look Trisha in the eye, so she lowered her head and muttered. It was really hard to confess my feelings to someone I loved.

“If I were you… I could solve your problems. The hardships of not having a husband… The money you need for your children’s weddings… I’ll solve it all. So…”

One last word.

The moment when you want to say, ‘Stay by my side.’

“Catherine.”

“Huh..?”

“I appreciate your kindness, but you don’t have to go that far.”

Trisha cut Catherine off as if telling her not to talk any more. Catherine’s eyes widened in confusion.

Why? Why? Catherine looked up at Trisha with an expression that looked like she was going to cry.

Then, the words that came out of Trisha’s mouth with a big smile on her face.

Catherine’s heart was crushed and crushed.

“I’m… going to remarry soon. The only thing that’s difficult is now. My new partner isn’t…bad. He’s my son-in-law, but he’s a businessman and has a lot of money. He has a big mansion… and…”

“…Huh?”