Rather, every word Mariel uttered drove a nail into Radis’ chest.

Radis stared at the older woman with reddening eyes, then she opened her lips.

“You talk too much, Madam.”

“What?”

“You might not understand, but there are people in this world who do not deserve to be parents.”

At Radis’ words, the drawing room fell silent as though it was flooded with arctic waters.

Now, it was Mariel’s lips that began to tremble.

“How arrogant… Miss Radis, even if some things go wrong, it’s very wrong of you to think like this. What do you mean, ‘Don’t deserve to be parents’? Parents and their children are connected by the heavens. What other qualifications do they need? After carrying you in her stomach your mother gave birth to you, Miss Radis. And your father raised you until you’re this old!”

Mariel spoke firmly as she looked alternately between Radis and Yves with anger behind her eyes.

“You have no gratitude. Even if your parents make mistakes, even if they commit treason, if you are their child, you must forgive your parents’ faults!”

With her head bowed down, Radis’ expression hardened.

She muttered.

“…I’d rather that they committed treason.”

She meant it.

If Margaret and Zade had committed only the capital offense of treason, it would be much easier to forgive them.

Radis raised her head.

“You’re right, Madam. That’s also what I believed. I tried that as well. But you can’t even imagine how much I…!”

An unfeeling smile could be seen on Radis’ lips.

“But Madam, sometimes, there are parents who themselves drive a nail into their child’s heart. Strangely, people don’t ask those parents what reason they had to have done this. Is that acceptable? Is it only a child who has a duty towards their parents? Is there no duty that parents must uphold towards their child?”

Something that had hardened inside her heart seemed to have burst out.

After saying this, Radis stood there blankly for a moment.

It wasn’t like her to say those words.

A large thorn piercing her heart seemed to have gone loose.

Her entire body was trembling.

Radis couldn’t bear to look at Mariel’s face.

Mariel, who didn’t know Radis’ situation, had spoken only of the common notion that people believed regarding parents and their children.

Yet those words provoked Radis’ ire.

“…I apologize. I was too harsh.”

She couldn’t stand it any longer. Radis apologized as she continued to tremble. Then, she turned around.

“Hey… Hey!”

Mariel’s startled shout quickly faded in the distance.

Radis ran down the flight of stairs in a hurry.

As she passed through the hall, it felt like the maids were watching her with their necks craned out.

Radis was also terrified of the maids’ gazes.

“Miss Radis?”

Allen, who was standing near the front door, called out to her, but Radis ignored him as well.

She pushed the front door of the estate and ran towards the garden.

Just in time, the stableman happened to be unfastening the horses of a carriage.

Radis snatched the reins of one horse and climbed over it recklessly.

“Ha-ya!”

And like that, she disappeared like the wind.

* * *

’Driving a nail into her parents’ hearts like this isn’t a child’s duty, nor is it even any human’s duty!’

‘I just made a decision that would benefit David’s future along with the Tilrod family!’

Mariel and Margaret’s words echoed in her mind like auditory hallucinations.

For the future of the family. For the future of her younger brother, who was the pillar of the household. Just for their sake, was it right to ruin the life of the eldest daughter who no one wanted?

Was that the duty of a child? The duty of all human beings?

‘If this is true, then just one time is enough. Why was I given two lives? If there’s a god out there, if there’s a reason that I was born as the eldest daughter of the Tilrod family, that god should have just let me die. Why do I need to live again? Does that mean that I’d have to live like that twice? It’s all too cruel!’

How long had she been running?

Radis drew the horse to a stop when she felt that its neck had become soaked with sweat.

Her face was frozen cold from the night’s strong breeze, but her body was sweating just as the horse did.