To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 52
“Richard… Don’t you think it’s too soon to return My Lady’s belongings to her family…? Do you think Master intends to marry Lady Emily…?”
The head maid asked the butler anxiously.
“…We can only wait for Master to speak of it…”
“You’re right… I thought Lady Emily would return with him… When I heard the rugs and curtains were being changed back, I was so relieved…”
“I was surprised as well… I never thought he’d change the rugs… And it’s still so soon after My Lady’s passing… As the doctor said, it’s best to leave him alone for now.”
The butler and head maid hoped Alec wouldn’t marry Emily and returned to their duties.
“…Cough… cough…”
Alec, alone in his room, was drinking. He often drank when he returned home exhausted from work.
After returning from the funeral, Alec couldn’t help but drink.
“…Why… do I have to… apologize to him… for Emily…”
“But Alec, you’re my husband! You just have to apologize to my former fiancé, Paul.”
Alec, sitting on the sofa, saw an apparition of Emily beside him, smiling and clinging to him as she whispered in his ear.
“I’m not married to you yet!”
“But we’re having your child.”
“No! It’s not my child!!”
“You were happy in front of your wife. Happy that you were having a child, not with her, but with her younger sister, me.”
“Stop it!!”
Alec covered his ears and shouted.
“But don’t worry, Alec. Your wife has someone else by her side now.”
“What?!”
“Look, there she is, working happily with… another you.”
Alec, following Emily’s pointed finger, saw another version of himself working alongside his deceased wife, Sophia.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“It’s my pleasure to be of assistance, Husband.”
“Brother Alec, let’s go for a walk!”
“Emily, I’ve told you to knock before entering.”
“I’m sorry…”
“As my wife Sophia said, please knock. It’s awkward for both of us when we have guests, isn’t it?”
“I apologize, Brother…”
“And I can’t let you stay at the estate forever.”
“What?”
“My wife is pregnant.”
“H-Husband! It’s still too early to…”
“…Your sister is expecting… and My wife told me you have a fiancé.”
“What…?”
“I appreciate your feelings for me… but I love my wife, Sophia.”
“Husband…”
“…”
Alec saw another version of himself embracing Sophia. As he watched, he felt Emily’s arms wrap around him from behind, whispering her love for him.
“You have me, Alec. You chose me, not your wife.”
“…S-stop…”
“Look how happy they are… You should have been the one by her side… Hehehe…”
Crash!
“…Pant… pant…”
Alec threw the glass he was holding against the wall. Emily’s apparition vanished, leaving him consumed by guilt.
***
Rustle
“Did you hear that?”
“Yes, I heard something break in Master’s room…”
Two maids ascending the stairs heard the sound of breaking glass coming from Alec’s room. They informed the head maid, who rushed to Alec’s room and called out,
“Master? Are you alright? Master?!”
Click
The door opened, revealing Alec, his face pale. The head maid was startled.
“M-master… Are you unwell?”
“…”
As the head maid spoke to Alec, she glimpsed inside the room. Three empty liquor bottles sat on the table, and shards of broken glass littered the floor.
“Oh…”
“…I broke a glass… Could you please clean it up…?”
Alec asked the head maid to clean up the mess and left the room.
“Master…”
As Alec left his room, he saw the maids entering Sophia’s room. He realized they were about to pack her belongings and walked towards her room.
He watched the maids, one of whom was weeping, packing Sophia’s belongings. The door was left open.
“…It’s too soon to send My Lady’s belongings back to her family… She just passed away…”
“Her parents asked for them, so I don’t think it’s Master’s decision…”
“You can’t be sure. He never did anything for her while she was alive. He probably just wants to return her belongings quickly so he can marry Lady Emily.”
The three maids expressed their resentment towards Alec as they cleaned and packed Sophia’s belongings.
“…I can’t call her My Lady. The only one I’ll ever call My Lady is Lady Sophia.”
“But… Lady Emily is pregnant, isn’t she? With Master’s child…”
The maids fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances.
“…Who will take care of the child? Lady Emily…?”
“I doubt she’s capable of raising a child… She’ll probably ask us to take care of it.”
“Ugh… I don’t want to. She’ll blame us if anything happens. She’ll probably hire a nanny anyway. Let the nanny take care of it!”
“…”
Alec, standing by the door, listened to the maids’ conversation.
He realized for the first time how much the maids disliked Emily… and how much he had spoiled her.
(My wife said… that I was spoiling Emily… She knew I was buying her everything… but I wouldn’t listen…)
“Master is terrible. He was openly affectionate with that woman while his wife was still alive. I hate both of them.”
“Be careful. Someone might hear you.”
“Everyone knows. My Lady… sob… I wish she hadn’t died… I was hoping to see her again, even if she left the Parlis estate…”
The maid wept as she packed Sophia’s belongings.
The maids continued to complain about Alec and Emily, and Alec, standing by the door, listened in silence.
Sophia’s belongings were quickly packed.
“…I went shopping with My Lady once. It made me cry to see her, the marchioness, unable to dress up… She said she didn’t mind and bought clothes with the money she earned… It pained me to see her like that… Master wouldn’t know, of course. He was too infatuated with that woman.”
“…”
Alec, hearing the maid’s words, realized he had never seen Sophia dressed up like Emily.
“…What should we do with this? It doesn’t belong to My Lady. Should we give it to Master?”
“Why not? He’ll understand why My Lady was angry with him when he sees this.”
(Something that angered my wife?)
Alec peeked into the room and saw a dress, shredded to pieces, lying beside the three maids. He was startled and entered the room.
“““?!”””
The maids gasped in surprise as Alec entered the room.
“…W-why… why did you do this…?”
Alec snatched the dress from the maids, his hands trembling as he looked at the ruined garment.