I Ran Away And The Reverse Harem Started Chapter 116

Deborah lowered her head. She looked like she might burst into tears at the slightest touch, but she clenched her jaw and held it in.

“I also thought… maybe Kazan Louis had a hand in it. If Irene were gone—if only my sister didn’t exist—then it would’ve been easier for him to make Deborah the Saintess. He must’ve seen Irene as an obstacle.”

“…”

“But to think it was actually true… I only had suspicions.”

Yvette muttered as if to herself. Overcome with emotion, she staggered slightly and leaned against the carriage for support.

Deborah couldn’t hold back anymore. Tears finally streamed down her cheeks.

“You don’t have to forgive me. Irene was kidnapped because of my existence. I’m Kazan Louis’s daughter, and I’ll never be forgiven by your family. This is all my fault.”

“…”

“My sins are ones I can never atone for. From childhood, your family treated me like one of your own, and yet I…”

“…”

“I’m sorry. Please don’t forgive me.”

Her tears continued to flow.

From the moment she learned her father had ordered the kidnapping of the Büllossen family’s daughter, Deborah had been wracked with guilt.

The family she thought she owed her life to—her father had hurt them.

“…Is that why you never contacted me? Why you avoided me even when I tried to reach out? Because you were ashamed to face us?”

Deborah shook with quiet sobs. She looked too sorrowful to even speak, but Yvette could read the answer clearly.

“My father said… your family probably already considered ours the culprit. That you only stayed near me to get revenge…”

“…”

“Please, take your revenge on me, Yvette. I’ll accept anything.”

Yvette clamped her mouth shut, overwhelmed, and then suddenly gripped Deborah’s shoulders tightly.

“You believed someone like him? You think I… that our family stayed near you just for revenge?”

Deborah couldn’t answer. Yvette exhaled sharply in disbelief.

“You don’t know my family at all. Sure, in the beginning, I did resent you. I wondered if Irene was taken because you became the Saintess. And seeing you constantly reminded me of it.”

“…”

“But not once did I want revenge on you. Even now, knowing everything, the only one I want to punish is your father.”

“Then why… why were you kind to me? Why did you reach out to me when I was all alone at the temple? Why did you become my family? What reason could there be?”

When Kazan Louis told her they approached her out of revenge, Deborah found it strangely easier to believe. Even though she knew they weren’t that kind of people—she almost wanted it to be true. It would’ve made the guilt easier.

But now, they were saying they had cared for her sincerely. That hurt more.

“Please, just hate me. Take revenge on me. I can’t even breathe because I’m so sorry, Yvette.”

“…”

“Huuh… huuuhh…”

Deborah finally broke into loud sobs. The pain of having disappointed those she loved crushed her.

Tears poured down as she buried her face in her palms. Her shoulders trembled, and Yvette could feel it in her grip.

Yvette stared, confused and overwhelmed.

At that moment, the Büllossen viscountess, leaning on Colin, stepped forward. The gaslight illuminated her gentle face.

“Did you truly feel we treated you like family, Deborah?”

“M-Madam…”

Deborah blinked through her wet lashes. The viscountess pressed a hand to her chest as if steadying herself, then approached as though reaching a decision.

“That’s because we really did see you as family. It wasn’t your imagination.”

“…”

“I saw you every time I went to give offerings for Irene. You were the same age as my daughter. Same eyes. At first, I resented you for being born on the same day as her and becoming a Saintess. Like Yvette did.”

“…”

“But over time, I couldn’t stop noticing you. You looked so lonely at the temple. At first, I treated you kindly because you reminded me of my daughter. But now… that’s not why.”

She hesitated, then her eyes firmed with resolve. Her blue eyes shone, gentle yet unwavering.

“This has nothing to do with the daughter I lost. Yvette, I, and my husband lying upstairs—we all truly cherished you. So don’t talk of revenge. We don’t hate you. How could we? How could we ever take revenge on you?”

Tears welled in the viscountess’s eyes. She reached out and gently took Deborah’s hands.

“You’re like a daughter to us. And…”

“…”

“Thank you. For catching the one who kidnapped Irene. You’ve done your part. You don’t need to carry this guilt anymore, Deborah. Please.”

“Madam…”

Deborah’s violet eyes trembled.

Seeing her, the viscountess smiled warmly.

“The ones who deserve punishment are your father, Kazan Louis, and that kidnapper. Not you. You know that, don’t you?”

She pulled the crying Deborah into her arms. And Deborah, after a small hesitation, sobbed like a child. This was a mother’s embrace—no different from that of a real family.

It had begun with a resemblance to her daughter, born on the same day. But in the end, Deborah was just a girl with wounds of her own. And the Büllossen family couldn’t turn away from her.

Twenty years had passed. They still carried the loss of their second daughter. But Deborah had become like a third daughter to them.

And yet, there was still one deeply personal matter left to confront.

Colin, Daniel, and Rosieta watched in silence. They knew they had to give them this moment.

When Deborah’s crying began to subside, Daniel stepped forward.

“Now that everyone except for the viscount himself knows the truth… Baron Kazan Louis will soon be tried for kidnapping a noble’s daughter.”

“…”

“And once the trial begins, the temple, the royal family, and the public will all focus on it. Which means… today is the only day the Büllossen family can face the kidnapper without interference.”

That was why Daniel and Deborah had kept Rumi in a secluded location rather than handing her directly to the authorities.

At his words, Yvette and the viscountess glanced at the café.

Inside was the person who had driven a nail into their hearts for twenty years.

A vile criminal. The one who stole their daughter, yet still dared to breathe.

“Right. Who is this kidnapper, anyway? Was it a rival merchant family? Someone Louis hired? A guild member he bought off?”

Yvette’s blue eyes glinted with rising hostility.

“It’s none of those.”

“Then…”

“She was a maid who worked at the Büllossen estate for quite a while. I’m told she was once your personal maid, Lady Yvette…”

Daniel glanced at Deborah.

A look of confusion flickered across both the viscountess’s and Yvette’s faces.

“My personal maid? From childhood?”

“…”

“Oh no. That’s impossible!”

Suddenly, the viscountess screamed. Everyone but the frozen Yvette flinched in surprise.

The gentle look on her face drained of color. She murmured in shock, as if seeing a ghost.

“That maid continued to work at our house for nearly ten years… even after Irene disappeared.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The story the Büllossen viscountess told was nothing short of shocking.

She knew the maid named Rumi well. Brown hair, a small mole near her lips. With her aloof expression and slender build, the maid was known for being efficient and skillful—earning her a solid reputation.

She had joined the Büllossen household at the age of twenty and had worked there diligently for as many years as she had lived.

Other maids sometimes whispered that she was hard to read, but such comments never affected her standing. After all, maids were judged by how well they did their work.

The viscountess shook her head, her face pale.

“That maid can’t be the culprit. You’re saying she kidnapped our child, and then brazenly continued working in our home for ten more years? Accepting pay from my husband all the while? Good heavens, what kind of monster could do something like that?!”

“…”

“No, that can’t be. Then she must’ve known how desperately we were searching for Irene, and she just stood by and watched? How can a person do something like that? Something’s wrong. This has to be some mistake.”

The viscountess let out a high-pitched cry of disbelief. It was horrifying. The idea that the one who kidnapped and abandoned her daughter had stayed in the mansion, watching their family all that time. What reason could she have had for doing such a thing?

“But madam… she confessed to the crime.”

Daniel tried to calm the trembling viscountess, who looked as if she might faint at any moment. Meanwhile, Yvette remained silent. She simply watched her mother in stunned stillness.

Yet even on her composed face, a crack had begun to form.