Chapter 39
It took two full days of being bedridden before I could finally stand again.
But once my head cleared, I realised there was a problem.
My eyes… I can’t open my eyes properly!
They were so swollen it hurt to open them, and the pillow around me was damp.
I pressed my palms hard against the corners of my eyes.
I must have cried in my sleep.
It was not because Vincent’s words had wounded me.
I had been sick, and the whole time I slept, one dream kept playing.
It was about the original Amelia.
“Why are you crying so bitterly….”
This was a scene that never appeared in the novel.
It took place after Vincent had collapsed from drinking the poisoned tea Amelia gave him, before my regression.
In the dream, Amelia clutched Vincent, limp and bleeding, and wept with sorrow.
As Amelia, I looked down at him just as she did.
She stroked his face over and over, cradling him to her chest as if he were the most precious thing in the world.
And she kept crying.
Her grief flowed into me, and that was why tears had streamed down my face in my sleep.
Even now, Amelia’s wailing echoed vividly in my ears, weighing heavily on my chest.
Was that the real past, before my regression?
Or just an image my imagination conjured into a dream?
But if it truly was from Amelia’s perspective, why had she cried like that?
She was the one who poisoned him, wasn’t she? She put the poison in the tea.
Or perhaps there had been other circumstances.
One is never mentioned in the text.
There was no way to know.
After all, even living as Amelia myself, I had uncovered so many truths that never appeared in the novel.
“Haa….”
Once my heart calmed a little, I lowered my hands from my eyes.
Either way, I had to get up now.
I couldn’t lie here forever.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
No one was by my side.
Rather than loneliness, I felt relief.
It would have been mortifying if anyone had seen me wake up like this.
As I sat there blankly, a sudden thought struck me.
“The brooch!”
I had made sure to keep the duchess of Royce’s brooch with me.
The moment I rose, a maid walked in and we locked eyes.
“Ah.”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“Um, do you know where my belongings ended up?”
“I think we put them in the bottom drawer by your bedside.”
Leaving a towel in the washroom, the maid quickly left again.
Still seated on the bed, I leaned down and opened the drawer.
Inside was a small clutch attached to a long leather strap.
I had used it to carry a handkerchief and other little things.
I opened it at once.
Thankfully, the duchess of Royce’s brooch was still inside.
“Phew, thank goodness.”
I tucked the clutch back in the drawer and stood.
Dizziness brushed past me, but after sweating so much, I longed to wash.
When I collapsed, the maids must have changed my clothes, because I was now in a white negligee instead of a dress.
I carefully rose and headed into the washroom.
After a quick wash, I changed back into my own clothes that hung nearby, then returned to bed and leaned against the headboard.
I kept the clutch close at hand.
The maid had seen me awake, so someone was bound to come soon.
Lessa must be a capable doctor after all.
I still felt weak, but much lighter.
As I rested, lost in thought, a knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
Lessa, Vincent, and Jais entered together.
“Amelia.”
Vincent strode straight to me, eyes filled with worry.
“Are you feeling better? I was really worried.”
“……”
I stared back at him in silence.
Whenever I looked into those vivid emerald eyes, it almost seemed as though he truly cared for me.
But I knew better.
Don’t let yourself be fooled.
“Amelia?”
“Yes, I’m all right. Let’s return now. We’ve stayed here too long because of me.”
“All right. I’ll have the carriage prepared.”
Vincent stepped back and instructed the butler to ready the carriage.
“Thank you.”
As I spoke, Jais glanced behind him.
Vincent was following closely.
What did that mean?
Was he apologising to me because of Vincent?
While we waited downstairs for the carriage, I reached into my clutch as if remembering something.
“Here.”
I pulled out the brooch and offered it to Jais.
“I picked this up yesterday in the maze garden. It looked valuable, but I wasn’t sure who it belonged to….”
Jais recognised it instantly.
“Oh, this is—!”
He turned it over in his hand and examined it before speaking with certainty.
“There’s no mistake.
This belongs to my mother.”
“Oh, truly?
I’m glad it’s found its way back.”
“This was my grandmother’s keepsake, and my mother always carried it.
She was heartbroken when it suddenly went missing.
To think it would turn up in the maze garden….”
“Why?
What’s strange about that?”
“My mother hardly ever sets foot in the maze garden.
It’s odd for her brooch to be found there.”
Vincent, curious, reached out his hand.
“Let me see.”
The moment Jais placed the brooch in his palm, a wisp of black smoke rose from it and vanished.
“What was that just now?”
Startled, I asked, and Vincent examined the brooch.
“It seems it was cursed. Just now, the curse broke.”
“Wow, the divine blessing!”
The brooch must have been recognised as an attack, and the divine blessing triggered on its own.
Impressive.
Vincent casually handed the brooch back to Jais.
“A curse…? Then my mother’s recent headaches and coughing fits, were they because of this?”
“There’s no way to be certain. If it were the curse, she would recover quickly. If not, she’ll need treatment.”
“Either way, I’m grateful, Lady.”
Taking the brooch, Jais extended his hand toward me.
I placed mine in his without thinking, and he bent as though to kiss the back of it.
But suddenly, another hand covered mine in haste.
Both Jais and I turned our eyes to Vincent.
