"Then why did you take the poison......! Don't you realize it's dangerous?"
Killian felt like his insides were being ripped out.
He could not understand why anyone would do something like this if it was going to hurt so much.
But through her tears, Edith insisted that she didn't do it.
"It wasn't me!"
Strangely, he felt like he was listening to her plea of innocence over and over again.
'If you are so adamant that you didn't do it, even in the face of evidence, I wonder if you really didn't. But if not you then who did this!'
As if trying to hide her tears in the midst of such suspicions, Edith, covered with a blanket, said in a tired voice,
"If you don't have anything to say...... go back."
Killian realized then.
Edith doesn't look at him.
She doesn't expect anything from him.
She always did.
It made Killian angry, somehow.
'Why don't you just tell me everything and hang on to me! Don't you realize that I'm the only one who can help you right now, or am I not reliable enough?'
He wasn't sure if this was anger or something else. He wasn't sure if it was directed at Edith or himself.
He wanted to say something more, but he couldn't think of anything to say.
He could only grit his teeth and walk away with nothing but undefinable feelings for Edith......
***
It was Lizé who saved my life.
"Edith couldn't have done that."
"But that's the same poison she ate!"
"Edith says she doesn't know. If she really wanted to frame me, why would she say she was just a little choked as soon as she woke up?"
"She must have thought it would make her look innocent."
"Why would Edith, the Count's daughter and already Killian's wife, want to hurt me in the first place? It doesn't make sense."
It seemed to be an argument of sorts, but Lizé's opinion was not one that could be swayed by the Ludwig family, who couldn't say "Because Killian loves you!" out loud.
And then she pricked their conscience with her words.
"Edith isn't feeling well right now, and it's cruel to push her to do something she's not sure about. She's just a young lady, the same age as me!"
Eventually, the Ludwig family backed down.
They believed I was the culprit, but out of respect for Lizé's opinion, they wouldn't punish me or hold me responsible.
In fact, what I was most curious about when Sophia told me this was Killian's reaction, but I couldn't ask her.
In any case, now that Lizé had gotten me out of the crisis, I felt a little guilty for being so suspicious of her.
That's a lot of compassion for someone who almost framed her for poisoning. She's a female lead after all.
In the original story, in fact, it ends with Edith being the culprit, and she apologizes to Lizé and barely escapes being thrown out.
I didn't take the poison myself, but this situation, created by Sophia, made me look like the culprit.
However, Lizé forgave me even though I didn't apologize, and I was able to return to my normal life without much further questioning.
'Yeah. Maybe it was all my jealousy that made her seem so suspicious.'
I tried not to pay attention to her, but the constant comparison and discrimination made me hate her without realizing it.
I can now understand why she seemed to frame me as the culprit in the document leak; from her point of view, I was suspicious enough.
'There's no way the female lead of this world would be a petty villain like me. I must have been overly self-conscious.'
I was grateful to Lizé for saving me from this. If it weren't for her, I might have been locked in my room for another few months.
A few months would have been bearable, but the problem was that I was running out of time before my head would fall off.
And Sophia was with me.
'I'll try to get along with Lizé.'
I vowed to myself and cautiously asked Killian a few days later when he stopped by to check on me.
"What does Lizé like......?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, since she saved me from being falsely accused, I'm thinking of giving her something."
Killian's eyes flickered as he looked at me.
In retrospect, it was a bit of a surprise that Killian came to visit me.
It's nice, but seeing you doing something you wouldn't normally do is unnerving.
"Well...... it's probably embroidery."
"Embroidery?"
"Yeah. She likes to read and embroider, and if you're going to give a gift, I think embroidery is the way to go. There's a lot to choose from."
"Oh, I see."
I replied casually, and then I was appalled.
I felt compelled to repay Lizé, but not because it really meant anything to me.
But even that was influenced by the flow of the original story.
In the original story, Edith gives Lizé a set of embroidery needles as an "apology".
Of course, with a lot of poison.
'So, what happens?'
The original Edith isn't that stupid, so she doesn't apply lethal poison.
She applies the poison gradually and watches Lizé grow weaker and weaker, securing her alibi.
'But in the end, the poisoned embroidery needle is discovered by Cliff, who thoroughly investigates everything Lizé touches.'
My blood ran dry, but Killian was so pleased that he said he'd find an artisan merchant for me.
A short time later, the merchant called by Killian brought out all sorts of items to offer.
"How about this," he said, "a set of fine embroidery needles. I've sold dozens of sets of these, and they're so good that people who've used them recommend them to others."
Why the first thing he offered was a needle!
"No needles!"
"Sorry?"
"Oh, no, that...... that's too small! It's a gift, it should look like it has some sort of value. W- what is that?"
I quickly turned the merchant's attention to the other items.
"Oh, this is good too! It's a set of embroidery threads imported from the Kingdom of Suitan. They're made of the finest cashmere wool. You must have a good eye."
"I'll take it!"
There were so many colors and so much thread, it was quite expensive, but I bought it and wrapped it myself, not thinking it was a waste at all.
'This will be fine, you can't get stabbed by a thread.'
I don't know what Sophia would do if I left it to her, so I bought the thread, wrapped it, and went straight to visit Lizé.
"Edith, are you feeling better now? You still have a bad complexion......"
"It doesn't hurt so much now, more than that...... I heard you went out of your way for me, thank you so much."
"It's only natural, Edith, you are just a victim."
Seeing her worry about my physical condition first, I sincerely wished I could get to know her.
"This...... isn't much, but it's my little sincerity."
"You don't have to go to all this trouble......!"
Lizé seemed surprised to receive my gift.
Killian, who was sitting in Lizé's room, replied sarcastically, "You saved her a lot of trouble, so you deserve it, Lizé, just keep it."
Had he come and waited for me beforehand because he feared I would say something harsh to Lizé?
"Killian. I know you and Lizé have a good relationship, but it's rude for you to be sitting in a young lady's room."
"Rude......?"
"I'm sorry, Lizé. My husband is a bit, uh, impolite."
My husband doesn't know how to behave around Lizé.
Lizé burst out laughing, and Killian smirked in disbelief.
But the mood wasn't bad. Enough to convince me that we could make a good relationship.
***
But things didn't turn out the way I had hoped. I guess they always do.
The damn "flow of the original story" seemed desperate to make me the villain this time.
It was an evening a few days after I'd given Lizé the embroidery thread.
Suddenly my door burst open and Killian burst in.
"Edith Ludwig, what on earth have you done!"
I was grateful for his sudden appearance, as I was about to be beaten to a pulp by Sophia, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
"Killian? What's going on? What's wrong?"
Killian paused at my question.
"Edith. You're not going to tell me it's you again, are you?"
"What? You have to explain to me what's going on before I can answer!"
Grabbing me roughly by both shoulders, he said, "Lizé has fallen!"
"What? Lizé? Why?"
"She got poisoned while embroidering with the embroidery thread you gave her as a gift."
"What......?"
For once, I was too stunned.
Because that couldn't be true.
"No way! What do you mean? I bought that thread from an embroidery merchant, wrapped it on the spot, and carried it myself, and no one touched it in between!"
"So you didn't ask anyone to do it? What the hell did you do?"
My head went blank.
Does that mean that the flow of the original story changed the normal thread into a poisoned one even if I didn't do anything?