I, Who Was Betrayed By The People I Loved Most - Chapter 5

(From Camille’s point of view)

I still remember that day clearly, even now.

The soot-stained wooden stairs. The creaking door.

The apartment where I lived with my parents stood along a stone-paved alleyway—a two-story building that resembled a tenement house in the lower town.

In winter, icy drafts would seep in through the cracks, and at night, the sounds from the tavern downstairs echoed through the floorboards.

My mother had given up her life as a noble to marry my father, a commoner.
But I don’t think their life together was ever like a dream.

The stone walls of our home were bitterly cold, and we couldn’t even afford firewood.
Father worked from dawn till dusk, yet things never improved.
Gradually, Mother stopped smiling altogether.

We lived in a cramped room where, as soon as the sun went down, we lit candles one by one—carefully rationing each flame.
Now, I understand it clearly: even love withers away when life leaves no room for it.

It happened one freezing evening in winter.

My father was returning from the market when a carriage struck him down. He died instantly.
When the news reached my mother, she ran outside, ignoring the neighbors who tried to stop her—and just like that, on the same street, she never came back either.

In this country, when a noble’s carriage barrels through the lower town and hits someone, they’re rarely held accountable.
And if the person struck is just a commoner living in the slums… even less so.

Back then, all I could do was cry.
I sat curled in a corner of that cold little room, too stunned to move.

What remained was a tiny, half-furnished space and a chorus of unfamiliar adults with cold voices demanding I repay my parents’ debts.

With no one to take me in, I was destined to be sent to an orphanage.

—Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Then one day, a beautiful woman dressed in a silk gown came to visit.

“You must be Camille.”

Her voice was graceful, her posture elegant—completely unlike any adult I’d ever met.

She introduced herself.

“…I’m Leticia. Your mother’s younger sister. Have you ever heard of the House of Oxley?”

I nodded faintly.

It was the name of the house my mother had abandoned—and never once spoken of.

“The family title went to our cousin, but I inherited the trading company our family has run for generations. If you’d like… would you become my daughter?”

I couldn’t comprehend her words at first.
All I could do was stare blankly, as if a person from a completely different world had suddenly stepped into mine.

Aunt Leticia never once blamed my mother.

She paid off the debts my parents had left behind.
She reached out to me—and gently held my hand.

“It’s alright now. From today on, I’ll protect you.”

The warmth of her hand in that moment— I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

When I rode in the carriage with Aunt Leticia and the door opened at our destination, I gasped.

Before me was a world straight out of a fairy tale.

A garden paved in white stone. Servants in matching uniforms.
And the building—four stories tall—looked less like a mansion and more like a small palace.

“…This is my house?”

The words escaped me before I realized, and Aunt Leticia smiled warmly.

“Yes, that’s right. Welcome—to the Rubert Ducal Estate.”

And then I finally understood.

Aunt Leticia wasn’t just the head of a trading company.

—She was the Duchess of the Rubert family—one of the most prestigious noble houses in the entire kingdom.

I stood frozen in disbelief as the servants welcomed me with practiced ease.

The mansion was gently warmed, with a faint sweetness wafting through the air.
Every step on the plush carpet sank softly underfoot.

—It really felt like I’d wandered into a fairy tale.

The room prepared for me had a large bed with snow-white sheets that smelled faintly sweet, and blankets so soft they seemed ready to swallow me whole.

“This room is yours from today, Camille. Feel free to use it however you like.”

When Aunt Leticia said that with such kindness, I couldn’t help but ask:

“…I’m allowed to live here?”

“Of course. This is your home now.”

At those words, a warmth spread through my chest.

I was now—Aunt Leticia and Duke Rubert’s daughter.

That evening at dinner, I was introduced to the Duke himself—Lord Oswald Rubert.

He was more dignified and kind than anyone I had ever seen.

“So you’re Camille. Leticia has told me about you. It must have been a difficult time. Welcome to the Rubert estate.”

His authoritative voice made me straighten my posture instinctively.

But then, with a gentle smile, he added:

“From now on, you may think of me as your father. We are family now.”

That one sentence gently settled into my heart.

Father—he was almost too majestic, too radiant to call by such a name.

With his dark blond hair and pale grey-blue eyes…
Tall, lean, refined—he was a breathtaking man.

To think that someone like him would become my “father” from now on…
It felt like a dream.