To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 28
Clattering… a carriage was heading toward the Parlis residence.
“u…uu…”
“…”
Inside the carriage were Sophia’s parents, and beside them sat the head maid.
“I can’t believe… Sophia… uu…”
The mother was crying, unable to accept her daughter’s death.
“Is it really true that our daughter… Sophia…”
The father kept asking the head maid to confirm Sophia’s death, as if he couldn’t accept it.
“Madam cared for us servants until the very end… She was someone who had to be in the Parlis family…”
The head maid wiped her tears and spoke of Sophia.
“I can’t believe it… I was just exchanging letters with her until recently…”
“Letters…”
The head maid recalled that she had a letter from Sophia.
(I forgot to give the letter to the master after the sudden news… It would have been better to give it to her parents… but the madam wanted me to hand it to the master…)
The head maid was troubled about whether she should give the letter from Sophia to her parents.
“What was the cause of my daughter… Sophia’s death?”
“Eh…”
“Her sister Emily has been staying there for a few months… no, it’s been half a year, but I hadn’t heard anything from her until Sophia passed away. That’s why I wrote a letter telling Emily to come home soon… I can’t believe… Sophia…”
“?”
Hearing the father’s words, the head maid had a moment of surprise.
“Um… hasn’t Emily returned to the mansion at all?”
“In the past six months… I think she showed her face once or twice, but she might have come back when I wasn’t here… My wife, did Emily come back?”
“Eh… Uh… I’m sorry… When I was with father, Emily came to show us a dress she had given by Alec, saying she was happy. A week later, she came again, saying she received a dress from Alec… At that time, she mentioned wanting to live by Sophia’s side for a while…”
“We thought it would be alright as long as Sophia was with her, with the marquis’s permission…”
The head maid, watching Sophia’s parents wipe their tears, wondered where Emily had been staying when Alec was away.
“I’m sorry… I’ve digressed, but what illness caused my daughter to pass away in such a short time?”
“I cannot answer that… Please ask the master for everything… And you will understand when you see the madam…”
“I see…”
The head maid bowed to the parents and suggested they ask the master directly about Sophia’s appearance and cause of death, and the carriage arrived at the Parlis residence.
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Within the Parlis mansion, rumors among the maids spread to the other servants, and everyone was talking about Alec and Emily.
“What!? Emily is pregnant with the master’s child!?”
“Apparently so… That’s all anyone can talk about in the mansion now.”
“Ugh, what is the master thinking? With the madam still around… and with that selfish woman no less.”
“Hey, what if they hear you?”
“Huh? I don’t care; everyone’s thinking it. You do too, right?”
“Uh, well, yeah…”
A servant cleaning the stables felt he had figured out why Sophia had died.
“I understand the cause of the madam’s death…”
“Eh?”
“Why she chose to end her own life… The master and Emily cornered her…”
“So, you’re saying the madam’s death is the fault of the master and Emily?”
“Ugh… Why didn’t I realize it sooner? There were so many strange things… The master always took Emily with him when he went out… I thought it was odd when they got in and out of the carriage… but I couldn’t say anything to the master… He always spoke casually, saying, ‘I’m taking Emily to the supplier,’ or ‘Emily will go to the wedding in place of my wife’… Once he said it first, I couldn’t say anything…”
“I was thinking the same thing… Why was the master going out with Emily while leaving everything to the madam?”
“He said he was going to the supplier, but who knows if that’s true… I wondered if there was really such a need to keep going to the supplier.”
“There’s a possibility the master was lying to the madam…”
“Yeah, probably…”
“I still can’t believe it… Just hours ago, the madam was talking with us…”
“I always thought on the nights the master stayed out, I hoped he wouldn’t come back…”
“Hey…”
“The current Parlis family was supported by the madam! Not the master…”
“…”
“Do you think the madam would be angry if we said something like this?”
“She might have a troubled expression and stand by us…”
“I’d like to see the madam, even if it’s just as a ghost…”
“Hahaha… ugh…”
The two servants shed tears as they spoke about Sophia.
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Emily, having learned of her sister Sophia’s death, was feeling down, sitting on the sofa with Alec, occasionally shedding tears.
“uu… Sister…”
“Emily…”
Alec was worried about Emily, concerned that her constant crying might affect the child she was carrying.
“I didn’t think you would cry this much, Emily…”
“Sniff… B-but… if my sister is gone, who will take care of our child?”
“Eh!?… Ah, let’s think about that later… For now, let’s stay by Sophia’s side…”
Alec was a little surprised but thought it was natural for Emily to consider raising a child now that she was going to be a mother, so he tried to comfort her.
The doctor and the butler, who had heard Emily’s voice, were in shock.
“Is Lady Emily planning for the madam to raise her child? If so, that’s incredibly selfish… I thought she was a caring sister grieving for her loss…”
“…”
The doctor spoke in disbelief, while the butler walked toward Sophia, who was lying on the bed.
“Madam…”
The butler placed his hand over Sophia’s cold hands, tears welling in his eyes.
“I’m sorry for leaving you alone… Your parents will be here soon… Until then, I’ll stay by your side…”
The butler promised to remain with Sophia, trying to smile.
Seeing this, the doctor approached Sophia, noticing the bandage on her left wrist, a pained expression crossing his face.
“I regret not speaking more with the madam… I thought the master was busy with work and didn’t have time for the couple… But that was…”
The doctor hesitated and confessed to the butler.
“I admired the madam…”
“Eh!?”
The butler was surprised by the doctor’s confession and turned to look at him.
“Doctor… no, Alan…”
“Ha… It’s been a while since anyone called me by my name while working as a doctor in this mansion…”
“You admired the madam…”
“I’ve felt that way since I treated her… but I am a doctor… I couldn’t say anything to the madam, who was troubled by her relationship with the master… Besides, she loved the master…”
“Alan…”
“Now, I regret not telling her my feelings…”
The doctor clenched his hands as he looked at Alec and Emily sitting on the sofa.
“Thank you for thinking of the madam… I’ve been talking with Alan about the madam and the master… The madam…”
“…”
The doctor touched Sophia’s cold cheek, mourning the death of the woman he loved, and pressed his cold lips against hers.
The butler wiped his tears at the sight of the doctor kissing Sophia, while Alec, who was comforting Emily, was taken aback and stood there in shock.