"As soon as you're well enough, we'll go straight to Ryzen. To an estate where you won't be hurt anymore, and where we can grow together."
"Are you sure you're okay with me?"
"I don't know what you're asking, a lord takes his wife to his estate, do I have to meet any other criteria?"
"No, well, fine then."
As far as I was concerned, I'd given Killian plenty of chances.
If he regrets it later, that's his own fault.
***
A long sigh came from the far side of the dark room.
The room was dark not because the sun had set. It was because Lizé, looking like she was having a nervous breakdown, had demanded that all the curtains be drawn.
"Maybe I should have asked you before, Lizé. Why did you want to get rid of...... Edith?"
Cliff, the one who sighed, asked in a low voice to Lizé, who was covering herself with a blanket.
"......you don't understand," Lizé replied, her voice barely above a whisper.
Cliff sighed deeply again.
It had been a week since Lizé had locked herself in her room.
As for what happened in the dungeon, she cried and asked why no one believed her, and later said she didn't know why she did it. Then, when the Duke came and questioned her, she changed her story, saying she didn't remember.
Lizé's behavior was obviously suspicious, and the Ludwigs, no longer subject to the flow of the original story, did not give her the unconditional support they had before.
The same suspicions that had been directed at Edith were now directed at Lizé, and she was unable to answer their point-by-point questioning.
Duke Ludwig, who had loved Lizé like his own daughter and trusted her unconditionally, felt betrayed and shocked. He couldn't even tell the Duchess for fear she might collapse from shock.
But Cliff was a fervent believer in Lizé, no matter how the world was reordered.
"You don't need my understanding to help you; if I had only known you wanted me to, I would have gladly helped you. Why didn't you tell me?"
The sobbing subsided.
"Do you think you would have loved me and been there for me even if you had known what I wanted?"
"Of course I would. The night before Edith fell into the lake, do you really think I went there without knowing anything?"
At that, Lizé's head finally poked out of the blanket.
"You...... knew?"
She believed it was all in her power to send Cliff out there to distract the manager while she sent someone to break the wheelhouse of Killian's yacht.
"You suddenly said you had dropped an earring on my yacht the night before Killian and Edith were to go boating, and even I, the dumbest man in the world, could figure out that you were up to something."
Lizé was stunned.
But Cliff's confession didn't end there.
"The truth is, the whole reason I suggested Edith go boating, and the whole reason I told you about it...... was to see what you thought."
"What?"
"Well, I didn't know you wanted to kill Edith, of course, but I expected something to happen."
Anyone would be surprised to learn that the person they thought they had under control was not only aware of their intentions, but also willing to play along.
"Then why didn't you say anything to me?"
"Because if I did, you would have completely hidden yourself, even from me."
Seeing Lizé refuse to share her truth with him, even though he'd given her everything she'd ever wanted, Cliff thought she was like a bird, always ready to fly away.
A clever, beautiful bird that would sing gloriously on your shoulder, pretending to be vulnerable and innocent when she felt like it, but would take flight at the slightest hint of danger.
"I knew from the moment I met you that you weren't like everyone else, because you seemed to anticipate everything. Even your misfortune seemed to be of your own making."
Whenever Lizé was framed or faced with unknown threats, she always managed to turn the situation to her advantage.
Even if she didn't do it herself, someone around her would help her, or there would be a lucky coincidence.
"At first, I just thought you were lucky, then I thought you had good connections with the right people, then I thought you were special because the coincidences and connections kept repeating themselves, without exception, and you took the results so graciously...... that's when I realized you were special."
Lizé was surprised that Cliff had seen through her so long ago.
All this time, she'd thought she was in a god-like position and that everyone, including Cliff, was just a creature she'd created that couldn't surpass her......
'That means I never knew all the characters I created, never had complete control over them. Then I...... who was I? No, who am I?'
As Lizé clamped her hand over her mouth, still reeling from the shock that was slowly washing over her, Cliff cautiously approached her and pulled her into his arms.
"I don't care who you are, I don't care what you're up to, I just want Lizé, I want you. Can't you just lean on me from now on?"
"I'm...... going to get old, and I'm going to get ugly and weak."
"Isn't it natural for people to grow old? I want to grow old with you."
"I don't know what's going to happen to me in the future. All those lucky coincidences you thought were weird, it's not going to happen. I'm not special anymore."
"I'll be with you. I'll be your sword and your shield. If there's anything you want, I'll gladly lay it at your feet."
Lizé shook her head at Cliff's vow. She refused to believe that it was okay to be old and ugly, to stumble into failure. Who could love someone who wasn't beautiful or capable?
Lizé dismissed his vows as mere rhetoric to get through this moment.
"Don't put it so easily. If I take you at your word, lean on you, and then later on you abandon me, who will be responsible for me?"
Lizé, who could only look at her own wounds, didn't realize she was hurting Cliff.
But Cliff, who had fallen for her enough to be called half-crazy, loved her even for this selfishness.
"I'll write you a contract if you want. I'll give you my leash. You will be a special person who can control Cliff Ludwig as you please."
Lizé, the embodiment of virulent narcissism, felt the limits drawn on her by Cliff's confession and vow of love for her.
She realized she could no longer be special on her own.
'He doesn't want me to stand out as Lizé Sinclair. He only wants me to be special as his lover and wife. Cliff is selfish!'
But Lizé has no desire to struggle like Edith to be special as her whole self.
She just wants to shine without a wrinkle, like she's a genius, like she's been chosen by heaven.
'My golden days are not coming back, and when I die after living this life, will I be able to see the beginning of the story again?'
Wanting nothing but glory without a price, Lizé felt like she was getting the short end of the stick, so she accepted Cliff's offer.
Little did she realize that this was the limit she had set for herself.
***
[The story of Edith Ludwig begins, separated from the story of Lizé Sinclair. The ending of this story is undetermined.]
It was only a few days after I was informed that I had met the third exception condition that I heard that announcer-like voice again.
I was having a lucid dream, as usual, and at that moment I felt completely confirmed that I had won the game against the author.
'My life is no longer a side story in Lizé Sinclair's story. It's my own story!'
When I opened my eyes, intoxicated by this euphoric feeling of victory, I felt the warmth of Killian's body on my back, hugging me tightly as he slept, and I smiled triumphantly again.
'The most handsome man I've ever seen in my life is my husband, and I'll live to see him.'
If I consider it the price of a miserable death and going through all the hardships while living as a villainess, as well as considering the estate I'll soon head as a lord's wife, well, I guess it's okay to say so.
As I chuckled to myself, the hand that had been cradling my stomach shifted and began to stroke my skin.
"Are you awake?"
"Mhm......"
His voice was sleepy, as if he wasn't quite awake yet.
"How are you feeling...... today?"
It was the same question he asked me every morning when I woke up. How am I feeling?
"Just as your question is the same every day, so is my answer...... I'm better than yesterday."
It wasn't just an answer to reassure him, I was quickly regaining my stability and health.
Originally, Edith's body was much healthier than Choi Soo-na's, but I felt like I was healing faster than when I was beaten by Sophia before.
'Is this because I've become the protagonist of my own life?'
It's a good feeling, even if it's an illusion.
I choose to believe that I am the main character of a story.
I thought it would be a penance and a consolation for my previous life, where I was always worried about what others thought of me and didn't live my life properly.
"You better get well soon, so we can leave for Ryzen......"
"I'm getting better quickly. I eat everything that's good for my body, I might gain some weight."
"It's going to be a long trip, so you might as well put on some weight."
Killian kissed me lightly on the neck, shoulder, and cheek before getting out of bed.
After some light calisthenics, Killian put on his clothes and called for Anna.
Anna soon appeared with warm water and a towel, and she and Killian worked together to clean my face and body.
Even though I said I could do it myself now, they never backed down.