* * *
My husband is missing.
His body has not been found yet.
Only…There was a huge amount of blood in the main hall of the mansion where my husband and I lived.
People assumed that he had been killed and thrown by a river near the mansion. Everyone doubted me. Even though no one knew that our relationship was bad.
The reason for their doubt was because of the novel I have written. Not long ago, the heroine in my romantic thriller novel killed her husband in this same way.
One night, the heroine woke up and her husband disappeared. The bloodstains were splashed from the main hall to the entrance of the mansion, but there were no weapons or any body parts found. There was no concrete evidence even if you search thoroughly for days.
What a ridiculous thing. What kind of idiot would kill her husband by using the murder method from her own novel? But as people said, I was the idiot one. Everyone thought I killed my husband.
“If I’m crazy, would I really kill my husband the same way my novel does it?”
A woman with no sign of sadness even though her husband has just died.
People shuddered seeing me calmly protesting with red bloodshot eyes open.
There was no one who trusted me. Even my family turned away from me.
Just then, he came to me.
My first love that I never thought I’d see again, my old love that I threw away in a mean way.
“It’s been a long time. Charlotte, should I call you Countess Bell now?”
The last time I saw him, he was a young man with blue pained eyes, and now he was a confident man in front of me who would not move even if someone put a knife in front of me.
“I’m happy to help you, so talk to me. Charlotte, did you really kill him?”
After six years, he still had the same stunning handsome face, but there was no tremor in his blue eyes anymore, a handsome man looking down at me wearing a navy blue prokot over his gorgeous body.
“What if he died?”
“….”
“What if I killed him? So you’re gonna drag me to the death penalty?”
He laughed. It was a different laugh from before.
“Charlotte Blythe, I’m trying to help you. If you didn’t kill him, I will do my best to relieve you from your injustice. If you killed your husband, well……there might be some different circumstances that may happen.”
“What?”
“……If so, I’ll think about how I can cover you up.”
Is he really here to help me?
Does it make sense for him to help me, his first love, who had brutally abandoned him?
Isn’t it reasonable to say that you’ve come back in front me of after six years just to get revenge on me?
Should I trust him?
However, this story was not about whether to believe or not. It was not about faith but about love.
The story of two people who hold on to their love until the end and didn’t let go. The horribly terrible love story begins in a mansion full of blood stains like this.
Countess Charlotte Bell, whom everyone envies.
There was no woman in the Esselen Empire who does not envy me. Even now, all the women sitting in the living room are looking at my face with an ecstatic expression.
The creamy silk dress embroidered with crystal beads tightens my body. The waist is straightened out. When I first wore this outfit, my husband said,
‘You can’t call yourself a beauty when you’re bent. From now on, you’ll just have to dress like this. You are a woman who will sit quietly like a lady only like this.’
The chest of the colorful dress, which was too shiny to wear in my own mansion in broad daylight, is brightly lit with white pearls.
Light blonde hair flows down with a desirable glow thanks to the daily use of oil made by squeezing out copper flowers.
The purple eyes sparkle and shine in the chandelier. Around the collarbone is an amethyst necklace of the same eye color.
My reflection in the big mirror on the other side is beautiful even to me.
All the clothes I wore today are all my husband’s work. The aesthetic of my husband, the king of society, Count Eseld Bell does not permit an inch of blemish.
“Countess Bell, what do you have here? The necklace is so beautiful. It’s a jewel that looks just like the color of your eyes. It’s probably a gift from Earl Bell, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Without asking, I told that everything was a gift from my husband.
But how surprised she would be to find out that I was not given a penny other than that.
“Oh, my God, you’ve got a nice gold chain. How many years have you been married?”
“It’s been six years.”
“But you still didn’t lose affection from your husband, right? I heard that Count Bell also chose a choker necklace, which was decorated with two rows of pearls, just for the court ball last summer. Right?
“Oh, yes.”
“Do you know? A painting of a court painter’s wife was published in the court newspaper the next day. Now they’re all imitating the design of the jewelry store all the way to the capital’s jewelry store.”
“Is that so?”
I remember that necklace well. How can I forget what he gave me, saying it looked good on me like it was a dog necklace?
“Yes, you have a really good husband. Oh, look at this mahogany armchair. Did you choose them yourself?”
“It’s was the butler’s choice.”
The management of the house did not fell under me. It has been a long time since the butler’s wife left the purchase of goods for the house. But I can’t say that.
“Oh, you’re so modest. It’s must be your purchase. Even if your subordinate did it, you took care of it, right? You’re amazing. How can the garden be so pretty? This is the purple garden of love that I’ve only heard of.”
“Oh, yes. Shall we go this way, ma’am?”
But they were too fascinated by the appearance of the outside world to hear me.
“Wait a minute. Oh, I can’t believe I’m seeing this in person! I’ve heard about the purple garden that Count Bell made for his wife. Oh, my God, I think all the purple flowers you can find in the Empire are gathered here. What is that tall light purple flower over there? I’ve never seen a flower before.”
“……Well, I don’t know about that either.”
I used to like flowers, too. But that’s all a long time ago.
Now I’m sick of even looking at the garden. I don’t know the name of a tall light purple flower.
“By the way, ma’am! Did you start writing your next novel? What would the plot be on this new novel?”
Hearing her, I am finally starting to loosen up and engage to conversation with a little enthusiasm. If I were to say this in front of them, some people will think I’m an arrogant lady.
I am a person who can pass on compliments that others try hard and only talk about things that I am interested in.
Even if you misunderstand like that, you can’t help it. I can’t say anything about my reality. So I am obsessed with the story of the world that I made up.
“This time, I want to write a true love story, not a husband series. You’ve already written three stories about breaking away from your husband and finding new love.”
“I loved all three of them.”
“Now I’m thinking of writing a true romance.”
“When it comes to traditional romance…….”
“It’s a love story that we’ve only had each other since the beginning.”
“Really? Oh, my God! I’m looking forward to it. Isn’t that totally about Count Bell and his wife?”
“What?”
“Oh, my God, man. They say that writing reflects reality. How sweet would it be to write a true love story for a loved one like this much?”
“Hey! Did Countess Bell really write about herself? All the heroine in her stories have killed and changed their husbands just to have a happy ending.”
“Oh, come to think of it, man! The reality and the writing must be quite different. Right, Countess Bell?”
“Oh, yeah. Well, that’sure. Because writing is just writing.”
The ladies time came to an end after a long period of pretentious conversation and a brief, of enthusiastic talk about my novels.
I’m a little ashamed to have been talking like a thirsty person in conversation since the topic novel came out, but fortunately, the two self-talker who came as guests seem to have enjoyed listening to my story.
“It was an honor, Countess Bell, to see you so closely after always seeing you from afar. Please invite me again next time.”
“Me, too. Everyone’s going crazy at other dinners, but if you come to the Earl’s House, that’s not good. You always look so beautiful and happy, so I’m a little jealous, but it’s nice to see you being loved. “
I smiled awkwardly instead of answering the compliments of the birch women.
I know that there is a reputation for being cold and covering people about me like this. But I can’t help it. Forced laughter is the maximum amount of kindness I can show now.
All the ladies who came today are well-mannered people with a gentle disposition.
I like them, too. If possible, I want to be their friends. But I can’t.
A friend is someone who I can share my feelings with and tell my story. But I can never do that.
Everyone envies me and I know the reason why people envy me.
I also know that the sound of whispering behind me is loud because of envy.
“Countess Charlotte Bell. A woman who everyone envies.”
I mumbled to myself like that and smirked.
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