Chapter 138…
“Cynthia.”
Just as she was about to answer yes, completely bewitched by his angelic face, Tession called her name.
Snapping back to her senses, Cynthia quickly shook her head. Speaking in a firm voice as if nothing were wrong, she said,
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I’d like to listen together with my knight.”
“Ah…”
Joel’s shoulders drooped, and his expression turned gloomy. His pitiful, delicate look made her heart ache, but there was nothing she could do.
In the end, the dejected man slowly opened his mouth.
“Actually, the reason I sought you out today… was to ask about Lady Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth…!
If he was the one bringing her up first, then this conversation might end more easily.
“Yes, please go on.”
“To be honest, I’ve been worried because the young lady hasn’t been seen for several months now, so I took the liberty of asking. She didn’t attend the last performance.”
“Ah…”
Cynthia looked at him with an awkward expression. Of course Elizabeth hadn’t been able to come to the theater. Elizabeth was no longer among the living…
Joel clearly didn’t know what had really happened to Elizabeth. The fact that she had lost her life in a carriage accident had been kept a strict secret by the Baileys, and since Cynthia had been acting as Elizabeth through a contract all this time, it was only natural.
“When I saw that Lady Bailey from the same family was present, I thought I might ask how Lady Elizabeth has been doing. I heard she returned to the countryside where she was born and raised to recuperate—was that true?”
At Joel’s words, Cynthia looked up at Tession with a troubled expression. What should I do…?
“Is this man trustworthy?”
Reading her gaze, Tession whispered gruffly. Cynthia nodded quickly.
In the original novel, Joel remained on Elizabeth’s side to the very end. No matter where she returned from or how badly she was hurt—and even when she vented all that pain on him—he silently comforted her and held her.
That was why he was worrying like this even now…
But how could she tell someone like him that Elizabeth had died in a carriage accident?
“Listen carefully, dancer.”
Speaking in her place, Tession opened his mouth.
“Lady Elizabeth Bailey lost her life in a carriage accident.”
“What? What do you mean—”
“We came because we have something to say regarding her.”
After falling silent in thought for a moment, Joel turned his shaking gaze toward Cynthia.
“Madam, is what this man says true?”
“Joel… I’m sorry.”
Cynthia spoke in a small voice. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how shocked and heartbroken he must be. Knowing from the original novel how deeply the two relied on each other made it all the more painful.
She looked at him with a sorrowful expression.
She thought he might burst into tears at any moment, but surprisingly, Joel remained calm.
The area beneath his eyes sank deeply, making it clear how shocked he was, yet he held back his tears. Without a word, his shoulders and hands trembled slightly as he swallowed his grief.
“…”
After hanging his head in silence for a long while, he finally spoke. His voice was low and subdued.
“I see… So it ended up like this after all.”
“Joel, do you know something about Lady Elizabeth’s accident?”
At his seemingly resigned reaction, Cynthia asked. Still not lifting his head, Joel slowly shook it.
“I don’t know. If I did, I would have known long ago that Lady Elizabeth had passed away.”
“But your reaction just now—”
“I simply… had a vague sense that she might make such a choice.”
“What do you mean by that?”
At last, Joel raised his head and looked at Cynthia. Staring at her intently, as if trying to read something from her, he spoke again.
“May I ask—are you truly a member of the Bailey family?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you really are Lady Bailey. It doesn’t feel that way to me.”
Cynthia closed her mouth and looked up at Tession. He nodded, as if telling her to do as she wished. In the end, she let out a resolute breath and spoke. Oh, whatever!
“Since it’s come to this, I’ll tell you the truth. As you’ve noticed, I’m not a member of the Bailey family. I disguised myself as one to come to this theater and meet you, Joel.”
“Why did you come looking for me?”
“To uncover the truth behind Lady Elizabeth’s death.”
“Then if you’re not Lady Bailey, who are you?”
That question wasn’t easy to answer. Explaining who she was would take a lot of time and explanation.
And it might not be a story he could easily believe…
Cynthia lifted her eyes and looked at Joel’s lowered face.
But this was Joel. Through the original novel, she knew what kind of person he was—someone with deep empathy, who listened to others without suspicion.
“I’m a friend of Elizabeth—someone who was in a similar situation to hers.”
“A friend who was in a similar situation…”
He murmured the words.
“We share similar pasts and wounds. There are so many things about her that I feel resemble me. That’s why uncovering the truth about Elizabeth’s death—and easing her suffering—feels like it’s also relieving the frustration in my own heart.”
“…”
“So… would you tell me Elizabeth’s story? I want to know more about her.”
After quietly looking at her for a moment, Joel slowly nodded.
“I first met Lady Elizabeth several years ago. At the time, she hadn’t been in the capital long after becoming the adopted daughter of Duke Bailey.”
Sitting on a white bench in the garden, Joel began to speak. His expression remained subdued.
“She happened to visit the theater after receiving an invitation from Madam Bianca, took a liking to me, and after that, we met often. She came to see performances frequently and sometimes called for me alone.”
“I see.”
“Lady Elizabeth was… how should I put it… very different from how she appeared on the surface. People who didn’t know her well probably remember her as spiteful and irritable, but I don’t think that was her true nature. I believe it was shaped by her environment.”
“You mean she became sensitive after being adopted by Duke Bailey?”
At Cynthia’s question, Joel nodded.
“Yes. After coming to the capital, she was under a great deal of pressure and stress from the Bailey family. You know without me saying it that there must have been a lot of invisible discrimination and oppression.”
Cynthia nodded immediately. She knew that all too well.
Up to that point, the story wasn’t much different from the original novel.
But then—when had he started digging into the Bailey family’s secrets, diverging from the original story?
“I’ve always liked listening to others and empathizing with them, ever since I was young. Perhaps because of that, Lady Elizabeth would come to me whenever things got hard. I liked that too. In moments like that, it felt like I was truly helping her…”
Cynthia looked at him with pity as his voice trailed off.
Joel was hardly any different from his character in the original novel Han. Jang. Haeng. Then as now, he loved Elizabeth in his own way.
At that moment, Joel—who had been staring into the empty air with sad eyes—slowly turned his head and looked at Cynthia.
Huh…?
He stared at her for a moment before speaking.
“Perhaps because you’re her friend… you seem to resemble our young lady somehow.”
“What? Me?”
Joel nodded.
“Ah, maybe it’s because you’re pretending to be a Bailey. Light green eyes are rare, after all.”
“No, not that…”
Shifting from where he sat, Joel moved a little closer to Cynthia. Tilting his head, he kept his gaze fixed on her.
“It’s more like… your overall presence feels similar.”
Her presence…?
Cynthia blinked. I feel similar to Elizabeth?
