Chapter 2
“I watered the garden… I did it every day, but all the flowers wilted…”
Ariel confessed in a gloomy voice. She sounded a little unfairly treated too.
It was probably because she didn’t know why the flowers died even though she watered them.
“The gardener waters the flowers at the right time. If you water them too, of course they’ll wilt.”
“The gardener waters the flowers on a schedule. If you water them too, the flowers will wither.”
“Really…? I didn’t know…”
Seeing Ariel drop her head, Elicia gave a small laugh. Then, she walked over to her with short steps.
Elicia sat on the bed next to Ariel and gently stroked her hair.
“Just be careful next time. You learned something new today.”
“I did something wrong…”
“That’s right.”
Elicia kissed Ariel’s forehead lightly.
It was a silly mistake, but Ariel only did it because Elicia spoiled her too much.
Elicia knew this mistake was partly her fault—for spoiling Ariel.
“She’s reflected on it, so that’s enough. Today…”
While comforting Ariel, Elicia glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was already way past lunchtime.
“Did you eat?”
“No!”
Ariel looked hopeful—expecting Elicia to eat with her.
But Elicia gave a different answer.
“I told you not to skip meals. Call Roa and eat first.”
“Huh? What about you, sister?”
“I… have something to do.”
Earlier, her maid Rachel said the Duke arrived at dawn.
That meant today was the day he brought Eden—the male lead.
“Okay…”
Ariel didn’t stop her, knowing her sister was always busy.
She just touched her forehead where Elicia kissed her, as if missing her already.
Elicia quietly comforted herself, then left the room and walked through the bright hallway.
In the novel, Eden arrived at the mansion around this time.
‘If my guess is right… he brought Eden today.’
The Duke had erased Eden’s memories through a request to the Tower Master.
Elicia looked out the hallway window.
Like Ariel said, the flowers wilted from too much watering, and leaves fell between them.
Elicia licked her dry lips and walked faster.
Elicia had fallen into despair after realizing she’d die by Eden’s hand.
So she tried harder to treat Ariel kindly—to change her fate.
At first, it was just for survival.
She wasn’t the original owner of the body, so she didn’t consider Ariel her real sister.
But that changed because of their mother, Isabella.
Even while sick and dying, Isabella held Elicia’s hand and said:
“I’m sorry to leave you both alone… But I’m glad you’re not alone.”
She loved her daughters and worried for them even in her last breath.
“Elicia… I was too weak… I’m sorry…”
Those were her last words.
Even though Elicia had taken over someone else’s life, she stayed sane because of Isabella.
Isabella didn’t know her real daughter was gone and still loved Elicia fully.
Elicia felt guilty and couldn’t ignore Isabella’s final request.
That’s why Elicia gave all the love she received—to Ariel.
So Ariel wouldn’t grow up starved for affection.
In the novel, Ariel desperately wanted love from her father—the Duke—even while he used her.
And Elicia mocked her for it.
She called Ariel crazy for trying to win the love of the man who drove their mother to death.
‘The one I should be most careful with is Eden…’
If she didn’t bully Eden or Ariel, things might be okay.
Still, the Duke had kidnapped and imprisoned Eden.
In the story, the Duke placed two restraints on Eden—one to bind him, and one to suppress his mana.
The Duke believed Eden would one day become a powerful mage.
He even kidnapped a prince from another country to pursue his greed.
‘What if a war breaks out?’
Eden was the second prince of the Saiman Kingdom.
Elicia remembered reading about her own execution in the novel—charged with helping the Duke kidnap royalty.
‘I remember reading the execution scene. It was real. Eden is royalty.’
The Duke kept Eden hidden so well that anyone who spoke about him… disappeared.
Servants and guards who gossiped lost their lives quietly.
Elicia’s anxiety grew.
“Still… he escapes in a few years anyway.”
With the Tower Master’s help, Eden would escape later.
But the Tower Master also had her own greedy reasons.
She needed Eden’s blood and mana to use a magical legacy.
Ariel’s suffering started after Eden left.
She awakened as a mage—and that caused new problems.
The Duke’s family also carried the bloodline needed for that magical legacy.
So now Ariel fit the requirement too.
But Ariel wasn’t strong enough to use the magic.
The Duke, furious, began forcing brutal training on her.
As Ariel’s body weakened, Eden—now the Tower Master—returned to take her away.
The Duke refused.
So Eden revealed the Duke’s crimes and had him executed.
He even acted as the executioner himself—maybe out of revenge.
Elicia, in the novel, stayed proud until the end.
‘I could never do that. I’d be begging and crying.’
As she remembered all this, Elicia’s legs started hurting.
The annex where Eden was kept was far.
Too far for someone like her, who sat all day.
“Phew…”
She saw the annex come into view.
She got closer, but suddenly hid behind a tree.
There was a guard in front of the building.
‘Of course. No way there wouldn’t be guards.’
She didn’t plan to meet Eden today anyway.
She only wanted to memorize the guard’s face.
She stared for a while, then turned around and walked back.
‘I’ll come again tomorrow. At a different time.’
Even though she looked calm, Elicia was nervous inside.
The longer this went on, the harder it would be for Eden.
In the novel, she met him only a year after he arrived.
Because the Duke even hid him from his own children.
“Move.”
“S-Sorry!”
Elicia said in a cold voice to the maids blocking the main door.
They quickly stepped aside.
One of them saw her clearly—and her eyebrows were furrowed in anger.
“Did we make her mad…?”
Getting jobs in the Duke’s territory was hard.
“Why worry? She’ll give us a recommendation anyway.”
The other maid laughed.
Even those fired by Elicia usually got a letter of recommendation.
Still, some servants were bitter.
‘She’s just a kid, already drunk on power.’
Back when Isabella was alive, Elicia was quiet and obedient.
But now the Duke gave her authority over the staff.
She was only 12.
People couldn’t understand why the Duke trusted her with so much.
So now those who once looked down on Isabella and her daughters were scared of Elicia.
“Oh? Want a recommendation too?”
“Gasp!”
The maid who’d been whispering froze in shock.
She didn’t expect Elicia to hear her.
“N-No! I’m sorry, my lady! We’re really sorry!”
Another maid apologized in panic.
Elicia stared coldly.
“You haven’t worked here long, have you?”
“Huh? Y-Yes… since last year…”
“And you… you worked here when my mother was alive.”
“……”
The maid said nothing—knowing Elicia mentioned Isabella on purpose.
“Better start packing. Right?”
With a cold smile, Elicia fired the maid who once neglected Isabella’s care.
