To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 38

“…What happened this time? Why is Emily crying?”

The father, who had brought the doctor, was perplexed as he saw Emily crying while being comforted by her mother. (What could have happened in the few minutes I was gone…?), he wondered.

“I’ll proceed with the examination.”

“Ah, please…”

Dr. Allan headed toward Alec’s aunt, while Sophia’s father walked over to Emily and her mother, who was holding the crying girl.

“What’s wrong?”

“Father, where’s the doctor?”

“I asked him to conduct the examination. …Emily, why are you crying?”

“Sniff… It’s awful… They called me an adulteress…”

“…Who said that?”

“One of Alec’s male relatives, the one who just left the room, angrily said that he wouldn’t approve of my marriage to Alec, and that they would’t take care of my child…”

“That’s outrageous…”

“It’s because father told everyone that I had an affair! But Alec and my sister divorced. We didn’t commit adultery!”

Emily raised her voice, almost as if blaming her father.

“What!? Sophia was divorced?”

The Lemoir family relatives were shocked to hear that Sophia had been divorced.

“I didn’t know… But didn’t you all just find out about Sophia’s death yesterday? Where was Sophia living until then?”

“…She had been living with the marquess until yesterday. The divorce was finalized just before Sophia passed away.”

“What!? Are you saying the divorce was processed right before Sophia died!?”

Emily flinched at her uncle’s loud voice, not understanding why everyone was so shocked.

“That’s terrible… To make her sign divorce papers while she was suffering from illness…”

“They say she was pregnant, but was it Alec’s child or Paul’s? No one knows for sure, right?”

“That’s right! And what about the wedding? Does the Palris family know Emily has a fiancé?”

The Lemoir family relatives started to stir, and Emily’s face turned pale as she gripped her mother’s arm tightly.

(Why is everyone getting so worked up? Was it wrong to talk about the divorce? I’m having Alec’s child, and it was already decided they would divorce…)

“Brother, I asked our sister earlier, but what’s going to happen with Emily’s wedding? The Palris family has said they won’t approve of Alec and Emily’s marriage. It seems like the Palris family thinks Emily will marry Alec, but… do they know Emily already has a fiancé?”

Emily’s uncle questioned her father, who let out a deep sigh.

“…The only person who knows about Emily’s engagement is Marquess Alec… I don’t think the rest of the relatives are aware…”

“What!?”

The Lemoir family relatives stirred again, now directing their accusations toward Emily.

“Emily, what are you doing!? You have a fiancé, yet you’re sleeping with Sophia’s husband? What are you thinking!?”

“Ah… But he said he loves me, not my sister…”

“What!? But Sophia was the one who married him, not you!! Didn’t you know how much nobles love gossip? Don’t you realize how it will affect us if it gets out that you, with a fiancé, slept with your sister’s husband?”

“…Ah…”

A distant relative, exasperated, reprimanded Emily for her naivety.

“You keep saying it’s not an affair, but if it turns out you didn’t sleep with the marquess, we won’t hold it against you since you’re engaged. If the baby is your fiancé Paul’s child, we’ll have no issue… so, which is it?”

“…Th-that…”

Emily, trembling and pale, was unable to answer.

“If it turns out the child is Paul’s, we won’t blame you. There’s nothing to be uncertain about, right?”

“…Ah…”

Feeling the piercing stares of her relatives, Emily hesitated.

“Don’t lie. Even if you can’t say it, we can always ask him—the marquess.”

The woman accusing Emily pointed her finger toward Alec.

“Ah… M-mother, what should I do?”

“Tell the truth… You’re the one who knows best about the child you’re carrying, aren’t you?”

“I-I don’t know… whether it’s Alec’s or Paul’s child… Ah…”

Emily covered her mouth, realizing she had just confessed out loud that she didn’t know whether the father of her child was Alec or Paul. The relatives went silent and began whispering among themselves.

“Sigh… What are we going to do about the wedding, brother?”

The uncle asked Emily’s father what would happen to her wedding plans with her fiancé.

“…I intend to visit him after the funeral is over…”

“I see… Emily, how long have you been involved with Marquess Alec?”

“Huh!? ‘Involved’…?”

Emily couldn’t meet her uncle’s angry gaze, realizing he was glaring at her.

“I asked how long!”

“…I-I don’t know… It just happened…”

“Don’t give me that! You stole your sister’s life! Can you imagine how Sophia felt, being told to divorce because you were pregnant!? When did you start your relationship with the marquess? Were you living at his mansion this whole time? Answer me!”

The uncle’s harsh glare bore down on Emily, making her cry.

“…Ugh… Sister…”

“W-wait… Emily is pregnant…”

Emily’s mother supported her and pleaded with the uncle to go easy on her.

“You’re always defending her, sister, and that’s why Emily has become so dependent on others. I’ve seen it time and time again, how she leaned on Sophia. She’s learned that all she needs to do is cry and apologize, and she’ll be forgiven. She’s been manipulating Alec the same way, hasn’t she? Isn’t that right, Emily?”

The female relative smiled as she interrogated Emily.

“…sniff… All I did was talk to him…”

“Oh, really? And from just talking, you ended up pregnant?”

“Huh…”

“Your fiancé… was it Paul? He’s unlucky, isn’t he, to have such a selfish and deceitful fiancée. Even if he forgives you and marries you, I doubt he’ll get along with his in-laws. I hear they despise crooked behavior, especially when it comes to scandal…”

“That’s not… sob…”

Emily continued to cry as the woman berated her.

“H-hey, that’s going too far…”

“She won’t understand unless it’s spelled out for her. Honestly, I wish she would apologize to Sophia… It’s Sophia who’s the real victim here… From now on, Alec and Emily should atone for this.”

Tears welled up in the female relative’s eyes as she wiped them away.

“I’ve said more than enough, so I’ll be leaving now. Let me know later what happens to Emily and the rest.”

Waving her hand, the woman left the room, leaving the other relatives in stunned silence.

“L-let’s go as well…”

“Yes… let’s…”

“Ugh… sob… Sophia… you must have been so heartbroken… You smiled and spoke to us so cheerfully when we last saw you at the shop… We had no idea something like this was going on… sob…”

“…Let’s leave as well… We’ll visit Sophia one last time on our way out…”

A couple of the relatives approached Sophia’s father, mentioning their plan to pay their respects to Sophia before they left.

“…I know this is hard, but hang in there. If anything happens, let us know… You should discuss this matter with the Palris and Colbert families.”

“…Uncle… I’m sorry for all the trouble we’ve caused…”

Sophia’s father bowed to his uncle and aunt as the remaining Lemoir relatives began to leave. Soon, only the uncle and aunt were left.