Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil Chapter 79

Chapter 79

 

“When I found her, she was already seriously injured.”

“…….”

“Dozens of monsters rushing to eat her, I took care of them.”

The man raised his voice as if arguing while looking at Helios.

Helios, who had been glaring at the man with red-hot eyes, was fixed on the floor.

Helios clenched his fists and bit his dry lips as if trying to silence the rushing emotions.

“And you can’t say thank you, but you can’t punch me in the face, either. Ha.”

The man who nervously rubbed his blushing bruised cheek turned to me.

I caught the gaze with a confused mood.

‘I was seriously injured in the cave, and this man saved me?’

Was that what I had sensed from him at the banquet?

If he knows about the scar on my back, then…

I began to understand the man’s suspicious behavior.

But I still couldn’t remember what had happened in the cave.

“If you saved Lena, why didn’t you tell me right away? How long have I been looking for Lena—”

“How do I know who she is? There was nothing to prove her identity, and she was barely conscious..”

Nervousness was mixed in the man’s voice.

The man with his tongue clenched as if it was absurd asked Helios.

“Hey, Duke Anthemion. If she’s such a precious person, you should have taken good care of her.”

“……”

“Who was it that got her into that mess, and you blame me?”

I thought he would be angry, but Helios just listened to his accusations.

Looking at him like that, my doubts grew bigger.

‘Who made me that way? Did someone deliberately do that to kill Lenia?’

I thought I might remember something, so I concentrated hard on my thoughts, but my head was just foggy.

‘Anyone who hated Lenia enough to want to kill her would have to be…’

 

‘Die!’

 

“Ugh…”

“Lena!”

In the darkness, an unknown woman’s voice rang in my ears.

I let out a groan from a piercing headache, and Helios supported me with a startled face.

I pushed out Helios’ hand that had touched me. Like a drowning person, my body was quickly drenched with sweat.

Count Tilburn, who was observing the atmosphere, intervened cautiously.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I think the misunderstanding has been cleared up, so please stop here.”

“I still have something to talk to Lady Evelyn.”

“What business do you have with Lena—!”

“The Duchess doesn’t look good, so why not do it another day, Sir Peterson.”

Count Tilburn interrupted Helios and attempted to mediate.

The man nodded reluctantly as he saw me breathing heavily with my hand on my forehead.

“All right. Let’s do that.”

As soon as the answer came, I got up from my seat. My head hurt so bad I couldn’t sit any longer.

“I’ll go first, Count Tilburn.”

“Lena.”

I left the office ignoring the following Helios.

 

  *****

 

All the way back to the mansion, I closed my eyes and didn’t say anything.

I could feel Helios’ gaze through my closed eyelids, but he didn’t even speak to me.

I woke up only after the carriage arrived at the mansion, ignoring the children’s greetings and went straight into the room.

As soon as I entered the room, what caught my eye were the two letters placed on the side table.

One was a letter sent to me by Sirius impersonating Count Tilburn, and the other was a letter from the real Count Tilburn.

‘Helios knows.’

By contrasting the handwriting and the seal, it would have been easy to tell that the letter was fake.

It seems that someone impersonated Count Tilburn and lured me, so he and the Count went looking for me.

“Ha….”

Where did it go wrong?

Maybe it was because I knew so much at once that I couldn’t get my mind off it.

As I gripped the nightstand to steady myself from the dizziness that overwhelmed me, the door opened.

The sound of footsteps approaching me stopped behind me.

“… Lena.”

Helios called me softly.

I couldn’t calm myself down, so I closed my eyes and didn’t answer.

“Lena, talk to me.”

“… About what?”

I groaned, emotions surged. Anger, or a sense of betrayal. No, maybe it’s both.

I hated and resented Helios, who knew everything but thoroughly hid the truth from me.

“Tell me first. Why did you hide it?”

“Lena.”

“You knew what happened to me, didn’t you?”

“…….”

“How many times have I asked? Scars on my back, about why it happened?”

Perhaps because of excitement, my voice cracked.

“Why did you say you didn’t know? tell me Why did you deceive me?”

Tears welled up from the terrifying sense of betrayal.

Watching me suffer from nightmares from time to time.

I couldn’t hold back my anger, thinking that all the comforting words that told me that it would be okay soon and that I wouldn’t have to worry about anything because he was by my side were all meant to deceive me.

“How could you do that, knowing how hard I’ve been going through!”

“… That’s why I did it.”

“What?”

Helios’ body, looking at me, slowly collapsed.

Bumping, he knelt in front of me and opened his mouth quietly.

“I think you will have a harder time when your memories come back… That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“Hah.”

It was an excuse as expected. That he hid for me.

I looked down at him coldly and shook my head.

“Don’t make excuses. What I wanted was the truth, not your kind consideration.”

Helios licked his pale lips and exhaled a hot breath.

His red, bloodshot eyes were wet with water.

“The winter of last year, Viscount Evelyn came to me saying you were missing.”

“……”

“He said he searched everywhere for you to go, but he can’t find you anywhere. So he said he came to me just to see if you’re with me.”

“…….”

“When I heard about it, I immediately went looking for you. I searched everything from the imperial capital to my estate, yours, and the places we went together, but you were nowhere to be found.”

“…….”

“Then I happened to find out that Charlet Melks, who was going to rest in the Marquis of Melks, did not go to the Marquis.”

“… .”

“I thought Charlet might have taken you, so I followed her and found you trapped in a cave.”

Helios, who had struggled to speak, closed his eyes for a long time and then opened it.

Clear water drops rolled down his cheeks as if he remembered what happened that day.

“When I found you… I thought you were dead…”

The voice that came out of his mouth was drenched.

“The wounds, they were so bad… the doctors said they couldn’t do anything… But I tried to keep you alive somehow…”

The words trailed off.

Helios put his hands on the floor as if he had committed a crime, and only tears were dripping down.

He looked so small today, so I sat down.

I could see it now.

What was causing his occasional anxiety.

Why he was so obsessed with me, almost to the point of excess.

“I… I’ve never forgotten that day…”

Helios burst into tears in front of me with a look engulfed in guilt.

He who remembers everything must have suffered more than me who forgot my memory.

I stared at him, not bothering to wipe the tears from his vision.

“I’m sorry… It’s all because of me.”

“……”

There are other people who are at fault, so why should it be you who suffers?

Maybe my anger was directed at the wrong person.

“Helios.”

I carefully wrapped his wet cheeks.

It was sad to see him apologizing as if it was his fault, even though it wasn’t his fault, so I gently pressed my lips to his.

Tears of bitterness reached the tip of his tongue.

After a brief kiss, I looked up and Helios stared at me with a sad face.

“Lena… I, you…”

“All right, Helios. You can stop.”

It was pathetic to see him clinging to me, so I quietly shook my head.

The hidden secret became clear, so that was enough.

“If you tell me a little faster.”

“…… ”

“Then you wouldn’t have to suffer alone.”

You’re the only one who’s hurting because you’re holding it all to yourself.

Helios hugged me tightly as I showed a faint smile on his tear-stained face.

He buried his face in my shoulder and let out another sob.

“Lena, Lena…”

The desperation in his voice called out to me, and I hugged him as hard as I could.

My back throbbed with pain.