Episode 14. Part 2. Change (8)
“……?!”
At the sharp voice, Yuriel’s expression hardened.
“Yuriel… no way.”
“I need to step outside for a moment.”
Ciela tried to stop her, but Yuriel couldn’t just sit still. She stood up and walked toward the door.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re sorry for the noise, my lady. But this woman keeps—”
The knights bowed with troubled expressions.
In front of them stood a woman, breathing heavily.
“…Fiona?”
She was in the last stage of pregnancy, but her body was thin and frail. Her eyes looked wild, and her tangled hair was dry and lifeless.
Fiona looked so different, even Yuriel barely recognized her.
“Wow. It’s so hard to see you these days, sis.”
Fiona laughed to herself.
There was no trace left of the beauty that once looked like a blooming rose.
“…Why are you here?”
“Well, ha ha… I had something really important to tell you.”
She giggled and pointed at Yuriel, her behavior completely unhinged.
It didn’t look like she was in her right mind at all.
“What are you talking about? And stop calling me your sister, I—”
“Do you know why Mom and Dad always kept you at a distance?”
Fiona suddenly cut her off, her voice turning ice-cold.
It was like she’d ripped off a mask.
Yuriel froze at her piercing tone.
“What… what do you mean?”
“Oh my, your friend is here too. Are you okay talking in front of her?”
Why did her parents only treat her coldly?
Yuriel couldn’t make sense of Fiona’s words.
She knew she had been treated differently growing up—
She was the eldest daughter, expected to be a role model for her sister.
But that alone didn’t explain Fiona’s strange behavior.
“If you follow me, I’ll tell you everything.”
Fiona smiled, reading the hesitation on Yuriel’s face perfectly.
Her eyes glinted with a dangerous madness.
“Yuriel, don’t go. Who knows what she’ll say.”
Realizing something wasn’t right, Ciela grabbed Yuriel’s shoulder.
But even then, Yuriel couldn’t flatly refuse Fiona.
Something felt off.
Fiona knew something Yuriel didn’t.
Yuriel gently moved her friend’s hand and nodded.
“I needed to talk to you anyway, about how you’ve been acting.”
“Yuriel!”
Ciela called her name in worry.
She had a bad feeling.
Ciela reached out again—
“Ack!”
“Oh, don’t treat me like I’m going to hurt my sister.”
Fiona grabbed Ciela’s wrist and put on a sad, innocent face.
“I mean, look at me. So weak… and carrying a child, too.”
But her grip was unbelievably strong.
No matter how hard Ciela tried, she couldn’t break free.
Fiona giggled and leaned in close to Ciela’s face.
“…!”
Ciela’s face turned pale.
Fiona’s smile disappeared, and her eyes burned with cruelty.
“So don’t get in my way. Back off.”
Her voice was soft—just loud enough for Ciela to hear.
But the chill behind those words froze her in place.
“Fiona! What are you doing?!”
Yuriel rushed to pull Fiona away from her frozen friend.
Fiona stepped back like nothing had happened.
“I never said I’d go with you.”
Yuriel scolded her firmly while comforting her shocked friend.
Fiona’s relaxed expression twisted into a scowl.
“…So you’re not curious?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but I have things to say to you, too.
So talk. Right here.”
She had to hear why Fiona came here.
But there was something else she needed to deal with.
‘Whatever happens… I have to stop her.’
She’d heard that more than ten servants had already been hurt because of Fiona.
No one was there to stop her, so it was only getting worse.
Someone might die if this continued.
Yuriel couldn’t just stand by while Fiona hurt innocent people.
Even if she had to use her status as the Grand Duchess, she would stop her.
“Well, fine. But shouldn’t you send your friend away first?”
Fiona quickly recovered her usual tone.
Yuriel sighed softly and gently placed a hand on Ciela’s shoulder.
“Ciela. Please give us a moment alone.”
“…But—”
She was relieved Yuriel didn’t follow Fiona outside.
But even so, leaving the two of them alone felt dangerous.
Fiona’s eerie stare still lingered in her mind.
Her spine felt cold—how could she just leave?
But Yuriel’s eyes were firm.
She had made up her mind.
“I’ll be okay.”
Yuriel gave her a reassuring smile and gently pushed her toward the door.
The knights, still uneasy from the commotion, returned to their positions.
Click.
The door closed.
Now only Yuriel and Fiona were left in the room.
If anything happened, the knights were close enough to hear.
Yuriel acted calm as she stepped toward Fiona.
“So? What did you want to say?”
“Oh, so you are curious.”
Fiona twisted her lips into a grin and stroked her round belly.
Despite all the terrible things Fiona had done,
her physical state looked seriously bad.
Her limbs were skin and bone.
Her belly looked unnaturally swollen.
And her skin was covered in painful-looking sores.
“…Fiona, your body—”
“Oh, this?”
Yuriel spoke with concern, but Fiona only smiled sweetly.
She stroked her belly again, but her eyes were cold—completely devoid of affection.
“Funny, isn’t it?
When I thought it was Evan’s baby, I was happy for a moment.”
She laughed bitterly.
She even confessed she enjoyed stealing something from Yuriel—
for once, the man her sister had.
Yuriel replied with a cold voice.
“So you’re not even pretending anymore.”
“Why should I? I know I don’t have to.”
Fiona hummed and slowly circled Yuriel.
Then she stopped and looked her directly in the eye.
She raised her fist.
“……?!”
She’s going to hit me.
The thought made Yuriel flinch and step back instinctively.
Thud!
The sound echoed in the room.
But there was no pain.
“…?”
Yuriel slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw—
was Fiona punching her belly.
“Fiona!!”
Yuriel screamed and rushed toward her.
No matter how awful Fiona was, she couldn’t let her harm herself.
She grabbed Fiona’s wrist, trying to stop her from hitting her stomach again.
“Stop! You’ll really—mmph!”
Yuriel’s face went pale with fear.
But before she could finish, a wet cloth pressed against her mouth.
“Mmgh…!”
A strange smell filled her nose and seeped into her lungs.
She tried to push the cloth away, but her body weakened rapidly.
“……Ah.”
By the time Fiona removed the cloth, Yuriel could barely stand.
She slumped down onto the sofa.
“Hah… Can you stop pretending to be my sister already? It’s disgusting.”
Fiona wiped the sweat from her forehead.
The cloth had been soaked in a paralyzing herb.
Soon, Yuriel wouldn’t even be able to speak.
“…Why….”
“Why am I doing this? Oh, right—I haven’t told you yet.”
After catching her breath, Fiona grabbed Yuriel by the hair and hissed:
“You know what? I heard this from Dad.”
“…….”
“You’re not the daughter of the Count’s family.”
Yuriel’s eyes widened.
She wanted to ask what she meant,
but her mouth was already too stiff to form words.
Fiona laughed at her shocked face.
Her high-pitched giggle filled the room.
“Seriously, our parents took in some random girl for a bit of money.
And I worshiped you all this time, calling you sister?”
“……Ah.”
A buzzing sound rang in Yuriel’s ears.
Her body stiffened like stone.
Her thoughts, once chaotic, now slowed to a stop.
“That’s a lie.”
She told herself silently.
But…
Why didn’t it feel like a lie?
Scenes from the past rushed through her mind.
How she was punished harshly for being the eldest,
How everything was given to Fiona instead.
How she was mistreated and neglected without reason.
“You’re not my sister. Got it?”
Fiona tapped Yuriel’s pale cheek and spat the words like poison.
“You filthy nobody.”
She yanked Yuriel’s hair violently.
The pain was unbearable—
It felt like her hair was being ripped from her scalp.
But not a sound escaped Yuriel’s lips.
Still, that pain was nothing compared to the emotional blow.
She had believed they were blood—
that they were sisters, even if it hurt.
But if all of that was built on a lie…
How was she supposed to live with it now?
“Ah, I should’ve done this a long time ago.”
Fiona’s chest rose and fell, still breathing hard in anger.
She laughed again at Yuriel’s shocked, pale face.
“I could’ve slapped you in front of our parents,
and they wouldn’t have said a thing. Right?”
Fiona muttered as if she’d hated Yuriel from the very start.
She said she’d treated her like a sister out of pity.
And now, this is how Yuriel repaid her.
