To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 69
Alec and the doctor sat in silence during the carriage ride.
(…I can’t believe Master Alec was stripped of his title… To think he has to work as a servant in the Parlis family… I wonder how he’s feeling…)
Alec stared out the carriage window.
“Welcome home, Master, Doctor Alan.”
“Yes.”
“We’re home.”
Alec was greeted by the butler, the head maid, and six other maids. He felt a pang of unease, knowing this would be the last time they’d greet him as their master, and wondered if they would accept him as a servant.
“Uncle Richard… will be visiting the estate within the week… Treat him with utmost respect…”
“Understood.”
“Master Alec, I’ll be taking my leave… Please contact me if you feel unwell…”
“Alright… Thank you for today…”
“Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything…”
The doctor spoke to Alec and left the estate.
“Master, about your meal…”
“I’ll have dinner.”
Alec changed his clothes and ate his usual dinner.
“…”
(This will be one of my last meals as the head of the family… I should be grateful for it…)
Alec, who had recently been indulging in extravagant meals with Emily, realized how wasteful he had been. After dinner, he went to the portrait room and bowed his head before the portraits of his parents.
“I attended the family meeting today… I’m allowed to remain at the estate… but… I can no longer succeed you as marquis… I’m sorry… I’m a disgrace… I’m so sorry…”
Alec wept before his parents’ portraits, apologizing repeatedly.
He returned to his room, sat at his usual desk, and looked around the room blankly.
“This room will become my uncle’s, won’t it…?”
After his father’s death, Alec had taken over his father’s room as his own.
Alec opened a drawer and found an envelope. He picked it up and looked at it.
It was the letter from Sophia that the head maid had given him. He hadn’t opened it yet.
“…”
Alec opened the envelope and took out the letter. The scent of Sophia’s perfume filled the air. Tears welled up, preventing him from reading.
“Sob…”
Alec hadn’t spent much time with Sophia, but he remembered the perfume she wore to work.
He began to read Sophia’s letter.
“I hate you!”
Alec flinched, the first words of the letter piercing his heart.
“I hate you for not seeing me as your wife, as a woman.”
“Sophia…”
“Why did I marry you? You didn’t even care when I collapsed… On the day of the banquet, I returned to the mansion after ascending the stairs… I saw you kissing Emily… and I crawled back to my room…”
“…”
“I knew… that your heart was shifting towards my sister… I saw her visiting your room every night… I knew… Watching Emily standing outside your door, waiting for you to let her in, made me think terrible thoughts.
By the time you read this letter, I will have left the Parlis estate… I never wanted to think such thoughts… I kept hoping… that one day, you would return to me… I was so happy when you gave me that dress.
But when I was told it was identical to Emily’s, I took out my anger on the dress and cut it to shreds… I’m sorry… I wanted to apologize when you returned from the banquet… but you went to Emily… I don’t know how much longer I can stay by your side… I couldn’t leave you… because… you were… my first love.”
“Sob… Sophia… Sophia!”
Alec’s hands trembled as he clutched Sophia’s letter, his wife’s final words. He wept, repeating her name over and over.
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Before his uncle arrived at the estate, Alec decided to open the shop for the first time in a while.
Due to the rumors surrounding him and Emily, there were few customers.
The shop assistants had quit, leaving Alec no choice but to rely on the maids from the estate. There had also been incidents of harassment.
Someone had stuck a sign on the shop door that read, “Adulterer’s Shop.” Some customers returned purchased items, claiming they were defective. For several days, sales at Alec’s shop had been poor.
Adelaide, Alec’s aunt, having heard about the shop’s troubles from the relatives, decided to expedite the handover to Richard and went to Alec’s estate.
“Sigh…”
“Master, you seem tired… Perhaps I should tend to the shop today.”
“No, I need to be at the estate when my uncle arrives.”
The sound of a carriage could be heard. It was Adelaide, Alec’s aunt, and his uncle, Richard.
“Oh, Aunt…”
“I’m glad you’re here. I have something to discuss with you. Both of you, come as well.”
“Us as well, My Lady?”
The butler and head maid exchanged glances, bewildered by the unexpected visit from Adelaide and Richard, whom they hadn’t seen in a while.
They went to the drawing-room, and the conversation began.
“You haven’t told them yet, have you?”
“No, I was planning to inform them when my uncle arrived…”
The butler and head maid looked at the three of them anxiously.
“I’ll tell them directly… The next head of the Parlis family, Richard, who is sitting beside me, will be your new master.”
“What?”
“I beg your pardon… Did you say… Master Richard… will be the next head…?”
The butler, stunned, asked Alec’s aunt for clarification.
“I understand your surprise… Alec is no longer the successor to the Parlis family.”
““?!””
The butler and head maid were shocked and looked at Alec, who had lowered his head.
“Why… is Master no longer…”
“I’m sure you both understand why… You know how Master Alec treated his wife, Sophia… and about his affair with Lady Emily.”
“…”
“…”
“This wasn’t my decision alone. It was decided after discussions with the relatives.”
“Then… what will become of Master…?”
The butler asked Alec’s aunt hesitantly.
“Alec will work under Richard. He will be a servant, just like the rest of you.”
“Master, a servant?!”
“That’s… a bit much…”
“I know you think it’s cruel. This is more difficult for Alec than leaving the estate… There may be conflicts with the other servants, but this is how he must atone… for what he did to Sophia… for the rest of his life…”
The butler and head maid remained silent after hearing his aunt’s words.
“There’s another reason for my visit… We’re moving up the handover to Richard. The handover will begin tomorrow and should be completed within a few days.”
“What…? Not three weeks…?”
“The situation has changed. I heard about the declining sales at the shop… and the harassment… Richard will take over the shop’s management. The shop is also suffering, so we can’t wait any longer…”
“…”
“Richard, could you begin the handover with Alec tomorrow?”
“Of course… What about Alec’s belongings?”
“Could you store them… until his child is born… and then give them to him…? Would that be possible?”
“Uh… V-very well…”
“C-certainly…”
“When is the child due…?”
Alec’s aunt asked the butler and head maid to store all of Alec’s belongings. Alec’s face turned pale.
━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━
After the discussion, Alec’s aunt and uncle left. The butler and head maid saw them off, a sense of awkwardness lingering in the air.
“Master… a servant…”
“What… are we going to do…?”
The butler and head maid, who had served Alec as the head of the Parlis family, were bewildered. Alec, still in the room, slumped his shoulders, dreading the expedited handover to his uncle.
A few days later, Alec handed over his position as the head of the Parlis family to his uncle, Richard, and became a commoner… Alec’s only possession as a servant of the Parlis family was Sophia’s letter.