Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

Chapter 136

Side story Chapter 6 Left alone, Escal stared at the closed door. It felt like a distance that could never be reached, even though it was only a door.It was a misunderstanding, that was not my true feelings, please listen to what I had to say. Escal hesitated, holding onto the cold doorknob, and eventually failed to open the door again.“I’m sorry….”His strained voice trailed off into the air.Shouldn’t this have been the first thing he said?He regretted not caring for Tiaris because he was immersed in his own emotions. Escal shook his head in a sense of helplessness that he couldn’t shake off.I didn’t come to you hoping for this outcome.I was prepared that you might have forgotten me after so many years. But I didn’t expect you to reject me because you remembered.‘You will never know how I felt.’‘The thing I regretted the most after grandpa passed away was saving brother in the forest of Daleswood.’You don’t know how your expression was as you pushed me away, pretending like nothing happened.I didn’t think Tiaris’s words were sincere. Tiaris Hazel wasn’t a child who could hurt others. Those words were probably just disguised venom to discourage me.But can I be sure that there wasn’t even a little sincerity in them?My heart was pounding, I had to admit now. That I would be happy in the lowest depths of hell with you, but maybe not with you.… Still, I loved you a lot.Finally, Escal slowly turned around. ***** The steps down the forest felt like a thousand pounds. Every time I took a step, the rain-soaked dirt clung to my ankles.Escal looked down at his own footprints that hasn’t dried yet and rubbed his sore eyes.It felt like he had woken up from a long dream. A dream of living happily with her.The first thing Escale did after becoming the Count of Fenbury was to build a small mansion. A small, pretty house with a large garden next to a quiet lake full of Myosotis flowers (forget-me-not).It was a place I had prepared to live together with Tiaris when I found her.Now it was pointless.Escal looked around the cabin with empty eyes. The cabin was hidden by the forest.You will live well like you are now.But how should I live?The sunlight shining down on my head was dazzling and tears welled up. Escal stopped walking and leaned against a tree because he had no strength to support his body that was sinking.“I’d rather….”Should I hold you back and lock you up so you can’t go anywhere?It would be better to make you unforgettable until you die than to be forgotten by you as you are.Just like the woman who was my biological mother.The impulse that suddenly surged up spread uncontrollably.I pretended not to know, but I couldn’t deny it, I was that woman’s son. I had to admit once again that her cruel and dirty blood flowed through my body.But that wasn’t right. I couldn’t be like that woman who went crazy in love and ended up choosing to become a demon.“Hah….”He blinked his wet eyes and round water droplets fell to the floor. Escal sighed softly as he took out a handkerchief because the tears of foolishness drop by drop were bothersome.Why are there so many things that remind me of you even when I try to shake them off?A keepsake from her mother that Tiaris gave him as a gift on his seventh birthday. Unable to throw it away or keep it, Escal, retraced his steps.As the cabin that had disappeared from sight appeared, he heard the sound of leaves rustling. Escal instinctively hid behind a tree, afraid that he might run into Tiaris.“……?”The owner of the unfamiliar footsteps wasn’t Tiaris. Escal watched the man wandering around the cabin. It was a face he hadn’t seen when he stopped by the village this morning.The man had an eye patch on his left eye. As he watched the man closely with an ominous sense of foreboding, the servant he had encountered in the palace came to his mind.‘Could it be… he came here under the orders of Princess Adela?He didn’t have time to think long. The man who had been wandering around the cabin pulled out his sword.Escal put his hand on his sword belt. It was empty. Escal pursed his lips as he realized that he had left it behind on purpose, fearing that Tiaris might dislike it.‘I told Dustin not to come, so I have no choice but to take care of it.’I knew how reckless it was to attack an opponent with a sword with bare hands, but there was nothing I could do. Escal threw a rock at the man who was trying to enter the cabin.“What are you doing there?”The man flinched, perhaps not knowing that there would be anyone else. His expression changed in an instant as he slowly turned his head.“… Escalium Anthemion.”The madness eyes, different from the calm voice, glared at Escal. The man laughed bitterly and held his sword again. It was the gaze of a beast that had found new prey.Was he targeting me in the first place?While he was thinking of a way to deal with him, the man charged at him in the blink of an eye. Escal barely managed to dodge behind a tree.Swish! He casually pulled out the sword stuck in the tree and swung it again. The malicious gaze, as if he was determined to kill him, seemed familiar for some reason.‘That’s too bad, kid!’The past buried in the back of his memory flashed through his mind like lightning.“Harriet Tuffman?”The tip of the sword cut off his hair just in time. Harriet, who had been caught, flailed like an excited beast. Escal lured him to a steep slope to avoid the sword swinging wildly.The leaves were soaked with rain, making his feet slippery. Harriet, who was busy chasing Escal, stepped on a leaf and lost his balance.Escal didn’t miss the gap and kicked his wrist. The sword that he had missed floated into the air and fell to the ground. Escal quickly picked up the sword at that moment.“·····!”A dagger was stuck in his side. The intense pain made his eyes dizzy. Escal barely managed to twist his body and push away the man who was trying to pull out the sword. While Harriet hesitated after missing the dagger, Escal’s sword dug into the man’s abdomen.“Ugh!”The sharp tip of the sword pierced his abdomen. Escal let go only after he had completely driven the blade in.“Yo-you bastard…”The man whose body was completely pierced by the sword glared at Escal with bloodshot eyes before staggering away while covering his wound.With that level of injury, it would be hard to survive.Escal, who was trying to chase the man who was running away, grabbed his side and collapsed on the spot. Blood was flowing out of his side where the dagger was stuck.Although not as bad as Harriet’s, his wound was not light either. The pain intensified as he relaxed. Escal gritted his teeth and pulled out the dagger. The wound that had been closed began to bleed.Escal looked at the quiet cabin and gasped for breath. Cold sweat ran down his neck. He needed to get up, but his body wouldn’t move.Tia would be surprised if she saw him.Escal wiped his red, wet hands on the dirt floor and took out the handkerchief he had kept in his pocket. The letters engraved on the handkerchief were soaked in blood and hard to read.“What if this doesn’t come off….”Hot breath leaked out between his pale lips.My dearest Tia…A thick darkness fell over him. ***** Tiaris squatted on her bed and wrapped the unmoving doll’s tassels around her. It twitched and twitched as usual.“Useless.”Tiaris’s hands, holding the broken doll, trembled. She tried to throw it, but she couldn’t. Tiaris held the doll in her arms and cried silently.Don’t cry, Tiaris Hazel, you chose it. Don’t be upset. You were always alone. Just live like you have been.She tried to calm her heart that was getting weaker, but it didn’t work.The image of him who seemed like he would cry at any moment wouldn’t disappear. I knew he wouldn’t quit if I didn’t, but if I could take it back now, I would.Idiot, idiot. Just forget it. Why did I come all the way here and get my feelings hurt?Tiaris muttered with a wet face and tightly closed her eyes, then opened them.She’s done crying. She couldn’t be the same as yesterday, but she had to pretend to be the same as yesterday in order to live.Tiaris rubbed her swollen eyelids and got off the bed. She washed them with cold water. When she opened the door, thinking she should wash up first, she found the basket Escal had brought was lying there.She was overcome with emotion again.Tiaris squatted down and began to pick up the spilled contents one by one. They were ingredients she had never personally bought, such as potatoes, cabbage, and pieces of meat wrapped in paper.“Who would eat all this….”Tiaris got up, holding the basket that was too heavy to lift with both arms. As she headed to the kitchen to put the bag away, she saw footprints on the dirt floor.‘What is this?’Tiaris, who had been living alone since Baron Hazel left, was sensitive to traces of others. The soles of shoes, clearly imprinted on the wet dirt, were not those of Escal.Feeling goosebumps, she carefully examined the traces. The footprints were messy and surrounded the cabin, as if they had been wandering around for a long time. Tiaris followed the footprints carefully.The footprints that had led down the slope below the cabin suddenly became two. An unpleasant smell wafted by the wind shaking the leaves. The soil under the tree she always passed by was a deep red like red wine.While following the traces, Tiaris found the back of a man leaning against the tree.No way… It can’t be.She approached the tree, holding the basket in her hand. Beneath his weakly lowered head, his neat white uniform was soaked red.“…. Brother!”